Lower coast gazette., 1909-08-14

bat have been called insurgents in oar own
state vur v Sauu,3rs, Samuel Douglas Mclnoiy
and Murphy ]. Foster, have i:rcn called "r>pujI;-
Ic&n3.' The unfailnes5, the yirdictiyn ness VI
these appollatjons become apparent the more We
study them Senator Cnmn1in3 pf Iowa. which
state is one II he greatest gates in TIE +c1craI
union, is a good enough republican for the people
iof iowa to have elected and reelected upon tho
republican ticket as their governor, several tines,
and IN the death a few years ago of Senator ALE
son, me Of the most DISTINGUISHED republicans in
the federal union and q latent candidate for the
presidency on the republican ticket. Governor
CumTnins was made United States Senator. On
the floor Of the Senate Senator CWnmins, in tariff
matters. has been doing what he thought best fer
the people Of Iowa and for the people Of his part
of the federal union. Senator LaEol}ette Ct Wis
consin did the same thing and they have failed Of
success, while the Eastern wing Of the republican
party. together with protection democrats have
won in this tariff fight.
In 1894, when the Wilson bill became q law,
We have no doubt but that Senators Mills, Jones,
Vest and VOORHEES,. thought they We're doing the
best they could for their respective states, but (hc
first three senators just named were West OF the
Mississippi River and theW views as TO the policy
Of the country ditferde rom those Of the senators
Of the Eastern states, but with President Cleveland
on their side, they won g short lived success in
1894 and continuous defeat in tariff matters ever
since.
Thc +,r>+ hD,u,, ,f l,,,- .,4,. t. +L,. - I,,cl
self government, and that much maligntd doctrine
of states rights is one Of its features. The arti>
tcament Of war settled conclusiveiy the lack Of the
right Of secession by any Of the states Of the fed
eraI union, but in practically every contested point,
Of the rights Of the states Of the union, when re~
ached by the supreme court, has been sustained in
favor Of the states. We believe that no MAJ ever
did more harm to the federal union than President
Roosevelt, who was willing to override every con-
sItutional or legal limitation, provided he thought
his course was right. This established 9 practical
dictatorship, which, while popular, has Gone the
the country a vast injury. States rights don't
seem to be popular and the matter Of LEGAL self
government, the foundation Of democracy, is not
properly appreciated. With q country as vast as
the federal union. containing nearly . hundred
millions Of people and as large as all Central Eu-
rope, 1t would seem absurd to endeaV0r to reduce
all Of the people to one set of laws and regulations.
1t is said now that in England one cannot build a
country road in the Hebrides, or Northern Scotland,
without going to the English paciinent in London,
a thousand miles away, and securing the necessary
authority. The democratic idea in this country is
to grant to the federal union only those incidents
OF governmental control which are ~essantia! to the
establishment CT the nation, whether we write it
with a large IN" or with small a." All the
rest Of the powers are reserved to the states and
III Ike manner the states generally allow 10 their
subdivisions, such as counties and parishes, as
complete a local control as seems wise to the state
legislatures. This is the essence Of democracy.
The tendency of naturalization and, in our country,
to Capitalization in Washington, is the reverse OF
democratic, insofar as it in~terferes in any way
with or collldes with the local government in
the states.
In the instance Immediately under considera-
ton the TACT that some parties are writing down
our Louisiana senators and representatives as re-
publicans' leads US to ask where they can find
=" WV, :" ~ INV va NttIitlcl bOuElnS
McEnery, who fought for his state during the
civil war and during the period Of reconstruction?
1t was to him, to his immediate efforts that we
owed the so called Ouachita plan Of securing re-
lief, which was simply to drive Objectionable men
out of the country. The redemption of Louisiana
from carpetbag rule began in the parish, of Qua
chlta and that example was followed until every
parish in the state was free from negro control.
In like manner, Murphy J. Foster, state senator,
rose in his might IN this state in 1890 in our anti
lottery fights and led his forces on to victory. No
one would ever question Murphy }. Fosters in
trinsic democracy. And we can say the same also
of our representatives, Gen. Estopinal, a confed-
crate soldier and democratic to the core, Messrs.
Gilmore, Wyclitfe, Broussard and Pujo, are>aIl
democratic to the core, altho ugh they are protec-
tionlsts when that particular economic question is
presented to them. The reason is manifest. Their
homes, their friends and all that they hold dear
1~N =