Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1912-02-22

their delegates. The power is the peo
pies aud only the peoples
Make Popular Rule Effective.
hold IL 10 be the duty Of every
| public servant and Of every man who
| I'm public or In private life holds a posi-
ton Of leadership In thought or action
to endeavor honestly and fearlessly e
guide his fellow countrymen TO right
decisions, but l empha tically dissent
from the view that II is either wise OF
necessary to try to devise methods
which under the constitution will auto
matically prevent the people from de
Gliding for themselves what govern
mental action they deem Just and prop
er. 1t is impossible TO invent constltu
tional devices which will prevent the
popular will from being effective for
wrong without also preventing it from
being effective for right. The only safe
course TO follow in this great American
democracy is TO provide for making the
popular Judgment really effective.
Lincoln, with his clear vision, his IN
grained sense OF Justice and his spirit
Of kindly friendliness TO all, forecast
our present struggle and saw the way
out. What he said should be pondered
by capitalist and workingman alike.
He spoke as follows Il condense):
hold that while man exists It is his
duty TO improve not only his condition
but to assist in ameliorating mankind
Labor Is prior TO and independent OF cap
taI ,h,N 60, fHA tor p a,NIt al ay.1
deserves much the higher consideration
Capital has its rights. which are as worthy
of protection as any other rights. Nor
should this lead 10 a war upon property
Property is the fruit OF labor Property
is desirable, is a positive good in The
world Let not him who is houseless pull
down the house Of another. but let him
work diligently and build one for himself
thus by example assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence when built.
This last sentence characteriSticalIy
shows Lincoln's homely. kindly conf
mon sense. His is the attitude ,hat we
ought 10 take. He showed the proper
sense &C proportion in his relative eSti-
mates Of capital and labor, of human
rights and the rights of wealth.
Prosperity Must Be Distributed.
The ends of good government ia our
democracy are TO secure by genuine
popular rule high average of moral
and material well being among our
citizens II has been well said that in
the past we have paid attention only
to the accumulation OF prosperity, and
that from henceforth we must pay
equal attention to the proper distribu
ton Of prosperity. This Is true. The
only prosperity worth having IL that
which affects the mass Of the people.
We are bound to strive for the fair dis
tribution Of prosperity. But 1t be-
hooves us TO remember that there Is no
use in devising methods for the proper
distribution Of prosperity unless the
prosperity Is there TO distribute. hold
It to be our duty TO see that the wage
worker, the small producer, the ordi-
nary consumer. shall get their fair
share OF the benefit OF business pros
perity. But IL either il or ought to be
evident to every one that business has
to prosper before anybody can get any
benefit from It, Therefore l hold that
he is the real progressive, that he is
the genuine champion of the people,
who endeavors TO shape the policy alike
Of the nation and Of the several states
80 as to encourage legitimate honest
business at the same time that he wars
against all crookedness and injustice
and unfairness and tyranny In the busi-
ness world, for of course we can only
get business put on basis OF perma-
nent prosperity when the element Of In
Justice Is taken out of II. This Is the
reason why L have for so many years
insisted az regards our national gov
eminent that ii Is both futile and mis-
chile ~ous to endeavor to correct the
evils Of big business by an attempt to
restore business conditions as they
were in the middle of the last century,
before railways and telegraphs had rem
dered larger business organizations both
inevitable and desirable.
The effort to restore such conditions
and to trust for justice solely to such
proposed restoration is as foolish as If
we should attempt to arm our troops
with the flintlocks Of Washington
Continentals instead Of with modern
weapons Of precision. Flintlock legis
lation Of the kind that seeks to pro
hibit all combinations, good or bad. Is
bound to fail, and the effort, In 80 far
as 1t accomplishes anything at all,
merely means that some of the worst
combinations are not checked and that
honest business Is checked. What is
needed is, first, the recognition that
modern business conditions have come
to stay, in so far at least as these con
ditions mean that business must be
done In larger units, and then the cool
headed and resolute determination TO
Introduce an effective method of reg
ulating big corporations so as TO help
legitimate business as an incident To
thoroughly and completely safeguard
ing the interest of the people as q
whole. We are a business people. Tn
tillers Of the SOIL the wagework RS
the business men--these are the three
big and vitality important divisions o.
our population. The welfare Of ea
division is vitality necessary TO the We
fare Of the people as a whole The