The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04

suaaks ara hig preselsee Al Cabinet meet
ings viii give 10 those who toll Tor their
daily bread assurance that their interests
viii De properly guided.
Mr.. Gompers, the chief executive Of
the Federation Of Labor. has. la his cor
respondence with the Secretary OF the
Treasury so ably presented the laboring
mems reasons for opposing the gold
standard and national bank currency,
that It is not necessary 10 discuss those
questions al this time
The iaboring man has abundant rea-
sons 10 fear the trusts. Mr. Charles r.
Flint. in a speech delivered in Boston,
more than a year ago. in defense CT the
trusts. frankly asserts that one OF the
advantages of these combinations is that.
in case OF local strikes or fl~ the Work
goes on elsewhere, thus preventing serious
loss Is it possible that any wage-earner
can fail 20 see how completely the trusts
place the employe at the mercy Of the en-
ployer2
THE resolutions adopted by various Ia
bor organiZa tions in condemnation or
militarism and Imperialism justify ME IN
making q brief reference 20 those ques-
tons No class contributes more Ihan the
laboring class In proportion TO its num-
berS to the rank and file OF the army no
class contributes more in proportion TO ITS
numbsafs 10 the expense OF the army and
no class il more menaced by the exist
ence OF a large army Most OF the coun-
f-ies In Europe which maintain large mill
itarv establishments collect an income
tax which adjusts the burden OF the gov
eminent 10 the income OF the citlZen. Here
our Federal taxes are largely collected
gpQn consumDtion. and while they are in
come taxes in the sense hat they must
be paid out Of the incomes OF the people.
yet the exactiOns are not proportiOnate
70 the income The taxes upon consGilp-
ton bear heaviest upon the poor and ligiIt-
est upon the rich. and are, IN Taet. graded
income taxes. the per cent. collected de-
creasing as the income increases.
Dangers of MiIiiarism.
oIf this nation adheres to the doctrine
that governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed, ard the
people have an easy and ready means OF
correcting ali abuses, the government
will not need to be supported by a large
permanent army, for every citizen will be
ready to defend such government from
attack The only domestic use for large
standing army is 10 suppress by force
that discomfort which should be cured by
legislation
ITO support a permanent army of 10000
men requires approximately one-hah as
much money as is annually expended for
education in the United States. How
much cheaper 1t is to uplift people by the
gentle and peaceful process of intellec-
tual development than to blow them up
with powder and dynamitel
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 a sage or
the learning of the schools Ii was de-
cared TO be self-evident truth; IL was
evident TO those who pledged their lives
to the maintenance of the Declaration OF
Independence, and il is evident still 10
those who are not blinded by the glamour
of wealth and the glittering promises of a
equal and endowed with inalienable
rights, il follows as logical and neces-
Sary sequence that governments We're In
stituted for the welfare OF ali and derive
their just powers from the consent of the
governed. On the preservation of this
doctrine our hopes depend; If ii is aban-
doned, there Is no foundation upon which
government like ours can be construct
ceiVed by those who question the capacity
of this people or that people for self-goV-
ernment. Macaulay. in his essay on John
Milton, points out the folly OF attempting
to prepare people for self-government by
denying them the right TO participate in
lhelr own government. He said:
Fitness for Freedom.
Many politicians Of our time are in
the habit of laying It down as a self-evi-
dent proposition that 10 people ought to
be free until they are ut to use their
freedom. The maxim is worthy of the
fool in the old story who resolved not to
go into the water until he had learned TO
swim. If men are to wait for liberty
until they become wise and good in slav-
cry, they may indeed wait for ever
When l say that those who distrust
the capacity of the people for self-gov-
eminent tend directly toward monarchy,
Il am only repeating what Lincoln delib-
erately declared in his first annual mes
sage. He said
Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted
at as a possible refuge from the power
OF the people. In my present position l
could scarcely be justified were | to omit
raising a warning voice against the ap-
proach of returning despotism. II is not
needed nor fitting here that a general ar
gument should be made in favor of popu-
lar Institutions; but there is one point,
with its connections not so hackneyed
as most others, to which | ask brief at
tentiOn II is the effort 10 place capital
on an equal footing with, If not above,
labor, in the structure of government.
No men living are more worthy 10 be
lIuSlC ludH muse WHO lOll up -iDEi pON-
erty, none less inclined 10 take or touch
aught which they have not honestly earn
ed. Let them beware of surrendSr!ng a
political power which they already pos
sess, and which, IL surrendered, Will sure
ly be used 10 close the door of advance
ment against such as they, and TO fix new
disabilities and burdens upon them iii all
of liberty shall be lost
1.-THE warning IS even more needed now
than il was forty years ago. The Army
a. eNT 80 Er~as
the colonial idea, and declaring thai fate
has decreed for US a destiny in winch an
imperial Executive. free from the re-
stTsints OF a written Constitution, VIII
govern subjects according TO mis- own
pleasure The United States Investors
Review, published at Boston, in its issue
OF July 2S, says:
sneering al the Deela ra fion.
"'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 pol
icy of this country which is destined To
play such leading part In the human af-
fairs of the future shall be governed for
the most part by political maxims uttered
more than a hundred years ago. The
greatest evil which now cOnf-Onts this re-
public is the clamor raised by a certain
faction for a settlement or our problems
OF state by just such a method as we
have been deprecating. Considerably more
than a century ago certain notable Dec-
laratiOn was made in this country 10 the
effect that all men ought 10 be free and
independent. This Is merely a generaliZa-
ton Of the French school of NOlJaire ana
the encyclopedias. Ii is dictum absO-
lutely lacking foundation in history and
incapable OF syAOgistic justification. Ii
was, now ever, a handy phrase Tor US TO
employ when asserting our right 10 break
away from the mother country, IL suited
the eXigencies Of our situation IN l.l6 ad-
nirabiy, though IN itself out a biz OF sub
lmated demagogism. The Declaration
Was serViceable means 10 the end that
was Al that time desired. To bring for
ward this Declaration in this year LsJ0
II connection with our Treatment OF the
FilipinOs and the Cubans Is as gross an
absuruity as ever Was pTaetieed. To do
so IS 10 oner an insult 10 The intelligence
or the people who first subscribed 10 tie
Declaration In question
But Why quote from newspapers as 10
what may b. done hereafter IN The p-es-
L.