*
Che Conservative.
VOL. II. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , MAY 31 , 1900. E& & < 47-
WEEKLY.
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THE OONSEUVA-
GOVJSKNM1SNT. 7 , . , . . .
TIVE publishes this
week an able article from the pen of a
Keutuckian , showing the decline in the
intellectual fiber of the public men of
the blue grass state and the resultant
retrogradation of the government. The
denlorable disrespect for law. the evident
inclination to maintain political suprem
acy regardless of right or justice , is the
logical outcome of the abandonment of
wise counsel and safe and tried leader
ship.
ship.A
A government , to be just , should be
for tha benefit of all the people. Such a
government cannot come from the
feeblest intellects but requires the
directing force of the best. Government
cannot bo judiciously administered nor
can public questions be wisely de
termined except by careful study and
sober thought. The latter , especially
with the qualifying adjective , has not
boon greatly in. evidence in Kentucky
during the lost few years. It is hopeless
to expect good government from those
whoso minds have not been trained to
think but whose education , after the
manner popular in Nebraska just now ,
lias been limited to a development of the
powers of articulation together with
more amplified instruction in the
manipulation of a shot gnu.
The demagogue , who tickles the popu
lar ear with flattering phrases and
, . , , . piouslyprates ,
The Voice ot , , . . „ , ,
thePooXle. th6 V01C0 Of the
people is the voice
of God , " may win wild and boisterous
applause and be unanimously voted a
"good fellow , " but ho is not a safe man
to entrust with the responsibilities o1
government. , "Vox populi vex Dei"
affords an ideal topic for the ambitions
orntor who wishes to evoke the screams
of the national bird , but it is not a safe
jriuoiple upon which to maintain a re
public. The voice of the majority at a
certain specific time is not always right.
Too often it is founded upon passion
and prejudice and not upon reason.
That leadership is safest and best pro
motes a country's good that thinks
rather than talks , that is undisturbed by
the popular will of the moment but is
guided by sound logic and reason , that
looks to the ultimate public good rather
than to the immediate political future.
Such a leadership is typical of the best
courage. It requires stern qualities of
manhood to stand by honest convictions
when opposed to the popular will.
The "trouble" in Kentucky demon
strates the folly of deserting such men
as Lindsay and Carlisle and listening to
the siren voices of Goebel and "Colonel"
Chinn. A bitter experience has proven
that the former leadership , although un
popular at the time , would have been
the best for Kentucky. What is true of
Kentucky democracy applies with equal
force to national democracy. Had not
the party in 1896 abandoned the leader
ship that had contributed to give it
success and prestige , it would today be
entering upon a victorious campaign
instead of becoming a populistic annex.
One of the fund-
PARTY
CONSISTENCY.amenta ! proposi
tions of govern
ment laid down by Jefferson was his
opposition to strongly-centralized power.
The founder of the democratic party
believed that the liberties of the people
would be best conserved by retaining
carefully the principle of an oven bal
ance of the powers of government be
tween the federal and state govern
ments , so that each would servo as a
check upon the other ; the national gov
ernment to be endowed with suflloiout
power to prevent disintegration , and to
leave with the local governments sum-
cient power to prevent tyrannical and
oppressive centralization. Jefferson
feared the evil of centralized power.
To him centralization meant tyranny
and despotism. For this reason ho
vigorously opposed the state govern
ments abandoning constitutional powers
and conferring these powers upon the
central government. So firmly were
the ideas of Jefferson implanted in the
minds of his party associates that op
) osition to centralization became one of
; ho chief tenets of democratic faith ,
and , as such , it has been handed down
to us under successive leaderships.
But with the departure from nearly
everything Jeffersonian , we see today
this vital principle
.
Coiitrnllyiitlon.
of democracy
abandoned by the presidential nominee
of the populist national convention , who
also aspires to an indorsement from the
sarty that bears the name of the poli
tical organization Jefferson founded.
This populistic nominee , who now so
diligently seeks democratic support ,
favors centralization. He advocates
baking away , by constitutional amend
ment , from the local state governments
and reposing in the federal government ,
the power of regulating and controlling
industrial combinations. He is well
aware that the evil of these combina
tions , or trusts , exists only because of
the privileges extended by this central
ized power. Yet he suggests as a
remedy for their evil still greater cen
tralization , the granting of supreme con
trol to the body that is responsible for
the existence of the evil. Such a rem
edy would be on a par with placing the
means of preventing crime in the hands
of the criminal. This is one of the pet
theories of the populist nominee. Are
democrats willing to accept it ? "Will
they forsake the teachings of Jefferson
and accept the now version of demo
cratic faith as promulgated by the popu
list leader , who seeks to establish
himself in reputable political society by
occasional reference to the name of
Jefferson.
That democrats may be entirely
consistent in their inconsistency ,
their thoughtful
Protection.
populist friends
proffer a vice-president with a record not
unlike his associate. Jefferson was an
uncompromising opponent of the grant
ing of special privileges to favored in
terests. This principle has been faith
fully adhered to by the party he
founded. The Kansas City convention
will have an exceptional opportunity to
do undemocratic things. It will have
the privilege of indorsing , not only a
friend of centralization for president but
for vice president , a protectionist re
publican. The vice-president nomina
ted by the populists , while a member "of
congress , consistently and faithfully ad
vocated the taking of money from the
people and giving it to the favored
classes. He has done his mite to build
up the dangerous combinations of capi
tal which he now so vociferously de
nounces. This is the course outlined
for democracy by populism.