The Tupelo journal., 1904-08-26

lDut luAtS u NNRDctAA $500 -
themselves a blessing to be sought for; that
there Is some element Of common sense In
the old aphorism of having as little gov.
ernmental interference with the affairs OF
protection of life and liberty and property.
All of which illustrates to what heights
of palpable absurdity so-calied Intelligence
can climb!
Another error of our grandfathers In con-
nection with our foreign anairs has come
Sis. George Washington-who. however,
was nothing but a plain Virginia planter.
a sort of broad acre'd farmer and. there
fore. one Of the "basest set" not to be
thought Of In the same breath with such
platform-makers as the senator from Massa-
chusetts. or such virile history makers as
our fellow citizen of the white house
George Washington thought-and possibly
had a great deal to do with inspiring him
to think. that our wisest and best and most
patriotic foreign policy consisted in AMIGA
Bile relations with all the other nations Of
the world and entangling alliances with
none of them In other words, that our
chief duty was to keep our own house in
order, with the notion In our stupid minds
that the sum total of the rightful purpose
of all just government Is the freedom and
happiness of man. How wonderful it Is that
we prospered with that sort of a foreign
policy and maintained, withal. the respect
and good will Of the world-wonderful. in
deed, when we consider what we now know
to be accepted sound axioms Of interna-
tional policy. We know now from our fellow
citizen in the white house, that the peo-
Piles, who may expect our tolerance and
friendship, are those who maintain order
and prosperity" those who govern them.
selves well,' chose who pay their financial
Obligations" and that 1t. may become "a
duty, which we cannot ignore certainly in
the Western hemisphere" to intervene" in
som way, more or less indefinite, In the
No H. . 80. vnha IL vaA IL III
these things, now behave with decency IN
political and industrial matters" whatever
in the world iI.at may mean. bat who, by
the omission of the doing of all these things,
do 'loosen the ties which bind together civil
lized society,"" which ties, of course, God
has appointed us his mundane vice-gerent-
mechanics to tighten up again. With these
new ideas of our duty as a nation militant,
it may not be long before we are firing OF
cannon to celebrate the glorious use OF the
United States army and navy somewhere in
South America, as a constabulary TO collect
debts due to European governments. con-
c~essiOnarieS or traders. Let us live in the
hope Of that great day and, when we see
1t, let us close our eyes, gradually but tri-
umphantly cease to breathe, and as our
heart beats grow voluntarily weaker and
weaker, surrender our souls at last to the
God who gave them, with the grateful ex-
clamation Now, Lord, thy servant hath
seen it !"
What a queer, old time, childish idea was
that of our ancestors, that the president Of
the United States is simply a chief execu-
tive. and that his duty consists In executing
the laws as they are written.
l need not tell you. sir, that when you
are elected vice-president it will be one
of your duties as a sort OF heir-apparent to
the crown to train yourself and to influence
your chief-Judge Parker-in the way Of
usurping the functions of the other de-
~partments of the government. Your OPP
portunity will not be as great as that of
the president himself, but. as president of
the senate you may have some opportunity {;
the opportunity of changing the senate
rules on your own motion, or doing some
other revolutionary thing which, as a play
to the galleries, will make your good old
Welsh name famous, as that of one Of
the most spectacular and strenuous of men.
Men. sir, are not responsible for the size
Of their opportunities. They are responsible
for not taking advantage of them-some-
times for not making them, as In re Panama
republic. for instance.
1t will be your duty as part of the execu-
tive branch of the government to look down
with contempt upon the legislative branch.
You will soon learn that 1.-The cattle who
inhabit the senate chamber and the other
wing of the capitol-the lower house (Which
has been getting constantly lower and low
er every day for many years)-are but lit
tie, If any, better than the other cattle
who sent them there-the farmers and me-
chanics and doctors and preachers and mer-
cIllnIS VI lit III oLdtco. iIuttt lDC
president to feel as you do. He will be
told. perhaps, that an executive officer can
go too far and finally outrage beyond toler-
ance the feelings of these cattle. He may
be told that ANY man who has such a pro-
found contempt for the legislative branch
of this government Is unfit to be the head
of it's executive branch" What stuff, And
yet this last sentence Is an actual quota
ton from a member of congress. Tell your
chief that the man who uttered the senti-
ment was only a Southerner, and not even
a Southerner of the right sort-not an
image of God in ebony-Dut just a white
man of that coarse and brutal strain"
which turned loose upon the world George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson. John Mar
shall. Robert L. Lee, Abraham Lincoln. Gen.
George D.. Thomas. Admiral Farragut, sgd
ney Lanier and Thomas Nelson Page.
As to the common herd who sent these
Cattle to Washington. all you need TO do
with them is to talk platitudes about 'civic
righteousness and the 'strcnuousness of
life What they want to do is to sit in
the galleries and witness the play. Make
yourself the star performer according to
your opportunities.
Remember, especially, that all prosperity
amongst the people is due to government,
and that government, in taking with the
hand of taxation from one man in order
to hot the prosperity of another. has,
in some way or another, benefited and en-
riched both. Do not stop to explain how
this is possible. 1t would take too much
time. 1t might, besides that, be embarrass-
ing. If anybody is impudent enough to
insist upon knowing how 1t could possibly
come about. tell him that you are not
teaching a kindergarten and tell him, more
over. that it is your duty to do things"
and not to be bothered with any considera-
ton of whether you are doing them right
or wrong.
In conclusion, sir, pray for war-nobody
can tell what great things war will end in
when once begun. 1t might result in max
ing of your chief the first Emperor and
Lord Protector of the Western Hemisphere"
You would, of course, in that event. as heir
apparent, share his glory. l know you
would run some little risk of having him
designate his secretary of war as his sue
cessor, but l believe l would chance 1t.
Besides. peace is a tame and u~nstrenuous
thing and ''smothers out some of the finest
instincts of manhood" Shakespeare said {:
"In thy right hand carry gentle peace to
silence envious tongues" Our fathers, even
down through the times of Lincoln and
Grant, thought this sentiment sound moral
ity and wise policy for the nation as we'll
as individuals. We know that the right
policy is to tread softly and carry q big
club"
who was the fool who said, "War Is
HE'LL anyhow? My word for it, he never
saw a real war.
Remember above all things that our chief
duty as citizens, but especially as rulers, Is
not to be "weaklings' or towards" A
weakling, sir, Is a strangely domesticated
animal. who listens before he acts, and
weighs evidence before he decides; who
modestly venerates greatness in others
who actually prefers .'these piping times Of
peace to the ''pomp and circumstance Of
glorious war" Weaklings are .'men who
fear the strenuous life, the only national
life thai is really worth the liying'-the
life of Crown-C olony- Conquest-the life
Militant, in a word. We are getting to be
as a people, your committee is lead to say.
splendidiy military. A flag, brass band
and q choice assortment of epaulettes, es-
corting a secretary of war to and from the