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The Commoner
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P.--
Colonel Wetmore's Speech,
' Tho following speech was delivered
on July 4 at Columbia, Mo., by Col.
M. C. Wotmoro of St. Louis. It shows
that there is at least one man of con
siderable means who retains his con
fidence in tho people and his love for
tho early ideals of tho nation. ,Col.
Wotmoro is a business man, but no
republican oratoi delivered as appro
priate an address on tho nation's an
niversary: t'Any man who can mako a speech
on anything ought to be able to say
something on this day of all days to
the doraocracy of America. Thp demo
crats of tho country have mado the
Fourth of July what it has been in
tho past, and if it is to signify in tho
future what it has in the past, it must
surely bo done by the democratic par
ty. If in this country all men are to
be free and equal, that great conserva
tive party which laid the foundation
stone of our government must again
take charge of tho destinies of the
people Tho greatest man that this
country or any other country ever pro
duced was born one hundred and fifty
eight years ago, ovor on the red hills
of Virginia. He was not only great in
mind, and liberal in spirit, but he had
tho sublime courage of his convictions,
and was the first man of all the mil
lions who preceded him who dared
to announce the grand principle of
tho equality of man and that govern
ments derive their just powers from
the consent of the governed. For these
two great principles the democratic
party has ever contended, sometimes
for long periods with ill success, but
with an unconquerable faith in the
right they have battled,- scorning de
feat and becoming stronger In adver
sity. What a great people and what
a mighty moral power would be ours
if we would live strictly up. to the
teachings of tho Declaration of Inde
pendence, having'in view at all tiraeB
the immortal words of Jefferson, that
"all men are created equal." From
the beginning of the government that
has been democratic doctrine. What
' relation the sentiments and principles
of tho Declaration of Independence
will bear to the government of the
future time alone can tell. That we
. are drifting from its teachings at the
present time no candid man will deny.
That our law givers and the interpret
ers of our laws have" seen nt to set up
their judgments in opposition to the
plain terms of our constitution is so
plain that it can scarcely te denied by
. the most bitter partisan. Their excuse
for manifest violations is that circum
stances are different from what they
were when the constitution was
adopted; when that grandest body of
men ever assembled on earth wrote
what some liberal-minded Englishman
declared was an inspired document.
It must be plain to any thinking pei
son that if the constitution can be set
aside, then we are left as a ship with
out a rudder, tossed first in one direc
tion and then in another, until finally
it is smashed to pieces on the breakers.
If -we are to be left to the mercy of the
majority, no matter what party may
have control cf tho government, we
are at once placed under the most per
fect tyranny. It has often been said,
and I believe with truth, that there is
no monarch so severe as a majority
without something to hold in check
tho instinct of tyranny which springs
eternal in the hitman breast. If there Is
any person here who doubts the state
ment I am going to make, that the
present national administration has In
Great Stock Country.
t No hotter cattle and sheep country
in America. Cheap lands, pure running
water, ana flowing wells, fino climate, no
malaria, plenty of hay. Writo for infor
mation to
J. 0. MORROW,
O'Neill, Neb.
many cases violated the constitution,
I want to cite him one Instance as
proof that he has not kept himself
well Informed. The 13th amendment
to tho constitution of the United States
reads as follows:
"1st. Neither slavery nor involun
tary servitude, except as a punishment
fo crime, whereof the party shall have
been. duly convicted, shall exist with
in tho United States or any place sub
ject to their jurisdiction.
"2nd. Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate
legislation."
Tho Sulu Islands of the Philippine
archipelago wore transferred by Spain
to the Unted States pretty nearly three
years ago. At the time Spain ceded
by treaty those islands to the United
States slavery existed there, and al
though we claim to have had supreme
jurisdiction there, slavery still exists
and is likely to continue to exist for
years to come The Sultan of Sulu
acknowledges tho supremacy 'of the
United States in the islands, and when
General Bates concluded his treaty
and exacted allegiance of the Sultan,
it was stipulated that the rights of the
subjects of the Sultan of Sulu as' on
joyed under the rule of Spain were not
to be molested, and many of the insti
tutions to be protected. These in
cluded polygamy and slavery. I am
aware that the president mado the
statement that the stipulation, in re
gard to slavery, was not expected by
him, and that he had notified General
Bates that the treaty must be changed
in that regard. But there has never
been any change in the treaty as made
by General Bates, and no one in this
country knows that anything in the
matter has over been done; and certain
it is that slavery exists in those isl
ands tho same as it has for the past
three hundred years. A commission
appointed by the president, of which
Judge Taft was the chairman, lately
visited Sulu and had an interview with
the Sultan and many of his most influ
ential subjects, and when they made a
report of their visit they acknowledged
that slavery still existed there, and
then in the most matter of fact way
recommended as a policy of- wisdom
that no interference with the institu
tion of the Mohammedans in that
group of islands should be made for
tho present. It was some time ago
reported by parties who had visited
Sulu that some visitors of the neigh
boring islands offered $300 apiece for
certain slaves who had in some man
ner offended their pride and dignity and
thoy Wished to purchase them for the
purpose of putting them to death; and
whilst the Sultan did not accept their
offer, the refusal was probably msde
for the reason that the Sultan thought
the price was not up to the standard.
Our republican friends will not under
take to deny that the Sulu islands are
subject to the jurisdiction of the Unit
ed States, and have been for some
time. The flag of our country is there
raised in token of sovereignty, and the
star-spangled banner, that flag we have
always looked up to as a protector of
liberty and freedom, floats over Isl
ands that our friends of the adminis
tration claim belong to us, and which
Islands contain thousands upon thou
sands of people held in bondage- as
proporty. There is no escape for the
republicans, and they must shoulder
the responsibility of making our flag
protect slave-holders on land which
thoy claim as absolutely belonging to
us. Reading tho 13lh amendment of
our great Bill of Rights, there Is no
opportunity for any distinctions be
tween states and territories. Article
first of the 13th amendment, which I
have before quoted, is so plain that
there is no escaping this conclusion.
"Neither slavery nor Involuntary ser
vitude, except as a punishment for
crime, whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist with
ing the United States or any place sub
ject to their jurisdiction." So we are
I brought fact to face with the fact
that the constitution has been set
aside and that these Islands are gov
erned by tho president of the United
States, who, in fact, if not in name,
is the emperor, and can enforce any
laws or conditions that may seem to
him best, in our recently acquired pos
sessions. "Oh, the star-spangled ban
ner, long may it wave, o'er the land
of the free and the home of the brave."
There aro many instances wherein
the present administration bus set the
constitution aside for a matter of ex
pediency. How long the people of this
country will submit to the violations
of the fundamental law of their coun
try remains to be seen. That this ad
ministration is absolutely under the
domination and control of the concen
trated money power of the country,
will scarcely be denied by any intelli
gent and well informed person. In
their platform of 1900 the republicans
tried to make the country believe that
they would crush out or control the
trusts; yet we are aware of the fact
that more monetary trusts, and com
binations of manufacturing and rail
road interests, have been formed since
the election in 1900 than ever existed
before, and no matter how they may
try to deny it, the republican party
is the father of the trust system. The
trusts are organized in the interests of
the few, and against the interests of
the many. The intention of the or
ganizers is to crush out all competi
tion. This in many instances, and in
many kinds of business, ha3 already
been done. Any young man who starts
in a business career now does not have
the same opportunity that his father
had a generation ago. He may per
haps obtain, a position as clerk or
other employe of a trust, but there is a,
board over his head on which is plain
ly written: "Thus far you may climb,
but no higher." The trusts are viola
tors of the constitution, which guaran
tees to all citizens of .the United States
equal rights and privileges under the
law. They are utterly opposed to the
spirit and sentiment of the Declara
tion of Independence, which breathes
in every line the doctrine of the rights
of man to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness. Not only that, but every
organizer of a trust is a violator of .the
laws of congress, enacted especially
to prevent "combinations in restraint
of trade." I believe the Sherman act,
if honestly enforced by honest officers
of the law, would destroy every trust,
or so cripple it that it would be im
possible for it to do business. It is
asking too much of the credulity of
man, however, to believe that attor
ney generals from the great states of
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and
who have been the representatives and
legal advisers of trusts, will exhibit
great zeal in the work of driving their
benefactors out of business. But it is
constantly dinned into our ears that
the country is prosperous, and. that
all opponents of the policies of the ad
ministration are "calamity howlers."
True it is that wealth in this country
is increasing beyond the dreams of
avarice. The genius, intelligence and
skill of American workmen have
placed this country at the very head of
the industrial nations of the earth, and
the daring enterprise ot our merchants
and manufacturers have made Ameri
can products known all over the world.
The nation taken as a whole, Is pros
perous. But is that the test? If so, it
matters not if men, women and chil
dren are dying every day in the slums
of the great cities from tho countloss
diseases of poverty, while the unscrup
ulous promoters of trusts build pal
aces costing millions and revel in
unbounded luxury. Mr. Rockefeller is
reported to have said that his com
pany pays out over twenty-two mil
lions of dollars every year as wages
to its employes, and that he considers
that the best form of giving. Leaving
out the insolence of the assumption of
"giving" what has been earned as
wages, let us compare this amount,
paid out to tho tens of thousands of
employes of tho Standard Oil com
pany, with Mr. Rockefeller's personal
income from his vast wealth. This
income has been estimated at $24,
000,000 per year, or more than the to
tal sum expended as wages. It is not
that the wealth of the country fs not
increasing as rapidly as could be de
sired, nor even that the majority of
the people are not making money; but
it is tho injustice of allowing' a few
men to monopolize the profits that
should go to the many, and of protect
ing 'them in their infamous business by
the machinery of the law. Inequality
of distribution is the evil which, must
be remedied.
Many people argue from the results
of the elections in 1896 and 1900 that
the power of the trusts cannot bo
brokeli, and that wo must submit to
the inevitable. Shall we so tamc-ly
yield? To believe that the people aro
ready to bow their necks to the yoke,
and permit a chosen few to do all thir
business and all their thinking for
them, to "benevolently assimilate," in
other words, the bulk of tho national
wealth, is to lose faith in their self
governing capacity. In that event,
well might Admiral Dewey say that
the Philippines are more fit for self
government than tho Americans, for
the former at least have been fighting
for their liberties. Will the American
people surrender theirs more easily?
'But trusts are not the only menace to
the old" national life. The policy of
empire is finding support in high
places. The supreme court of tho
United States is the most august tri
bunal in the world. Its history has
been most glorious, and men whohave
worn its robes have ranked among the
greatest jurists that ever lived.!' But
this court, august as it is, is not be
yond criticism, Neither is it the court
of last resort in this country. The
people may be appealed; to.. What do
we see? Congress, created by tho
provisions of the constitution and in
which intrument its powers are de
fined and limited, may, according to a
late decision, disregard those limita
tions, and practically make and un
make constitutions. It can clothe tha
president with tho power of an em
peror, and make the executive as om
nipotent and uncontrolled as the Brit
ish parliament; except as Wcertain
rights guaranteed by tho constitution
to the citizens of the organized states,
and only "perhaps" as- to them. Tho
creature has become greater than tho
creator. Instead of resting securely
under the solemn, guarantees or a
written constitution, we are told that
we may safely trust to the discretion
of congress and the executive. That
has been the argument of kings sinco
history began. Is the conscience of
the American people benumbed? Are
they willing to see slavery . reestab
lished under American authority; to
see the guarantees of the constitution
set aside whenever the exigencies of
party policy require, 'and the whole
structure of government of the people.
by the people and for the people de-
BRAND NEW STEEL ROOFINO
Bought at Receivers' Sale.
Sheets cither flat, corru
Kated'orV" crimped. Na
tools oxcept hatchet or
hammer la needed to lay
tho roofing. Wo furntBa
free . with each, order
enoucrh nalnc to ffl TTC
cover and nails to lay. Frico jnor square,
A uquaro means 100 squaro ft. Write Tor Free Calalogne
No. 331 oa Central Merehudbe. Chicago Uoufil
Wrecking Co., West 35th and Iron Sts., Chicago, liU
mm
K bestby test-74 Years. Wk DAY CAS!I
ana wane mere salesmen. r u wuiai
Outfit fRE. STARK NURSERY, SUrt, Ha
TRENHAM the PRINTER. . Alexandria, Minn.
GINSENG
$25,000.00
FROM HALF AN ACRE:
This Is what a Missouri man made last year.
See St. Louis Republic, Aug. 12th, 1000.
Easily grown, and hardy throughout the Union,
Staple In price as Wheat and Cotton.
Price has advanced for 25 years.
Wild supply on the pdint of extermination.
For complete book all about it, send 10 conts.
Arthur 0. Thompson, Hastings Bldg. Joblin.M
..