Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-10-31
SurrenderIng Citizenship.

1t is surprising how ready interest
ed parties are to take upon themselves
the duties OF citizenship, entrusted to
the masses for their protection. Eff
forts are now being put forth to Sc
cure petitions to congress and the
president for the appointment of
permanent commission to regulate
the tariff. To sign such petition is
equivalent to surrendering ones citi-
zenship. 1.-THE tariff question should
be divorced from politics entirely" is
put forth as the reason by those who
are asking for this surrender Of the
duties that citize nship imposes upon
each individual member of society. A
moments reflection with reasoning
and intelligent men would be suttici-
emit to win their diSapproval.
ITO divorce any public question
from politics is to place it beyond the
control of voters 5"
This is its purpose, and those who
sign the petition are thoughtlessly sur
rendering one of the sacred duties and
inalienable rights of good citizenship.
Think for one moment Of permanent
commission to fix our taxes, removing
the subjent from the domain Of pub
lie control. The right to levy and
collect taxes is the most powerful
lever Of civil government, and this
powerful agency to be surrendered
into the keeping Of commission;
taken out of the hands Of the people
for whose benefit? theirs? or in the
perpetuation of special privileges to
the few? There is a purpose beyond
this. The philanthropic people who
speak for the republican party would
abolish elections, or if not, have them
apart at such long periods of time as
to practically do so. Senator Spooner
of Wis, who perhaps stands nearer to
republican policies as outlined by the
administration than any other West
ern senator, and is leader for the
movement to disfranchise the people,
in a recent speech made at Lancaster,
Wis, the 2lst of October, thus out
lined this policy in the following Ian
guage:
IF we could elect a good, strong
republican president like Theodore
Roosevelt, and strong republican
senate and house for term of twenty
years, it would be better for the coun-
try. I believe this demagogic tear-up
comes too often in this country"
If twenty years Of responsibility
to the people is not sufficient time in
which to take out of the hand of the
people, not only all power over the
tariff, and taxation, and all voice in
public affairs, such generous philan-
thropic men as Spooner would prob
ably consent to continuing their in
cumbency for an indefinite period,
and over their administration could
be written "E'sto Perpetual"
By various devices in the formation
of Congressional, Legislative, and Su
pervisor districts the expression of the
public will through the ballot box, is
suppressed, and the perpetual ascen-
dency Of the party in power is pro-
vided for. In the State of Iowa 3O0,-
600 republicans are expected to send
II republicans to represent the state
in the House of Representative while
100000 democrats will be without a
representative in that body from the
state. And legislative districts are as
corruptly formed in the interest of
the perpetual ascendency of the party
and the election Of its senators to rep
resent the state in the United States
congress.
In the organization of supervisor
districts Of our county, the same I'M
scrupulous method of DISTINGUISHING
the people was shown in organizing
the districts, with the object OF giving
1900 republicans three supervisors,
while 1400 democrats would be entire
ly unrepresented in that body.
A remedy for these evils would be an
amendment to the constitution of the
United States providing for proper
tional representation in legislative
bodies such as congress. This would
give Iowa six republicans and five
democrats in the congress of the Unit
ed States, would break up the solid |
South and the solid North and give |
to the people the voice in public at
LatrB they are entitled to- 4