Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-08-29

And shall any fair minded man say
that. If it rebounds to the interests OF
the people OF this country that a hum
dred men should control it's business
to the good of every one, there is
| anything fallacious in the theory that
government. instead Of transferring
business 10 favored few for the ben
eft of all. should discharge that bust.
ness for the benefit Of all? | have
never been able to convince myself
that either system would not cast
pail over human action and dull the
motives which have heretofore moved
! mankind to the very loftiest endeavor
and produced what conceive to be the
most perfect system Of government
ever devised by the brain of man since
that faroff theocracy of the Jew went
down beneath his demand for the
pomp and splendor of earthly power.
And yet | do not hesitate to say that
If 1t be impossible to restore this re-
public to its ancient ideals. which | do
not believe. and must make the ulti-
mate choice between the paternalsm
or the few and the socialism of the
many. count me and my house with
the throbhing heart of humanity.
Three Grades of Citizens.
The discomfort i'll Republican ranks
Is Democratic discomfort. How much
of 1t has reached the point where.
wearied of the bad workings of a good
system. it is willing to topple that
system over and try something new
cannot prophesy But am quite sure
that, whatever badges men may wear
In America this year, whatever ballots
! they may cast and whatever battle
cries they may utter, there are but
three grades of citizens. The first
grade is made up of the favored few
their hangers-on and their beneficial res,
who think the eagle is upon the dollar
not as an emblem of liberty, but as an
emblem Of power, and who look upon
government as an annex to their bust
ness affairs These are they who in the
past years of Republican misrule have
turned the temple Of constitutional free
dom into money changers mart and
have made of the coordinate branches
OF government obeisant lackeys Of the
jingling guinea.
The second grade consists of those
whose outlook upon life has been en-
larged by the civilization under which
we live. who have been taught by the
school and the college. by the press
and the magazine, who enjoy the
good things of life. whose horizon has
been enlarged and whose capacity for
Joy and sorrow has been increased
Year after year they have seen the
boundless resources Of the richest coun-
try the sun ever shone upon pass into
the control of the favored few They
have observed that the laws have been
enacted. construed and enforced so
that, struggle as they will and act as
they may. they see before them naught
but long years Of servitude and certain
poverty at the end. Conditions have
become unbearable to them. They
hesitate to hope for rC"o"nl. 50 often
has 1t been promised to them and so
often has 1t been denied They have
reached the point where. in the strug-
gle for that which they believe to be
right, they are willing to destroy the
ideals Of the republic How many
there are of these | do not know. but
do know that special privilege in the
republic is breeding them day by day
like rabbits in warren
The third grade of citizens it pleases
me to call old fashioned constitutional
Democrats. These are they who be-
lieve that the equality of mankind
does not consist in an equality of brain
and Drawn. but In an equality where
by every man. native and foreign born,
has an inalienable right to exercise all
of his ability in getting on in the
world just so he realizes that in get
ting on he owes 1t to himself. to his
family and to the republic to see to it
that he gets on honestly and that he
does not prevent any other man from
| obtaining the reward of his honesty
and enterprise. These old fashioned
Democrats believe in making money,
| but they believe that every dollar
made should be so clean that an in
FAINT may cut its teeth upon 1t. They
hold that 1t is no part of government
! to boost one man and to boot another
and that any system of government
which enables one man to take advan-
take Of another Is not system under
/ which a Democratic condition of life
can thrive. They hold that from age
to age social and economic conditions
change, but that the great principle of
! the equality OF all men before the law
can never change while time shall last
and that the honest Interpretation of
this great principle in statutory en-
aCtment, judicial construction and eX
ecutive conduct will take from the life
of a people the mighty avarice of the
few, bind up the broken hearts of the
many and loose the bonds of all who
are in slavery to- wrong, injustice and
! ignorance
Jefferson's Individuaiism.
The individualism of Thomas Jeffer-