The thought that these questions are pertinent, or can even be suggested with a hundred years of schooling in government, is humiliating, and calculated to excite alarm in the minds of every lover of liberty.

A change in public opinion is rapidly going on, and when it reaches the point requisite for action, then action will come. At present the most advanced reform political party sees nothing and proposes nothing that promises permanent relief from the evils they suffer.

Reduction in freights and fares, advance in wages and reduction in the price of articles of consumption, lower rates of interest and more liberal terms in rent, are now demanded; the compliance to which would satisfy the people. They ask mitigation, and mitigation is compromise. To compromise with robbers and usurpers is to acknowledge the right to rob and usurp.

"It is best that the truth be fully stated and clearly recognized. He who sees the truth let him. proclaim it, without asking who is for it or who is against it. This is not radicalism in the bad sense which so many attach to the word. It is conservatism in the true sense."-Henry George.

A people who clearly comprehend their rights, who appreciate their value, and are able to realize the blessings their full exercise would confer,

would lose no time in providing the means for their enjoyment. As long as the people think the theory of their government is right, there is no possibility of a change.

We claim the right not only to choose our servants to perform prescribed duties, and to hold them responsible, but to alter, amend, or abolish the Constitution, and frame one to our liking if we think it necessary; yet we go on repeating the farce over and over, suffer defeat in all measures of redress in legislatures and courts, while oligarchies and petty aristocracies multiply and grow stronger year by year. Every effort the people make in their behalf is in some way foiled and a new advantage for corporate interest gained. To see this and realize it is the first step. Thought will thereby be aroused, investigation succeed, intelligence develop; organization will follow, and a power that will wrest from the hand of greed the people's wealth, and convert the machinations of political chicanery into an honest government.

No one can compute the evils of wa. In the work of building up a true republic there is no necessity for it. The battle-field is the brain and heart, and the weapons ideas propelled by the love of justice, equality, and liberty. The victory won upon this field will be lasting, benefi cent, glorious.

CHAPTER XXI.

SUMMARY.

"Is it right, is it fair,
That we perish of despair,
In this land, on this soil,

Where our destiny is set,
Which we cultured with our toil
And watered with our sweat?
We have plowed, we have sown,
But the crop is not our own;
We have reaped, but harpy hands
Swept the harvest from our lands.”

FROM what has been written, we are able to obtain some idea of what a republican government should be. Its object is to secure the fullest and freest exercise of the natural rights of the citizen consistent with good government. These rights have been considered, and the means for their exercise somewhat discussed.

The bounties of nature so generously bestowed by our Creator are to be secured alike to all his children. Land is the primary source of all the means of life. The first consideration is a just method by which a just portion is secured to all who desire to occupy and use it-or, rather, the necessity of such occupancy and use; the mode is to be prescribed by law.

t

Those who control the land, and can fix the terms of occupation, hold a power over the occupants. He who controls the means of life controls life itself. Since land is the primary source of the means of life, and is controlled in large quantities by few individuals, we can easily perceive the evils of land monopoly, The necessity of removing this evil is apparent to all. A true republic cannot exist with our présent laws of land tenure.

Now what is the duty of the citizen? Some means must be adopted by which the natural rights of the people to the land are secured; and this right transcends in importance all others. What that method is must be determined by the people.

A medium of exchange is of next importance. The false teachings designedly set up by those interested in controlling the currency have enabled them to so mystify the public mind as to secure such control.

The necessity of a clear and comprehensive understanding of money, its nature and func tions, is so obvious that no one can fail to see it. The equal exchange of values would prevent their accumulation in the hands of those who control the volume of circulation. In this consists the evil. The effectual method by which

this is done is to make gold and silver the basis. So long as this idea prevails, there is no hope for a system of finance that will secure all the benefits of money to the people, and enable them to avoid the evils that arise from it. With the con trol of the volume of currency in the hands of the few, and for their benefit, a republic cannot exist.

The history of our government is ample proof of this. The moneyed corporations and capitalists hold absolute control over the industries of the country: labor and its products, and consequently the laborer and producer, are dependent on those who control the money of the country. This creates distinctions between the many and the few: the many toil and suffer; the few are clothed in "purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day."

This distinction creates aristocracies, and aristocracies cannot exist in a republic. Therefore, a system of finance that will meet the demands of the people in effecting an equal exchange and distribution of values is an imperative necessity.

Regulation of transportation and travel, that will secure all their benefits to the people at actual cost, is an equal necessity. The history of transportation in this country demonstrates the fact that vast wealth is accumulated by corpora