The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-11-17

tablished orders, who cling conscien-
tiously to old institutions, who are
constitutionally opposed to change
and to experimenting with new ideas;
those who stand to lose position, pow
er, special privilege and wealth by the
inauguration of new orders; those
who fear the power of "the mob", are
opposed to monetary reform, scientific
regulation Of the tariff, government
ownership, and initiative, referendum
and recall; those who believe in gov
e1nment Of the masses by the few;
those who emphasize the rights of
property. In the second group-nown
as progressive, liberal, radical, insur-
gent-are the agitator, the lobbyist,
the fanatic, the highly imaginative;
the altruistic, who labor unselfish1y to
remove the misery and injustice about
them; the constitutionally discomfort
ed, who delight in changing conditions,
who are prone to speculate; those who
have no fear that unending chaos will
follow the displacement of old orders
by government experiment with new;
the enemies of special privilege; those
who believe in the growth of govern
ment, it's change, expansion and adap-
tion to meet everchanging conditions.
The progressive advocates traiff re-
vision, up or down, to meet the needs
of the time; equal suffrage for the
sexes, publicity of campaign funds,
nor the initiative, referendum and re-
call hold any terrors for him. In brief
he believes, (1) in individual freedom
the right Of the individual to direct
his own thought and action, duly re-
garding the same right in others; (2)
equality, signifying equal right and
opportunity under the law; (3) democ-
racy,-equal right to participate in
government.
In these two groups one finds long
standing acquaintanceships, acluain-
tances whose biographies contain the
history Of the race. Greece and Rome
had their aristocrats and their plebi-
ans; medieval Europe had her advo-
Gates Of the divine right Of the con-
stituted authorities and her advocates
of individual freedom; England has
never been without her conservative
and liberal, and our own count, has
had, in succession, her Tory and Patri-
OF, her Hamiltonian and Jeirersonlan,
her Clay Whig and Jacksonian demo-
crat, her conservative non-intarference
Democrat and progressive Anti-Sla p
cry. Republican and finally her eon-
.servati,e Republican and Progressive
Democracy, so characterized by the
forces dominating and dire ting their
respective party councils and activi-
ties.
These two forces-conservatism and
progressivism-are co-existent with
humanity itself. Every individual has
in him static force (that which tends
to hold him stationary and dynamic
force (that which impels him to ad-
vance), and his influence on society
is retarding or propelling in the ratio
in which these forces are combined in
his makeup. Similarly, political par
ty, which is a group of individuals
associated for the promotion Of the
public interest on some principle held
in common, consists of it's static ele-
ment and it's dynamic, and it is con-
servative or progressive just to the
degree that the one or the other re-
spectively controls the party forces.
For many years after the close of
the reconstruction period there was
little appreciable difference in policy,
or none at all, between our two old
parties, Republican or Democratic
then in office. It mattered little which
held the reins Of government. Each
had it's conservative majority and its
progressive minority. The reactionar-
les Of the two organizations, having
an efficient ally in the influence of
habit and party prejudice over the
masses of the voters Of the country,
were able to keep alive the two organ
izations, thereby holding the progress
sive sentiment Of the country divided
into two camps, while ,at the same
time, the conservative forces were
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