THE SPIRIT OF 1900

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 4, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 27.

THE SPIRIT OF 1900.

NATURALLY every man is a monopolist, if he himself can wield the monopoly. Naturally he is a monarchist, if he himself can be the monarch. Naturally he thinks his way is right, and if he had the power his way would prevail. It is not those who have power and position in a monarchy who clamor for a democracy or a republic; it is the nethermost classes who are restless and dissatisfied—because they are under. Nor do those who seek independence of a sovereignty always want republicanism; oftener they seek another monarchy where individually they hope in some way to secure more power. Naturally men are under the dominion of sin, and sin was brought into the world by one whose aim was and is to be above every one else, not excepting the Creator Himself. Hence the race is imbued with his spirit.

If there were a place on earth where we would naturally expect to find the people naturally republican in spirit, that place would be the United States of America. This because of the unselfish principles which actuated the leaders of the Revolution and the founders of the government, and because of more than a century of republican pretension. But the policy conceded by a people does not infallibly indicate their spirit. After independence had been gained, even at that early day, a republican form of government was by no means unanimous. Many men in official position in the petty colonies were loath to compromise their power, and their influence was felt in a marked degree. But when it becomes clear to men in position that their places are uncertain, they would rather be deemed equal with all others than to be underneath. And as equality is the highest eminence to be attained by the masses, policy, rather than spirit, settles at that point—as far as human affairs may be said to be settled.

There are marked evidences that republicanism is not any more a natural temper of man in the United States than anywhere else. One of these evidences is the mania for secret societies, all of which are monarchical or imperial in spirit and in practise. Freemasonry is essentially imperial in its aristocratic degrees, in its official titles, in its regalias, and in almost every feature. Even the order's own claim of antiquity locates its origin at a time in the world's history when republicanism was unknown. All the other secret societies are modeled after masonry in the main. About all the features of ancient and modern imperial aristocracy are imitated, and therefore perpetuated, in these institutions; and they now permeate every avenue of society, not excepting the churches.

Another evidence of the imperial spirit in the people is the military spirit everywhere manifested. After the Civil War the hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers discharged from the army were more or less anxious to retain some semblance of military character. There was a glamor about it that was fascinating, and on certain occasions they could be the recipients of distinction not accorded to others. Hence the Grand Army of the Republic was organized, to retain as far as possible the military prestige of war veterans. It was also understood to be a kind of reserve volunteer emergency army, and the membership oath was almost equivalent to that of the regular army. In the South an organization of somewhat similar character has been maintained. So, from that day to this, both North and South, the military spirit has been fostered by the veterans and imbibed by the youth. The latter have been educated to look upon military display as the acme of patriotism, and military prowess as the height of heroism. This delusion received a new impetus in the late war with Spain, and the popular boast of to-day is that this nation is a great military and naval power.

Now the point to be noted here is that militarism is the cap sheaf of imperialism; and a people whose inclination is to seek military prestige are not republican in spirit, even if that form of government be their policy. And the emphasis of this spirit is seen on the Fourth of July, the memorial of American independence, when the chief memorial demonstration—from the three-year-old boy to the gray-haired veteran—is the burning of gunpowder. If the people were imbued with the spirit of republicanism,—the equality of man,—there would not be so much made of the implements and elements whose principal purpose is the destruction of men. The disregard of men's lives is a characteristic of imperialism. But for such disregard, the imperial principle could not have found a basis in human government.

Naturally this imperial military spirit, which has been so tenaciously maintained by the veterans and their contemporaries, and consequently inculcated in the minds of their posterity, must find vent somewhere, somehow. Hence the readiness on every pretext to clamor for war. Hence the popular cry

for war with Great Britain over the Venezuelan boundary dispute, which was happily averted by the diplomacy of the Cleveland administration. Hence the outburst of war with Spain, when there arose the pretext of “humane” interference in Cuba, overriding the efforts of the McKinley administration to check the war spirit and accomplish the desired end by peaceful means. By this time the imperial military spirit had become uncontrollable. Hence expansion into foreign lands, that imperial militarism might find enlarged pastures in which to feed.

Then we have the imperial spirit in business monopoly—combines and trusts for the concentration of capital and trade in the hands of a few, that they may wield power over their fellow-men. The spirit of republicanism, the equality of men, is eliminated from business circles where the trust combines have control. To make these secure there must needs be the imperial political methods which imperial control of capital makes possible. The monopoly spirit is the imperial spirit; there is no true republicanism in it. But we must not imagine that the monopoly spirit is confined to the great capitalists, the great corporations, or the great combines. It permeates the whole body. All that stands in the way of monopoly on the part of the smallest dealer, or tradesman, or even the day laborer, is competition.

Nowhere is the spirit of imperial monopoly more manifest than in the labor union. It purports to be a necessary defense of labor against the aggregations and combines of capital; but it is the same spirit. The great trust aims to destroy all business in its line that does not become tributary to its interest. The labor union sometimes goes even farther; it says to the employer, “If you do not yield to union dictation, not only shall your business be destroyed, but, if possible, your property also.” Nor is this all; it says to the laborer who is averse to being governed by the arbitrary rule of the labor trust, “You and your family shall be starved out, and if you persist in seeking employment in competition with union men, even your life may be forfeited.” No laborer is deemed even worthy of existence who manifests enough republican independence to labor in his own way, and hold aloof from the imperial union yoke.

The imperial character of the labor union is especially shown in its members being subject to the dictation of a few leaders. At the arbitrary command of these leaders, the union laborer must at any moment yield implicit obedience; at any moment he may be ordered by the labor dictator to drop his work and remain idle until authorized to resume work. The very means he has adopted in order to become a partner in dominion over others, makes him practically a servile subject. No matter what the necessity of himself and family, no matter if his employer be observing the union rules, no matter if it cost him the loss of his situation permanently, he is ordered to stop work, and stop he must. He inquires the cause, and is informed that the laborers in that line of work hundreds of miles distant have a grievance against their employer.

Furthermore, the spirit of imperialism is leading the church into efforts to control the government, and to dictate its policy. This effort is extensively organized, and is growing apace. Church control of the State is always imperial; there never can be any degree of union between the Church and the State in a true republic.

So, from every point of view, we see this unrepublican, unchristian spirit of dictation, of rule or ruin, in political, business, labor, and even religious circles. Everywhere is seen the disposition, the ambition, not merely to be equal in station, but to exercise dominion. This is imperialism, whatever the national profession. And it is the spirit of the people, rather than the nominal form of government, that shows the true national character. G.