Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-11
AND BRYAN
Bryan's Talk.

The resolutions adopted by various Ia
Dor organizations in condemnation of
militarism and Imperialism justify me in
making a brief reference to those ques-
tons. No class contributes more than the
labor class in proportion to it's members
to the rank and file of the army: no class
class contributes more in proportion to its
numbers to the expense of the army, and
no class is more menaced by the exist
ence of a large army.
Most of the countries in Europe which
maintain large military establishments
collect an income tax. which adjusts the
burden of the government to the income
of the citizen.
Here u federal taxes are largely COL
lected upon consumption. and while they
are income taxes in the sense that they
must be paid out Of the incomes of the
people. yet the eXactions are not proper
tomato to the incomes.
The taxes upon consumption bear
heavily upon the poor and lightest upon
tn rich. and are, in fact, graded income
taxes. the per cent, collected decreased
as the income increases.
If his nation adheres to the doctrine
that governments derive their just pow
erS from the consent of the governed,
n the people have an easy and ready
means of correcting all abuses, the gov
eminent will not need to be supported
ny d 1uESc pcIIldlcHl dIlHy AoI every
citizen will be ready to defend sue a
government from attack.
The only domestic use for a large
standing army Is to suppress by force
that discomfort which shoul be cured
by legislation.
To support a permanent army of 100,-
600 men requires approximately one-half
as much as money as is annually ex-
pended for education in the United
States.
How much cheaper it is to uplift peo-
pie by the gentle and peaceful process OF
intellectual development than to blow
them up with powder or dynamite.
Imperialism involves a departure from
principles which were universally accept
ed in this country until within two years.
When I say that these who distrust the
| capacity of the people for ~self-goVern-
| ment tend directly toward monarchy, l
am only repeating h Lincoln deliber-
ately declared in his first annual message.
He said:
Monarchy itself is sometimes limited at
as a possible refuge from the power of
| the people. In my present position 1
could scarcely be justified were l to omit
raising a warning voice against this ap-
| preach of returning depOtism. 1t IS not
! intended nor fitting here that a general
argument should be made in favor OF
| popular institutions, but there is one
; point. with it's connections not SO hack
| neyed as most others. to which l ask
brief attention.
ut is the effort to place capital on an
equal footing if not above. b in the
! structure Of the Government.
mo men living are more worthy to be
trusted than those who toll up from pow
erty; none less inclined to take or touch
! aught which they have not honestly earn
I ed, Let them beware of ~surrenderlng a
political power which they already pos.
sess, and which, If surrendered, will
surely be used to close the door of ad-
yancement against such as they n 70
fix new disabilities and burdens upon
them till all of liberty shall be lost.
The warming Is even more needed now
than it was forty years ago: me emmy
and Navy Journal is already just1fytng
| the colonial idea. and declaring that fate
has decreed for us a destiny In which
an imperial executive, free from the re-
s%traints of a written constitution, viii
govern subjects according to his own
pleasure.
The United States Inventor. published
at Boston, in it's issue of July says:
"Only a blind person can fail to see
that remarkable transformations of one
kind or another are in store for the
race; hence the folly of asserting that
the policy of this country, which is des-
tined to play sue a leading part in hu-
man affairs of the future, shall be gov
/ ernGO lot the IloSI part w poAeiS
maxims uttered more than a hundred
years ago
1.-The greatest evil which now con-
fronts the republic is the claim raised
by a certain faction for a settlement OF
our problems of state by just such a
method as we nave been d~eprecating.
considerably more than a century age
a certain notable Declaration was made
in this country to the effect that all men
ought to be free and Independent. This
is merely a generalization of the French
school Of Voltaire and the Encyclope-
dists. It is a dictum absolutely lacking
foundation in history and incapable OF
%syllogistic justification. It was, how
ever, a handy phrase for us to employ
when asserting our right to break away
from the mother country; it suited the
exigenciesv of our situation in 1776 dmi
ably, though in itself but a bit of sub
limated d~emagogism.
;, But why quote from newspapers as tC
what may be o n hereafter in the pres.
/ ence of a law already enacted which
makes subject out Of Porto Ricans
%withdraws from them the guarantees OF
the constitution and asserts the power
of the president and ongress to govern
: them without their consent and tax then
without representations power as un-
limited and ~tyrannical as was ever as
serted or exercised by any ruler In al
the history of the human race?
This doctrine has not yet been ap'
proved by the people. 1t furnishes the
supreme question of the present cam
paign.