Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1906-04-21

have bad government, If the law 4
ignored and crime holds high carnival
if ayarice and greed should rid,
booted and spurred" over our cher
ished institutions and freedom per
ishes from the earth forever, then tn,
blame rests upon those who fail {,
sound the alarm, as well as upon tn,
voters who fail to exercise thei
power in the lessons of patriotism
When our forefathers struck from
this country the shackles of British
tyranny. when they broke the bond:
that bound them, freedom, industrial
as well as political freedom. was theil
hope and inspiration. Popular gov
eminent was their ideal. In the feal
of God and to preserve their inalien
able right to life, liberty and the Dlr
suit of happiness, they fought the
good fight and laid the foundation foi
the greatest and freest government
that has ever appeared in the com
bined plans of genius and patriotic
craftsmanship.
In a few years thereafter, measured
by the life of states and nations
Texas inspired by the same motives
determined to be free, and by valor
and privations heretofore unsur.
passed in the history of warfare,
Texas was freed from Mexican despot-
ism and in due time took her proud
place in the sisterhood of states.
Those old heroes. those who fought
our first great battles, civil and mill
tary, gave to us imperial Texas, free
and Independent, with a government
of the people, for the people and by
the people. Let Texans remember
that we are charged with the duty of
preserving and transmitting this
sacred heritage to our children.
The greatness and the possibilities
of our State under just laws and good
government stagger the most vivid
imagination. In area, in climate in
live stock, in mineral resources, in
lumber, in fertility of soil, in quantity,
qaulity and variety of products, Texas
stands without a rival. We can if We
will be the most independent people
on the face of the earth, independent
in education. agriculture, commerce
manufacture, finance and transporta-
ton. If we do not prosper and if in
the. exercise of our sovereign will we
do not assert our power. and provide
and maintain, good government, with
proper safeguards, then the fault is
ours.
Time For Action Now at Hand.
That the time for action is at hand
no student of history will deny In sub
stance have said before, and l now
repeat, that there is cause for COM
plant and apprehension IN Texas and
throughout the country. No thought
full, patriotic citizen will deny this
statement More than one-half the
wealth of our country is owned by a
fraction of our people too small for
accurate estimate, sometimes stated
at less than one per cent Great for
tunes are growing greater, and the
poor are growing in numbers. Monop-
olies and Trusts are fourishing every
where The railroad trust, the beef
set he oil 0gt
the steel trust, and hundreds of other
trusts are preying upon the people Of
Texas and of the Union, and are thriv-
ing under the protection of political
trusts with which our country is
cursed today. They rob the people
and defy our laws. The Railroad free
pass is King; overcapitaliZed and in
solvent corporations are bleeding the
people. Incompetency and corruption
stalk in high places and Illegal com
binations, organized for plumber, inn
poverish the people and degrade the
State. Corrupt lobbyists infest the
Capitols of the States and at Wash
ington. Corporate power is the re-
cipient of governmental advantages
not accorded the citizen. With money
and favors selfish interests are domi-
mating elections and conventions.
shaping Legislation, escaping taxation
and either under the forms Of law or
in violation of law they rob labor of
its reward, and impoverlsh the pro
Queer and consumer. These condi-
tons appeal to an intelligent and lib
erty loving people and admonish them
that eternal vigilance is the price OF
liberty"
Graft.
The cOrroding influence of graft is
eating its way into the affairs of the
people Graft I'm business. graft in
politics. graft in everything, shocks
honest men the world over. Hardly
day passes that we are not RECALLED
by the newspapers with an exposure
Of either the petty CRATER or the
grand CRATER. The CRATER is a thief
The boodler is a thief These polite
names We're doubtless invented for
well appearing gentry who had been
trusted and who were caught robbing
and stealing. Machine politics is
forerunner of graft. Machine and
corporate rule breeds boodlers and
srafters. Honest government will
take the CRATER and the boodler from
high places and send them to Jail
along with the petty thief Until re-
Gently we have not heard of graft In
official 1ffa I'm Tayag Tho rbapu.