The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-02-23

Whftst bt at8@NAt at1AhtAt toH tAahRs
Great Is the original thinker; great
the emotional orator; but thought, how
ever wise, speech. however sublime,
avail nothing until the worker comes
into the field Rousseaus thought was
profound, but it was the worker of
the French revolution who shaped rad
ical ideas into laws and institutions.
For many a generation, England had
her democratic thinkers and her DEM
ocratic orators, but the people had no
civil liberties until the workers and
the fighters had made the creed of the
student the chart by which they moved,
the plan by which they worked and
fought So in this land. we have had
the thinkers-from Jefferson's time
down to that of Henry George; we have
had the orators, from Patrick Henry
down to-well down to John Sharp
Williams But to win, we need work
ers We need men who put principle
above party, patriotism above self.
duty above hunger for office. We want
men who are not afraid to be in the
minority. if they are right; men who
would rather hear the still, small voice
of an approving conscience than to
listen to the roar of a nation which
blindly applauds the wrong.
ITO the men who want thus to work,
the American world offers tasks wor-
thy to enlist all the strength of the
mind, all the zeal of the heart. Com
mercal slavery holds in chains tens
of thousand of the little boys and girls
of our land We are towards and be-
come parties to the crime, if we do not
heed the cry of the children, and do
our utmost to strike the letters from
their helpless limbs. Ten millions Of
our fellow citizens are in poverty, and
their condition threatens the whole
body politic--for with poverty comes
an infinity of woes not confined to the
poor. Almost exclusively the poverty
from which we suffer results from bad
laws and dishonest administration.
legislation has been helping the strong
to plumber the weak dishonest admin
istration has been aiding piratical cap
ital to exploit a submissive public;
dishonest officeholders have been CIV
ing away to greedy corporations the
most valuable property which belonged
to the people; and franchises which
should have been exercised for the ben
eft of all, are being used by the few to
rob the many.
"Again. we see everywhere that we
no longer have representative govern
ment. The people do not control. The
senate of the United States is selected
by organized capital. and obeys its
master. The federal judiciary, APP
pointed for life owing nothing to the
people, and not responsible to them, Is
1.-THE bulwark of money-bag aristOcracy.
When corporation tyranny shall have
been checked at every other point, 1t
will entrench itself behind this I'M
democratic and irresponsible power,
and it may happen that the president
and congress will assault in vain the
common enemy when it is shielded by
those judges who claim and exercise
the right to nullify legislation upon
which congress and the president have
agreed We must give back to the
people the power to initiate and vote
legislation; the right to control their
representatives; the right to remove
the Officeholder who betrayS his trust.
If we had had no other doctrine beside
that, in the last campaign-if we had
no other now-that doctrine alone
would justify us in the determination
to keep in the line of battle.
Comrades, in this, the dawn of the
new year, let us revive our energies,
strengthen our purpose, and press for
ward For my part, my motto shall
be that of Seneca's pilot when, In the
midst of the tempest, he cried out:
80, Neptune! You can save me If
you will; you can sink me if you will,
but whatever be my fate, shall hold
my rudder true"