Newspaper Page Text
The B< )ise Citizen VOL. XI BOISE, IDAHO, JULY 1, 1910 NO. 31. Roosevelt's Napoleonic Democracy I (The Commoner.) Theodore Roosevelt talks of democracy as if he were a demo Probably he thinks he is one. But his democracy, like the racy of Napoleon Bonaparte whom he ominously resembles in den al characteristics and unaccountable popularity, is of that spur 1r kin( i w hich evolves empires and breeds despots. It is the exact of the American ideal. His speech in Egypt, and his sup I mentary one at Guildhall, London, which have been attributed to ^h'rtsleeve manners, are worse than that; they are rightly denounced ? _ the Sacramento Bee as un-American. The Bee calls them "blas h tv U p 0n the lips of an American citizen," for stultifying the - I mental and primary declaration of America's great proclamation {universal liberty," that governments derive their just powers from °h consent of the governed. And so interpreted, those speeches are 'stifled by the Outlook, a magazine with which Mr. Roosevelt is tonally connected and which faithfully reflects his Napoleonic \ mocracy. In its issue of June 18, the Outlook asserts its belief c . .. t i ie statement in the Declaration of Independence that gov derive their just powers from the consent of the governed crat. P* I0US reverse ernments k^The fact that Mr. Roosevelt is a contributing editor to the Outlook, would not be enough in itself to make him responsible for this categorical denial of American democracy. Nor can it be j t p at | ie m ay have contributed the Outlook editorial from which Ufg quote; the author of that editorial is evidently more candid or less sophisticated than Mr. Roosevelt. But this number of the Out look appears to have been edited with the distinct purpose of ex ploiting and justifying Mr. Roosevelt's type of democracy. The purpose is so evident that nothing short of a repudiation of the blunt climax we quote can make even the most friendly reader suppose that it misrepresents Mr. Roosevelt's views. .An indiscreet generaliz ation of it may be, but not an inaccurate one. In the same issue of the Outlook a paper on "the spirit of democracy" figures prominently. This is by Dr. Lyman Abbott, the editor in chief, who finds that there is now a new American democracy, child of two conflicting American democracies of the Nineteenth century—the idealistic of Hebrew and Puritan ancestry through New England, and the ma terialistic from Rome and France through Virginia,—which is now struggling with the contradictory characteristics it inherits from its ancestors. Also in this issue of the Outlook there is a stenographic report of an extemporaneous speech by Mr. Roosevelt at Christiana, Norway—edited by him for publication but hitherto unpublished— in which, expounding "the colonial policy of the United States, he defends the subjugation of the Philippines m terms that would have delighted George II and Lord North had they been uttered with reference to the American colonies. Then there is the editor ial climax which may or may not have had Mr. Roosevelts sanc tion but which seems to be a correct generalization ot his views : "We believe that the statement in the Declaration of Independence from the consent ot the that governments derive their just pow governed is false." ,. . . -, „ The unsoundness of that belief as a political principle tnaj be put aside; to argue against it as a principle might be called aca demic" by the Outlook, and "sentimental, or "foolish, or inde cent," by Mr. Roosevelt. Nor would it be worth while to quote the words of Abraham Lincoln and his compeers who tounded the the fathers of the Republic itself, who, as Ltn ers Republican party, or libertv and dedicated it to proposition To hark back to those men might be coin said, conceived it in that all are created equal. HH challenged as an appeal from the youthful American democracy o the Twentieth century to the dead democracy ot t ie .'meet ■ But waiving all such "sentimental" and "academic considerations, it behooves' the American people to consider the possibilities und present circumstances of Mr. Roosevelts democracy as g cne,a 1ZC by the Outlook, with reference to their own safety. Following its assertion of the falsity of the Declaration ot - dependence in so far as that document assigns the just■ P°J« S o government to the consent of the governed, the C ut uo * a> 1 "always, everywhere and eternally true the pnncip e ein * i the Declaration that government exist for the bene o L & emed." Accordingly it reasons that "whether tie ' T" sent or do not consent to the government exercise! o\ei 1 the fundamental question;" that "the fundament,! ques whether that government is exercised over them toi t an Although the particular application is to the 1 hdippmes it 1 is generalized by the Out look as "always, everywhere and eternally true." Manifestly, then, with reference to American citize * selves, the democracy of Roosevelt, as expounds >y and evident from his own recent speeches, reï>t* hwu aniei c ^ the monarchical principle. Whether the Amena 1 )C< d* c not consent to the government exercised °\ti 1S not the fundamental question." but "the tundamen | - ^.. whether that government is exercised over them or c t j ie This is Roosevelt's democracy, as it is the ( 111 °° Empörer William's, as it was Napoleons. . . re _ The sultanic impudence of Roosevelt s assunip u ( - or a s l*ct would surpass belief if the man himselt nu L . t | K(t doubt. But its danger is the prime consideration. t ** will lead his country to higher levels ot democracy. a ^ superlative egotism believing it no doubt, he bet '"u> 1 c : n fl ue nct field of every republic in history that came under lie ,n«t.■ * of a personage like himself. He would tea' away xv |,j c h is °t this Republic, the rock-bottom principle it rt ''| our own not that a British monarch might not govern us ■><-" <■ ^ t , benefit than we can govern ourselves, but that 1 - 1 '_ ' nimen t to govern ourselves. He would twist the principe o -a , s t he ''flieh the founders of this Republic do with '".a a | ia q t he °S' C of his position would justify his doing ''. K 1 11 t 1( j Would opportunity that the historic wreckers of republics K . speec h in ( fle Constitution stay in hand? Read from lus . j- , aia . to the me issue of the Outlook already referred to, " !t l. , j n netting -an Domingo treaty: "I found considerable « a j v , a{ l any ! elnited States Senate to ratify the treaty. nt namely did % ' v and executed it until it was ratified. 1 ,us ' unt ji it is tat orial. for under the Constitution a treaty is no * . a gill 'atified by the Senate. He might as lawtul y ia ' . ß u t. under consideraion by Congress, before Congiess ' ■ factious ia ' s this Napoleonic democrat, "the opposition nas « a " leaven of opposition, representing the smallest kind ot po 1 R t he n avv at eve n baser motive." If such a man. with the arm >/ „„„niariiv that command, encouraged by the kind of ido .uinu- j a j throne lse d Napoleon to an absolute dictatorship U P'"'' cou id govern ere °hsessed with the notion that a lienevolen > R • verll them Ç American people beter "for tlieir benefit t 1,1,1 c ;, a|lf ] Busses with their Lorimers, and Tammanys, and Hart them i .md socialists ,arul anarchises, tlieir lal>or unions, tlieir trusts, their plutocrats, their bothersome State lines, their corrupt legislatures', their dilatory courts and their foolish sentimentalists—if such a man so tempted and so equipped, were to resolve upon becoming a dicta tor for the common good," is it so certain that American citizen ship would be safe? Suppose he did find considerable difficulty getting Congress to agree with him. Might he not "go ahead anyhow, until they did agree? And wouldn't he find his warrant in what would seem to him in those circumstances to be "a purely facetious opposition, representing the smallest kind of politics," and may be "with a leaven of even baser motive"? Vet there is good reason to fear that in the name and behalf of democracy, and w ith the support of masses of genuine democrats all parties, Theodore Roosevelt may again be called out of pri vate life to a term as President, and this time under circumstances more favorable thon our country has ever before experienced for a .Napoleonic personality to seize upon Napoleonic power. We trust the alternative of Roosevelt or Taft will not occur at the next Presi dential election. But if it should, better King Log than King Stork. Though Taft slumbers while plutocrats intrench themselves, taxation under popular control would serve at any time as a weapon to pierce even the thickest fortifications of "vested rights." But if a Na poleonic character like Roosevelt once seized the government to administer it according to his own notions of what is for "the benefit of the governed," the damage would lie irreparable. No doctrine more dangerous to popular liberty has ever been formulated than this of the Roosevelt cult, that "just governmaits exist for the benefit of the governed," when that otherwise true doctrine is iso lated from the balancing principle that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." iii in Exposing the Grafters (Daily Oklahoman.) What the American people need at this time is a few more Sen ator Gores. This republic is critically ill from GRAFT AND SPECIAL PRIVILEGE. The infection of these diseases has iieen communicated to legis lative bodies, high and low, and to a multitude of our offices of public trust. two maligant diseases— it is the poison that threatens to overthrow government by, of and for the people. It is the poison that is eating at the foundation of society. It is not new ,for it has been long known and long neglected. have been as secretive relative to our ailment as the As a nation we cancer victim. This timidity has prevented proper treatment until recent ex posures have shown advancement of the disease that is alarming. Senator Gore has come forward with the suggestion that surgi cal treatment is indicated, and forwith applied the knife. He believes that the only way to His theory is a practical one. stop graft is to stop it. . Not only has Senator Gore served the Indians in exposing the grafters who would prey upon them—he has performed a great ser vice for his state and for his nation. , This will become apparent later on. for we doubt not tnat a thorough investigation of his charges will follow. It will mean that one or more men who have worn the toga ot united States senator, and some statesmen now serving m con , will be exposed. Vilest corruption reeks in the halls of congress, reekintr there for years. It is no new discovery known it for years. A peculiar sense of honor holds the nation to pretended secrecy. This false notion gress It has been The people have has been the encouragement of graft and special 1 Much ado has been made over the recent revelation that a mem ber of the United States senate was elected by means of bribery. The surorise was altogether simulated. The people of this country know that there has not been a senate in the last thirty years that several of ts members have not held their seats by .virtue of purchase. T h e real surprise is in the facf that it was exposed It was eml »arassing and lmmilitating to Senator Gore that he U Üu, I with an offer of bribery, but he had the courage to JSTd. attempt 'ami thereby defeat the plan of the grafter,, for hiC H?reT, democrat, one believing that dishonesty in public places shouldbe .uprooted ami one who. having the courage of Ins conve ThfTn'h'o'fThis country are hoping that every man connected ie P , , t rrn fe will lie shelled from the woods, whetliei S!!!" rSSÂÏ - Teva,, whether their Xeithe'r'fine'raiment'nor'ex'dted 'station should protect a thief. whether such by act or intent !' et oMhe^rafters and" 'spècial privilege looters smutted* our natiLl honor, and let the hunting cry 1» "Get the giMte's.^t the ^ging coyotes yell "Democrat!" SÄ* ÄÄS»* ^sèliatoTSÏe te^to^the^^woiTknd the people should ra llv m his support. w tions rank in s lie the opening gun for a grand who have be ITU Not on His Record „■.„Je that Governor Brady is making no plea for L ' i He would be damned by faint praise S start anything in this line. The Alaska-Yukon press bureau won < Ï SC andal. the maintenance of a pohtica exposition fiasco tTeka > a are al! j„ the record and machine to P ei .Tf 1 a f tin<r rea ding interpolated among the pro would make nnghtv ,nte ' ■£ on civic v ; rtue s that are being made of reform and lion,flies « c. fayor _ m|lare TimeS . re if his It is n« election on testations the basis of the governors .. It took a united republican party backed by \\ allace 1 ime> ■ , state organization to produce a ma all the splendid machiner) ^ ^ ^ ^ , ast electio n and how he jority for Governor . I ante ; with a divided party and a U ""ThlATof" partymaebine is not to I« figtivetl ont. person The Boise Citizen 8 months for 30 cents. Proposed Sale of Timber Lands (Lewiston Tribune.) The state government of Idaho will be called upon to render a highly important decision and to put its own capacity to deal fitly with the public business to a severe test, in acting upon the application of the Potlatch Lumber company to purchase 24,000 acres of land in order to avoid the time limit on the removal of the timber on the same land, purchased in 1902 and expiring after 20 years, in 1922. The company otters $10 per acre for the land, which is the minimum at which it can be sold. The company also asks that its proposi tion be discussed freely and fully and suggests that the $10 is merely tentative, to serve as a basis for negotiation, in case its offer is not considered adequate or satisfactory. It therefore devolves on the state administration, not on the press or on individuals, to take steps to determine whether the offer is fair, or what would be a fair offer, and why. The state has a right to expect that the administra tion will deal w ith the people at least as candidly as the timber com pany has done and submit its views to the public for discussion after il has put itself in a position to make intelligent and reliable esti mates and recommendations in the premises. The method of the company in thus inviting a scrutiny and analysis of its purpose is one to be commended, and gives it a better standing at the beginning than a similar proposition recently made in secret and carried success fully through the Boise City court, before the public had a particle of inkling as to what was transpiring. The state administration has a long way to go before it can remove the cloud resting upon it from that attempted transaction alone, but in the vastly larger one now pending it can do something to demonstrate, not only its desire to right but its ability to know what is right. With the friendliest of feeling toward the Potlatch Lumber company and towards other investors in the state, and with the pur pose to help and encourage them, not thwart and stigmatise them, the '1 ribune believes the transaction is expressly forbidden and some other means must be found for getting around a bad situation, which the removal clause probably is. The confusion arises in whether the general grants to the state for institutional purposes—included in are to be treated the same as common The constitution provides that no "school" lands The supreme court ÜO which are these timber land school grants. shall ever be sold for less than $10 an acre, holds that "school" lands in this relation mean all the endowment The same section of the constitution provides that not to ex lands. ceed 25 section of "school" lands shall be sold in any one year and not to exceed Hit) acres to any one individual, company or corpora We believe the intention is the same in both instances as to tion. "school" lands comprising similar endowment agents, and that the supreme court will so hold, else it would probably have to recede from its previously established principle in the $1U per acre relation. We further believe that the proposed sale by the state to a corpora tion of a large body of land, whether timber ,agricultural, grazing or otherwise, is not only essentially prohibited by the fundamental law of this state, but of other states as well and by the established rules of all Christendom. The accidence of the present situation, as offer ing a means of receding from an awkward dilemma all round, ought not to be allowed to serve as a cloak for escaping from the wise and necessary prohibition of vast landed estates in corporate hands, to'the exclusion of individual occupation and opportunity. the meaning Of course, the Tribune may be entirely wrong as to the meaning of the constitution and the court's interpretation thereof. That is as it may be. Any uncertainty as to that can doubtless be cleared up by the administration in allowing its previously unconsummated sale to go up for review, or some other similar case, while meantime as certaining the reasonable value of the logged off lands which would revert to the state in lieu of the proposed $10 per acre sale, and other data bearing on the subject, not merely the price per acre figure, but the larger economic bearing on the welfare of the state of the various possible methods of disposing of these lands. Mayor (iaynor's Platform (Boston Globe.) Those who think of Mayor Gaynor as a probable candidate for president .will find in his address to the students of St. John s college, Annapolis, Md„ the planks of a party platform, althought he did not label them as such. . , . He would exterminate political corruption. So staunen is that cause that he advised tiie graduates to be fanatics, if possi i. he in ble, on the point of honesty. 2. He would have the present tariff laws readjusted, hence it safe to call him a tariff reformer. 3. He would enforce the laws against rebating. 4. He is against monopolies, but seems to think that the aboil tion of rebates would abolish monopoly and give us that competi tion whereby some think we may lie saved. 5 He evidently believes in the quantitive theory of money, and thus is consistent with the Judge Gaynor of 1896, who supported 1S Mr. Lryanu ^ ^ as a resu , t of an j ncrea sed output of gold, he does not regard as an evil. High prices, if normal that is the re sult of natural causes, may be good instead of bad. High prices, uncaused by monopolies, mean prosperity ; low prices mean hard times. The foregoing planks do not make a very radical platform. Neither do they make an ultra-conservative one. A party looking for a life-raft might hunt a long time liefore finding anything better. Sit Tight on the Lid Wallace Times : The Latah democrats have started a movement that will meet with the hearty support of many citizens of the state It is a movement demanding an m recardless of partv affiliations. . . . . , vestigation into tiie affairs of the present administration with an at tempt to throw some light on the frauds alleged by the governor and other state officials to exist in the state land department the attempt m probe which it is alleged to have been suppressed by Governor Bradv It will lie remembered that Governor Brady suddenly quit and lost all Interest in probing into the affair. He anounced that ,t incident and the people of the state ,n a large measure closed incident, closed too tight with too was a closed . with him. It is a ■ interested officials sitting on the lid. agree many