The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-01-23
a Change of Base.

A>NS'ei''
the Outlook, we must give it's editor
credit for recognizing the Inconsistency
between the Declaration of lndepen-
dence and the Philippine policy of the
republican administration. In recent
editorial he speaks of the principle
that '.all governments exist for the
benefit of the governed" One does
not have to be learned in the science of
government nor far advanced in the
knowledge of language to recognize
the wide difference between the prin-
clple above stated and the self-evident
truth that governments derive their
just powers from the consent of the
governed. The principle stated in
the Outlook is one that has been as
serted by every king and potentate
who claimed to rule by right divine.
A man would be a monster who would
defend government upon any other
theory. but while this is the theory
usually put forward in defense of mon
arches and aristocracies, the all i'm
portant question is, who shall decide
what is for the benefit of the gov
erned?" Shall this question be decided
by king, or by a few, or shall it be
decided by the people themselves?
The trouble with one who rules by
arbitrary power is that. he insists upon
deciding what government is best for
his subjects, and then he insists upon
shooting them if they do not agree
with him in regard to the merits OF
fhfl al, hD
and under which they must live. The
whole difference between govern
ment resting upon force and a govern
ment resting upon the consent of the
governed is involved in the difference
between the Outlooli's idea of govern
ment and the theory of government
set forth in the Declaration of Inde.
pendence.
| Jefferson defended the View cr.!pot:
| led in the Declaration of in,i>pencc
In his first inaugural message he said
Sometimes it said that man cannot be
! trusted witt. the government of him
self. Can he then be trusted with the
government of others. or have We
found angels in the form of kings to
| govern him?" Lincoln announced the
same doctrine when he said that God
never made Il man good enough to gov
ern another man without the other
man $ consent
1T behooves us to analyze the princi
pies which underlie imperialistic pol
icies, and when those principles are
understood they will be found to BIZ
not ones just discovered, but the ole
and blood-stained ones, trampled un
der the feet of the soldiers who enlist
ed under the banner of Washington
The Chicago Record Herald a repuh
lean newspaper, commenting upon TIL
recent decisions in the Philippine case
refers to 'sthe acrobatic Justice Brown.
The Record Herald says that Justice
Browns distinction seems to be tina
while they (the Philippines are par
of the United States. they may be leg
islated against as though they were
foreign country, though they are de
MED the right of a foreign county tt
retaliate." This republican paper con
cludes that ''thc stronger reasoning i.
with the justices who believe that uni
form federal laws should apply to al
American territory and the subject
still remains to be discussed as Il ques
ton of policy before congress. Tha
body will find itself in a very peculiar
and embarrassing position if it takes
to making discriminating tariff legis
lation TO- the Philippines" But VIII.
more embarrassing than when i
undertook to enact discriminating tar
iif legislation for Porto Rico? Th,
Record-IEer;,ld says. "If for the Philip
pines, why not for any other territor,
Of the United States? If for any othe
territory. why not for any separat,
state in the union?" TO be sure, VIII,
not? But did not the Record Herald
make itself in part responsible for .thi
very policy, when it enthusiasticall,
| supported for office men who wer,
strongly committed to the very polio,
which it now vigorously condemns?
Justice, Bateman & Co., wool mer
chants. have issued a bulletin in which
they say that the danger of reciprocity
is past, but that the wool industry i.
now menaced by Babcocl<'s threat o:
tariff tinlering. The spirit of the re
cent reciprocity convention composed
of manufacturers who do not want re
ciprocity), was expressed by one of the
speakers who denouncedrec by
saying that we would simply ask for
eign nations to permit us to assassi
nate some of their industries in return
for our letting them knife some OF
Ours AS long as the manufacturers
control the administration it is easy tc
guess the fate of the ''handmaiden OF
protection as the president has de.
scribed reciprocity.
Having subsidized the steel trust
into making steel we are asked to sub
sidize the shipping trust that carries
the steel abroad and sells it at lower
prices than is charged home consum.
ers. In due time we will be asked tc
subsidize the foreigners into buying
1