The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-10-04

mendous Importance is not merely con-
| coded but insisted on. Mem who are not
willing to make such an issue paramount
haye no possible Justification for raising
| 1t at all, for under such circumstances
their act cannot under any conceivable
circumstances do aught but grave harm.
| Gold Basis Must stand.
The success Of the party representing
/ the principles embodied in the Kansas
City platform would bring about the de-
struction of all the conditions necessary
to the continuance OF our prosperity. It
would also unsettle our whole govern
mental system, and would therefore dis
| arrange all the vast and delicate machin-
| cry Of our complex industrial life. Above
all, the effect would be ruinous to our
| finances. II we are to prosper, the cur
| rency of this country must be based up
on the gold dollar worth 100 cents.
The stability of our currency has been
greatly increased by the excellent fnan-
cial act passed by the last Congress.
| But no law can secure our finances
against the effect OF unwise and disas-
trous management in the hands Of un-
friendly administrators. No party can
safely be intrusted with the management
Of our national affairs unless it accepts
| as automatic the truths recognized in all
progressive countries as essential to 8
sound and proper system Of finance. In
their essence these must be the same for
all great civilized peoples.
| Vital Question for Wage Farmers.
/ In different stages OF development diff
ferent countries face varying economic
conditions, but at every stage and under
all circumstances the most important ele-
ment in securing their economic well-be-
/ ing is sound finance, honest money. So
intimate is the connection between indus
trial prosperity and a sound currency
/ that the former is jeopardized not mere
4 " by unsound finance, but by the very
threat OF nnsound finance.
The business man and the farmer are
vitality interested in this question; but no
mans interest is SO great as that Of the
i wage-worker. a deprecated currency
means loss and disaster to the business
4 man; but it means grim suffering to the
wage-worker. The capitalist will lose
much Of his capital and will suffer wear
| ing anxiety and the loss Of many COM
forts; but the wage-worker who loses his
wages must suffer and see his wife and
! children suffer for the actual necessities
of life. The one absolutely vital need
Of our whole industrial system is sound
money.
One OF the serious problems with which
1--WE are confronted under the conditions
OF our modern industrial civilization is
that presented by the great business COM
binations which are generally known un-
der the name of trusts.
j The problem is an exceedingly difficult
one and the difficulty is immensely ag-
grayated both by honest but wrong
headed attacks on our whole industrial
/ system in the effort to remove some Of
the evils connected with it, and by the
mischievous advice of men who either
think crookedly or who advance remedies
knowing them to be ineffective, but deem
| ing that they may, by darkening coun-
1 sci, achieve for themselves spurious
reputation for wisdom
| No good whatever is subserved by in
discriminate dcnunciation of corporations
| generally and of all forms of Industrial
combination in particular; and when this
public denunciation is accompanied by
| private membership in the great corpora
tons denounced, the effect is, Of course,
| to give an air of insincerity to the whole
| movement. Nevertheless, there are real
abuses, and there is ample reason for
striving to remedy these abuses. A crude
or ill-considered effort to remedy them
would either be absolutely without effect
or else would simply do damage.
| Plan for Federal Interference.
The first thing to do is to find out the
facts; and for this purpose publicity as
to capitalization, profits and all else OF
| Importance to the public, is the most use
full measure. The mere fact of this pub
hcity would in itself remedy certain evils,
and, as to the others, 1t would in some
cases point out the remedies, and would
at least enable us to tell whether OF not
certain proposed remedies would be use
| full. The State acting in its collective ca
pacity would thus first find out the facts
and then be able to take such measures
as wisdom dictated. Much can be done
| by taxation. Even more can be done by
| regulation, by close supervision and the
lunsparing excision of all unhealthy, de-
/ structive and anti-social elements.
The separate State governments can
do great deal; and where they decline
W sSu-upSi 6Liit hdticudt3 SUNeEHHleHt
| must step in
How He Deals with Expansion.
While paying heed to the necessity of
keeping our house in order at home, the
American people cannot, if they wish to
retain their self-respect, refrain from
doing their duty az a great nation in the
world.
The history of the nation is in large
part the history OF the nations expan-
sion. When the first continental CON
gress met in Liberty Hall and the thir-
teen original States declared themselves
n nation, the westward limit of the coun-
try was marked by the Allegheny noun
tains. Even during the revolutionary
var the work of expansion went on. Ken
lucky, Tennessee and the great North
west. then known as the Illinois country,
were conquered from our white and In
| dian foes during the revolutionary strug-