Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-05
RADIcAL1sM
KIT S RALICALIsM DEAD?"

quote the question from an es-
teemed contemporary. 1t is amaz-
ing that it should be asked in the
United States, which is the most rad
ical of all countries, and has thriven
and grown great on radicalism.
When the colonies were under the
crown there were two parties. the Rad
ical and the Tory. over and over again
members of the Radical party made
demonstrations or drew up protests, or
by their actions expressed their dis
| appreciation of the existing order of
things by which young countries were
using their energy for the bene-
fit of a foreign land which,
to most of the Americans of
that day, was an illustration of
everything great and grand and noble,
in spite of the fact it had kicked out
| some of them on account of their reli-
gion, had sent out some as slaves to
work on the plantations, had banished
others because of their political beliefs,
| had made conditions so unpleasant for
some that they had been glad to take
ship and sail away from the mother
| land"
To all the American exiles radical
ism was as the breath of life. Their
| radicalism differed in kind, but it was
all radicalism. At last there came a
| day when some of the leading Rad
icals, among them such neck or moth
ing, daredevil, armed-force revolu-
tionists as George Washington and
Alexander Hamilton. resolved to unite
in radical effort to rid the country of
the alien tax collector. Grimly they
shook hands. one. with another, saying:
Boys. we must all hang together or
we will all hang separately"
Years later, in another wild outburst
of radicalism, a new generation of rev.
olutionists disputed on the seas the
hitherto unchallenged supremacy Of
Great Britain. This was exceedingly
thoughtless and radical and showed
small consideration for the feelings of
the conservative mother country. The
radicals were radical enough to win
this fight, too. The extremes to which
the radical spirit in America has led its
victims from time to time have been
shocking. And it has always won.
Many years later radicalism de-
manded a readjustment of social con-
ditions by which Black Jack of the cot
ton and tobacco belt would become, at
least by conventional fiction, "as good
as his master" A frightfully radical
fbic oh
called itself Republican" Sometimes
it was known as "Red Republican, and
sometimes as "Black Republican" but
whether a Republican was described as
''red'' or black" he was known by
the conservatives to be a ferocious and
bloodthirsty creature, who was born
into the world with his mind bent on
turning it upside down. In the course
of time the Radicals and the Conserv-
atives came to blows. and in the confu-
sion the Radicals, by master stroke,
made their victory possible.
They persuaded the most riotous Rad
ical of all, praying, swearing old con-
fiscator named Abe Lincoln, to adopt
the most radical coercive measure ever
used in the history of America by Rad
icals in order to bring the Conservatives
around to the Radical way of thinking.
He made an attack on the property of
the Conservatives, and by emancipa-
ton confiscated millions of dollars of
invested capital in the shape of negro
slaves. The Conservatives were hor-
rifed. One of the most sacred and most
time-honored of American institutions
had been injured, nay destroyed, by
the Radicals. But, at the close of the
war, the Radicals owned the United
States and dictated terms to the con-
servative brethren who had opposed
their radicalism.
And radicalism was no longer called
by that name. 1t was dubbed prog
ress," "humanitarianism" and many
other high-sounding titles. The Rad
ical party took charge of the republic
which it had conquered by force of
arms. and without much break in the
continuity the Radical party has had
charge Of the Reunited States ever
since. But when you read some Re-
publican editorials you would never
dream that the modern, conservative,
Radical-hating party, which gravely
asks: "Is Radicalism dead?" is con-
stantly illustrating the lesson that radi-
calism never dies, even although sue
cessful radicalism may forget its first
principles and settle down to a solid,
stolid defense of material interests, like
that in which the Republicanism Of to-
day, which was the Radicalism of yes
oope+or,+1tr onUoo