The daily sentinel., 1905-09-14
DEMOCRACY VS..
GENERALIZATION

At the great banquet given in
Chicago by the Jefferson club in
honor of William J. Bryan. the great
commoner, who leaves shortly on his
tour around the world, Mr.. Bryan
delivered magnificent address on
Democracy Versus Capitalization.
He said in part;
The partial adoption by some of
the Republican leaders of remedies
proposed by the Democratic party
make it opportune to draw a dis
tinction between the fundamental
principles of Democracy and the prin-
clples of those who view subjects OF
government from a different stand
point. There are two forces con
stantly at work in every nation, one
force tending to carry the govern
meut FROM the people. To go little
urthcr back, we may start with the
proposition that there are only two
theories of government one that the
government is a thing created by the
people for themselves this Is the
theory which is embodied in our
declaration of Independence. which
declares that governments derive
their just powers from the consent
of the governed. The other theory
is that governments are imposed by
hll' lew Ou llt many nNAH EONtlH~
ments rest on force. Few If any
governments now known entirely
eNemplify either nearly all, If not
all of them, are presenting a com
promise between the two theories,
but in every government there is a
tendency either in one direction or
in the other.
In monarchies the fight for self
government is often made for some
particular reform without avowing
the final purpose and without dis
cussing fundamental principles, and
some republics who attempt to re-
strict the power of the people often
make theu- fight under some mask
In this country opposition to the
rule of the people usually takes form
Of advocacy of legislation which re
moves authority from the point near
to the people to some point more re
mote to them. This tendency to re
move authority from the locality to
"A center farther way may be describ-
ed rs Capitalization. If the prin-
ciples upon which self government
rests are sound. then the people can
best govern where they are best ac-
quainted with the machinery of the
government and the propositions on
which they are to act. Every at
tempt to take authority away from
a community and vest it in some
power outside of the community
contains certain amount of in6del-
ity to the Democratic theory of gov
ernment Just now public attention
is being directed to the encroach-
ments of the great corporations on
the rights of the people and the dis
Cussion of remedies reveals the fact
that among those who really desire
effectively to restrain corporations
there are two elements, those who
desire to enlarge the scope of the fed
raj government and those who de
sire to preserve the integrity and
authority of the several states.
81 invite your attention to the sub
iect because it is likely to be the
rock upon which honest reformers
will split unless there is clear
understanding of the situation. The
Jenersonian Democrat would not
iake from the federal government
any power necessary to the perform
ance of its legitimate duties, but he
recognizes that the consolidation of
all the government at Washington
would be n menace to the safety OF
the nation and would endanger the
perpetuity of the republic.
while the advocate of centraliz-
alton Is urging legislation which
obliterates state lines and removes
the government from control of the
voters. the monopolist may on the
other hand hide behind the Demo
cratic theory of self government and
use the theory to prevent national
Legislation which may be necessary.
"The investigation of the large
life insurance companies has led to
the discussnon of national remedies
and the advocates of Capitalization
are likely TO sieze upon this agita-
tion as an excuse for legislation
which will take the business of life
insurance out of the hands of the