Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-05-03

Democratic Party Only Bulwark
Against Tyranny of Cen
tralized Power.

The eventual struggle In this coun.
try will be between i%ndividualism and
socialism and the Republican party
with its persistent efforts for central.
ization, is to blame for the growth OF
the socialistic propaganda. The
democracy has always stood for the
freedom of the individual and home
rule and opposed to the paternalistit
and Hamiltonian theory that the fed.
eral government must be all powerful.
The constitutional provision that all
rights not granted by the states to the
central government are reserved to
the states and the people, is the fund.
amental doctrine of the Democratic
party. Jefferson, the apostle of the
Democrats, declared this and no true
Democrat has ever gainsayed it.
Mr.. Bryan, who has been accused
by the Republicans of socialism, shows
by his conservative views in his ar.
ticle entitled, "Individualism VS.. So.
cialism," in the Century Magazine fol-
April his W and the Democratic pc.
sition. In that article he says: much
OF the strength developed by socialism
is due to the fact that socialists advo.
cate certain reforms which individual.
ISIS also advocate. Municipal owner.
ship OF monopolies, for instance, is ad.
vocated by individualists, because it is
practically impossible to have more
than one water system in a city, and
by the latter on the general ground
that government should own all the
e of production and distribution.
Mr.. Bryan remarks that the sentiment
for municipal lighting plants is not
yet so strong, and the sentiment in
favor of public telephones and street
car lines is still less pronounced; but
the same general principles apply to
them, and individualists, without &C.
cepting the creed of socialism can ad.
vocate the extension of municipal
ownership to them" He further
shows plainly the evils to the indi.
vidual citizen of socialism when he
says: eff the government operates all
the factories, all the farms, and all the
stores, there must be superintendent
as we'll as workmen; there must be
different kinds of employment, some
more pleasant, some less pleasant"
and he asks: SIS it likely that any
set of men can distribute the work OF
fix the compensation to the satisfac.
ton of all, or even to the satisfaction
of a majority of the people?"
How great, therefore, is the gulf be.
tween the Democracy and the social.
lists, who believe in concentrating all
power in the central government,
whereas the Democrats stand for the
utmost freedom of the individual cit
izen without infringement upon the
rights of others.
The trend of Republicanism is to
rush to congress for a cure for politi-
cal evils; to overlook, and even aid,
executive usurpation over the repre-.
sentatives of the people; to favor
trusts and corporations who in return
have furnished money to c~orruptly
keep their friends in power. The
Democratic doctrine is exactly oppo.
site and is expressed by Equal rights
to all and special privileges to none"
Without the Democratic party, which
alone offers all classes equal rights,
there would be a certain h%urrying of
the unthinking to the extreme of ap-
p%ropriating all the means of produc-
ton and distribution by the national
government, so that ultimately there
would be no incentive for individual
effort. The confiscation of the proper
ty of those who, by saving or superior
ability, had secured a competence
would follow the appropriation of the
property of those who had amassed
millions.
The Democrats are striving to curb
and control by equitable laws the
trusts, the corporations and individu-
ais who are monopolists, so that the
humblest citizen shall have equal op-
portunity with them, and the first step
in that direction is to abolish the spe-
cial privileges that the Republican
party has granted it's favorites.