The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-24
BRILLIANT BAtQOGT CLIO .ES
 RECEPTION TO THE VISITORS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE s,

6a MY ~-~-~>->---o~~-~-->~~~~-~
 oaeeo' whether it be cotton oil or reaner Iaeiii1e banks or Knckerbocker trust Soiipdhles, public service or indnstr;o I coniolnations, all trusts which are got eeh up Tn restraint of trade. and for Inc pose or unholy gain no matter in ,n,.ae .ae shape IL may be, should be sup plesseo' Six and one-half billion of farm .piouuets and many millions of mauu- tactured stuffs, acknowledged the foun- .all or the nations wealth. must be nro-
 .seted' otherwise these great combina- .lons would make dead water in the
 ,Nehess Of what should be pure condj- .Iohs .Ir. TOT the benefit of every American
 -ney must be controlled, so dominated, 50 Kept In the straight channels of what ,s ilsnt Tn business that cess-pools would pc unknown, and the stegomyia a thing ol the past. As democrats we should seahd pledged to this. and whether it | pc the decision of kenesaw Mountain Landis, or whether it be the conduct of .he wielder of the big stick or wheth- ef u pc conditions not yet in use, but apsoiutely necessary, it becomes the duty ol every democrat of every good Ameri- can, to take everything good in the gov ernlent and make it our own The dem ocfatic party should not be a party of iiesatlons, should not be reactionary: it should be a party of live, living issues These issues should verify and maintain the peoples rights, and no matter where sfese rights are, let us seize upon them | and carry them out We are spending many millions of dollars at Panama. The Gatun dam and Culebra cut stand as monuments of American conception of American capacity This canal is being cut to facilitate business and opportunity
 It Is the demand Of commerce.; the de- mand and safety of the people. It con- nects in the shortest way the oceans of the world. and makes American com meree aavilable to every people. How much more necessary is it for the Ameri- can people to adopt the Panama health conditions into the business common wealth and make them so pure that every product and every right may go safely through
 Conditions In Kentucky.
 Think of the conditions prevailing in Kentucky today. Night riders going through the state burning and destroying as they go Every night rider is stegomyia. Back of them is the tobacco trust creating the stagnant cess-pool, chaining commerce, violating human rights in making their own price for the product of the state. Shall the night rider be suppressed? Yes, and at the same time suppress the trust which ere ated the conditions. The night rider, whether kuklux or tobacco burner, is the last protest of the white man against intolerable conditions, and it becomes the duty of the American people, of the democratic party to take hold of this great onward movement of the govern ment to suppress the unholy conditions and make the waters pure.
 Property, one of the highest evidences of civilization, should not be used to de- stroy the primal formation Of that civili- zation, the rights of man. Some business men, good people, complain of the harm full ehect on business and are demanding reaction, that the government, state and national. recede from further coer- cive or punitive action, restraining and correcting bad business propositions, com plaining of disturbance of business and dangers to commerce. Miserable be the thought. The Esau price paid for tenn porary business gained by the surrender of principle Is the Belshazzar writing on the wall of every age and every future. There should be a determined unity of every citizen that the cess-pool of busi- ness should be cleaned out-must be cleaned out, and wrongful conditions made impossible. To better accomplish this there has been some talk of suppress sion of state authorities, marshalzing the power of the federal government, the sup pression of legislative authority by pro- cess of quick injunctions and the tying up of every state function from the car rying out of sne processes of the state. These things are dangerous. Sovereign states as factors In this government, com ing in intimate contact with the citizen, should, under the supreme court. be suf- ficient to control our intrastate affairs. I have a high respect and reverence for the court, and so should every citizen. and that respect and reverence should be maintained by the courts themselves.
 Injunctions and over-awing court orders and easy contempt citations on basis of doubtful authority are dangerous to the sanctity of the ermnc and should only be exercised in the utmost extremity.
 As an evidence of how easily injunc- tive processes may be abused, l have only to cite to you that we have pro bate judge in this state who, Of his own volitfon. has declared state law unconstitutional and we are constantly expecting some similar declaration from some justice of the peace of the state. The rights of property are great and should be maintained, but the right of the citizen supercedes that of property. When the property is great. combinations as- sail the power of the state and essay to tie up all legal processes of courts, it is dangerous, and the question can but revert to that rendering of the im- mortal Nazarene, when he declared that the Sabbath was made for man. Prop erty one of the. highest evidences of civilization. should not be used to destroy the primal fountain of civilization. rights of man. If this is not true, then our whole system of government is wrong and we should simply strain every nerve and make every law to acquire property Let the lesser lights, those of justice and civil rights go to perdition.
 Combinations Among Railroads.
 The 14th amendment, made in recon struction days, asserts that property is not to be taken without due process of law The railroads of the United States combined and combined until it Is said that five men control four-fifths of them. The magnitude of this combination evi- dences that the 14th amendment was not