Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-10-06
TALKEDOF "KICKERS"
Bonaparte at Annapolis on
 Independent Politics.
"GRAFIAMENaCE TO NATIONAL LIFEa
"Under . Corrupt System All Busi>. nessWiI Suffer From Experiments In Finance, Kicker Keeps
 Party In Order.o

ANNAPOLIS, Md, Oct. 6.-The fea. ture of the Maryland Bankers associa- tion banquet last night was an address by Secretary of the Navy Charles J.; Bonaparte on The Necessity For Inde-i pendent Political Action on the Part of the Men Governing the Finances os the Country" Secretary Bonaparte said in part:
 II am speaking tonight for that class of citizens who call themselves inde- pendents but are called a number of other things by those who do not agree 1 with theln.s generally 'kickers' The I most indispensable condition of satis- factory business situation is an honest and reasonably conservative financial system.
 Under corrupt system every busi- ness man has reason to fear that his interests will suffer from experiments in finance.
 'The kicker is the only means by which an American party is kept In | order. Unless the men who control the policies of parties know that if they insult the intelligence and sense of honesty of tfie mAsses of the people too much the kicker will rise up and cast them out of power. they will treat mere resolutions and remonstrances merely as big words which break no bones'
 "Nor is the kicker necessarily outside of party. The best devotion to party is shown by the man that will refuse to follow 1t away from the beaten path of right In the last campaign was frequently asked If were a Repub- lican or an independent, and I had no hesltancy in answering that was both"
 Seeing Inicorpora juggling of wealth as revealed recently a menace to not only freedom of the individual, but al- so the life of the nation. J. Edward Simmons. president of the Fourth Na- tional bank of New York. demanded that the members of the Maryland Bankers association declare unaItera- ply for flair play" honesty and honor in the government and in corporate life
 Senate, bench. bar. municipal admin istration and business world. he said, all had been accused of betrayal of trust and of agrafting." and the charges were not without con6rma. ton.
 He demanded that the bankers flop on- those features fin corporations which have proved unjust to the in- dividual and dangerous to the state and that they punish without mercy the wholesale thief as well as the 'piI- ferer of a petty S10." His speech was received with surprise because of the vlgor of It's attack on modern methods of finance.
 Mfr Simmons spoke of the growth Of influence of the United States among the nations and of President Roose- velt's part in restoring peace in the far east Let us be thankful" he said. that American prestige has been strengthened by this noble and ener- getic champion of humanity, and let the bankers of this country award tO Theodore Roosevelt the glory which is bis due for the splendid results Of a conference which has given a new irn- petus to international trade by lifting from the commerce and finance Of the world the horrible incubus of war.
 "It surely behooves us who have climbed to SO lofty an eminence among the nations to inquire whether. while all is grandeur without. some canker worm Is not eating into the very vitals of our commonwealth: whether our so- cial and political structure is not. after all. honeycombed with dangers.
 "As look on this gathering of h. huentfal fnanciers hear voices from the east and from the west. m bodina voices. voices from the pulpit. the col lege. the bench. the bar. the prees. even the voice of the president himself. denouncing and dspioring the universal spread of selhshness ia its meznest and most repuisive form-the form of dis