Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1900-09-20

| equivoca1 terms.
The currency bill, which received the
| sanction of the executive and the repuD-
Hcan members of the house and senate.
| justifes the warning given by the demo-
dicted that the republican party would
| attempt to retire the greenbacks, al
though the party and its leaders stud1ous-
Iy concealed their Intentions That pur-
pose is now plain and the people must
greenbacks issued and. controlled IN vol
uTne by the government, and natlonal
controlled in their own interests II the
national bank notes are to be secured by
bonds, the currency system now support
ed by the republican party Involves q
permanent and increasing debt, and. SO
long as this system stands, the hnane1aI
powerful influence upon the side of any
measure which will contribute 70 the size
and permanency of a national debt. 1t is
hardly conceivable that the American
people will deliberately turn from the
debt-paying policy of the past; TO the
dangerous doctrine of perpetual bonds.
Election of Senators by the People.
The demand for constitutional amend
ment providing for the election of SEN
ators by direct vote of the people, ap-
national platform, but a resolution pro-
posing such an amendment has three
tives. and that, too practically without
opposition. Whatever may have been the
reasons which secured the adoption or
the present plan, century ago, new con
ditions have made it imperative that the
people be permitted to speak directly in
the selection of their representatives IN
the senate. A senator is no less the rep
resentative of the state because he re-
ceiVeS his commission from the people
themselves, rather than from the mem
berS of the state legislature. If a voter
is competent to vote for member of
congress, for state officers and for pres
ident, he is competent to choose his rep
resentative in the senate. a system
his election to the people, a whole,
and amenable to them If he misrepre-
who have confidence in the intelligence
and patriotism of the masses.
Direct Legislation.
The platform indorses the principle of
to the more important questions in ma
tion state and city 1t rests upon the
Sound theory tha az me people can can + be
government is to the will OF the people
the more free it will be from misuse and
Labor Question.
Several planks of the labor platform
are devoted to questions in which the
est, but which more remotely affect our
entire population. While what is general
is at present directed chiefly against the
employees of corporations, when there is
a disagreement between them and their
employer. it involves a principle which
concerns everyone. The purpose of the in
junctionin such cases is to substitute trial
by judge for trial by jury, and is covert
blow at the jury system. The abolition
of government by Injunction is as neces-
SarY for the protection of the reputation
of the court as it is for the security of
the citizen. Blackstone in defending trial
by jury says:
tice, which secures both our persons and
our properties, is the great end of civil
society, but if that be intruSted entirely
to the magistracy, a select body of men,
and those selected by the prince such as
enjoy the highest offices of the state, their
decisions, in spite of their natural integ-
rity, will have frequently an involuntary
bias toward those of their own rank and
human nature that the few should be al
ways attentive to the interests and good
of the many.
If the criminal laws are not sufficient
for the protection of property, they can
BE mage p6 er SegeTe but bav b eitisen
tried before a jury of his peers.
The blacklist.
The blacklist as now employed in some
places enables the employer to place the
skilled laborer loses his independence
when the employers can not only dis
similar employment. The blacklist en-
ables employers to secure, by mutual
agreement. that control over the wage
earners which a private monopoly exer-
ciSeS without contract.
Arbitration.
The platform renews the demand for
their employees. No one who has observed
the friction which arises between great
corporations ana their numerous en-
ployes can doubt the wisdom of estab-
fishing an impartial court for the just
and equitable settlement of disputes. The
demand for arbitration ought to be sup
ported as heartily by the public, which
suffers inconvenience because of strikes
and lOckouts, and by the employers them
selves as by the employees. The estab-
lishment of arbitration will insure friend
ly relations between labor and capital,
and render obsolete the growing practice
of calling in the army to settle labor
troubles
Department of Labor.
cannot too strongly emphasize the i'm
of the establishment of a department of
labor. with member of the cabinet at
portant a position the laborer fills in our
economic social and political fabric, it
being made to this recognition of his
services. Agriculture is already repre-
hold; the army and navy have their rep
resentative there; the state department,
with ITS consular service, and the treas
with fiscal affairs, keep the executive in
touch with the business and commercial
interests. A cabinet officer truly repre-
sentative of the wage earning class would
be of invaluable aid. not only to the
toilers, but to the president.
Chinese Exclusion.
The Chinese exclusion act has proven
an advantage to the country, and its con-
tinuance and strict enforcement, as we'll
as its extension to other similar races,
are imDeratively necessary. The Asiatic
is so essentially different from the Amer
lean that he cannot be assimilated with
our population, and is, therefore, not de-
Sirable as a permanent citizen. His pres
ence as a temporary Iaborer, preserving
his national identity, and maintaining q
foreign scale of wages and living. must
ever prove injustice to American pro-
ducers as well a perpetual source of
irritation.
Pensions.
The party expresses its pride in the SOL
diers and sailors of all our wars. and de-
clares its purpose to deal generously with
them and their dependents. A liberal
policy is natural and necessary in a gov
eminent which depends upon a citizen
| soldiery, instead of large standing army.
Self-interest. well gratitude, com
pels the government to make bountifuI
provision for those who. in the hour of