The commoner. [volume], November 01, 1916, Page 8, Image 8

About The commoner. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923

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The Commoner
JOE- 16, NO. ii
8
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this devotion to their Interests which made his
party invincible while ho lived and will mako
his namo rovored while history endures. Ana
what messago comes to us from the Hermitage?
When a crisis like tho present arose and the na
tional bank of this day sought to control tho
politics of tho nation, God raised up an Andrew
Jackson, who had the courage to grapple with
that great enemy, and by overthrowing it, made
himself tho idol of tho people and reinstated tho
democratic party in public confidence. What
will the decision bo today? Tho democratic
party has won tho greatest success in its history;
standing upon this victory-crowned summit,
will It turn its faco to the rising or the setting
sun? Will it choose blessings or cursings, life
'or doath which? Which?
(From Speech on Bimetalism of 1893.)
IMPERIALISM
RESOLUTION FOR PHILIPPINE JNDEPEND-
ENOE
I was among the number of those who be
lieved it better to ratify tho treaty and end tne
war, release the volunteers, remove the excuse
for war expenditures and then give the Filipinos
tho independence which might be forced from
Spain by a now treaty.
In view of the criticism which my. action
aroused in some quarters, I take this occasion
to restate the reasons given at that time. I
thought it safer to trust tho American people to
give independence to the Filipinos than to trust
tho accomplishment of that purpose ,to dip
lomacy with an unfriendly nation.
Lincoln embodied an argument in tho question
when ho asked, "Can aliens make treaties easier
than friends can mako laws?" I believe that we
are now rh a better position to wage a successful
contest against imperialism than we would have
been had tho treaty been rejected. With the
treaty ratified a clean-cut issue is presented be
tweon a government by consent and a govern-
.jment toy force, and imperialists must bear the
', responsibility for all that happens until the
. question is settled.
',' (From Speech on Imperialism.)
FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Tho fruits of imperialism, be they hitter or
sweet, must bo left to the subjects of monarchy.
This Is the ono tree of which the citizens of a
republic may not partake. It is the voice of the
serpent, not tho voice of God, that bids us eat.
(From Naboth's Vineyard.)
CHRISTIANITY AGAINST IMPERIALISM
' If true Christianity consists in carrying out in
our daily lives the teachings of Christ, who will
say that we are commanded to civilize with
dynamite and proselyte With the sword? He
..who would declare the divine will must prove
his authority eithor by Holy Writ or by evidence
of a Bpecial dispensation.
Imperialism finds no warrant in the Bible.
The command, "Go ye into all the world and
preach tho gospel to every creature," has no
Gatling gun attachment. When Jesus visited a
. villago of Samaria and the people refused to re
ceive him, some of the disciples suggested that
flro should bo called down from, Heaven to
avenge the insult; but the Master rebuked them
and said: "Ye know not what manner of spirit
ye are of; for tho Son of Man is not come to de
stroy men's lives, but to. save them." Suppose
he had said: "We will thrash them until they
understand who wo are," how different would
have been tho history of Christianity! Com
pare, if you will, tjie swaggering, bullying,
brutal doctrine of imperialism with tho golden
rule and tho commandment, "Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself."
Love, not force, was tho weapon of tho Na,z
areno; sacrifice for others, not the exploitation
of them, was His method of reaching the hu
man heart. A missionary recently told me that
tho Stars and Stripes once saved his life because
his assailant recognized our flag as a flag that
' had no blood upon it.
Lot it be known that our missionaries are
seeking souls instead of sovereignty; let it be
known that instead of being the advance guard
of conquering armies, they are going forth to
.' help and uplift, having their loins girt about
t with truth and their feet shod with the prepar-
ation of the gospel of peace, wearing the breast
plate of righteousness and carrying the sword of
tho -spirit; let it be known that they are citizens
of a" nation which respects the rights of the cit-
izens of other nations as carefully as it protects
the rights of its own citizens," and the welcome
-1' given to our missionaries will be more cordial
v than the welcome extended to tho .missionaries
,': of any other nation. ' ; , :
v- fl (From Speech on Imperialism)
APOSTROPHE TO MOSES
Shamo upon a logic which locks up the petty
offender and enthrones grand larceny. Have the
people returned to tho worship of tne Golden.
Calf? Have they made unto themselves a new
commandment consistent with the spirit of con
quest and lust for empire? Is 'thou shalt not
steal upon a smalo scale' to be substituted for
tho law of Moses?
Awake, O ancient law-giver, awake! Break
forth from thine unmarked sepulchre and.speed
thee back to cloud-crowned Sinai; commune
once more with the God of our fathers and pro
claim again the words engraven upon the tables
of stone the law that was, the law that-iB to
day thejaw that neither individual nor nation
can violate with impunity!
(From Speech on Imperialism'.') -
DESTINY
History is replete with predictions which
once wore the hue of destiny, but which failed
of fulfilment because those who uttered them
saw too small an arc of the circle of events!
When Pharaoh pursued the fleeing Israelites to
the edge of the Red sea he was confident that
their bondage would be renewed and that they
would again mako bricks without straw, but
destiny was not revealed until Moses and his
followers reached the farther shore dry shod
and the .waves rolled over the horses and
chariots of the Egyptians. When Belshazzar, on
tho last night of his reign,- led his thousand
lords into the Babylonian banquet hall and sat
down to a table glittering with vessels of silver
and gold, he felt sure of his kingdom for many
years to come, but destiny was not revealed un
til the hand wrote upon the wall those awe-inspiring
vwords, "Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin."
When Abderrahman swept northward wilh his
conquering hosts his imagination saw the Cres
cent triumphant throughout the world, but des
tiny was not revealed until Charles JVlartel raised
the cross above the battlefield of Tours and
saved Europe from the sword of Mohammedan
ism. When Napoleon emerged victorious from
Marengo, from Ulm and from Austerlitz, he
thought himself the child of destiny, -but destiny
was not revealed until Blucher's forces joined
the army of "JVellington and tho vanquished
Corsican began his melancholy march toward
St. Helena. When the redcoats of George the
Third routed the New Englanders at. Lexington
and Bunker Hill there arose before the British
" sovereign visions of colonies taxed without Tep
resentation and drained of their weaith by foreign-made
laws, but destiny was not revealed
until the surrender of Cor nwallis completed' the
work begun at Independence Hall, and ushered
into existence a government deriving its just
powers from the consent of the governed.
(From America's Mission.)
Tho "destiny" argument is usually the
subterfuge of the invertebrate who, lack
ing the courage to oppose error, seeks
some plausible excuse for-supporting it. It, is
, a complacent philosophy; it obliterates the dis
tinctions between right and wrong and makes
individuals and nations the helpless victims of
circumstance.
(From America's Mission.)
DESTINY IS NOT A MATTER OF CHANCE
IT IS A MATTER OF CHOICE. IT IS NOT A
THING TO BE WAITED FOR, IT IS A THING
TO BE ACHIEVED.
Man's opinion of what is to be is half wish
and half environment. Avarice paints destiny
with a dollar mark before it; militarism equips
it with a sword.
(From America's Mission.)
, He is the best prophet who, recognizing the
omnipotence of .truth, comprehends m6st clearly
the great forceT-which are working out 'the
progress, not of one party, not of one nation,
but of tho human race. ,; '
',!" '.' , , (From America's Mission.)
!. '
AMERICAN CIVILIZATION
Standing upon the vantage ground alrea.i
gained the American people can aspire ?y
grander destiny thaA has 'opened before l!
other race. orc any
Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught thR u
dividual to protect his own rights Amori
civilization will teach him to respect CriSX
of others. euw
Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the in
dividual to take care of himself, American c'
ilization, proclaiming, the equality of ill
before the law, will teach him that his own
highest good requires the observance of the
commandment: "Thou shalt love they neighbor
as thyselfi"
Anglo-Saxon civilization has, by force of arms
applied the art of government to other races
for the benefit of Anglo-Saxons; American civ
ilization will, by tho influence of example, excite
in other races a desire for self-government and
a determination to secure it.
Anglo-Saxon civilization has carried its flag
to every clime and defended it with forts and
garrisons. . American civilization will imprint
its, flag upon the hearts of all who long for free
dpin;. ,
"To American civilization, all hail!
Time's noblest offspring is the last."
(From America's Mission.)
r; I
TRUSTS
; : . PRIVATE MONOPOLY
Here is a v plain, candid statement of tho
party's position. . There is no quibbling, no
evasion, no ambiguity. A PRIVATE MONOPOLY
IS INDEFENSIBLE AND INTOLERABLE. It
is bad bad in principle, and bad in practise.
No apology can be offered for it, and no people
should endure it. Our party's position is en
tirely in harmony with the position of Jefferson.
With a knowledge of human nature which few
men have equaled, and none surpassed, and with
extraordinary foresight, he expressed unalter
able opposition to every form" of private mon
opoly. The student of history will find that
upon this subject, as upon other subjects of
government, the great founder of the demo
cratic party took his position upon the side of
the whole people and against those who seek to
make a private use of government, or strive to
secure special privileges at .-.the expense of the
public. ' .
(From The Trust Question.)
Note; The sentence: A private monopoly is
indefensible and intolerabIe,was' first used by
Mr. Bryan in an anti-tr.ust! speech delivered in
1899, and was afterwards : written into the na
tional platforms of 1900, 1904, 1908 and 1912.
MAN VS. THE CORPORATION
. There, are many differences. between the na
tural, man iand the corporate man. There is a
difference in the purpose of creation. God made
. man and nlaced him upon His footstool to carry
..out a divine decree; man created the corporation
, as a money-rmaking machine. When God made
man He did not make the " tallest man much
taller, tnan'the shortest; and He did not make
the strongest man much stronger than the weak.
.est; but when the" law creates the corporate
person that, person may be an hundred, a thou
sand, ten thousand, a million times stronger
.. than the God-made man. When God made man
He set a limit to his existence, so that if he was
a had mail he could not be bad long; but when
the corporation was created, the limit on age
was. , raised, and it sometimes projects itseu
through generation after generation.
When .GJod made man He gave him a soul and
warped him. that in tho next, world he would oe
,held accountable for the deeds, done in the liesu,
.but when,Tman created the corporation he coum
not endo.v that corporation with a soul, so uui
if it escapes punishment here.it need not lew
. .the hereafter. , And this man-made SIant "
heen pjit torjth to' compete with the Go(J-ma"g
man. We must assume that man in creJt!nJLtv
. corporathm.had in view the. welfare of sociei
and. the people ho create mustMain the pow
to restrict; and to .cqnW .can never u
coma go enthusiastic over the corporation, uv
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