Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-04-07
A FEW WORDS FOR Mr.. GRANT

J have not the honor OF an acquaint-
ance with Mr.. Grant, but am satisfied
Of his sincerity and like to see man
ever ready to defend his principles.
| wouldn't give a " tinker's dam" for a
thing that won't bear investigations
At the outset will state that | take
no issue with the Socialists, as to con-
ditions. No sane man will contend
that the social conditions in the Unit
ed States are what they ought to be in
a country 50 well adapted to the COM
fort and happiness of mankind, if half
what we read Is true.
The query is, Where rests the blame?
Is 1t the fault OF our system Of govern
ment or is it the fault of the admins
traitors OF the government? Until quite
recently our government has beel held
up as model for other nations to fol-
lOw-as the best ever devised by man,
and under its benign influence We
have prospeIed beyond the most san
because Of Christianity as many claim
but in spite Of il, for it is about the
only government on Earth that has
absolute religious tolerance. We had
a competitive system up to the incep-
ton of the Civil war. Every man had
an equal chance with every other man
in securing the necessaries of life for
himself and family. For many years
the principles of our government have
been perverted by designing dema-
gogues in the interests Of restricted
Socialists, called corporations or trusts,
who have absorbed very large per-
centage of the earnings Of others and
absolutely control a very large part OF
our legislation. There is absolutely
no chance for competition. How, in
the name of common sense, is single
individual going to compete with an
organization controlling many mil
lions? Can ordinary mortals compete
with the Standard oil trust, or the
steel trust, or the beef trust and the
hundreds OF other trusts? Then where
is your competition? 1t is relegated
to the past by restricted socialism.
Your remedy is, A piece OF the dog
to cure the bite" According to your
theory the trusts are all right only
you want it in larger doses. The REM
edy Of the Democratic party is: Re.
turn to first principles, retrace our
steps till we get back to the right
track. Ii you miss your road in trav-
cling you would naturally turn back
to where you left the track. Perfectly
simple. We have failed to heed the
advice of Jefferson, a Jackson and
Lincoln, and have let the Ship Of
State float on the shoals of monopoly,
imperialism and militarism. Which
would be the best policy, to destroy
the ship AS you propose or try TO get
her off the shoals in deep water where
it would be smooth sailing? You
"phellows" are for absolute revolution,
which means complete change in
our system. How do you know it will
be for the better? 1t has been tried
on q small scale and was failure
every time. Its dangerous expert
ment. Human nature is about the
same the world over, and don't see
how Socialism is going to change
it. You will have to have laws
the same as now and those laws
will be violated just the same as now.
To find fault with a system OF govern
men because 10 per cent. of the people
own all the wealth Of the country is
like finding fault because occasionally
a man commits murder or steals. 1t
is not the fault of the government
but the fault of the administration.
We have laws against murder and yet
many escape but that does not invali.
date the law. Absolute security has
never yet been attained and perhaps
never will be. But to return to our
subject: Competitor. What is compe-
tition? Simply desire to excel. Is
there anything wrong in that? Is it
not in accordance with general law
Of Nature? Do not all animated ma
ture compete for the mastery? Do
not the pupils of our schools compete
for the best prize; our inventors for
the best Inventions; our mechanics
for the best construction and so on
ad infnitem? Destroy competition
and you destroy every incentive for
excellence, for progress. Why man.
without competition we never could
have secured our independence or sup.
pressed the rebellion. The acquiring
OF vast sggregations of wealth is not
competition /; it is leealized confscation
and the confiscators are socialistic
combinations for the individual benefit
of the combine. The Democratic
party has remedy for these combines,
and if Billy Bryan had been elected in
'96, with Congress to back him, they
would have been relegstad to Davy
Jones' long ago, and labor would be
recognized at its par value. You are
all right on condition, but all wrong
as to the remedy. In decrying the
Democratic party you are killing the
goose that lays the golden eggs"
Yours respectfully,
T. Coo