gfgf!! '
THECOUKJER
15
-
:
4
4
railroad system for the purpose of settling a local dispute about
wages is 'boldly asserted and practically enforced. Thus liberty is
made a cloak for license, and tyranny is substituted for the meth
ods of law and peace. It is not reasonable to suppose that this was
anticipated by the fathers as the result of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, It is a reflection upon fheir integrity ana an impeach
ment of their wisdom to say that they meant to justify such a pro
ceeding for the regulation of economic affairs and the vindication of
the idea that all men are created equal. They did not dream, it
may safely be assumed, that their utterance of a great self evident
trnth, would ever receive an interpretation so violently opposed to
its real meaning. The whole drift of their teaching was against
this extravagant view of the question of equality and other natural
rights. They were judicious and consistent statesmen, and not
mere fanatics stimulated by narrow prejudices and unworthy pas
sions. There can be no dispute about the fact that American liberty in
cludes the uight to refuse to work for reasons satisfactory to the in
dividual, or to any association of individuals. There is no serfdom
here,and no authority by which any man can be forced against his
wishes to render service for another. The labor of the citizen is his
own.to dispose of as he pleases, and he must bear the consequences
of any mistake made in that respect. Society is not responsible to
him for losses incurred by his own folly. He is free to order his own
course, but he is not free to dictate the course of others. The right
to work is quite as sacred as the right not to work. When men vol
untarily quit work, they have no right to prevent others from tak
ing their places. The boon of liberty belongs to the latter as well an
the former. There can be no discrimination in the case without a
violation of principle and the perpetration of an injury. All men
are created equal, and forever remain equal in the right to carry
out their own wishes with regard to the use or non-use of their own
means of profit and success; and whenever this right is denied or ob
structed, on any pretext or for any purpose, a crime is committed in
the name of liberty, and the value of citizenship is more or less im
paired, It will not do to contend that a combination of citizens, acting
under orders from a leader whose authority lacks all legal sanction,
has a right to arbitrarily suspend the facilities of travel and traffic,
and thereby confuse and impede all the operations of business. The
railroads are not simply private enterprises conducted for the profit
of their owners. They are agencies of public convenience, and ne
cessity, as much as is they were a. part of the machinery of the gov
ernment. The condition of civilization makes them indispensible.
They sustain such a relation to the multiplied and interdependent
interests of society that the sudden interruption of their service sig
nities direct and serious damage to all classes. Their stoppage is
equivalent to the seizure of public property and the repudiation of
the people to the use of the established means of prosperity. The
men by whom this is done claim to be actuated by good motives, to
be sure, but that does not change the character of the proceeding.
They antagonize the spirit of constitutional liberty, and introduce
"the conditions of civil war under the false pretense of redressing
grievances for which they say the laws do not provide a remedy.
The -intelligent citizen can readily understand that this involves a
vital test of the stability and efficiency of our institutions. The
danger that now confronts us was predicted long ago by the saga
cious and friendly students of our system of government. De Toc
queville admonished us more than half a century since that the
time must inevitably come, through increase of population and con
flict of domestic interests, when the want of more uniformity and
centralization in our mean? of protection against insurructionary
elements would be experienced: and Macaulay repeated the warn
ing in his celebrated letter characterizing our constitution as "all
sail and no anchor," meaning that it was well adapted to pleasant
weather, but likely to bo found dissapointing in a storm. It is true
that these forebodings have been discredited in a large degreo by
subsequent events chiefly the preservation of the Union under cir
cumstances of extremo peril; but the fact is not to bo disguised that
there is still room for gravo apprehensions, which is to say that we
cannot afford to disregard the obvious possibilities of teriffic social
convulsions that attend the solution of the labor problem, with all
of its related political and moral complications.
What wo need above everything else is a revival of the sentiment
of patriotism in a controlling sense, and as standing for an obliga
tion superior to that which is due to any party or organization. The
The last thing for an American citizen to do is to despair of the re
public, or to lose confidence in the adjusting quality of its author
ity. It is the duty of every man to keep the fact in mind that the
benefits of the government ore shared by all, and that the poorest
one among us receives from it much more than his own (tingle
strength could gain for him in its absence. There are inequali
ties, wo know, in the distribution of profits, but there is liberty of
improvement also, and great progress has certainly been made in
the conditions of general welfare and happiness. The issues thut
are impending, emphasized by such lurid suggestions, can be set
tled without resort to the bloody metaphysics of revolution. It is
for the people to assert that common Bense which has distinguished
them on previous emergencies, and to re-enforce the statesmanship
of the period with a pronounced assurance of their love of country
and their abiding faith in the potency of just and fair laws, prompt:
ly and thoroughly executed. Henuv Kiscj.
A DISCOVERY.
She stood before the cheval glass,
And tucked two roses in her bodice,
A rare and fair and radiant lass,
A wingless Love, a modern Goddess;
Tho pride of race was in her face,
A queenly grace in every movement,
A very angel gowned in lace,
From heaven sent for earth's improvement.
A glorious light leaped in her eyes
As thus she poised before the mirror,
A look of sudden glad surprise.
That brought tho skies of Adienn nearer;
She smiled she spoke the roses heard.
And blushed in manner most alarming:
"Gee-whiskers! ain't I just a bird?
I did'nt know I teas so charming!"
Fresh country milk at Central Milk Depot, 134, south 11.
Pants made to order at Hcblbdt fc Co's 118, north 11.
When the ice man comes be sure the name LINCOLN ICE CO.
is on the wagon, they have no pond ice. 1040 O Street.
We are selling all summer suitings at cost.
Jeckell Bkos., 119 North Thirteenth Street.
Have your prescriptions filled at Hawke's Pharmacy.
Highest of all in Leavening Power. Latest 17. S. Gov't Report
s-iM?'
Drft&J Baking
' V . ,(;"
Powder