Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-09-05
WHERE IT IS TENDING.


fundamental branches as again university
system fads. L
WHERE IT IS TENDING.
The republicanism of the republican
party is in essential respects q moder.
ate but increasing paternalism. So
cialism is the optimism of extreme and
unenlightened paternalism, and popu-
lism is the pessimism of republican.
ism. The future IL to enlightened pa.
ternalism, and the republican party is
at present nearest to the practical
evolution of such paternalism,
though without any clear conscious
ness Of whore republtcsnism Is tend
ing.-St. Paul Herald.
The closing clause in the above quo
tation is eminently correct. The re.
publican party, meaning thereby the
masses who vote the republican ticket,
certainly are "without any clear con-
seriousness of where republicanism is
tending" If they were not, they
would not vote that ticket.
All parties have been forced by cir
cumstances to become more or less
paternalistic. They all believe that
the government should interfere in
private affairs in some manner. It is
only difference of method and de-.
gree.
The democratic party is founded on
the principle that the government
should interfere with private affairs
as little as possible, but most of them
now recognize that that ''little" must
now be a great deal more than it was
before the advent of the industrial
combines.
The republican party has always
been paternalistic, but the difficulty is
that it has too few children and too
many stepchildren. For the former it
has protection to build up for them
immense fortunes. For the latter it
has nothing but the crumbs that fall
from the overloaded tables of the pet
ted children.
It has built up giant industries by
means of the protective tariff. THIS
was we'll done; but the party became
so fond of these children that it forgot
the mass of people who were waiting
to get the benefit of national industries
in cheaper products. When the in
dustries became strong enough to
fight their own battles they were also
strong enough to control the party
that had fostered them, and instead of
getting less protective pap they got it
in larger doses.
All the time that the people have
been be airing the burdens of protection
they have been encouraged by the pro
mise of competition that would keep
the protected manufacturers from
overcharging. But the competitive
era has been ended as far as home
manufacturers are concerned by the
Introduction of the trust system.
The trusts are the children of the re-
publican party, and it is just as in
sistent in keeping on protecting them
as it was with the individual manu-
facturers. The party talks of "regu-
lating" trusts, but the only remedy it
proposes is publicity. This is not in
the interest of the masses; it makes
no difference to them whether they
know exactly what the value of the
trust plant is, as they have to pay >tri-
butte whether they have that knowledge
or not. 1t is intended to protect the
men who are rich enough Ito have
money to invest, and who do not care
to buy trust stock unless they are sure
it is not overcapitalized 50 much as to
make it impossible to bleed the peo-
pie enough to pay dividends on Che
stock. The republican party feels
very fatherly towards the men who
have money, and it's :paternalism
reaches only that far. ~s%
Its paternal instincts have led it to
give certain corporations the right to
issue moneys right which the con.
stitution gives only to congress. The
same instinct led the party to destroy
most of the greenback money, as il
was in the way for the true children O.
the party, the national banks. Fol
the same reason it removed silver
1t bonded the country for over .
billion dollars to get the greenback'
out of the way and furnish bonds Al
a basis for the bank, circulation.
deposits the funds of the government
with pet banks in order to give then
q chance to loan 1t out at heavy rate
to the stepchild ren. And it. stand
ready now to extend the privilege
of the banks IN reg ard to issuing
money, just as soon as those chill
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