The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-04

people submit TO policies which they do
not like rather than secure Improvement By
a change in party affiliations.
THE laborng man favors direct legis-
lation wherever practicable for the same
reason that he favors the election OF Sem
ators BY popular vote Direct legislation
brings the government nearer to the voter.
| There is more virtue in the people than
| ever iiGds expression through their repre-
| sentatiyes. To hold that a representative
can act for the people better than they
can act for themselves is to assert that he
| is as much interested in the people as they
! are in themselves. and that his wisdom is
greater than the combined wisdom of the
majority of the people. Neither PROPOSE
ton is sound. Most. if not all. of the evils
| complained of in government are traceable
to the fact that the representative OF the
| people has personal interests at variance
| with the interests of his constituency.
| Corruption in municipal, State, and Fed
| eFal governments is due to the misrepre-
sentation of the people by public servants,
| who use their positions for private advaE-
tage. The people should have an opportu-
nifty TO vote on public questions when these
| questions can be submitted without too
| great inconvenience or expense.
But the laboring man is even more in
terested /. the proposition to establish a
| Labor Bureau with u Cabinet officer at its
head. Such a bureau would keep the Elk
| ecutive in constant touch with the wage
earners OF the country, and open the way
to the redress of their present and future
grievances. IL labor is given place In
the Presidents official household, the man
| selected will necessarily be a worthy and
trusted representative of the people for
whom be speaks, and his presence at Cabi-
I
their daily bread assurance that their i'm
| terests will be properly guarded.
Mr. Gompers. the chief executive of the
| Federation of Labor has. in his corre-
spondence with the Secretary of the Treas
ury, so ably presented the laboring man
reasons for opposing the gold standard
and a national bank currency that it is not
necessary to discuss those questions at
this time.
Reason to Fear the Trusts.
THE laboring man has abundant reason
to fear the trusts. Charles r. Flint, in
speech delivered in Boston more than a
year ago in defence of the trusts, frankly
asserts that one of the advantages of these
| combinations is that in case of local
| strikes or fires, the work goes on else
where, thus preventing serious loss Is it
possible that any wage-earner can fail to
see how completely the trust places the
| employe at the mercy of the employer?
THE resolutions adopted by various la
| Dor organizations in condemnation of mill
tarism and Imperialism justify me in max
| ing a brief reference TO those questions.
! No class contributes more than the labor
! ing class. in proportion to its numbers to
! the rank and file of the army; no class
| contributes more in proportion to its num-
| bers to the expense of the army. and no
N,1a rsr-N- IT
/ large army. Most of the countries in
Europe which maintain large military es-
| adjustments collect an Income tax which
adjusts the burden of the government to
/ the income of the citizen. Here our Fed
eraI taxes are largely collected upon con-
| sumption and while they are income taxes
/ in the sense that they must be paid out of
/ the incomes of the people. yet the exac-
| tions are not proportionate to the incomes.
! The taxes upon consumption bear heaviest
upon the poor and lightest upon the rich.
and are, in fact, graded incoAe taxes, the
per cent collected decreasing as the in
come increases.
IF this nation adhere to the doctrine
that governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed and
the people have an easy and ready means
of correcting all abuses. the Government
will not need to be supported by a large
permanent army. for every citizen VIII be
ready to defend such q government from
attack. The only domestic use for large
standing army Is TO suppress by force that
discomfort which should be cured By leg
islatoD.
To support permanent army OF 100 900
men requires approximately one-haif as
much money as Is annually expended for
education in the United States. How much
cheaper it ia to uplft people by the gem
tie and peaceful process of intellectual
development than to blow them up with
powder and dynamite!
The EVIL of imperialism.
Imperialism involves a departure from
principles which were universally accept
ed in This country until within two years.
To know that all men are created equal
one needs not the wisdom of sage the
learning of the schools. 1t was declared
TO be a self-eyidcnt truth; it was evident
to those who pledged their lives to the
maintenance OF the Declaration of indie
pendence. and 1t Is evident still to those
who are not blinded by the glamour of
wealth and the glittering promises of a
colonial system. II all men are created
equal and endowed with inalienable
rights it follows as a logical aud neces-
sary sequence that governments were in
stituted for the welfare of all and derive
their just powers from the consent of
the governed. On the preservation of this
doctrine ourN hopes depend; If ii Is aban
doned there is no foundation upon which
a Government like ours can be construct
ed
DO not allow yourselves TO be deceived
by those who question the capacity OF this
people or that people for elf-goyernment.
Macaulay- in his essay on John Milton.
points out the folly of attempting to pre-
pare people for self-goyernment by deny
ing them the right to participate in their
own government. He said:
Many politicians of our time are In
the habit of laying it down a self-eyl- /
dent proposition that no people ought to be l
free until they are fit TO use their freedom |
The maxim is worthy of the. fool in the old /
story. who resolved not to go into the wa !
ter ill he had learned 10 swim. II men /
are to wait for liberty till they become /
wise and good in slavery, they may indeed (
wait forever
when / say that those who distrust the |
capacity of the people for self government !
tend directly toward monarchy, | am only I
repeating what Lincoln deliberately declar- /
ed in his first annual messag. He said
The Warning From Lincoln.
Monarchy itself is sometimes limited !
at as a possible refuge from the power of ,
the people In my present position | could .
scarcely be justified were l to omit raising (
warning voice against this approach of /
returning despotism. lt IS not needed nor
hitting here that general argument should
be made in favor of popular institutions.
but there is one point, with its connec-
tons not so hdckneyed as most others to
which | ask brief attention. II Is the ef-
forf m nl9ra ranifal ON an eOifal fOOting