[ ill
t3bc Conservative *
Julius Sterling
IN HKYAN'S
'
Morton's CONSERVATIVE
I1E11ALF.
SERVATIVE con
tains these remarkably conservative
assertions :
"Quo gold democrat recently writing
to another gold democrat declared that
Colonel Bryan , oven when he first
sought office in Nebraska , uublushinply
proclaimed that : 'It is the money in
the office and not the honor that at
tracts me. '
"If this be true of Colonel Bryan it is
not at variance with his subsequent
career , for the colonel looks well after
the financial crops in his numerous
political fields. However , neither
Colonel Bryan himself , nor any well-
advised friend of his , will deny that he
asserted at the very beginning of his
quest , for office that money in office and
not honor in office was the object which
he sought. "
Observe with what candor Mr. Mor
ton first puts the charge in the condi
tional form and then assumes it as es
tablished. These are the familiar pro
cesses of the old tariff reformer and the
new anti-imperialist. We don't believe
there is a man in the country besides
Mr. Morton and the other gold democrat
whom ho quotes , who is capable of
swallowing this preposterous and mail
cions yarn. It nepds but the slightest
knowledge of Mr. Bryan's characteristics
and career to be convinced that ambi
tion , the honorable desire of political
honor , IB his master passion. He believes
that the attainment of that ambition
would enable him to benefit the country ,
and however much we must differ with
him as to this , wo have no sympathy
with the wretched spirit that can see
only the basest motives in a political
opponent.
Mr. Bryan knew well before he
entered into political life that he who
makes such a career his main object
must turn his back upon the great
prizes of professional life. The law
must be "no casual mistress , but a
wife. " A steady devotion to politics
leaves too little time for more than an
incidental pursuit of outside business.
Mr. Bryan could have made money if
money had been his chief aim. He
could make plenty of it now if that were
his chief aim. But his heart is in poli
tics. To sway the minds of millions of
his countrymen and to direct or con
stantly seek to direct the policies of his
country this is his chief ambition as a
pnblio man. However incapable we
may think him of the power to which
he aspires , however much , even , of the
theatrical and artificial there may be in
his temperament , we don't believe it
contains one jot of baseness. Neither
does anybody else except the Hon.
Julius Sterling Morton and his anony
mous gold democrat. New York Sun.
The Daily Sun recently published the
foregoing. THE CONSERVATIVE was
conservative in its statement as to Mr.
Bryan's averment that he wanted an
office for the money rather than the
honor it would bring. Is THE CONSER
VATIVE forced to prove its assertion ?
THE MACHINE-MAWE LEADEK.
A striking example of the machine-
made leader and machine politics is
Wm McKinley. The antipode of this
was Grover Cleveland. Were the people
ple of the United States as free and
independent as they profess to be they
would have succeeded Mr. Cleveland by
a free and independent man like Thomas
B. Reed. Reed and Cleveland are lead
ers. The people look up to them as men
of will and character ; not they to the
people for guidance. They are captains
who guide the ship of state. The com
pass is the constitution. They did not
look to the crew for guidance as does
Mc.Kinley.
Machine politics presents many phases
equally interesting and instructive. In
McKinleyism the machine much resem
bles that modern instrument of warfare ,
the disappearing or invisible cannon.
The real workers of the machine are not
visible. The machine made leader acts
as a sort of spy to overlook the country
and report to the unseen engineers. He
is directed but does not direct. He
studies the opinions of others , having
none of his own. He is a reflector and
not a generator. The machine-made
leader is dangerous because the machine
is a usurper and corrupter of individual
sovereignty. Sovereignty means the
ability to self-maintenance. McKiuley-
ism stands for slavery and subjection ou
the part of the machine-made leader
and the machine-corrupted people. Both
are death to a free and independent
manhood. In the cose of the machine-
made leader the machine runs the man
and not the man the machine. No condi
tion could be more contemptible. Is
that Americanism ? It certainly is not
"the spirit of'70. " The machine-made
leader is the scape-goat of the machine.
The machine of the republican party
much resembles the notorious "flying
Dutchman. " It is hidden in the mists
of its own corruption. The machine is
the hereditary monarchy of American
political life. It assumes "divine rights. "
The people are its subservient slaves.
No matter if the engineers are changed
the machine dieth not. The machine-
made leader may die or be deposed but
long lives the machine. The machine-
made leader resembles a weak monarch
ruled by an. unseen cabal. McKinley
resembles a plastic model moulded by
machine methods. There is nothing
imperial in the machine-made leader.
The machine is not imperialistic , having
none of the grandeur of an imperator.
The machine is a usurper of the diviu
ity that crowns the king by natural
selection. The people do not elect the
machine any more than they select the
machine-made leader. The machine is
a usurper. It robs the people of the
constitutional right to the selection of
their leaders. The machine dictates ,
not the people. The clanking of its
chains are in every state , city , village
and hamlet.
Constitutional freedom is dead. The
machine excommunicates the indepen
dent citizen. It denies manhood's right
to free selection. Americans have large
ly forfeited their "birth-right. " The
machine-made leader is the voice of the
machine and not of God. The machine
knows naught of "the image ; " or , if it
does , entirely ignores it. It is a jugger
naut crushing the divine in man , his
independence , under its ponderous
wheels. Manly citizenship has become
next to a dead letter. We have been
told that the constitution is also a "dead
letter ; " that the "spirit of ' 70" is of "no
account" and "the declaration null and
void. " True Americanism , which says
no war but in self-defense , is contempti
bly thrown overboard. The ship of
state is floundering in the seas of lawless
anarchy. A baud of piratical engineers
threaten to scuttle it. It has no captain
who commands , no captain to navigate
it by the constitutional compass. There
is mutiny ou board. The piratical engi
neers have robbed the treasury and
throttled the crew in an unconstitutional
war. Their death's head and cross bones
have usurped the place of the stars of
the freedom. The bars alone remain as
the emblem of an enslaved people. The
machine-made leader calls the people to
slaughter and death on the battlefield
when no danger threatens them. The
constitution is dragged in the dust of
corruption. The time has come to de
clare anew an independent declaration
of freedom from the machine. Down
with the boss. The country needs to
'rally round the flag" once more. The
people must select their own leaders.
Political life has become antagonistic to
the law of the survival of the fittest in
government. Modern civilization has
become a nursery for the unfit because
the people have become unfit for self-
government. According to the Ameri
can standard the engineers and the boss ,
the corrupt and corruptible are the fits.
Only an incorruptible people and incor
ruptible leaders are fit to survive. The
machine-made leader is a weak leader.
Weakness is always unfit. The machine
is strong because the people are unfit.
Indifference is a most dangerous form
of unfitness. A strong and fit people do
not need to be governed. Only the
weak and unfit require control. Govern
ment is to do the will of the people , but
when the people have no will govern
ment degenerates into usurpation and
tyranny. Anarchy is its legitimate
child.
FRANK S. BILLINGS.
Graf ton , Moss ,