New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-02-27
Wednesday, Feb. 81, 1907.
Entered in the postoffice at New Tim,
Minn.s as second class matter.

A hundred years and more hav,
rolled by since the death of Washing
ton and ia that time conditions hay.
changed materially. One enormous diff
ference is seen in the nature and in
tiuence OF the forces that determine GU
national and political destiny.
Then ideas ruled the hour. Toda,
ideas indeed rule the hour, but they
are the ideas of commercialism.
The growth of wealth, the prevalence
OF luxury. the massing Of large ma
terlal forces, the confounding of gair
with good citizenship-all this is il
strong contrast with the austere sim
plicity of the first men of the republic
Then the people were few in numbers
and poor in worldly possessions. To.
day there is entrenched in our great
eastern centers new and distinct
class, ponderously described by some
one as an oiigarchy of the rich.
we are not pessimistic, but we dc
not hesitate to say that the perils
which confront US today are far more
portentous than any which impended
in Washington's day and age.
When the aristocrats of money find
1T IN their hearts not only to break
the laws, but to defy the courts; when
they do not hesitate to tamper with
Legislative bodies, resorting even to
bribery, SO abhOrrent to the Father
OF his Coantry; when they find it neces-
sary to debauch the whole political
machinery Of the government, making
our partisan system the laughing
stock Of tie nations; when conditions
arise that make it possible for one
man to fix the price of commodity
like Oil without regard to the law of
supply and demand, and for another
to dictate the price of almost every
article Of human consumption; when
colossal thievery and graft can
flourish in city that once bore the
proud title of ''cradle of liberty" then
we insist that it is not pessimisn to
raise the cry of danger.
Conditions like these breed almost
universal corruption. Men sell their
votes: councilmen sell their influence,
while legislators and federal represen-
tatives turn the government from it's
legitimate channels and make of it
private asset in business.
Even the lowest classes are affected.
Mr.. Bryan tells in one of his lectures
Of an instance in New York where a
farmer who owned a quarter section of
fine land demanded dollar and a
half for his vote, and of another in
stance in West Virginia where a man
came in fourteen miles from the coun-
try the day before election to notify
the committee that if he did not get a |
dollar he would not come in to vote
the next day.
- Such cases OF corruption could be |
duplicated all over the country, and
shere:is NO use charging it up to either
one or the other Of the great political
parties. The condition, like the rotten |
state of Our aristocratic society, is |
simply one,ef the consequences of the
rule OF uncontrolled wealth.
That such conditions, unless met,
will bring dire results is only too APP
parent. Financial tyrrany provokes
discomfort, discomfort provokes radi- |
calism, and radicalism breeds revolu |
ton. Social and political rottenness
promote decay.
Therefore, it is, that the nation was
never in such dire need of return to |
Washingtonian principles as it is |
today.
The problems referred to, along with
others now agitating the public mind,
must be solved and solved soon.
They mast be solved by an appeal to
the American conscience.
The public mind must be schooled in
the nobility of the Father of his Coun-
try.
We must reproduce within ourselves
those traits which shown pre-eminent in
him-''firmness, sagacity, an unmov-
able justice, courage that never fall
tered and truth that disdained all ar
tifces''
We must insist on character in
those who represent us-a character
so fine and high and pure that men
will involuntarily pay it homage.
We must insist that no one aspire to
positions of public trust who is not
willing to emulate his great example.
The wrecking Of rotten political |
machines goes on with encouraging
frequency. In the Chicago caucuses
last week Mayor Dunno won out over