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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1899)
12 Conservative * the general welfare , and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves individ ually and our posterity individually do ordain and establish this constitution- for the United States of America. " That is the real constitution. That is the compact we are born to fulfill. It is a socialistic bond for individual pre servation. In the "articles" a govern ment is provided for , the machinery for its regulation established , and individ ual rights definitely stated. They form a part of the constitution , but the gov ernment can be overturned if it over turns itself it is usurpation the machin ery can be changed and the individual rights lessoned or enlarged , but the con stitution itself cannot be changed ex cept to the destruction of the people. It is in accord and uniform with natural law. It is infallible. That is all 1 Where then did , or can , the govern ment find authority for going to war with Spain , exposing the lives of the people , or augmenting their taxes ? Where does it find its authority for its present course in Cuba and the Philip pines ? In usurpation ! The people per mit it because of the emotional insanity , ignorance and indifference which per vade them. Governments cannot be altruistic institutions for the benefit of aliens. Governments are the directors of a trust. The constitution agreed upon by the people gives the conditions of that trust. Taxation for self-preser vation is the law of the trust and limits the taxing power of the government. The government's power over the lives of citizens is to hold them to their agree ment to stand by the common defense and general welfare , by force if neces sary. There it ends. Has the govern ment of the United States usurped the rights of the people over their lives and property , or not ? Expansion in Limited. The next and last question is the right of the government of the United States to acquire or take by force foreign terri tory under existing conditions at home ? The law can be stated succinctly and briefly. Many deny the right on as sumed constitutional grounds. They are both right and wrong. It depends on the conditions prevailing within the United States. A government may ex pand its territorial boundaries by the ac quisition of foreign territory when in ternal coudi tions over-population de maud it as a self-preserving necessity. It may do it when an adjoining nation is a constant and direct threat to the lives and property , and general welfare of its citizens. In other words , a gov ernment may extend its territory in order to prevent anarchy at home. That the expansion be ethical the expanding or aggressive party must have the abil ity to do what it undertakes without re mote danger of weakening its self-main taining ability , that is , of disturbing the welfare or safety of its people further than is necessary to the direct act of ex pansion. In other words , the expansion must bo self-preserving and not destruc tive. Such a necessity for territorial extension does not exist. Therefore , all talk of expansion is without just cause. The government has no authority over the lives and property of the people for such a purpose. It is absolutely un necessary and completely foreign to any thought of preserving the Union , or maintaining the conditions of the con stitution. When the people of the United States awake to their senses , they will declare themselves free from machine usurpa tion. Assuming their natural and con stitutional dictatorship , as strong men , they will select true and strong men to represent them dishonesty is always weak. The government will again be constitutional. As from the beginning the Union has been for individual pre servation so to the end it must be the intelligent conduct of the government on that principle as writ in the constitution by the fathers and accepted by their posterity. To uphold the constitution is as neces sary to us as it was to the fathers to or dain and establish it. Powerful as they seeni the machines are rotten. The parties are corrupt. We , the people , must "form a more perfect Union. " We must organize a new party. Amer icanism must be born again. The slo gans of liberty , the battle-cries of free dom , must be no representation with out taxation. No sacrifice of life except in the common defense or to maintain domestic tranquillity. No taxation ex cept to uphold and develop the general welfare. Constitutionalism , not despot ism. Legality , not anarchy. FRANK S. BILLINGS , M. D. Graf ton , Mass. ROOSEVELT'S TKIP. Governor Roosevelt was carried from Chicago to Las Vegas in the private car of Paul Morton , vice-president of the Atchison , Topeka and Santa Fe. Mr. Morton is a stalwart six-footer , the sou of J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City. He began his railway service under Tom Potter on the O. B. & Q. , and when he quit that road was its general passenger agent. J. Sterling Morton has several sous and they are all success ful business men ; all are managing great enterprises. The father is in re tirement in the midst of homo surround ings at Nebraska City and for pastime is editing a paper called THE CONSERVA TIVE , which possibly would better be called The Radical. In a late number he scored Senator Thurston for the sick ening sentimentality contained in the senator's gushing poetry recently read at a down East social function. Mr. Morton , sr. , is an admirer of Colonel Roosevelt and it could easily be guessed that the rough rider is also a favorite with the sou. Mr. Morton was the prince of hosts in his private car. His manner is modest and unpretentious but he knows the railroad business from end to end. The Santa Fe system was reor ganized and taken out of the hands of the receiver in 1896 and since that time ten millions of dollars have been ex pended in betterments. It is rock bal lasted almost from Kansas City to Los Angeles. All along the line there are evidences of liberal expenditures in im provements. Everything has been touched up and it can well be guessed that the new Santa Fe company is com posed of business men who know how to manage a railroad. The passenger department is at Topeka , while the exe cutive officers have their headquarters in Chicago. The company pays the in terest on all its bonds and dividends on all its stocks. The gross earnings for the year just ending will be forty mil lions of dollars. The European stock holders take much interest in the Santa Fe and are pleased with their invest ment. It is probably the only railroad in America that bears the name of a town off its main line. The old town of Santa Fe , the picturesque capital of the territory , is located many miles from the main line on a branch , leaving the main line at Lamy , some distance west of Las Vegas. The railroad on the stock exchange in New York is called the "Atchisou. " In Europe it is always of the " " while ways spoken as "Topeka , the company advertises itself as the "Santa Fe Line. " Together the entire name is made use of. The road enjoys more exclusive territory than any other line in existence and it is surprising that syndicates were not falling over each other to secure the property when it was on the market. No other railroad has so many branch lines , every rich valley offering a temptation to build. It is a road that is in close touch with the people , anxious to aid in the general development. Des Moiues Capital. CONSERVATISMS. Self-lovo is the key to all benevolence. The ideal is invariably unreal ; hence false. The unfit and the imperfect are of the same nature. Ignorance proclaims self-sacrifice to be a virtue. The more intelligent the self-love the greater the self-sacrifice. Self-preservation and not growth is the inevitable necessity of individual ized life. Benevolence may bo beneficial to in dividuals but is an expensive vanity to the race. Benevolence is a balance by which is weighed personal vanity or superstitious cowardice. Growth is but one condition or mani festation of life. The cardinal condi- Jvt
