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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1901)
a m 5 ,mr" fiWfl? ijrv r, since the Spanish war, and now endorsed by so great an editor as Mr. Wattcrson,' is not only dangerous, but it is immoral. It is politically dangerous because it encourages the republican party to shirk responsibility for its sins and shield itself behind the pretense that it is work ing out the will of the Almighty; and it is immoral because it obliterates the distinction between right and wrong. The republican argu ment is built upon the theory that wrong done upon a large scale loses its evil character, and becomes an integral part of God's plan. It is in keeping with the tendency to call an embezzler a Napoleon of finance, provided the amount embezzled is large. Mr. Wattcrson has not in the past been in the habit of defending his position with the philosophy which he now employs. In former years ho was known as the special champion of " the star-eyed Goddess of Reform." When the democratic party went down to defeat, as it often did, he did not say: "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. lie made protection and'tho republican party, and, therefore, we must bow to both." On the con trary, he raised the democratic banner aloft and appealed time and again to the intelligence of the American people Neither has he been in the habit of excusing the crimes of individuals by attributing them to divine inspiration. When Gov. Goebel was assinatcd Mr. Wattcrson ,did not say:, " God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He prompted the assasin to kill! Wo cannot understand His all-wise purpose, but there wo were, and here we are, and there is nothing ft be dono alpput it." Instead, ho insisted that a murder had been committed and that the guilty should be brought to justice, v When the Louisville and Nashville Railroad entered the arena of politics, and began its work of corruption and intimidation, Mr. Wattcrson did not say: "God moves in a mysterious way Jlis wonders to perform. This Railroad Company has sprung into existence and must be carrying out the purposes of an' all-wise Ruler." Far from it! Ho insisted that the railroad should keep out of politics, and attend to the business for which it was organized. There is no more reason for throwing upon the Almighty the responsibility for a war of conquest, and for an imperial policy which burdens our nation with a large army and sup presses the aspirations of distant peoples for self-government, than there is to blame Him because one individual chooses to kill auother, or because a great corporation attempts to controLa state government. Questions must be decided by the applica tion of iixed and immutable principles. Jeffer son said: "I know of but one code of morality for men, whether acting singly or collectively"; and Franklin expressed the same idea, only in different language, when he said: "Justice is as strictly due between neighbor nations as between neighbor citizens. The highwayman is as much a robbor where he plunders in a gang as when single, and the nation, that wages an -unjust war is only a great gang." , If Jefferson and Franklin were' right, how The Commoner. can we delude ourselves with the doctrine of destiny which is being developed now? Yielding to a bad principle because it seems triumphant is simply an easy method of avoid ing labor and sacrifice. It is a complacent but unsound philosophy, which teaches compromise with wrong merely because the enemy is strongly entrenched. No one has a right to assume that error will be permanently victorious. If some of our citizens condemn small crimes but seem inclined to condone grand larceny and killing on. a large scale, Mr. Wattcrson should remem ber his lecture on morals and point out to the deluded ones that a nation can, no more than an individual, avoid the consequences of trans gression. If he believed the authors of the Constitution and "the wisest of our statesmen" wrong he would be justified in repudiating their counsels, but believing them right it is surprising that he should be carried away by the brutal and barbarous doctrine upon Avhich empires are built. His influence might help to restore American ideals; he cannot afford to aid in their overthrow. The position of Mr. Wattcrson would be untenable,! oven if the issue of imperialism had been the only issue presented last fall and the people had deliberately endorsed the republican policy. Suppose the campaign of 1900 hac been fought with no other question before , the people, even then it would still Jbe the duty of those who are conscientiously opposed to impcrialisni to continue the discussion, with the hope of convincing a majority of the peo . pie. But, as a matter of fact, there were a number of issues in the campaign. While im perialism was declared by the democratic con vention to be paramount, every one knows that other questions entered into the contest, and it is also well known that the republican party constantly denied that it had any thought of attacking fundamental principles, or of convert ing a republic into an empire. The indictment brought against the republican party was so severe that a great many refused to believe the party capable of such intentions as were charged. Then, too, the republicans sought cover be hind the fact that a war was in progress. They circulated misleading reports from tlfe Philip pine islands, and declared that the lives of American soldiers were imperiled by the fact that the democrats were criticising the admin istration. What the democratic party needs is not ad vice to surrender, but courage to resist the at tacks which are being made upon American doctrines and democratic principles. The campaign of 1890 was the first one in recent years when there was a radical issue be tween the parties. The republican party pre tended to want international bimetallism; when it really wanted the gold standard. It won its victory under the cover of international bimet allism and as soon as the . election was over, threw off the mask and came out for the gold standard; Many of. the democratic papers which had supported the ticket, and all of the democratic papers which had cleserted thoparty in that'ear, counseled the party to' ace'ept a de- cision, won by fraud, as conclusive of the ques tion. And for four years the leading demo cratic dailies gave no assistance whatever to the democratic party in its fight against the money power. In the campaign of 1900 the republican party practiced another fraud upon the people on the subject of imperialism, and nowMr. Wattcrson and a few other democratic editors advise the acceptance of the republican position on that question. On the trust question the republican party also practiced deception, and some of our dem ocratic papers seem willing to concede the tri umph of the trust principle. : Nothing is to be gained from a party stand point, and everything is to be lost from the standpoint of principle by Mr. Watterson's method of dealing with the questions at issue. He expects the democratic party to endorse the colonial system, and then promise to send better carpet-baggers to Manila than the re publicans have sent. Such a course .would make our party a laughing stock. No party is good enough to administer' a colonial system honestly and for the benefit of the subjects. A nation that is selfish enough to want a colony is too selfish to do justice by it, and a party demoralized enongh to endorse a colonial system would be impotent to admin ister it satisfactorily. The Commoner is pained to see so able and brilliant an editor as Mr. Wattcrson, uncon sciously lend his influence to the republican party. Far better that his voice should com mand a charge upon the republican strongholds than that it should call a retreat in the midst of a battle which must determine, not only the fate of this republic, but the fate of all lepub lics for years to come. Hanna For 1904. Several weeks ago a paper printed at Lan caster, Ohio, and called the Fairfield Comity Republican, had this to say: While in Washington, attending the inaug ural, we were much impressed with the greatness of Senator Hanna. He has been an important fac tor in the first term of William McKinley, and his wisdom will be more apparent to the American people in the second. He possesses the prescience and wisdom that are absolutely necessary in the management and solution of the momentous ques tions of the day. The best citizens of the country are beginning to regard him as the greatest man in the land, next to the president. He is a safe and conservative gentleman, and would make as safe a president as William McKinley, When the people come to know him they will esteem him as highly as c-e president. He is for the whole people, the masses as we.i as the classes. The country has nothing to fear from the brainy, wise and conservative Senator . -arcus A. Hanna. If Senator Hanna were not an Ohio man, he would be, without a doubt, the next president of the United States. The candidate nominated, for president in 1904 by the republican party will not be an Ohio man. If it could be so, it would be the Hon. Marcus A. Hanna. Senator Scott of Virginia has recently come out boldly in favor of Hie selection of MaVk ' Hanna as the standard bearer of the republican ' party in 1904. 'Senator Scott says: 'f" There is no greater leader in the republican