Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-09-08


ment Of plutocracy or the govern
ment Of a mob, is equally incompati
Bile with the principles established II
the days Of Washington and perpet
, uated In the days of Lincoln.
Many qualities are needed by a peo
pie which would preserve the power
of self.goyernment in fact as well as
| in name Among these qualities are
/ forethought. shrewdness, self-restrant
the courage which refuses to abandon
ones own rights, and the disinter
ested and kindly good sense which en-
ables one to do justice to the rights
Of others. Lack of strength and lack
of courage unfit men for self govern
ment on the one hand; and on the
other, brutal arrogance, envy. in short
any manifestation OF the spirit oi
selfish disregard, whether OF ones
own duties or Of the rights Of others
are equally fatal.
In the history of mankind many re
publics have risen. have fourished
for less or greater time, and then
have fallen because their citizens lost
the power of governing themselves
and thereby governing their state;
and in no way has this loss Of power
been so often and so clearly shown as
in the tendency to turn the govern,
ment into government primarily for
the benefit Of one class instead Of
a government for the benefit Of the
people as a whole.
Again and again in the republics OF
ancient Greece, in those Of medieval
Italy and mediaeval Flanders. this
tendency was shown, and wherever
the tendency became a habit 1t inyar-
iably and inevitably proved fatal TO
the state. In the final result 1t mat
tered not one whit whether the move
ment was in favor OF one class or Of
another. The outcome was equally IA
tai, whether the country fell into the
hands OF a wealthy oligarchy which
exploited the poor or whether 1t fell
under the domination OF turbulent
mob which plundered the rich. In
both cases there resulted violent al
formations between tyranny and dis
order, and final complete loss Of lib
erty to all NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in
the end overtaking the class which
had for the moment been victorious as
well as that which had momentarily
been defeated. The death knell Of the
republic had rung ~ soon as the &C.
tive power became lodged In the
hands Of those who sought; not TO do
justice to III citizens rich and poor
alike, but to stand for one special
class and for Its interests as opposed
to the interests OF other.
The reason why our future Is as
sured lies in the fact that our people
are genuinely skilled in and fitted for
self.government and therefore will
spurn the leadership of those who
seek to excite this ferocious and fool
ish class antagonism. The average
American knows not only that he him
self intends to do about what Is right,
but that his average fellow-country-
man has the same intention and the
same power to make his intention ef-
fectiye. He knows, whether he be
business man. professional man, farm
er, mechanic, employer or wage-work-
er, that the welfare of each Of these
men is bound up with the welfare OF
all the others: that each is neighbor
to the other, Is actuated by the same
hopes and fears. has fundamentally
the same ideals, and that all alike
have much the same virtues and the
same faults. Our average fellow-citi-
zen Is sane and healthy man, who
believes In decency and has whole
some mind. He therefore feels an
equal scorn alike for the man Of
wealth guilty Of the mean and base
spirit Of arrogance toward those who
are less well of, and for the man Of
small means who In his turn either
feels, or seeks 10 excite in others the
feeling OF mean and base envy for
those who are better of. The two
feelings. envy and arrogance, are but
opposite sides OF the same shield, but
different developments Of the same
spirit Fundamentally. the unscrup-
nlous rich man who seeks to exploit
and oppress those who are less well
or Is in spirit not opposed TO. but
identical with, the unscrupulous poor
man who desires TO plumber and op-
press those who are better OFF The
courtier and the demagogue are but
deyelOpments Of the same tyne under