!-, -
SEPTEMBER 111903.'
TKe Commoner,
15
Cleveland's Democracy
Tho speech made by Mr. Bryan at
the picnic of the Cook county (Illi
nois) democracy on Saturday was,
without any particular mention of
Mr. Cleveland's name, a severe ar
raignment of that wrecker of his par
ty. The subject of Mr. Bryan's ad
dress was "The Democratic Ideal."
He argued that in the party, as in the
individual, the ideal chosen and per
manently pursued gives life and color
and purpose and character; but when
the pursuit is vacillating and incon
stantwhere the party or the individ
ual follows one ideal for a time and
abandons it to pursue another at vari
once with the first the inevitable re
sult must be the loss of public confidence.-
"A party with such an ideal is
more closely, scrutinized and more
quickly criticised than a party which
makes no such pretensions, because
the world is inclined to measure a
party by the standard which it sets up
for itself."
We suspect that, measures by such
standard, Mr. Cleveland would not
stand the test, and some of his ad
mirers might be driven-from their ad
miration of his "honesty and back
bone" into censure of his hyprocisy
and selfishness When it is remem
bered that in 1885, when Mr. Cleveland
first became the chief magistrate, It
was he who took the position that no
man should bo president for a second
term, then the patience and persistency
with which he has placed himself be
fore the public for a second, a third,
and now for' a fourth nomination,
mcana,; either .that he is chasing an
other than his original ideal, or else
that in intimating that no. man should
be entrusted with the presidency for
more than a single term, he really
meant no- other man than himself
should be. This view of Mr. Cleve
land's phenomenal modesty is
strengthened by the fact that when,
after his third nomination for that
office, he began his second term as
president, he. made it understood that
those who had held office under him
during his first term were showing un
due greediness in soliciting further
official favors under him in his second
term, and they must be discouraged;
and as a consequence many qualified
and deserving applicants for federal
offices were turned away for no other
"reason in the world than that they
had served under Mr. Cleveland dur
ing his first term. As no administra
tion can be successful and satisfac
tory unless the subordinate officers
and agencies are competent, diligent,
faithful and honest, and as Mr.
Cleveland's first administration was
admittedly a success which was due
chiefly to the work of the federal
officers under him, it does look as if
Mr. Cleveland, after his third nomi
ration and second election, was chas
ing quite a different ideal from that
which he professed to follow in 1885
when he thought the presidency should
be entrusted to no (other) man for a
second term. And In every presiden
tial year since 1892 the doughty fish
erman has posed and posed before the
American people as the one true ex
ponent of democratic gospel upon
whom the party nomination would not
be thrown away.
Mr. Bryaa said: "These distinguish
ing features of any party that de
serves to be known as a democratic
party are its faith In the people, its
i-N OLD AND WELL TRIED REMEDY.
M,WIr,'8Vow'a Soothing Braup Tor children
t.EHJS 8hula always be used for children while
imi ?Mll80Iu,.nth.Kt,m8 lll H pain, cum
!?nt.c2 an? ls the bertremedy for diarrhoea
twentr-flTe cents a bottle. It U the best.
rdesire to advance the welfare of the
people, and its willingness to have the
people control their own affairs."
Does Mr. Clsveland measure up to
this unquestioned standard of democ
racy? When in 1892 the democratic
national convention met and tho com
mittee on resolutions was in session,
the currency plank of tho platform
was under discussion. Messrs. Whit
ney and Vilas, representing Mr.
Cleveland's interests, took a hand in
shaping that plank which declared for
the coinage of both gold and silver
without charge for mintage. The lan
guage of that plank meant either
nothing at; all, or else it was a declar
ation in favor of free silver coinage.
Mr. Whitney read it over, rubbed his
hands with glee and satisfaction and
said it was "a vote-getter." And
throughout the south and the west it
was announced in the press and on
the hustings as a free silver plank.
While the people of the country un
derstood that the personal views of
Mr. Cleveland had not been in har
mony with that plank, they had some
faith then in his honesty; and sup
posing he would not accept a nomina
tion on a platform to which he would
not yield adherence, they believed that
he had subordinated his individual
views and adopted the views of the
party that had honored him with a
third nomination to the office which
no (other) man should fill for a sec
ond term. He was elected, and chief
ly .by the votes of free silver men.
But in 1896, while holding the office
to which he was elected by such
votes, and before the national demo
cratic convention of that year had met
and formulated its financial plank,
and while yet each member of the
party was theoretically free to voice
his personal opinion upon that ques
tion, we find Mr. Cleveland arbitrarily
using his power as chief executive to
close the mouths of federal officehold
ers who advocated the free coinage
of silver, and some were driven from
office "summarialy dealth with." to
use Cleveland's own expression be
cause they dared to entertain and ex
press opinions on the subject which
were at variance with the views of Mr.
Cleveland. His arbitrary and intoler
ant spirit led him even "to having cer
tain fourth-class postmasters dis
missed from office because they ox
pressed free silver views.
These things do not measure up to
the standard of democracy enunciated
by Mr. Bryan on Saturday, nor do
they establish Mr. Cleveland's honesty
of purpose and act. And if further
proof were wanting to convince the
public that Mr. Cleveland's "democ-
mcy" is the baldest sort or autocracy,
the history of his administration dur
ing the years 1893 and 189G inclusive
should furnish it
Mr. Cleveland's party loyalty is a
thing that doesn't exist, and therefore
need not be discussed. His honesty is
not made apparent by his actions, but
there is much in his record that is
absolutely inconsistent with political
honesty. His backbone is not of that
praiseworthy sort which is rigid only
in the direction of good faith and hon
est impulses, but it appears to have
been wonderfully pliant to the touch
of personal ambition and egotism. His
vertebra is much like that of a mule,
and it is strange that one animal
fchould receive praise for that quality
which causes the condemnation of the
other. New Orleans Times-Democrat
The
it be reproduced in this paper.
article is as follows:
Tho subject of taxation is receiving
a good deal of attention at present
Books dealing with it arc multiplying.
And they find a great number of read
ers. Tho vital importance of taxation
is self-evident To impose taxes in
volves the exercise of a power of sov
ereignty that aitccts tho whole com
munity rich and poor alike. The
lower of taxation has at all times
played a pre-eminent role in tho his
tory of mankind. It has induced wars
and revolutions, changes in national
policies and government, and fre
quently determined the rise and down
fall of nations. In reviewing human
history, it becomes at once apparent to
c&reful students that taxation has af
fected tho welfarj and progress of tho
world more than any other single fac
tor, that upon tho sourco of its au
thority, and the modes of its manifes
tations, have depended the life and
stability of autocracies and democ-
nicies. Years ago, the United States
supremo court laid down the dictum
that tho "power to tax involve's the
power to destroy," and therein given
us the most logical and the most con
cise explanation of the strikingly de
terminative part which this govern
mental power has always played in
the world's history. Taxation affe-ts
the economic welfara of a person di
rectly, not indirectly. It takes from
the person on whom it is Imposed a
certain portion of his income or prop
erty. It diminishes the means of his
subsistence. Whether the tax be light
or heavy, it is always felt To pay a
tax means to give up something
which belongs to us, which wo earned
and which we, therefore, value. Prop
erty is nothing else but the means of
subsistence. When we have to give up
a portion of it to tho tax-gatherer, wo
feel that we have a right to examine
the authority and right by which the
tax has been imposed, and to question
ourselves whether wo should, or can
be compelled to. nav it The riehts of
rroperty are, in a certain sense, iden
tified with the rights of person. Prop
erty denotes civilization. On it are
builded the hopes, desires and ideals
of that acquisitive animal man.
Troperty is our other self. It is the
tangible materialization of our raun
aane endeavors and ambitions. Thus
considered, property becomes as vital
to us as life itself. Shakespeare fully
realized the close relations between
life and property, when he made poor,
badgered Shylock exclaim: "You
tolce my life, when you do take tho
means whereby I live."
tor issued, or flvo time the proper
proportion if alicna had been aa honest
ta tho Englishmen.
The only Industries attributed to the
alien are boo'jnaklng, ready-mad
clothing, and cablnot-raaklng, all of
the cheapest class. It Is added that
theso goods are producod "under con
ditions aa to hours of labor and rate
of wages which are far below the
standard acceptable to British workmen."
Livid With Rage,
The Ohio democratic platform reaf
firmed the Kansas City platform, and
tho republicans who wanted Ohio dem
ocrats to repudiate are livid with rngo
about it Columbus Press.
Holding the Job,
In a lecture at Chicago university
yesterday ono of tho professors told a
class of students that tho trusts wero
as legal as the corner grocery, nnd
that to abolish them would bo to go
backward a hundred years. Evidently
tho professor likes his job and means
to hold on to it as long ns he can.
Then again, ho may bo working for a
raise in salary. Milwaukee News.
BEST FOR THE
BOWELS
If you haven't a regular, healthy movement of tn
bowels ovory day, you're Ul or vlll bo. Keep yoar
bowela opon. and bo well. Force, In tho shape of
violent physio or pill potion, U dangerous. Tfaa
moothcBt, oaslont, most perfect wny of keeptag
lha hatrflla lns.r nml n1n tn tiVa
CANDY
CATHARTIC
Taxation.
A reader of The Commoner sends a
clipping from the, "Valley Magazine,"
published at St Louis, and asks that
London Crime on the Increase,
A cablegram to tho Chicago Inter
Ocean under dato of London, August
29, says: The report of the royal com
mission on alien immigration has just
teen made public.
It was shown in the evidence that
in London 168 aliens were sent to the
lunatic asylums at the ratepayers'
cost; that 1,210 received indoor relief
and T.849 outdoor relief in 1901 or 1902.
The pauper aliens supported by tb3
London ratepayer have risen from 2,
766 in 1901 to 3,234 In 1902.
The report alludes to the "preval
ence of systematized bankruptcy
among foreigners, the chief offenders
being Germans and Russians and Rus
sian Poles." Whereas the proportion
of aliens to the whole population for
the three- years ending 1903 was 2.98
per cent, the receiving orders against
aliens issued in the metropolis repre
sented 14 per cent of the total num-
KJBrHaT VBBBBBBB BV jflBwRiBBWBBBBBB
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EAT 'EM LIKE CANDY
Pleasant, Palatable, Potent, Tasto Good,
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let on health. Address ill
aHerllnfl Remedy Cempany, CMcs t New Yoffe
KEEP YOUR BLOOD CLEW
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1 ) w , - a- -17
GAIN ACRES
by tlrfXttuttcnipT t,Ue
of lt THE llEtfClflXS
MvwipValUtxiUiiHjtu9
Karri tun. tux o4 mo&rr.
Gaul free. Htrcultt Mfc. C hat 10 Ctfllffllill. lift.
CTiRK bcrtbyTest-78 YEARS. Wen A V CASH
JMhVtt Wxxt MORE 8AI-ESMEK rAI Weekly
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fafMHonlli and Xxprnsra; noexpftrlna'o
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P. cut 2,000 feet per
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ors,8hlDgle M 111b and
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Variable Frio tl on
reod-l' ortabl
Orlndl ng Hills.
H4. ta tar Uf4 nUUpt
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VtUlA. CM MILL Mrs, CO
8( Hi, AtltaU, G.
114 LiUtt BL Twk
THE OLD LINE BANKERS LIFE
of Lincoln, Neh., can use two or tbrea
more good men in northwestern terri
tory. If there are any clerks, sales
men or traveling men would like to
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write concerning one of these, positions.
Don't take the other fellow's weight on yoar grata and live stoek. With oae ef
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fUrly b VAY'K rjCKK TK1A& Ball IlMrl.p, IatMcaaneeahla A
nan uoaspoaaa jjbmj, apxmm
tottr scale made.
S-Tea VVIAj IfewiM
O. L. CHASE MERCANTILE CO., 141 W.frta tK, Kansas i
iweiKHW, KeuoMnKliH. m Mas; to Tu J(
"" ? " yoHMr, BOHMrtiwIii Kewfer.
Civ. Ma.
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