Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1906 — TIME TO CALL A HALT [ARTICLE]

TIME TO CALL A HALT

American People Should Condemn Wild-Eyed Socialistic ’ Agitation. ; ; EVERY REASON FOR OPTIMISM , J. l't The Lessons Of Htttory. and Experiences Within the Memory of the Present Generation Should So Appeal to Our Solid, Sober Good Sense as to Cause Us to Frown on Pessimistic Pleas ana Noisy Harangues of Unsettled Agitators. Tn a recont Issue oTHlaT~B[rteir(tltt magazine, The National, edited by Joe Mitchell Chapple, appears an article by John K. Jones, a former western editor, vjfiich every citizen, who has his country's Interest at heart, should read carefully. The article is entitled, “A Plea for Conservatism.” Among other things Mr. Jones says: . .' . , ■■ "Is It not high time that the solid, sober, good sense. of the American people should call a halt to the more extreme features of the prevailing socialistic agitation? Besides in some cases outraging public decency, the more radical agitators have already done much harm-in. unsettling popular confidence; and if allowed to go on indefinitely may end by completely disorganizing existing social, political and business conditions, bringing the republic face to face with financial chaos and business ruin. All history shows that such violent, excessivc social movements are always destructive, and but rarely constructive in their effect. Of late this country has been the storm center of ’a cyclone of-wholesale abuse of the established order of tilings. We have had eras of bitter strife, and dangerous econor:*'' Vr, resy before r~”', ’”O surely nothing equal to this. The jealousies of the Revolutionary period; the acrimony of Jackson’s time; the sectional animosities leading up to the otxil war ;■ the ‘stnlwart* etasbrings of 1881, seem tame and colorless in comparison with the savage assaults made in these latter days by socialistic and other "reformers-” upon the established parties, business interests and conspicuous citizens cf the United States. All Prosperity Records Broken. "What arc the facts? During the past ten years, pi* eveFsince the accession of ITesident McKinley and the adoption of ' the Dingley tariff, the prosperity of this country has exceeded all previous records of this or any other country. Never be fore have the citizens of the United States had so much work to do. or been str writ remunerated for doing it. Never before have they had so much money in their pockets and in the banks. Never before were our factory workers, our farmers, our minors, our merchants, our common carriers, so busy. In these circumstances it is natural that many men with a talent- Tor moneymaking should have become wealthy, and that bnsim ss enterprises should have expanded to dimensions formerly unknown. "Now it comes to light that a few very rich men have used their money Improperly and injuriously: a few men in high public offices have proved unworthy of their trust; a few mighty corporations have pursued questionable or illegal methods of business: _and straigh tw ay a chord s of social istic ‘reformers’ of the forum and the peers denounces all capitalists as thieves, all high public officers as corruptionists. and all corporations as dishonest. Motives of Agitators. -

“The agitators are actuated by various motjves ami adopt various modes of attack. Some are socialists pure and simple, like Debs of Illinois; some are ‘populists’ and fiat money advocates. like Watson of Georgia; some exploit municipal ownership, like Hearst of New York: some are merely ' out’ for revenge or malicious mischief; some are simply office-seekers trying to ride into power on the hobby of ‘reform,’ like Colby and Record of New Jersey, and Tom Johnson and Whitlock of Ohio; some, like Bryan, preached free silver coinage until the death of that interesting issue; and some are congenital cranks, ilke Pettigrew, surnamed the ‘Unspeakable.’ “But whatever their particular ‘fads and fancies.’ most of them are at war with the existing order of things, and all their doctrines are socialistic in tendency. They are working, either directly or indirectly, for the overthrow’ and emasculation of the Republican and Democratic parties; the abolition of the protective tariff; the destruction of all the great corporate trusts: the ownership of railroads, telegraph systems. mines, express companies, -t... by the government; the eventual redistribution of money and wealth; the legal confiscat|pn of overlarge fortunes, the popular ownership of ah land and all the means and products of Industry, and the placing of all men on a common level, socially and financially. A preposterous program, indeed, and taken together, somewhat suggestive of the atmosphere of a lunatic asylum. And yet it la a matter of grave importance,

which thf American peopla murt loss j no time in considering with the utmost seriousness. A Mistaken Theory. “Many worthy jitizens think, and say. 'Why not? la it not true, as | the agitators claim, that the rich are] growing richer and the J*x>r growing! poorer? Are not 'the rich .growing, rich at the expense.. Of. the poor? Does not the tariff afford special prjyllOges to a favored few? Are not our legislatures nand courts and executive depart m ents comt pt ed and dpmi n a ted by—the corporations and the million-” aires, while the common people find’ it impossible to obtain justice,.as.Thft, agitators claim? if so, why not put the socialists in power? “No, it is not true. The rich are growing richer, but so are the.jpqor. growihg richer. The statistics of our savings banks,, insurance companies, farms and labor guilds will prove this belond a peradventure. The Western -farmers —whose ■ fl nanci al meats led to the granger, green ink 'and free silver movements in former years, have taken up their mortgages and now have money to lend. Everybody Better Off. “The wages of labor have increased from 25 to 75 per cent since 1894, and are still increasing. The per capita of money in circulation had increased during the same period 50 per cent. The savings hanks deposits have increased five thousand millions to eight thousand millions. “The rich are not specially prlvileg- - ed in this country except in so far as the possession of money grants special 1 privileges to its possessors in all countries. The rich can employ the best lawyers and doctors, and can have the most luxuries, of course. The remedy for that is to get rich. The race is open to all, and most of those who are rich today were poor ■ ton or twenty years ago.

Tariff Cornerstone of Prosperity. “As for the protective tariff, that is ‘a short horse, soon curried.’ The beneficent effect of-the protective tarIff upon the American republic is, the greatest political and economic fact of the nineteenth century. The tariff has been the very cornerstone of our American prosperity* and to abandon or materially modify It would be simply suicidal. “it is needless to repeat the .arguments for a protective tariff, as the country is quite familiar with them. The socialistic argument against it can be refuted in a few words. The tariff does hot ‘afford special privileges' to jhe manufacturers Or to the corporations, or to the rich, or to any other ‘classes.’ It affords protection and Benefit to all; to the manufacturers and to their employes, to the farmers and to the merchants. Without. the tariff many factories would have to close, and then what would the employes do? And with a great army of . '.vage-wotkers. -impovcrisliod. wh at would become of the home market, and how could the farmers and mcrchants‘dispose of their produce and goods-? What Agitators Would Do. “In the face Of all our unprecedented national prosperity, these agitators urge the public to embrace socialism; to abolish the protective tariff, to. abandon the Republican party which has been the chief agent in securing this prosperity; and to run a knife to the hilt into our vast and complex business system. What would be the result? There would be one of the greatest panics in our history; business would be paralyzed; half the "money in the country"would be drawn to Europe; many capitalists would emigrate and take their capital with them: employers would be bankrupt and employes destitute, and to what end? “What has been the outcome of agitation in the past? Failure, always failure, and disaster. The most notable socialistic event in history "was th e French Re vein t ion of T7ST culminating in the Reign of Terror. Do Americans wish to have aWTerror” here, and our streets running with the blood of thousands of innocent and patriotic citizens? That is the way it worked in France. Do not plead that we do things differently In America. How about the massacre by the anarchists of Chicago? How about the assassination of Garfield by Guiteau, crazed by violent political agitation? How about the assassination of McKinley by a zealous adherent of socialistic doctrines?

Lessons From History. “Going back no farther than thirtyfive years, consider the fate of the liberal Republican movement of 1872; the granger and greenback Republican movements of the same decade; the Mahone readjustee movement of 1885 and thereabout; the Populist and free silver movements in the nineties —all either utter failures or successful only for a year or two. What became of Jerry Simpson, the ‘sockless statesman’ of Kansas; of Weaver, the great greenback champion of Iowa; of Lawler, the socialist congressman from Chicago, who counselled the hanging of Jay Gould to a lamp-post; of Pettigrew, the Mrs. Carrie Nation of the* Republican party? None of these agitators ever originated or perfected a single useful law, or carried into effect the policies they promulgated; and the agitators of the present day are no more successful as legislators. Their greatest success is in .provoking the passtons of the unthinking and ignorant by noisy harangues, and by vindictive diatribes in Mie Hearst newspapers and certain magazines. “Why should American citizens desert their tried and true leaders and follow these false prophets and blind guides F* '