'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 ?
