The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 23, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 22, 1908 Page: 10 of 52
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. blowing U the speech delivered 8etur-
y at Athens by Hon. (T J. Powell for-
r rtiayor of Fort Worth. Mr ; Powell
pare ths speech with great care and
a ha' carefully and conscientiously an-
ed th position of United States Sen-
ator J . Bailey on vartoua public ques-
tions: ;v
. - h -
' r'TH PERSONAL WARFARE.
-. Democracy and the name of the junior
senator ot this Imperial State are. "like
Juno's swans coupled and Inseparable."
1 We hare now In Texas the epectarle of
a personal warfare on a public official
who fca been elected for a term of six
year as a servant cf the people and this
war In led by men who tried to set the
legislature to disobey an Instruction the
People had coupled with the office of the
United States senator. This was an effort
to deny -to the people the right of self-
government reserved' to them In their con-
stitution and a flagrant indefensible sin
against free government and the democ-
racy of this State.
Democratic government rests upon the
free exercise and strict observance of the
people' will and the right of the people
to govern themselves. In the language of
Mr;. Bryan. "'Democracy ts not merely a
Party Same. Democracy has a meaning.
Democracy means a government In which
the1 people rule." and I know of no great-
er unpardonable political sin than to dis-
obey the Instructions of a free people
coupled with their choice for an office
end when this disobedience comes from a
public servant of the people. It ts not only
a betrayal of the people's trust but is an
assault upon the fundamental principles
of free government.
S Permit me at the outset tn vnf & Bra-
test? against the prevalent and xrowlnx
-.mwmW:: ml yumiu nui wmcn ineviiamy
leads to a loss- of patriotism among the
masses which in its turn breeds and
foments a spirit of anarchy in our midst.
Civilisation Is enriched by a battle for
. principle for in such a contest the wisest
and best men of our country rise to de-
bate the Issue on each side but in per-
sonal warfare the greatest men are usual-
ly the victims of an unreasoning spirit
that would sacrifice the dearest principles
of government to destroy an Individual.
t also protest against that class of men
who After selfish ends by the aid of un
limited money seek to debauch the legis-
lative bodies of our country which can
never be done when the legislatures fol-
low the will of the people in their legisla-
tive sou.
' FIGHT AGAINST DEMOCRACY.
- The fight against the Junior senator of
Texas in Its last analysis.. '.Is a fight
against democracy by Its enemies. It ln-
Valves a principle that Is the foundation
Of representative government in America
nd bad this fight been successful in the
last legislature our boasted State govern-
ment would have been not a democracy
but" an elective despotism composed of
men who refused to do the people's will.
The fight now is not one for democratic
principles but Is Inspired by motives of
personal hatred by his enemies.
When I contemplate the bitter unre
lenting assault made upon the Junior sen-
ator of this State and realise Ha malig
nity after the people's representatives uv
the legislature have Investigated the
Charge: against him after the people
have with practical unanimity selected
him as their senator with full knowledge
of the charges after :a second legislature
has again declared him guiltless of any
Wrongdoing in an investigation that cov-
ered bis every private as well as offi-
cial act for years. J am amaxed at the
depth of political hatred disclosed by the
record. It has no parallel in the annals
of political persecution. It Mops not with
the Judgment of the legislature the Judg-
ment' of the people and again the judg-
ment of the legislature but fed With the
fires of envy and malice it wonld sacri-
fice on its own offensive altar the first
and last principle of democratic govern-
ment in this great State the right of the
people to exercise their Inherent power
of self-government reserved to them by
the constitution. There can be no liberty
In a government there can be no justice
In a government there can be no. equality
in a government where the will of the
people is not supreme and In the democ-
racy of Texas a representative who re-
fuses to carry out the will of the people
Is not a democrat but a despot and a
legislature that violates the express In-
structions of the people is an elective des-
potism which is as far removed from de-
mocracy as hell Is from heaven.
Mf TEXAS IDEALS.
Sometimes I take my oldest boy on my
knee and tell him fragments of Texas
history trying to implant in bis young
mind a spark of the deathless spirit of
liberty tn Indomitable courage and sub
lime heroism of Houston Austin. Fannin
Travtg Bowie and all that immortal band
of . men who dedicated their lives to
found a democracy on soil sacred with
their blood. They fought a despotism no
lest destructive to liberty and democracy
than a found in this warfare against the
Fenator of a great State and a great peo-
i ie by the accredited representatives of
n people after the people themselves
ve spoken against them. I tell him
uat liberty Is the last and best gift
i t God to mankind and that the world's
j iHtory holds no fairer or more beautiful
than that which records the dawn
t free government on Texas soil where
e was born. I try to teach him the
indamental difference between democ-
uit'V and aristocracy; between a free
vernment by the people and a despot -n
governed by a few men. I have
d to blm the first constitution of
exas adopted in 1345 which says:
"That the general great and essential
t rlnolpleg of liberty and free government
may be reorganised and established we
cclare! f. '
"Section 1. All political power is In-
orent In the people and all free gov-
. rhments are founded on their authority
i rid Instituted for their benefit; and they
ave at all times the inalienable right to
.liter 'reform or abolish their form of
overntnent in such manner as they may
:!lnk'- expedient."
I tell him that this noble language
ie Inspired by the spirit of the pa-
ot who dedicated this magnificent
minion to' Justice equality and liberty
nong men. I tell of the tremendous
rlflee left to us and then picture to
i im the base Ingratitude of men who
mid wilfully" deny the fundamental
lit o'f the people to exercise their m-
. rent right of .self -government. I tell
a that no -democracy can exist wlth-
i this Inherent power lodged In the
me; that .it lsHh first and highest
1 In .our organic law. and that any
one servant and. especially any repre-
niMtive In the legislature' violates and
inirchea this Ideal when he dellber-
iy Ignores an expression of the lit'
"it power of th) people I tell him
it sgaln ID the constitution of 1876
i section ' I Is reiterated. In substance
languago quoted; that It was omlt-
1 from the constitution of 1 formed
reconstruction period when) liberty
1 free government were' denied: 'to the
fie of Texas 'and try- to show hlra
a closely through all the hletory of
- as the great controlling principle has
u a government r by' the - - people
t-h representatives' chosen to do the
will. I try to teach' him that
is the very soul of a- democracy and
every great apostle of -democracy
n to fame by his adherence to
i ;Hti.ntat truth that all political
m In ient in the people I tell.
. at tn highest authority in a
republic- is the voice of the people. It
is. the greatest power In . the world
legislatures klngiy prerogative royal
succession military strength' and usur-
pation and governments el all kinds melt
before Its opposition like the -dew be-
fore the morning sun. and when this
voice is once aroused all the arte. wiles
and egotism of .man. in the fofoa of Its '
fury are as "dewdrops from Hon mane
shook to air." . "ii.tv .
DEMOCRACY . 'ii'' .
Mr. Jefferson thus defines our gov-
ernment j. s
"Goi-ernm&nts are republican only In ;
proportion as they embody the wlH of
the people and exerute it. ' ' ''
"Were I to assign to this term-fa re- .
public) a precise and definite Idee I
would say purely and slmpfy It means
a government by its citizens in mass'
acting directly. and personally according
to rules -established by the majority
and that every other government is more
or less republican in proportion as it has
in its composition more or less of this
ingredient of the direct action -of the
citizens.
"The further this departure from direct
and constant control by the citizens the
less has the government of the ingre-
dient of republicanism.
' And believing as I do that the mass
of citizens la the safest depository of
their rights and especially that the
evils flowing from the duperies of the
people are less injurious than those from
the egotism of their agents. I am a
friend to that composition of government
which has in it the most of this ingre-
dient. "An elective despotism was not the
government we fought for."
Tiese extracts contain the true dem-
ocratic faith. And while the legislature
is Invested with power to elect the sen-
ator from this State above and beyond
this power lle h rlirlu of the rwple In
a democracy to have their will obeyed by
their public servants. Surely no patriot
will be rash enough to contend that the
people have no right to Dlnd their repre-
sentatives by positive instructions or
rather let me say any man who will do so
is not a democrat.
THE ISSUE.
This brings me to a discussion of the
issue as it now stands In Texas between
the friends and enemies of democratic
government the right of the people to
control their agents In the legislature.
On the one side are those led by men
who Ignored their plain emphatic Instruc-
tions and substituted for the will of the
people their own egotism and attempted
to override the voice of the people by an
exercise of legislative tyranny. On the
other side are those who believe that the
people should rule this State and the
people have an Inherent right under the
law and the Constitution to instruct their
agents In all legislative matters. What
was It that Mr. Bryan said In his speech
to the last legislature about representa-
tives who refused to execute the people's
will? Treason to the people? Embez-
Blement of power? This fundamental
question has been an Issue since the dawn
of liberty among men and when the peo-
ple of this State - can no longer control
their representatives In the legislature
their liberty Will wither like a flower In
the breath of the Frost King and an af-
frighted democracy will seek cover under
the deadening pall of an elective despot-
ism. In words of soberness and truth
when the hour comes when Texas can not
control Us representatives In the legisla-
ture we have Indeed departed from the
ways of the founders of this great com-
monwealth and surrendered the blessings
of free government for an abhorent and
despicable despotism. Far beyond and
above the aspirations of the junior sen-
ator or any man a blow is struck at the
very structure of the democratic faith
and fealty Dy this warfare upon the chos- j
en servant of the people.
JEFFERSON AND MADISON.
When the constitution of the United
States wss being ratified by the States
and bills of rights were being adopted
to clearly define the rights of the people
Mr. Jefferson was greatly concerned over
the future of the new republic and the
State governments. The two dangers he
moat feared were legislative tyranny in
the States and the encroachment of ex-
ecutive power in the National govern-
ment. He feared these dangers would
wrest from the people the blessings of
self-government. DUcusslng with Mr.
Madison the destiny of the American gov-
ernment which was largely the work of
these two great patriots whose names
are still a benediction upon free govern-
ment he said In a letter dated March IS
1789:
"The executive power In our govern-
ment is not the only perhaps not even
the principal object of my solicitude.
The tyranny ot the legislatures is 'really
the danger most to be feared and will
continue to be so for many years to
come. The tyranny of the executive
power will come in its turn but at a
most distant period."
What did the great apostle of democ-
I racy mean by tyranny of the legisla
ture: in me very nature or tilings
what could he have meant but the ar-
bitrary or despotic exercise of power to
override the people's will or to use his
own words an "elective despotism." Mr.
Jefferson could have found no Incident
In history that more fully Justifies his
fear (ft legislative tyranny than the ac-
tion of those members of the last legisla-
ture who deliberately with malice pre-
meditated and designed tried to over-
ride the will of the people as expressed
through the ballot by trying to defeat
the re-election of Hon. Joseph Weldon
Bailey to the United States senate.
CAUSES FOR INVESTIGATION.
I-et uh see what caused the tnvestlgat
tlon of the junior senator. It was an in-
vestigating resolution passed by th
legislature. This resolution was forced
because of the assault upon a chosen
servant of the people by the legislative
despots who voted to override the voice
of the people and Is a flagrant example
of "legislative despotism" feared by Mr.
Jefferson. Mark you the legislature It-
self brought no charges through a com-
mittee The democracy of Texas had
chosen their senator. Every member of
the legislature was elected by a ballot
on which was his own name and the
name of the Junior senator. The Inher-
ent power of the people had been exer-
cised when these legislative tyrants tried
to override the people's Will. This resolu-
tion seized the Junior senator so to
speak by the threat. It said here ts tho
man chosen by the people and any one
creditable Individual no matter who
whether with malice or good Intention
may file charges against him and tho
whole power of the legislature -shall Im
used to prove such charges. In response
to this sweeping resolution one man
came forward and filed forty-two
charges almost any one of which. If
proven true would have Constituted a
feloiy under the law. When I read ant
reread those charges and plodded through
the mesa of atrocious testimony In which
every devioe known to legal skill was ex-
ercised to prove them and read how: the
very ' flower of Texas' manhood waif
ailed tioeo to testify to their untruthful
ness- and bow to the end every har
was disproved I realize how great must
have been the fear In Mr. "Jefferson's
soul that freedom and liberty of the peo-
ple might be ewept away by an exercise
of legislative tyranny. . .. . .
JUSTICE AND LIBERTY.
I have stood' before a greet status of
a great man.-who had fallen la the battle
Jor human Debts.' and realised that the
statue though human In form was but
an expression "of manklAd's adoration of
justice and liberty. ; I . have gloried in
the forensic triumphs of a Cicero a
Burke a Choate a Henry" a Webster a
Clay a Calhoun and others and thanked
Ood that such men had risen with elo-
.quence and power in defense of liberty
'justice and equality among men and at
all times along life's pathway I have
cultivated a love for those great Ideals
which underlie end form the basic prin-
ciples of our free Institutions and which
incessantly and unchangeably demand
that the management by the people of
their own affairs. Is the one first great
essential of democracy.
I have read with horror of the Spanish
inquisition where tryanny tortured Its
victims for trifling things; recoiled from
Carlyle's word picture of the tnramous
Bast He where human butchers of hu-
manity listened to moans of the mad-
dened mob dancing the Carmagnole to
the music of the descending guillotine;
but. considering the ideals of our govern-
ment. I do not believe all history holds
a more cruel exercise of legislative
tyranny than is found In the Austin In-
vestigation of our junior senator based
upon the paid and perjured testimony of
a witness like Gruett.
Let us not forget that with one excep-
tionThomas of Waco not one of the
men primarily responsible for the In-
vestigation dared to go on the stand to
swear to the truth of those things they
ha-J openly proclaimed from the stump
and Thomas' testimony was stronger in
the senators favor than his own testi-
mony was. Let us not forget that not
one of his enemies said over his own sig-
nature that he was guilty of a single one
of t!:c charges. Mi. IlubeiUon of Auollu.
wlione county Instructed him against the
Junior senator expressly exonerated him
from any wrongdoing as charged.
The majority of the committee. O'Neal.
Cobbs Patton and Wolfe made plain
specific findings in each and every one
of the charges and in each Instance de-
clared them not proved but disproved
or as immaterial and with no testimony
offered In support thereof. For the sec-
ond time legislative tyranny tried to de-
feat the junior senator. For the second
time the will of the people was trampled
upon by the legislative despots upon the
same double disproved charges.
The greatest Jewel In the Terrell elec-
tion law Is section 120 providing for an
advisory referendum under which the
people can Instruct their representatives
in any matter they may choose to nine
on an election ballot and yet we find the
author of this law fighting the first In-
struction of the people to their represent-
atives under his law and making a mock-
ery of the democratic principle of the
right of the people to exercise their inher-
ent right of self-government.
ORIGIN OF THE ATTACK.
Who Inspired this attack upon the
Junior senator? Was It born In the open
sunlight of public duty or was It hatched
In star chamber sessions of political en-
emies. Was it In response to any demand
of the people? We can not sound the
secret Indications of men's souls to find
the actuating motives of human actions.
If we could I am sure that In the bosoms
of those men who are responsible for this
warfare on the junior senator we would
una no trace of anything But malice
hatred envy and all tb.
of satellites that hope to profit through-'
the defeat of a great name and fame. In
whose office was the vullture born to prey
uyvu iiiv uaiiw anu same or too- junior
senator? Let us see: Some time before
the agitation started the-muckrakers in
Hearst magazine commenced the attack.
The ablest writers of the day began to
probe Into the life of the junior senator.
It was genius backed by unlimited
wealth aqd spurred by an Intense hatred
that began. the pursuit of Senator Bailey.
Means and mean men were found to
carry on this unholy pursuit of a great
man Into his own State.
rause here and ask the question why
An election was oh. The people were
aoout to yoto tor the junior senator to
succeed nimseir out no word came from
behind the closed doors beyond which the
Incubator of hate was hatching out its
brood of charges. Here was an oppor-
tunity for a manly fight before the peo-
ple. For the first time in Texas the
people had the longTdemanded privilege
of lawfully voting for United States sen-
ator. For many years they had demand-
ed this right. It had been proclaimed as
a democratic principle in thousands of
platforms and public 'speeches of great
democrats. The claim had been openly
made that the United States senate was.
In the main opposed to the people; that
in many Instances the senatorshlps of
States were subjects of barter and sale
by legislatures but here Is Texas a great
democratic demand was about to be real-
ised. Here indeed was an opportunity to go
before the people upon the issue of the
worthiness or unworthlness of the Junior
senator to succeed himself. But the con-
spirators were afraid of the voice of the
people In mass. They evidently believed
with Jefferson that they could more cer-
tainly rely upon the egotism of the peo-
ple'e agents than they could upon the
duplicity of the people. They allowed
without protest the people to make their
choice under a law authorizing them to
Instruct .their agents in the legislature.
Across 'the credential ballots of those
agents was written the name of the Junior
senator expressing the people's will. The
State was contented. Peace snd frater-
nity presided over the destiny of a great
party and a still greater people. Then
It was that the tongue of slander leaped
Into a flame of abuse. Men paused In
their admiration of the great ability of
the Junior senator and questioned them-
selves as to the meaning of the charges.
With an effrontery unequaled and
charges so specific as to bewilder; with
an emrhasls so emphatic that even ths
friends of the Junior senator yielded to
the pressure this base appeal was made
to the egotism of the people's agents.
For daring political Intrigue the plan to
destroy the Junior senator through the
legislative tyranny of the people's rep-
resentatives; has no equal In the history
of any State.
VITAL QUKSTIONS.
Listen to Mr. Jefferson: "Governments
are republican only In proportion as they
embody the will of the people and execute
It." Let ua ignore the majestic and
tSwerlng genius of the Junior senator" in
a discussion of the vital question at
Issue. The legislature was asked to scorn
and disobey the will of the people: to
set Itself up as an elective despotism and
in the exercise of legislative tyranny
violate their pledges to the people their
fealty to the democratic party of the
State and their duty to themselves a
democrats. This deeply laid and care-
fully planned and attempted political as-
sassination violated every element of the
democracy of Jefferson. It violated every
Instinct of decency In honorable open
warfare. It was an effort to betray the
people and to assert the despotic rule of
an elective despotism ft was undemo-
cratic unmanly and It Is the greatest
blot that ever blurred the pages Or dis-
graced the legislative annals of sany
State. The people have said "oui choice
for senator ts the Hon. Joseph Weld on
Bailey. Ha bears our credentials. Elect
him pro forma. We have already elected
him by the ballot" But no. the legisla-
tive despots swelled with their petty
tyrannical power said: "We do not con-
sider your nominee worthy ot our votey
and we will override your choice and you
will elect some one else' They! said:
"We are greater than the people we
Mum lhm ma allnetanne In this matter.'V
And this too in the legislative hflls of
a great State dedicated to the nacred
right of the people and built uwa .the
ruins of a Spanish despotism no less
offensive and destructive to human lib-
erty than their tyranny.
Democracy can never exist in a country
where the people can not control their
re presents tire. As Mr. Jefferson said:
"The evils that flow from the unre-
strained egotism of the people's agents are
destructive to the liberties of the peo-
ple" and any man who listened lo that
(taming tongue of slander-slander the
foulest wl.eip f sin lo t Ids vote to
override the voice of the people In the
selection of the Junior senator cast a
vote to tear down the most sacred anu
greatest ideal of the democratic party.
I reiuaie" there can be but one Issue
In this contest that has divided the peo-
ple and that Is shall the pe ipH ontrol
their servants and agents In the legis-
lature? The people want-.l the junior
senator. The legislative despots who re-
fused to abide by the result of the elec
tion oy virtue of which tney eianneu
I their despotic power wanted soma one
else.
GRUETT.
It was the voice of the people against
the tyranny of their representatives and
to justify themselves In their wanton
and flagrant defiance of the people's will
-their treason to the people their em-
bezzlement of power they dug up a
Gruett.
Oruett who admitted under the search-
lights of Senator Odell's cross-examination
that he bad stolen papers from a
former employer. Gruett who testified
that he had sworn to a lie because he
was oidered to do so and that it was to
his interest to obey that order and was
so testifying with a promise of Immunity
for such crime from the attorney gen-
eral s office of Texas Gruett. who at-
tempted to blackmail the Junior senator
Into getting Pierce to pay llli.ooo claimed
for the stolen papers that he had altered
and interlined; Gruett. tho paid witness
who after blackmailing the Junior sen-
ator tali Ms stolen ant! a:tcrc3 vouch-
ers and memoranda to the attorney gen-
eral's office for one-third of the pros-
pective fees amounting tq hundreds of
thousands of dollars whose recovery wao
to be predicated on evidence thus ob-
tained. It seems Incredible that men
Texans. democrats in the last legislature
voted against the Junior senator aftes
the recital of the testimony before the
committee and especially that of Gruett.
But tyranny knows' no limitation or law
and the people's will and the people's In-
structions "pass by It as" an idle wind
which it respects not."
The historian of the senator's life will.
In his cold critical analysis stand amazed
and dumbfounded at the cold-blooded
audacious and mendacious recital of
Gruett before the legislative inquisition
and wonder how servants of the people
elected to perform the people's will could
attempt to Justify their betrayal of tho
people upon such evidence Of all the
travesties of trials; of all the monumental
mockeries of Justice; of all the colossal
cruelties of catalogued crimes against a
man and a servant of the people the in-
vestigation of the junior senator heads
the list. It was a chalice held to the
lips of Justice In whose depths lurked the
poison of envy malice hatred and per-
jured testimony. It was an opened Pan-
dora's box from which had flown every
species of black-winged ghoulish birds
of prey to batten In an atmosphere of
slander and feed on their own appe-
tites. But above the din of their wings
was heard the. voice of the Junior sen-
ator calm and1 undisturbed "I fear no
evil for I have done no wrong."
JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON.
.'Governments usually fall a sacrifice
In the for
mer case their power escapes from them
It is wrested Trom their grasp In the
.Miter." BotbiMrt' effellbtjind Mr.
Hamilton recognized the truth ppntalned
in this splendid deduction of Toque-
vllle. .Mr. Hamilton feared the .republic
would fall a sacrifice to the tyranny of
the majority of the people. Mr. Jeffer-
son feared It would fall a sacrifice to
the tyranny of the people's agents In
legislative bodies One was an aristo-
crat; the other was a democrat. Mr.
Hamilton said: "It is of great Impor-
tance in a republic not only to guard
society against Its rulers but to guard
one Party of society against the other."
He railed against the voice of the ma
jority as a tyranny. Mr. Jefferson fa-
vored acquiescence In the will of the
majority as the one great essential "of
free government. He said "the encroach-
ment of executive power is not the great-
est danger to the republic but that Its
greatest menace lay in the tyranny of
the legislatures." These two things are
exemplified and emphasized in the life
of the Junior senator wbo is the victim
of the one and the greatest public enemy
of the other. How prophetic indeed
were these words of Mr. Jefferson "the
tyranny of the executive has come as a
danger to our free institutions and side
by side with the tyranny of the legisla-
tive bodies of America It stalks In
pompous portent." What would Mr. Jef-
ferson have said about those agents of
the people who upon the statement of
a Gruett voted against an express In-
struction by the ballot of a free people?
Would he have called them democrats
or despots? What would he have said
against the actions of his latest suc-
cessor as president who arbitrarily exer-
cises his executive power in open viola-
tion of all precedent and constitutional
limitation only to be supported by legis-
lative despots who under the Influence
of the big atlck follow his will? Would
he not reallie that the two great dangers
he most feared for his country ar press-
ing upon the liberties and rights! of the
people of the republic?
There Is a destiny in all things. -"No
matter from which point we view that
marble block from which our lives are
carved the black vein of destiny ever
reappears on its surface." This is true
Of nations as well as men. and destiny
Strides along the pathway of nations and
builds its monuments to the genius of
the ages In the shape of historic fame
to men even an we In life build' monu-
ments In bronze and stone; and In this
age destiny will build a monument to
the name and fame of the junior senator
Of this State as the ablest defender of
the constitutional rights of. the people
BAILEY'S "DEMOCRACY.
Joseph Weldon Bailey measured by the
Jeffersonlan standard of democracy 1
Its greatest living exponent and his con-
gressional record establishes the truth
of this statement.
He is the greatest enemy of the Stand-
ard OH system in congress and his rec-
ord in the lust congress establishes this
fact.
In the four great constitutional debates
that have occurr ed In the senate since he
became senator lie has clearly proven
that he is the real leader of democracy
In that body The Cuban treaty bill In
which President Roosevelt flagrantly en-
croached upon the constitutional rights
of the house of representatives; the South
Carolina Incident. In which a sovereign
Stats was dei 1 1 mi representation In the
senate by a ruling of the vice president
which ruling i expunged by a repub-
lican majority after a great democratic
speech by the Junior senator; the rate
bill debate in which the Junior senator
asserted and demonstrated the power of
congress to control that which it creates
and lastly and recently hie great demon-
stration of the old democratic principle of
the governmental issuance of money es-
tabllsh his pre-eminence in the party and
hig towering genius as the ablest mag
in tbe United States congress
Jthaf' legUlativ tyranny"; feared by
Mr. Jefferson! seeks to destroy this great
defender of the people while he Is fight-
ing ths ' executive encroachment; whlcil
Mr. Jefferson sld would corns as - 4
menace to. ths republic tike Mr Jeffer-
son hie democracy if based oa the will
of the people. Listen to fats rebuke of
"Senator Patterson on ths floor of the
senate: .'- .' . -.. v
"1 believe " as the senator from Colo-
rado appears not te believe lh the right
of the people to Instruct a senator. We
are here not to represent ourselves; we
are tiers to represent our States and
whenever 1 caa not conscientiously voice
the sentiments of the people whose com-
mission 1 bear I will resign my seat In
this body. I will not defy. 1 wlli not
keojt their office and flaunt their con-
victions but 7 whenever j can not obey
their ffwit and preserve my setf-respect
I wliktaka my commission back and lay
It down unsullied at their feeOand allow
them to- choose a senator who can rep-
resent them without misrepresenting him-
self." Democrats of Texas will remember at
the Galveaton convention he fought the
expansion question. How strongly he
said that "this government could not es-
tablish its sovereignty over an unwilling
people without violating the fundamental
principles upon which It was founded
and that the system of colonies could
never apply to our government without
destroying it If the system be pursued
long enough. Our government was de-
signed for an Intelligent patriotic and
seir-govemmg people ami It can not
otherwise be successfully operated " His
views were defeated and his minority re-
port on the platform of that convention
was voted down but was later adopted
at the State convention In 1900 and by the
National democratic convention of that
year. He returned to his district after
the Galveston convention and Jffered to
resign his nomination to congress but his
people said no! This Was what his
enemies In the last legislature should
have done and what Mr. Hawkins of the
Abilene district did do. for democracy al-
ways demands obedience to the people's
will. From the day of the Galveston con-
vention the Junior senator has been pur-
sued by men who base their democracy
"n false standard? and thy can be n
better described than they are pictured
in a recent address of Mr. Bryan to the
Kentucky legislature.
BRYAN'S DEMOCRACY.
Mr. Bryan said: "There were two
theories on present-day democracy the
aristocratic and democratic." He quoted
Jefferson in making this statement and
said this is true now as well as when
Jefferson said It. a
"In all the country there are two par-
ties all the time and always the aristo-
cratic party distrusting the people' and
the democratic party trying to get In
close touch with the people." An aristo-
crat is not easily converted into a demo-
crat; he must be born again.
"I believe that at heart a large ma-
jority of those who called themselves re-
publicans are democrats. Occasionally
these aristocrats get into the legislature.
The aristocratic view is that the legis
lator is elected because he can think for
himself. The embezzlement of power Is
as great a crime as the embezzlement of
money."
Mr. Bryan made reference to the man
who is elected and then goes to a legis-
lature and votes against the wishes of
the people who siht him and said:
"I hope the time will come when such
betrayers will be whipped from power.
The legislator who Is too conscientious to
vote as those who elect blm want him to
vote should be conscientious enough to
resign his office."
Notwithstanding this withering Indict-
ment four alleged democrats in that leg-
islature voted for and thus elected Gov-
ernor Bradley a republican to the United
States senate when they were Instructed
to vote for ex-Governor Beckham a dem-
ocrat. The people's will was set aside
and the people of Kentucky were be-
trayed by this act of legislative tyranny.
In the words of Mr. Bryan they and
all others who disobeyed the people's in-
structions ought to b whipped from
power. Those four renegade Kentucky
democrats prostituted a sovereign power
of the people for selfish ends and yet
there are doubtless men In Texas who
will applaud their tyranny and treachery
to their people.
MACAULAY'S PROPHECY.
When I contemplate Mr. Jefferson's
theory of government founded upon the
people's will equal rights and opportunity
among men and then look upon existing
conditions of servile submission to ex-
ecutive encroachment of power; legisla-
tive tyranny by servants of the people
who refuse to execute the people's will;
Judicial despotism of Federal courts
which In this day and hour Is far more
dangerous than both the others and
whlchaone day decides that members of
an lnAistrlal labor union employed by a
corporation doing an Interstate business
may be discharged because of such mem-
bership and which a few days later de-
cides that this same union can not pass
a resolution againBt trading with such
corporations when under this tyranny
and despotism I see an Impending clash
of class Interests that ghoul which grins
over the graves of all dead and burled
republics I realize that there has never
been a time in the history of this re-
public fraught with so much danger to
democracy and pointing so unerringly to
the fulfillment of Macaulay's celebrated
prophecy that "Industrial oppression of
helpless masses leading to revolution
would destroy the republic." In this
Juncture how great the need In congress
of men In whose natures are deeply root-
ed the principles of democracy and free
frovernment. We daily see our State
aws that seek to control within State
lines the operation of foreign corpora-
tions swept aside by an application of
the doctrine of "vested rights ' and Judi-
cial despotism until we must almost con-
clude that the people of the States no
longer have any power Inherent in or re-
served to them by their State constitu-
tions. These things raise a fear In the
minds of patriots that our republican
democracy Is doomed unless some means
can be formulated and exercised to stop
the centralisation of power in the gov-
ernment at Washington and its Judicial
appointees.
Many years ago In the infancy of our
government. Mr. Webster by his splen-
did Intellect engrafted the doctrine of
the Dartmouth college case Into our Na-
tional Jurisprudence to the effect that
the creating power could not change the
corporate power of private corperations)
which was a contract a vested right.
Many years have passed since then and
gradually and persistently this doctrine
has grown and been followed and applied
to semi-public corporations until In some
fields of Jurisprudence the reserve power
of the States and the people are myth
delusion and a. snare.
VE8TEDRIGHTS
What IS this vested rights doctrine? It
is the chief Instrument used by the Fed-
eral courts to destroy the rights of the
sovereign States of America. It seems
that under It the Interstate business of
the country can openly defy all State
regulation. It teems to exist In publlo
wrongs' and invest property wltb some-
thing akin to the divine right ot kings.
Under It tb right of a. paltry cent piece
la protected abov and beyond tho' rights
of a human being. It 1 ths elevation of
the dollar above ths mao. It denies that
tbe pcoplo ere supreme In a republic.
Under. Its deadening weight the feeople's
good yields te private interest It 1 un
democratic." It is impossible but under
despotic encroachment of Federal court
deepotlsm it ..' TV JiA rHJ 1
1 Every i America ot thoughtful -vmmeV
pays reverential homngs to our federal
constitution and obedience to tho. judg-
ment of the United States supreme court
sustaining that noble instrument but the
growing and almost unlimited snd exer-
cised power of the -inferior Federal eourt
over interstate commerce (and most of
commerce Is Interstate) la the greatest
menace to -the democracy of pur State
governments and is rapidly crumbling;
and destroying the rights of the States
and local self-government t'ueieln; and
the arbitrarily exercised power of Fed-
eral court Injunctions If the democracy
of the States is to survive. In the lan-
guage of our great senator "Their power
to create must in the nature of tblngs
Include the power to limit a democracy.
If it be not true we are no longer a de-
mocracy and on the ruins of the demo-
cratic doctrine of "State rights" sits the
despotic form of the vulture of 'vested
rights" secure from molestation by the
people.
The supreme court of the United States. J
was designed as a bulwark of the Fed-
eral constitution against legislative and
executive encroachment. It was insti-
tuted to uphold a Federal compact be-
tween the States but it hu long since
extended the scope of Its power and In-
fluence until it now practically controls
the political financial and industrial poli-
cies of the country. There are men in our
public life ana judges on the bench who
would Invest It with power to determine
wci id umj principles or natural rignt
and justice against the solemn legislative
enactments the most despotic power
that could be given to the court. Against
this power the Junior senator. In his fa-
mous rate bill speech hurled the full
force of his tremendous intellectuality.
THE RATE BILL SPEECH.
The people as' a mass is the last Jef fer-
sonlan analysis of republic and it was
for them that the Junior senator made
his famous rate bill speech in the senate
Aprl 110 190S In which he asserted the
power of congress to limit and control
that which It creates and which is the
greatest speech' delivered in the senate
In modern times possibly with two ex-
ceptionsthe speech of the Junior senator
ou Trade delations with Cuba." made
December 14 and 16 1903. and his recent
cuwency bill speech on the Sth day uf
March 1908. It was an expression and an
unanswerable plea and demonstration of
that Inherent paramount power of the
people upon which all popular govern-
ments are bullded. Incomparable in its
lucidity and democracy this speech haa
laid the foundation and prepared the way
In which the monopolistic transportation
companies may be controlled for years
with their immense wealth and power
they have been beyond the control of con-
gress. To do so the barriers hedged
around them by inferior Federal courts
must be broken down. and. to this end.
the democratic power of the people must
be exercised or no relief will ever come
from the oppression of the brutal com-
mercialism that dominates the heart
body and soul of the republic. Of all the
great speeches by all the great giants
in our legislative history not one rings
with greater democratic truth and powr
than this great effort of the junior sen-
ator in which he battled for the su-
preme power of the people in a democ-
racy and demonstrated that that power
exercised through their representatives
in congress was superior to the power
of Federal courts created by congress
that the power that created could mod-
ify limit and control. This debate proved
that the Junior" senator of. Texas is St
ablest and most profound constitutional
lawyer and student in the American sen-
ate and. further that his learning and
broad sympathy are based upoa the
sacred ideals of democracy founded upon
the people's wlll
DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION.
listen how he denounced Senator
Spooner's position " that the Federal su-
preme court has the power to declare a
law of congress void because it contra-
venes the court's idea of natural right
and justice.
"Just why tbe senator from Wisconsin
desired to revive that old conflict of opin-
ion I am not able to see. Is there a set-
tled determination In this country to give
to the courts a power which the consti-
tution intended to lodge with congress?
Is there a deliberate purpose not only
to permit but to invite the courts of this
country to assume to themselves the
right to determine what are the princi-
ples of natural right and justice against
solemn legislative enactments? I Im-
pute no such motive to the senator from
Wisconsin yet I must be permitted to
say that the time was never so unfortu
nate as now for the revival and Indorse-
ment of such a doctrine. For thirty years
the people of this country have been ac-
customed to seeing the courts exercise
arbitrary and extraordinary power; and
a new generation of lawyers has come
to the bar who think It treason and wlu
call It anarchy to restrain those powers.
"Mr. President I have no hesitation
In saying that If this government was or-
ganized upon a principle which allows one
to abuse or misuse his power and yet
denies congress the right to restrain him
It was founded upon a rarse principle. 1
yield to no man In my respect for tke
courts. To me the Judge Is a nobler
character than the soldier. To me the
patient man wbo with a clear mind a
brave heart and clean hands holds the
scales of Justice in even balance Is a
mightier foroe for progress and civiliza-
tion than any warrior who ever rode to
victory or death. The Judge patiently
deciding the law as the lawmaking power
has made It is to me ah Inspiration and
an example. But If we are to invest the
courts with the power not to declare the
law as we have made It but to declare
it in opposition to our will and as it
reposes in their own hearts and minds
then sir they must In the end reduce
all departments of government to an ab-
solute dependence on their power. This
is the first government In the history of
the world which ever organized a jtidl-
clary department and gave it the poWer
to annul anything that the other depart-
ments might do. God knows" that power
is enough for any small body of men to
exercise. To vest them with the right to
Judge whether we have kept our oaths-
to obey the constitution when we make
the law is power enough to give to even
that great tribunal without inviting It to
loo if beyond the constitution and assume
our duty to defend and guard the natu-
ral rights of men. We are ninety chosen
by the very elect of all the people. They
are nine who receive their appointment
from a single man ratified and confirmed
by us. I would not trench 'upon their
power; but I would hold myself unworthy
of my station here If I should yield to
them a power which the constitution has
confided to congress."
SPIRIT OF FREE GOVERNMENT.
On the pages of congressional history
from Its first to Its last line there Is not
a single paragraph that breathes more
fully the spirit and purpose of free gov-
ernment for a democratic people than
is found In the noble language Just quot-
ed waiving any question as to who Is Its
author. It has been said of our National
constitution that "Peletlah Webster was
the sculptor who created the marble
Galatea into which John Marshall
breathed the breath of life." In this day
and generation the Junior senator of
Texas unquestionably it its greatestex-
ponent and defender. Ha broke down and
annihilated the argument of Foraker
Bpooner and Knox that ' congress could
not limit the power of the Inferior Federal
court because they derived their power
from the constitution and by his flood of
logic forced the republican senate to
I and control that which it create. Her
agree witn aim mat congress can imuv
It what ho sal W the elose JfW'.r
neeeh afterBenator Hal had agreed ;
.SLssm th vital point layolvod:. . .
riv : their powr from h conUttloii V.
not a new onet It has been pressed upon -'
our highest court by the ablet lawyer '
who have ever practiced before that; great - d
tribunal but it has always been rejected; i p y
I am compelled to believe that.thos sen- t. .-ff
atprs expressed their opinions without
due consideration and nowthy hate to
yield. I will not caU It stubbornne I "
am willing lo call It Intellectual firmness.
Tou know Mr. President ths difference
between firmness and "stubbornness t
Uiat our enemies describe the same qua-
tty as stubbornness which our friend do- .
scribe as firmness. I am constrained t;
believe that the senator from Wisconsin g
and the senator from Pennsylvania who f
have committed themselves to this theory
are defending It with all the power thejr
possess; and If any two men In the senate
or any two men In America can successv
fully defend it. they can.
"And yet. sir much as I regret my dif-
ference with them. It has been a matter of
sincere satisfaction to me that so many
who at first denied my proposition have
now assented to It. When I first an-
nounced It in the senate ratheV m an in
cidental way I had no thougnt or ins
clamorous dissent that was so soon to as-
sail me on every side. I do not know
exactly nor is It material that I should
say when I first learned tbst congress
possessed this power but If I had not
seen so absolutely sure of my position the
first time 1 went into the cloak room I
would have fled from It as from a pesti-
lence because I was met on every side
with a demand for authorities and fo
argument. It la however creditable alike
to the Intellectual candor and to the In-
tellectual strength of the senate that so
many senators upon an investigation of
the question have renounced their first
opinion and have accepted the law as it
has been written by congress and con-
strued by all the courts for a century or
more."
DEMOCRACY THE REMEDY.
Democracy is always a remedy for ty-
ranny and despotism. The junior sena-
tor only tried to apply simple democracy
to a great question and a gretft injus-
tice to the people. The railroads had
practically suspended the power of the
Interstate commerce commission by ths
arbitrary use of the Federal court in-
junctions and congress was pursuing the
usual useless course of statutory regula-
tion trying to pass a law that would run -the
gauntlet or the Federal courts and be
acceptable to a reigning Judicial despot-'
ism. At tftitttmctbre the juntor KiliafoiP -boldly
assorted ttie power of the' people'"
through congress tp control the poWerfof-
interior Federal courts and prptec. th)..
commission from arbitrary 'el parte" ki-
terference with Its order by injunction
process. ; His speech was the Vole of '.
democracy proclaiming with irresistible '
force and logic the right of congress-to -control
that whtch.lt created and the '
power of the people through congress to ".
govern the Republic. - . '
Senator Foraker who led the- forces
most friendly to the railway Interests
would have confined the "fundamental
constitutionality of the interstate com- '
merce commission to a mere mathemat- "
leal computation from fixed data. This
would have excluded from the commis-
sion any exercise of legislative Judgment '
on rates or management of the raH-'.
roads." He was almost alone In this
view. The other senators agreed tttaf
congress could confer rate making tunc-
tions upon the commission. Senator
Foraker was willing to Invest the courts
but not the commission; with ratemaklng
functions. Senator Spooner Senator
Knox and others tried to draw a distinc-
tion between "Judicial power" as con- v
ferred by the constitution and "jurisdic-
tion" given by congress and asserted
I the unconstitutionality of Senator
iftlley's amendment which In effect
pas as follows: "Any carrier person or
orporation party to a complaint and
ilssatlsfled with the rate or practice es-
abllshed by the interstate commerce
commission may file a Mil -against the)
commission in the United States court .
whereupon tiie court after hearing mav
enjoin any such rate or practice If found
to he unjust and unreasonable provided
however tbdt no rate or charges regula-
tion or practice prescribed by the com-
mission shall be set aside or suspended'
by any preliminary or Interlocutory de-
cree or order of the court."
In other words the courts were not.
lightly to set aside the rates fixed by the '
commission after a long and careful In-
vestigation and this upon an ex parte af-
fidavit of an interested party but were
to suspend action entirely until a chance
had been given to hear the entire ease
on its merits.
This amendment precipitated the most
famous senatorial debate 0f modern
times Foraker. Knox and Spooner op-
posed the amendment In speeches of ''
marked and rare nbillty but the sneech -of
the Junior senator in Its support was
unanswerable and the senate fmall'y ac-
cepted his views hy adopting May 121
190b. an amendment which provided that ..
w'U""'0" houkl "" aa1"8' a rul-
ing of the commission except unon a '
hearing after "not less than Ave days'
and. as the Junior sena for RCffna. LI. .
71tndm5nt would be R tk"K f Property
without due process of law (as-Maimed by
the other senators) or without Jus com-
peneation then congress can no moTe
deny an Inlunctlon for five davs thiTn U
nve (ills ?V8n yearS' A "mltatlon fo
five days Is as unconstitutional as a
limitation until after a final liearlnw"
life and effectiveness to the commission
iSl. J"""?. P-peluatTd
u . i. r. i " ' court njunction
that hang like 'a pall over the commT."
slon
THE
TRANSPORTATION AMEND.
MENT. '
Throughout the entire consideration of
the rate bill the attitude of the junior
senator; above any other man in the son-
ate showed that lie wna th ..-. ''
.... aicaica
eneinv of the "vtm" In i. ... . : ' -
UUUy jjjj a
transportation amendment: as originally
presented and eloquently urged by him " "
was the greatest blow ever struck at the '
Standard Oil company and if the "pipe
Una" feRtnra of It nt ha.n ... -i i ft
-- - oil i;iveil OUl
by a republican majority it would have
driven the Standard OH company out of
the transportation or the oil business one
or the other for under It the company
could not have followed both. This j
amendment was designed to prevent the " -"system"
from absolutely controlling ths
nfiltiiral life of AmnHcA: unA nh.(..i r
that "no TaUroad or common carrier could 1 '
modity Vwhjch had been manufactured t 1
mined or. purchased by-them or in which "" ''
J " wuj -...iw. act v&WVpi KUVIl aV
their own need" The senate cut out the ' 1 I
"timber forests of the country which'
the Junior senator called a "vlolous ex-( "tJ
caption"' but as the law stands railroad '
and common- carriers; under a rigid env ; ''
forcement of this amendment' can not J "
gag In most of the great Industrie of
the ; country. In tbls amendment the
Junior senator fought the great danger "
f orptlon- by1 tb "system''... thereat
iMuu' u w rqijio mi constant ao
1
Iff
4
f t4
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The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 23, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 22, 1908, newspaper, March 22, 1908; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth605451/m1/10/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .