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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1899)
'Cbe Conservative. will sufficiently appear from the follow ing extract from its leading editorial article , entitled "President Cleveland on the Silver Dollar , " published in its issue of March 1 , 1885 : "Such a continual fall in prices as we have had for ten years past kills all en terprises and restricts trade to the lim its of absolute necessity. A rise in prices , such as would follow their measurement in silver , would revive confidence and encourage trade. Men would see a prospective profit in pur chases whore they now see only a loss ; and they would buy freely where they now buy stingily. If active trade is de sirable at all , the way to create it is by adopting the silver standard and giving up all effort to maintain that of gold. " New York Times. SAM. ADAMS ON OKEKTY. Ill the light of some recent experiences of THE CONSERVATIVE regarding that keystone to the arch of freedom in the United States , free speech on the part of some of our correspondents , especially in relation to the party in power and its nominal or representative head , the fol lowing words on "liberty" and the "right of remonstrating against griev ances" by that "apostle of freedom" and "Father of the Revolution , " Sam. Adams , may not be out of place , even if he was a citizen of "Massachusetts , " though a patriot as cosmopolitan as the "rights of man" at the same time. "It is a very great mistake , " said Mr. Adams , "to imagine that the object of loyalty" equally applicable to the presi dent or the leader of a party ' 'is the authority and interest of one individual man , however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular action. This has led millions into such a degree of dependence and submission" exemplified in blind party adherence and apotheosis of leaders "that they have at length found themselves to homage the instruments of their ruin al the very time they were at work to effect it. The true object of loyalty is a good legal constitution" recommended to the consideration of blind adherents of McKinleyism "which , as it condemns every instance of oppression and lawless power , derives a certain remedy to the sufferer by allowing him to remonstrate his grievances , and pointing out meas ures of relief whose gentle arts of per suasion have lost their efficiency. Who ever , therefore , insinuates notes of govern ment contrary to the constitution" ( Me Kinley ) , "or in any degree winks a measures to suppress or even to weaken it is not a loyal man. Whoever acquaints us that we have no right to examine into the conduct of those who , though they derive their power from us to serve the common interests , make use of it to impoverish and ruin us" those who condemn free speed and would gag the press "is in a degree a rebel , to the undoubted rights and liberties of the people. He that aggravates beyond measure the well- meant failings of a warm zeal for iborty , he that leaves no stone unturned o defend and propagate the schemes of llegal power" ( McKiuley ) "cannot be esteemed a loyal man. Indeed , the reverse use of these words may possibly find authorities in some parts of the vorld , where language and sense are leluged in the torrent of arbitrary ) ower. " Sum Adams on Military Expansion. "It is a very improbable supposition ; hat any people can long remain free vith a strong military power in the very heart of their country , unless that military power is under the direction of ; hn nfinnltt ? nvfiti tlinn it is History , both ancient and modern , affords many instances of the overthrow of states and kingdoms by the power of soldiers , who were raised and maintained at first under the plausible pretense of defending those very liberties which ; hey afterwards destroyed. " ( U. S. army in Cuba and Philippines ) . "Even where there is a necessity of the military power within the land , which by the way but rarely happens , a wise and prudent people will always have a watch ful and jealous eye over it ; for the maxims and rules of the army are epsentially different from the genius of a free people , and the laws of a free government. The whole continent of America" ( Philippines ? ) "is charged by some designing men with treason and rebellion for vindicating their constitu tional and natural rights , but I must tell these men on both sides of the Atlantic" ( McKinley & Co. ) "that no other force , but that of reason and sound judgment on their part , will prevail upon us to relinquish our righteous claim. Military power is not calculated to convince the understandings of men. It may , in another part of the world , affright women and children and weak men out of their senses , but will never awe a sensible American to tamely sur render his liberty. Among the brutal herd , the strongest horns are the strong est laws , and slaves , who are always to be ranked among servile brutes , may cringe under a tyrant's brow. But to a reasonable being , I mean one who acts up to his reason , there is nothing in military achievement , any more than knight errantry , so terrifying as to in duce him to part with the choicest gift Heaven has bestowed on man. " Sum AtlaniH on Taxation. "A man's property is the fruit of his industry , and if it be taken from him on any pretense whatever , at the will of another , he cannot be said to be free , for he labors like a bond slave , not for himself , but for another. " Such was the fundamental principle which inspired and guided the fathers j&v ; ' iii and through the revolution and led to the establishment of this government , and forms the basis of the constitution. If taxing people for an entirely inde fensible war , maintaining a government in an alien country , and inaugurating a war on an innocent and weak people is not in opposition to "American prin ciples" of which we hear so much and see so little will some advocate of the president's policy" please be kind enough to inform THE CONSERVATIVE what is constitutional and in accord with those boasted principles ? "Liberty , property and no stamp duty" was the cry which led to the revolution. FRANK S. BILLINGS. Graf ton , Mass. From The Peo- FINE WRITING. . , _ . pie's Press , De cember 29,1859. "Soon the conductor will shout , all right ? interrogatively , and the driver applying a huge flaming goad , lashing the creature with steaming nostrils , away the huge leviathan will bound , with strides 'a mile long over his bur dened way , taking in where ho stops to feed , men , women , children , stables of horses and cattle , droves of hogs , and wagon load after wagon load of the pro ducts of the soil ; clothed with thunder , and emitting a cloud of flame and smoke from his fiery nostrils , he dashes on through mountain fastnesses , over jutting precipices , beneath overhanging rocks , and through deep ravines ; at a single throb of his iron muscles , clear ing streams and brakes , on ! on ! still on ! his tread shaking creation as if Niagara's cataract had broken loose from its strong walls , and was thundering over the world. The sound of his chariot wheels will soon warn the people of dis tant towns that he is coming ! Coming whither ! To Nebraska City of course. ' ' This rhapsody bears the unmistakable mark of pulpit eloquence. In a more practical vein wrote Albert D. Richard son , traveling in the West in that year ; he doubted if the emigrant would gain much in the matter of safety from the introduction of railroads "for locomo tives are quite as dangerous as Indians. " SAM ADAMS ON EXPANSION. "It remaining , therefore , that the American states are neither the pro vinces , colonies , nor children of Great Britain any more than of Holland , Ire land or Germany , and that from their very settlement Britain meant rather to milk than to suckle them , the pretended right to control them and subject them is founded in presumption of superior force rather than solid reason. * * * Declare Independence immediately. " How does this apply to Uncle Sam in the Philippines ?