Conservative.
ATiLKN'S AllTICL/KS OV FAITH.
Iii a recoutly published letter Judge
Allen , formerly a United States
senator and now n district judge , pro
mulgates his present political faith.
Ho has at various periods of his unsel
fish and faultless life adhered to repub
lican doctrines and also to those of the
democracy , but , as late as last month ,
ho was a member of the propaganda of
populism , and made a confession of
faith as follows :
"In the first place , I believe in the
abolition of the issue power of national
banks. I believe the power to issue
money , gold , silver , copper and paper ,
under the constitution and the decisions
of .the supreme court , resides exclusively
in the general government ; and that
either partial or total monopoly of this
power by private citizens or private cor
porations , is a violation of one of the
fundamental principles of the govern
ment. "
This is rather vague for a jurist of
known perspicacity of thought and ex
pression. When did the government
ever make a paper a dollar ? When did
any national bank make one ? The
issued del
government promises-to-pay
lars. These promises are printed on
paper and so are the promises of the
national banks. Individual notes prom
ise to pay dollars also and likewise , as
money , mediate exchanges just as well
as the promises of either governments or
banks do , and they are , therefore , from
Allen's standpoint "a partial monopoly
of that "power to issue money" which
resides "exclusively in the general gov
ernment. " And the ancient currencies
of tobacco , coon skins , periwinkle shells
and buckskin which were used as meas
ures of value and mediators of ex
changes wore also invasions of and
"partial monopolies" of "a power resid
ing exclusively in the general govern
ment. "
The judge knows very well that man
has never created money with value in
it , and made it permanently and suc
cessfully a measure of other values , out
of anything which did not have value as
a commodity before it became money.
All paper performing the functions of
money is the promise to pay money , and
is at par , or below , as the probability of
its redemption in money holds good , in
creases or diminishes.
Allcii'rt Ittiilroad View * .
"In the next place , I believe in gov
ernment ownership of railways and
telegraphs. Eighty per cent of the gov
ernments of the world , outside of the
United States , own and operate a ma
jority of the railways in their respec
tive countries and in many they are
owned and operated exclusively by the
government , thus imposing upon the
people not to exceed one-half of the bur
den our system imposes upon our
people. "
It is strange that those who dread and
denounce a monetary system based
upon the gold standard because that
system obtains in England and other
parts of Europe should laud and advo
cate government ownership of railroads
in the United States because "eighty
per cent of the governments of the
world outside of the United States own
and operate a majority of the railways
in their respective countries. " Why
reject a monetary method when it is
used by eighty per cent of the inhabi
tants of the civilized world and adopt a
railroad ownership for the same reason ?
Transportation of passengers and
freights by rail in the United Spates is
cheaper than in any other country on
earth and better.
But as United States Senator Allen
declared that ho would not vote a dollar
lar of bonded debt upon this country
even to aid jn carrying on a war , how
then will he purchase the railroads for the
government ? The railroads have cost
much more , eleven times more , than
the present debt of the United States 1
Will Allen pay for them , in spot cash ?
Will ho confiscate them ? How will ho
have the government acquire them ?
Does government dredge harbors ,
deepen rivers and erect buildings at less
cost than private persons can do the
same kind of work ? Upon what data ,
what ascertained facts , does Judge Allen
assert that with government ownership
of railroads the burdens or cost of trans
portation in the United States would be
reduced "one-half ? "
Pennsylvania built and owned and
operated a railroad. Is it from the ex
perience and satisfactions in running
the transportation business by the Key
stone state Judge Allen is led to his
conclusions ? Michigan built two rail
roads , the Central and the Southern ;
did they give the Wolverines cheaper
rates ? THE CONSERVATIVE would bo
pleased to publish the figures and facts
whence the incredible assertion of
Judge Allen is deduced. There is so
much misinformation circulated as to
railroads and other corporations that it
will be only adding another blessing to
the long list which Judge Allen admits
ho has conferred on Nebraska if that
distinguished and erudite publicist will
demonstrate the correctness of his
knowledge as to the cheaper rates of
railroads which are operated by govern
ments in Europe.
Protection.
Acknowledging his errors when as a
republican ho praised and exalted the
faithful followers of the MoKinley
school of economists Judge Allen ex
presses his free trade views thus :
"I believe that under the constitution
the power to impose tariff taxes is lim
ited to the necessities of the government ,
economically administered , and that
every dollar of tariff taxation otherwise
imposed violates the constitution and
the true theory of a republican form of
government , in which the people are
entitled to have the burden of taxation
rest upon them as lightly as possible. "
This is very candid and inspires one
with hope for continued revisions and
amendments of the political faith of
Judge Allen , who has , in a luminous
office-holding career , evinced wonderful
versatility as a party acrobat and con
tortionist.
But the brevity of Judge Allen on the
money question is startling. He tersely
says :
"I believe in postal savings banks , j /
and in fact , in everything that is em
braced iu the St. Louis populist plat
form of 1896 , including the free and
unlimited coinage of silver and gold at
the legal ratio of sixteen parts of silver
to one part of gold. "
This is clearly in favor of the gold
standard. He measures the sixteen
ounces of silver by the standard , gold.
Everybody who declares for the ratio of
sixteen to one admits the one , the gold ,
to be the unit of value 1
As wo go to press the peace congress
is wrangling over the style of bullet to
be used hereafter in the coming wars ,
with which they can kill one another.
Our own great country is following
in the footsteps of England , and civiliz
ing the Philippines with powder and
ball. It is an hereditary trait for our
pilgrim fathers and even their descend
ants taught the Indians "Peace on
earth and good will to men" with
loaded rifles.
At the Detroit dinner given in honor
of the delegates to the tenth annual
congress of the National Society Sons of
the American Revolution , the principal
utterances were upon war by warriors
from war time , and some of the dele
gates found a little war awaiting them
upon their return for showing respect
to the war chief , who , when among his
friends made use of an expression that
was at least indiscreet , but excusable
under the provocation ho has had to
put up with from various examples of
lurid literature.
"War is hell , " and why need we have
anymore of it ? There is nothing on
earth that would care to tackle us , and
why should we interfere with any one
else ? The Cubans have no kind feeling
for us for what we have done for them
and our regulars at Montauk Point said
they would rather shoot a Cuban than
a Spaniard. Let's mind our own busi
ness. Spirit of ' 70.
The Money Power which Nebraska
will have evolved from its bumper crop
of cereals , its herds of fat cattle and its
tens of thousands of lard-yielding hogs
in 1899 will be very dangerous and dam
aging to populist offlcehuuters in the
hands of plutocratic plowmen who will
basely demand sound money when they
sell their products.