Amador ledger., 1900-09-07
THE IMPULSE TO AssAssrNArn.

the assassination of public official Of
rectitude, man who, though king,
was liberal in his views and patriotic in
having rendered honorable service to
his country.
What was the compelling impulse
that nerved the hand of the bloody
fanatic to murder King Humbert of
Italy?
1t was hate, hate born of envy, envy
born of inequality of condition and
uourished upon the frothy mouthings
Of political demagogy.
Not every extremist stops to con-
slider the possible results of his ill-tem-
pered and untempered utterances. The
aemagogue seeks to infiame passion, to
plant the seed of bitterness and envy in
the breasts of his hearers that he may
thrive upon their fruits.
1t is not probable that the men who
drew the platform upon which the
Bryan party bases its contest for su-
premacy realized the results which
might possibly follow the Incorporate
language employed in the concluding
paragraph of that document, but those
concluding sentences are freighted to
the gunwales with the impulse to as
sassinate. Review them and think ef
them. Here they are:
1--WE believe that our most cherished
institutions are in great peril ~
eve believe that the very existence
of our constitutional republic is at
stake"
1--WE believe that the decision now to
be rendered will determine whether or
not our children are to enjoy those
blessed privileges of free government
which have made the United States
great, prosperous and honored."
Of course the men who drafted that
platform, as well as the men who voted
for its adoption, know perfectly well
that the election of William Mckinley
will not imperil our most cherished in
stitutions; that the existence of our
constitutional republic is not in the
smallest danger and they know that
the decision in November, whichever
way it goes, can not jeopardize in the
smallest degree the enjoyment on the
part of our children of the blessed
privileges of free government.
But those men can not know that
their false and Incorporate utterances
may not fire the brain of some fanatic
who has been made by these conven-
ton rawlings to believe that free institu-
tions are really in imminent danger
and cause him to strike down the presi-
dent of the United States. Fanaticism
has cost the life Of two American presi-
dents and those are not guiltless whose
Incorporate utterances are liable to pro-
woke the taking of the life of q third
president.
The life of Marcus A. Hanna is like
wise put in peril by the maliciously
false characterizations which have made
of an honorable and high minded gen.
tleman a gorged monster fattening off
the daily toll of helpless innocents.
1t is to the credit of the Republican
party that monopoly of the throwing
of firebrands and of indulgence in in
rawlings is left to Mr.. Bryan
and his partisans, but it is far from be-
ing creditable to them that they so read
lily avail themselves of that monopoly.
The worst that Republican writers
and orators predict in the highly i'm
probable event of the election of Mr..
Bryan is that it will produce another
panic, that the experiments he
will inaugurate will prove disastrous
failures; that the foreign policy he will
adopt will make our nation contempti-
BILE in the sight of the world, that the
giving up of our recently acquired in
sular possessions would be cowardly
Sinking of a lofty moral obligation
and the foregoing of very substantial
material opportunity; that business
would be very bad for four years and
the suffering of the poor intense until
a penitent country had second time
turned to the Republican party to set
the house in order and establish condi-
tions under which people can do bust
ness and pursue happiness.
This Indictment of Organism will
doubtless prove sufficient for every need,
and yet is not inconsistent with accord
ing to Mr.. Bryan the highest personal
character and the most patriotic inten-
tions. His Judgment, his knowledge,
his policy, his intemperance of utter
ance and his mistaken zeal for flnan-
cial falacy are at fault but these do not
imply destruction of liberty or reign
of anarchy. 1t will prove sufficient to
the voter that they do imply commercial
chaos, hard times and a great, national
humiliation.
1t has been said with some justice
that, in effect, each European worker
carries soldier on his back, meaning of
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