Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-01-05

Ornba Evil-Let Him Fight the
Forces of Monopoly.
The peace of %tyrannous terror, the
peace of craven weakness. the peace of
injustice. all of these should be shun-
ned"
The above quotation from the recent
message of President Roosevelt has a
striking applicability to existing do
nestle conditions. Yhe American peo-
pie are broHght face to face at the pres
ent time with perils Of n more porten-
tous character than any that have con
fronted them or their predecessors since
the formation Of the government, =
says the Boston Herald.
The last quarter of a century has
witnessed the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT in the
United States Of individual and cor
porate wealth in a way and to a de-
gree that would have been deemed i'm
possible by those who We're living and
thinking factors in this country during
the administration Of President Lin
coin. The power in this country pos
sessed by centralized wealth, in finance.
in manufacture, in commerce., in poll
tics and in society, if not a dominating
force, is fast approaching such a con
dition.
Another twenty-five years of unlm-
peGed development and the industries,
using that word in it's broadcast sense,
and with these the political control of
the country, will rest in the hands of a
small group of individuals, who, when
they agree among themselves. as self
interest will compel them to, will die
tate the policies Of state and national
governments and the methods and de-
velopments Of practically all indus
trial enterprises. The United States Of
America would continue to be a repub-
lie in name, just as the republic of
Rome maintained its name for centu-
ries after every vestige Of free govern
ment had been squeezed out Of it by a
long succession Of imperial rulers.
The only way in which this danger
can be met and overcome is by vigor-
ously facing and opposing it. If we
are to maintain, as the president says,
"the peace Of tyrannous terror, the
peace Of craven weakness, the peace of
injustice" then, indeed, we are lost.
We now have as the executive head of
our government a man of militant
mind, II who almost processes a de-
light in combat, who eXtols heroism as
perhaps the highest of virtues. His
recent message rings almost as a cali
to arms when questions of foreign
policy are considered. But surely we
have arrived at a period in the worlds
advancement when bravery exhibits
itself in other forms than in physical
combat. The nurse who sacrifices her
life in caring for and curing plague
stricken sufferers shows certainly as
much heroism as the nan who is shot
down while scaling the breastwork of
the enemy. True courage consists in
the performance of many other actions
besides those which take place accom-
panied by the music of brass bands and
the display of flags or uniforms. In
fact, it may be said hat the worlds
greatest heroes are those who fought
the good fight in silence and who sac
rifced fortune, position, health and life
to promote the aust of righteousness
and humanity when no one except him
who made it, knew that the sacrifice
had been made.
The greatest evils that confront this
country are those which are represent
ed by potent forces controlled by COM
handing personalities. To those who
will fall down and worship these are
offered the Kingdoms of the earth and
all that they contain; to those who
have leadership and power, and who op-
pose these forces, defeat and discredit
are threatened. And yet, unless in
some way this battle against concen-
trated wealth can be fought and won,
the future Of our nation is dark indeed.
1.-The peace of Injustice would con-
sist in making friends with those rep
%resenting the mammon of ~unrighteous-
ness; 1.-The peace of %tyrannous terror"
would be in not daring to strike at
these great and growing evils; 1.-The
peace of craven weakness would be in
tolerating these constantly augmenting
abuses because II feared that he did
not possess the requisite strength to
combat them and foresaw greater com
fort in easy liberation.
President Roosevelt afirms that he
wishes to combat evil, although it must
be admitted that he sees it much more
clearly at distant places, thousands Of
miles across the seas, thar in this coun-
try and closely around him at Wash
lngton. But if he has any doubt as to
the existence Of the combative power
of c%orrupting influences let him enter
upon the work Of endeavoring to insti-
tute reforms; let him approach the so
called trusts with the intent Of correct
ing their defects; let him lead in an eff
fort to revise the tariff so as to elimi-
nate some of it's manifest abuses; let
him come in hostile conflict with n
centrated capital in any form, and he
will find that If he has the desire to
fight he can satisfy his wishes to his
hearts content. More thar this, he can
and should realize that n success on
these lines won in this country will be
to our 100000 people Of infinitely
greater yalue than any victory no con