p 6 THE CADET. l  
that are necessary for the successful canditate are mo11ey and the  
"political pull." They stand in opposition to all 1‘ef0i‘mS. They  
invade the courts of our land and the legislative halls. They over-  
throw justice and demand such legislation as will be beneficial to  
their own interests.  
The connection between a strong centralized government and ceni  
V tralized capital is not only close but essential, the one must necessarily  
follow the other. Centralize capital and a universal clamor for  
central government will follow. ·  —i
The rich will demand it to protect his property ; the poor to shield  
him from his oppressors ; the weak to protect him from the oppression  
of the mighty; the p;ttriotic will demtnd it as a safeguard against  
p the plutocracy who scourge and plunder. Thus, side by side, they  
will go as they have always gone. The centralist and the capitalist  
centralizing all political powers, consolidating the wealth, depriving  
the people of their rights by aggrandizing the few, destroyinglocal  
self government and dwarfing the citizen. `  j
Free Government can not survive when its powers become cen-  T
tralized. (`Jentralization is the death blow to liberty. Centralize this  
Government and some future poet may write of o_ur land as Gold-  
_ smith did of the Deserted Village : 4  
"lll fares the land to hastening ills a prey, -  
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.  
Princes and lords may flourish and may fade,  
A breath can make them as a breath has made.  
lint a bold peasantry, a country’s pride, T 1  .
When once destroyed can never be supplied." . ·?§
What are the dangers that follow centralization`? It destroys in-  
dividual f`reedom. Human industry is checked. Class distinction follows  
and the favored few usurp the powers, Vice and corruption lay their  
grasping hand upon the people. lt deprives the States of their  
rights and lodges all political powers in the general Government and  =
abolishes all local self-government. It decla1·es that strong central  
government backed by standing armies is better to rule a sovereign  
people than liberty and enlightenment diffused among the people.  
What is the remedy for these pressing dangers? Reform is de-  
manded on every hand. We hear the appeal made from the countless