'Cbc Conservative *
FKKK SPEECH.
Speech is ouo thing. Free speech is
quite another. Speech is a natural ,
physiological function of the normal
individual. Free speech is a license , or
right , given to each individual meinher
of a social compact by every other member -
ber , because each feels it a necessity to
his own welfare. To all but the dumb
speech may bo said to bo free. Speech
is one of those "inalienable rights" for
which the fathers declared each man to
be "endowed by his Creator" in the
declaration of independence. If speech
is a natural endowment of the Creator
why is it that so many of his sons seek
to suppress its indulgence by other sons
of the same Father ? The Creator is re
sponsible , not man , for the results. It
is not to question the wisdom of the
All-wise to endeavor to suppress , or even
to obstruct the most unlimited free
speech ? All Christians proclaim their
trust in God. Politicians stamp "in
God we trust" on national coins. Prac
tically they both show they dare not
rely on Him. They have not the trust
they publicly profess. They are the
infidels of infidels , the heretics of
heretics. They profess faith with
their lips and deny it in their acts.
Speech is the correlative physiological
function of thought. The normal man ,
under normal conditions , cannot sup
press his speech any more than he can
stop thinking. That which the indi
vidual himself cannot do , no other indi
vidual or body of individuals should
seek to force him to do. This is not say
ing that a man cannot temporarily sup
press speech if his life or prosperity dn-
pends on it , but what are the effects on
his manhood ?
If speech is a natural , "God-given
attribute , " in one souse "the divine at
tribute of man"distinguishing him from
all other animals , can any one give a
rational reason why it should not be
free as thought itself , which no man can
suppreFS ? "Why should a man be forced
to say "I did not dare speak because
they were all against me , but I kept up
a terrible thinking , " an expression only
too frequently heard when the person
comes where he "dared to speak ? " Is
not that making a coward and a liar out
of a man ?
It is thought a terrible misfortune ,
some say "a punishment from God , "
for what reason except ignorance it is
hard to discover when a child is born
dumb. Schools or asylums are built
and endowers are blessed , in the hopes
of teaching such to speak or in some
way to communicate their thoughts , but
the moment they express thought at
variance with accepted or traditional
opinion , ignorance seeks to gag them
after benevolence has done its utmost to
loosen their tongues. Consistency , thou
art a jewel known only to the wise.
Toleration.
"But I do not like his ideas , " says the
cowardly pseudo conservative. "He is
too radical , " says the timid traditional
ist. "Ho is nothing but a crank , " says
the political boss. "He is an in
fernal mugwump , " says the enslaved
and machine partisan.'He can
speak if he wants to but I will not stay
to hear it " the self-satisfied
, says - ignor
amus. "It makes a vast difference
whose ox is gored. "
In the town where the writer sojourns
there lives a man who can bo honestly
classed under all the above conditions.
THE CONSERVATIVE has been given him
frequently ; mostly for amusement. In
general it has been condemned , for the
man hates an independent thinker ,
thinks a mugwump the incarnation of
Satan , and a democrat , well , something
unmentionable. When THE CONSERVA
TIVE , containing "The Invasion of the
Silver Maggots , " was given him that
suited him , for a populist is an animal
for which this man has no place , either
in Heaven or any other place. In other
words such men have no place for any
thing but themselves. They will never
read or listen to anything opposed to
their traditionalism if they can help it.
They think themselves Americans of
Americans and jfet would deny to others
their "constitutional" and "God-given
rights. " They are inquisitors in
"spirit" and would be in fact , if they
could. They tolerate free speech only
because they must. This is the tolera
tion of necessity.
The Toleration of Tmllflerencc.
The toleration of indifference to the
truth is a far more dangerous and vastly
increasing evil to that of necessity. It
is the most common kind. So-called
"religious toleration" is the best ex
ample. It is due to a lessening of the
importance of ecclesiastical or tradi
tional religion in the public mind. It
accounts for the popularity of Inger-
sollism. Looking upon ecclesiasticism as
religion the people are fast becoming
agnostics ; that is , nothingarians.nihilists
in religion. Knowing not that religion
is not eccleaiasticisin ; knowing not that
religion is not theism ; knowing not
themselves , they know not that religion
is natural to and inseparable from all
men. It might be said all that is. Re
ligion is the consciousness of the unity
of all things. The religious man knows
his unseparableness from the whole.
He feels the grandeur of living. The
people no longer look upon ecclesias
ticism as religious truth , that is , the
truth.
A leading and nationally well-known
professor in one of our universities was
a rigid Baptist in his previous position ,
but when called to his present chair
asked , "which is the leading church ? "
Being told "the Congregational" he at
once became a "liberal Congregational-
ist. " He adapted himself to his envir
onment but at the cost of all that makes
a man a man. Such a person has no
self-respect. He is so totally without
principle as to bo unfit for a teacher of
youth no matter what his fitness in his
especial branch. The intolerant des
potism of ignorant traditionalism , and
false conservatism , is the brooding
machine of cowardice , hypocrisy and
falsehood. Such a man as that is an
atheist in the truest sense. He is with
out manhood and ignorant of religion.
Indifferent toleration is dangerous to
the moral integrity of the individual ,
the community and the state.
Oil , for men like Bayard ,
"Without reproach or fear ;
The truth upon their tongues ,
Honor on their spoar.
What the country needs is true con
servative men who dare to "stand up
and be counted" no matter what they
think ; men who have the courage of
their convictions and do not fear the
free speech of others no matter how
opposed to theirs. Only the self-con
scious weakling runs away from free
speech or desires- suppressed. The
positive bigot is safer and more to be re
spected than the intellectual coward , or
the indifferent tolerant. He stands up.
He can be counted. We know what
and where he is.
The immoral effect of the fear of free
speech cannot be overestimated. It
makes the veriest cowards and hypo
crites out of otherwise good and true
men and women. It is the curse of our
public educational system. Ecclesiasti
cism is the basest intolerant , being the
most ignorant. The boss and the politi
cal machine is the next. Both enslave
the people. Despotism thrives when
and where the people are weak. The
United States is the head center of this
kind of tyranny.
It was said of Alexander Hamilton
that he sought to give this country a
monarchial government with a presi
dent for life having power to appoint
the respective governors of the states ,
thus placing the country under one
head , as in a monarchy. The system is
here if not the monarchy. It found its
origin more in Jeffersouiaii republican-
democracy than in Harniltouian feder
alism. That is but natural. The feder
alists and their successors followed the
bad example as a necessity. Instead of
a hereditary monarchy we have the
deathless and death-dealing machine.
Death to manhood ! Death to morality !
Instead of "the king is dead , long live
the king , " we may hear that the boss is
dead , but the machine still lives.
The machine penetrates everywhere ,
robbing men and women of their con
stitutional rights to free speech. It
would stop their thinking if it could.
It reduces citizenship to autornatonism.
The boss presses the button , an enslaved
people do the rest. The appointment
of school teachers in the smallest villages
is indirectly dictated by the boss and
ruled by the machine. Not to be out
done the ecclesiastical machine also gets
in its demoralizing work. The teachers
