St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1908-10-30
What Arc You Going to Do
With Your Vote?


On the sd day of November, 1908
fourteen millions of people in these
United States will walk up to the
polls and cast their ballots and 90
per cent at least of these fourteen
millions of people throw their votes
away. They will go home with a
clear conscience and an idea that
they have exercised their inalien-
able right to express their convic-
tons and desires as to conducting OF
public affairs, that they are good
patriotic citizens and have done
their duty as good citizens should
in supporting the party and candi-
dates of their choice.
But have theyl Has the com,
mon ordinary citizen, the one who
leaves home with full Cor rather
partly fulD dinner pail in his hand
six times a week, works his eight,
10 or Ia hours a day and comes
home with that bucket empty, has
that man had the least thing TO say
in the selection of either candidate
or of the platforms of either of the
old parties'
He has had no more to say re-
garding the selection Of either Taft
or Bryan or in building the plat
forms which these two highly res
pectable aud eininently desirables
are standing upon than he would
have had, had he been citizen OF,
and living upon the planet Mars.
Not one delegate in either the Re-
publican convention which met at
Chicago or the Democratic conven-
ton that met at Denver was wage
worker. While you were busy
feeding your life into a machine,
while you were piling lumber or
driving rivets, digging in the soil
or pounding OH an anvil, there was
assembling at Denver and assem-
bling at Chicago a couple of aggre-
cations OF big business men, law
yers aud politicians, whose sole
purpose II was to secure representa-
tives who would allow them TO con-
tinue in the future as they had in
the past, to live off the labor of the
sweating, toiling, slaving millions.
And they have selected as presi'
dental and vice presidential candi-
dates for both the republican and
democratic parties, men whom they
not you-desire, and then they
give you the chance TO determine
whether republican or democratic
looters get away with the spoils.
You are the spoils of war. The
product OF your labor is what they
are after and no matter who wins
in this game of loaded politics you
lose.
Let us examine both the candi-
dates and see what they represent
aud what is behind them. Let US
see ii their pretentions OF friendship
for labor ring true. BY their fruits
you should know them,
Taft is well known as the father
of the injunction that sacred instru.
ment of despotism, aud he should
be proud OF resurrecting that same
instrument;the illegitimate offspring
of ancient Rome.
In ancient Rome before the
Christian era the consuls appointed
the Judges. These judges OH as
suming office issued and published
what were called edicts. These
edicts were written upon a tablet
and posted on the outside of the
courts and became laws, In time it
became the custom to the incoming
Judges to keep in force the edicts OF
their predecessors and to add to
and thus these laws became perpet-
ual under the name OF perpetual
edicts. This was the beginning of
Judge made laws.
Taft as a judge in the United
States brought into civilization this
same Judge made law and engrafted
into American civilization this relic
of Roman barbarism.
He simply used an edict, called
an injunction, which was merely to
say, this you may do and that you
may do and this you may not do
and that you may not do, This in
junction mind you is not to enjoin
you against breaking the law, you
are always enjoined against that
and penalty is prescribed for any
infraction of the law of the land
but it enjoins you form doing what
according to law you have per-
feet right to do. And the penalty
for violating that injunction is i'm
prisonment tor as long as the judge
wishes to imprison you and that
without lury trial for contempt OF
court. Now mind you, no man
has yet been imprisoned for over a
year on this charge, but for the rea-
son that they are afraid to show
their hands and exasperate the peo-
Pile at this time.
Taft is Federalist. That is,
Taft has no confidence in the abili-
ty of the people to govern them
selves. He believes that the veal
thy are wealthy because they are
more intelligent than what he con-
siders the common herd. He be-
l;auas that the wealthy should rule