AUGUST 10, 1905
Uy?c Nobrasitcx Independent
PAGE 3
good men have abandoned politics in disgust. Under the initiative
and referendum their interest would be rekindled." When they
understood that their votes would have direct influence for or
against certain measures of legislation they would become devoted
to politics and therefore to the public welfare.
The educational value of the system would be inestimable. A
minority could force the general public to consider some measure
which might seem the hobby of a school or faction. If the measure
proved too radical it would be defeated, but under any circum
stances the voters would derive great benefit from a real "cam
paign of education."
The majority would still rule, but the minority would not be
submerged. While true democracy requires that the majority shall
rule, there is always grave danger in giving the minority too little
power.. In this respect the initiative and referendum would have, a
corrective influence. A minority is frequently the saving element
in society, and a system which permits the minority to make itself
heard cannot but. improve political conditions in any 'democracy.
In the long run, of course, a democracy must place its faith in the
wisdom of the majority, and it will go well with that nation
which adopts the system best fitted to keep the majority enlightened.
"We need never , fear an error which reason is free to combat,"
said Jefferson, and the American people should not fear a system
which will give reason a free field and error no favor. ,
' WHY RUSSIA MUST HAVE PEACE
By wireless telegraph, M. Witte, the czar's chief peace pleni
potentiary, dispatched from an ocean liner a message of greeting
to the president and the American people, and winged its flight with
a preliminary "bluff" for the consumption of two nervous Japanese
diplomats who awaited anxiously the arrival of this wise and wily
Muscovite. M. WTitte argued that Russia could not and wild
not accept harsh terms of peace, and demonstrated his point by
. showing that in reality Russia has not been defeated out Manchuria
way. True, not, a single victory has been achieved by land, and
Russia's navy has been swept from the seas, but what of that ? Rus
sia is still great and strong, and Japan must beware.
But little Japan did not fear Russia's mythical "greatness and
strPTiffth" when the war began, and now that the myth is apparent
, to all the, world little Japan will enjoy a hearty laugh at the ex
pense of M. Witte. The Japanese realize that they hold the whip
hand and that the Bear must dance to suit them, or retire to its
lair and sulk in sullen impotence. M. Witte has hinted that Rus
sia will not concede all that Japan asks, and the puny czar has
waved a toy sword about his head and has declared that he will not
make a disgraceful peace.
In reply to these mock heroics, Japan will simply and quietly
ask, what will you do? This is the question that confronts Russia
if it refuses to accept peace on Japan's terms. Deprived of a
navy, Russia could never keep Vladivostok open to its own or the
world's commerce. Without a port on the Pacific, Russia's chief
motive for empire in eastern Asia would be gone. If the war is
to continue, what can Russia hope to gain? Admitting that the'
military power of Russia is superior to that of Japan, and that in
a year or two Russia might place in the field a force large enough
to expel the Japanese f rom 3VIanchuria, what advantage would this
be toRussia? Access to the sea and to the commerce of the sea
would still be denied. Russia cannot build a great navy such a
'navy as can dispute with Japan control of the sea in less than
twenty years. The war might continue for a long time in a state
of deadlock, but Japan would always have the advantage. Its com
merce would increase in a better ratio to its debts than would the
commerce of Russia to its debts. Even now Russia is breaking down
because denied funds by the world's financial institutions. Japan's
credit-is excellent and will constantly improve. What hope, there
fore, exists for Russia ?
M. Witte sees no hope in war, but he seems to have a faint
hope that he can secure some arrangement which will make Russia
and Japan allies. WTien he arrived in this country M. .Witte said:
"I need hardly point out that it is my ardent desire that the two
chivalrous foes, who first become acquainted on the field of battle,
mav have found in each other's sterling qualities motives power
ful' enough to cultivate that acquaintanceship -until it ripens into
lasting friendship." Undoubtedly an alliance which would make
Russia the dominant land power and Japan the dominant sea power
in the Orient wTould have great advantages for both nations. If
Japan should grant Russia an ice-free port on the Pacific and
Russia should turn over the destinies of China to Japan, the his
tory of the east for many centuries would be under the guidance and
control of these two world-powers. But England stands in the way.
English statesmanship was first to recognize the might of the Japa
nese, first to see the advantage of an alliance, and it is not likely
that Russia will bo able to offer inducements big enough to luro
Japan away from England.
At no time in the last two centuries has Russia boon in such'
a discouraging predicament. M. Witte knows this well, and when
lie says that Russia is anxious for peace, ho but faintly describes
the situation.
SAD DAYS FOR TARIFF TORIES
' The way of the standpatter is hard, and is getting harder
as the treasury deficit grows and the advocates of reciprocity be
come more clamorous and insistent. These be sad days for your
tariff tory. Beset on all sides by the flaming shafts of reason, he
seeks shelter from an intolerable situation. Uncle Jco Cannon'
thinks that perhaps he has found a temporary refuge where the
battered and beaten standpatters may rest a while, bind up their
wounds and prepare for happier times.
Uncle Joe is not altogether daunted by a deficit of nearly
$40,000,000. The deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30 was
$24,500,000. This was sufficient to .cause widespread alarm, but
during the first month of the current fiscal year the deficit has
been increased by $14,000,000, which is more than one-half of
the entire deficit for last year. But Uncle Joe is unafraid. Ad
ministrations may come and go ; Cleveland, the stout tariff reformer,
may be succeeded by McKinley, whose last speech was for reciprocity,
and McKinley may give place to Roosevelt, . but the tariff wall
must be maintained and guarded against those wild Tartars who
seek to break through it and destroy the tyrant Trusts. Uncle Joe
would be economical. - He has raised his voice to exhort all stand
patters that only by economy can the protective tariff be saved. If
the trusts are still to enjoy the full benefit of a tariff system, if
they are still to rob the people of many millions annually, if there
is to be no halt in. the steady march by which the rich grow richer
and the poor become more impoverished, the government must cut
down its expenses. There must be economy in all departments.
Not only must the wasteful extravagance of recent years be cur
tailed, but the government must pinch every dollar like a miser
so that the trusts may not suffer the least loss of revenue.
. But a year from now Uncle Joe Cannon -.will, realize how diffi
cult it is to conduct an imperialistic government economically. For
a long time the people of this country have practiced economy that
they might pay tariff taxes to protected trusts for the necessaries of
life, but now that the United States has become a World-power there
are great deeds to do that will require vast sums of money. The
Panama canal must be constructed; a great navy must be built
and supported; the army must be maintained at home and in our
colonies, and 85,000,000 people must be ministered to by the gen
eral government.
The government will find it almost as difficult to economize as
do the people in these days of trust prices. True, the government
will have an advantage. It can buy its supplies abroad, while the
people must buy at home. But economy will not solve the tariff
question, nor save the face of the standpatter.
Standpatter is merely a nickname, for the supporter of trust3
and vested interests that thrive by the divine right of special
privilege. The favored shipper with a free pass in one pocket and
a rebate in another is a standpatter ; the senator who sells his soul
to the corporation that he may enjoy the ease and plenty his mediocre
ability could not otherwise obtain is a standpatter; the lawyer
who for" a princely fee pilots the piratical crafts of high finance
through legal channels to safety is a standpatter; the subsidized
newspaper man who wields a facile and trenchant pen in defense
of every dishonest cause that aids the schemes of trust magnates
and financiers is a standpatter. And all the rout of standpatters
with which the nation is infested will rally to the support of Uncle
Joe.
The farmers of Nebraska will never enjoy what Attorney Gen
eral Norris Brown calls a "free harvest" until the maximum freight
rate law is enforced.
Sergius Witte has arrived in the United States to make peace
with Wall street. If he succeeds the war with Japan may
continue.
The Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways are having
an up-IIill time of it.