The Commoner
WILLIAfl J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
I
Veil. i. No. 51,
Lincoln, Nebraska, January 10, 1902.
$1.00 a Year
Steadfastness.
Among. the traits of character which distin
guished Andrew Jackson, no trait was more promi
nent'or more helpful to his country than his "stead
fastness. When he believed a thing, he believed it.
Where duty led, he followed without questioning.
When he decided that anything ought to be done,
he' did it, and no power could overawe him. He
did not have in his veins a single drop of "any
thing to win" blood. When Nicholas Biddlo de
clared that through the national bank he could
make and unmake congresses, Jackson replied
that that was more power than any one man ought
to have in this country, and he then began his
war against Biddle and his bank whjlch resulted
in the overthrow of that great financier and the in
stitution which he so autocratically controlled.
Others were afraid that Biddle's influence, if an
tagonized, would defeat the democratic party, but
Jackson saw in it a menace to his country and he
did not stop to consider what effect an attack on
the bank would have on himself or on his party.
He won, and we revere his name and celebrate his
day. Benton, in reviewing Jackson's work, said
that, as Cicero overthrew the conspiracy of Cata
line and saved Rome, so Jackson overthrew the
bank conspiracy and saved America.
We shall observe this day in vain if we fail to
gather from the life of Jackson inspiration and en-
Today,, thedembbratic party needs to learn "from
ths hero of New Orleans the lesson of steadfast
ness; it needs to learn from him, not only that
to be right is more important than to be suc
cessful, but that to be right is the best way to in
sure success.
A party must have principles or it can have no
claim upon public confidence; and how can it
commend its principles better than by standing by
them? Who will have faith in the creed of a
party if the party stands ready to barter away its
creed in exchange for the promise of-patronage?
A halting, hesitating, vacillating course, not only
fails to invite recruits, but it alienates and drives
away veterans.
Another reason for steadfastness is found in
the fact that no one can tell until the attempt is
made what obstacles courage can overcome. The
told and fearless triumph where the timid fail.
The victories which live and light us on to noble
deeds are the victories snatched from the jaws of
defeat by intrepid spirits who prefered death to
retreat.
There is a profound philosophy, as well as a
religious truth, in the words: "He that saveth'
his life shall lose it." The party that has no
higher purpose than to' save its own life will die
because it deserves to die; the party that. is will
ing to die, if need be, for the sake of a great cause
will live because it deserves to live.
Who says that the money power is omnipo
tent, and that the democratic party must com
promise with it or surrender to it? Not until" hu
man nature is entirely changed can the' financiers
be entrusted with the guardianship of the produc
ers of wealth; not until greed becomes just can the
money changers construct a system for them
selves which will be fair to any one else. A, top
caSfbe balanced upon the point only when it Is in
rapid motion, and so the financial structure de
signed, by Wall street for the benefit of Wall
atfeet will stand upright only so long as it can be
kept whirling; the collapse will come when the
speed is slackened.
Who says that we cannot afford to measure
strength with the great monopolies which now
arrogantly assume to control the domain of poli
tics as well as the field of industry? Not until wo
can gather good fruit from an evil tree, and figs
from thistles, can we expect a private monopoly
to bring forth public blessings. The water that
has been poured into the stocks of our great cor
porations has for the most part been drawn from
the agricultural regions, and the drouth that is
sure to follow will teach the farmers the mean
ing of the trust system.
Must we abandon the self-evident truth that
governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed? Must we accept imper
ialism as an accomplished fact and join in the
shout for blood and conquest? Our republic rests
upon solid rock and while its principles are re
vered it cannot be overthrown from within or
from without; but if all the members of all parties
joined together to erect an empire upon American
soil they would build upon the sand and the edl
fico could not endure. It is a law divine in its
origin, irresistible in its force and eternal in its
duration, that wrong-doing ultimately destroys the
wrongdoer; no nation or combination of nations
i3 strong enough to evade or resist retributive
jgfftfiT3terV " "W-.""'"1, "J t;- ii n'rv.fo,,;..! ...w..i4 ..'
Bui suppose what no one ohould assume and
what no one can prove that steadfast adherence
to democratic principles would result in repeated
defeat, is that any reason why we should abandon
those principles and adopt others, or have none
at all? Those who prefer prison fare or a servile
. subject's lot to the dangers of 'the battlefield may
condemn the Boers for continuing what some de
scribe as a hopeless struggle for independence,
but those who can measure the mighty influence
of great deeds know that the sturdy Dutchmen of
South Africa have' already conferred upon the
world a benefit that cannot be measured by
money. Their valor has brought greater secur
ity to all the republics of the earth; the bodies of
their dead have built a bulwark behind which the
friends of liberty will fight for centuries. The
fact that England has been compelled to employ
rad:a than 200,000 soldiers to subjugate less than
25,000 men in arms the fact that England has ex-'
pended more than $1,000 per Boer the per capita
wealth of the United States and has neither been
able to purchase them nor to kill them these
facts are immeasurably valuable to raple every
where who want free government for themselves
and are content that others should enjoy it also.
So, the democratic party, whether in power
or out of power, is serving mankind when it
stands steadfastly for constitutional government
and insists that that government shall be ad-,
ministered according to. the Jeffersonian maxim,
"Equal rights to all and special privileges to
none.
ih'v'
JJJ
Entangling Alliances,
The poet laureate of England has written some
verses setting forth the idea that England and the
United States should be united as against the
world and "stand or fall together." That there
should be a friendly feeling between the people of
this country and the people of England is 'perfect
ly proper. There should be a friendly feeling bc-
tweon the people of this country and the people of
all countries. But a distinction should bo drawn
between the people and the government of a na
tion. The English government is a monarchy, lim
ited, it is truo, insofar as the people havo been able
to limit it, but still a monarchy Between tho
English monarchy and tho American republic
thero can b) no sympathy. Can the American
people consent to an alliance which will bring
upon our nation eithor responsibility for wrongs
done by the English government or a share of the
punishment which much ultimately bo inflicted
upon wrong-doers whether they bo individuals or
nations?
England is sowing tho wind; she will reap a
whirlwind. This nation cannot join hands with
her without adopting her policies and Anally shar
ping in tho terrible retribution which will corns.
Washington, Jefferson, and all tho other early pa
tilots warned us against entangling alliances, oven
when those alliances might havo strengthened us.
What excuse can thero be for an alliance now,
when wo are strong enough to protect ourselves
against all comers?
We cannot afford to be "unequally yoked to
gether" with any government which recognizes
force as the basis of government or in its ad
ministration disregards tho doctrine that govern
' raents are tho creatures, not the masters, of th9
lt"llaT.lj-jlil,i . , M ii i n 7,1 iTfc
sss ...
" Equality Before the Law."
The state motto of Nebraska is "Equality Be
fore the L'aw." It is inscribed upon the stata
seal and written upon the walls of the supreme
court room. No better motto could be found. It
harmonizes with the self-evident truth that all
men are created equal and is, therefore, consistent
with tho Jeffersonian maxim, "Equal rights to all
and special privileges to none." What does the
motto mean? It can mean nothing else than
that all citizens, be they high or low, rich or
poor, great or small, stand upon a common level,
not only in contemplation of law, but also in tho
contemplation of the officers chosen by the people
to administer the government. There has been Zn
recent years an increasing tendency to disregard
this motto and to show respect to persons, not
only .in matters of legislation, but in matters con
nected with the judicial and executive branches
of tho government as well. A man who steals a
great deal often escapes with a lighter punish
ment than the man who steals a small amount;
the man who is prominent In. society or politics
often has an advantage over the man who is ob
scure or little ?r.own. We have had a recent in
btance of this in the state of Indiana, where a
prominent republican, charged with complicity in
an assassination, is protected from trial by the
rartiality of a republican governor. A more re
cent instance of it is found in tho pardon of
Joseph S. Bartley by the governor of the stata
of Nebraska. When the fusion officers took charge
.of the state government in 1896, Mr. Bartley, then
htato treasurer, was found to be a defaulter in the
sum of several hundred thousand dollars. He was
tried before a republican jude and sentenced to
twenty jears In the state penitentiary. Last
summer the governor of the state gave Mr. Bart
ley a two months' parole, and it was explained at
the time that it was done in order that he might
collect and return some of the state's money which
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