Our Own Columbia that is to be

It is positively true that what the common belief of mankind has fixed upon as undoubtedly right is positively wrong, and what the common belief has fixed upon as undoubtedly wrong is positively right, and what is held by all to be the elixir of life is rank poison, and what is held to be rank poison is the elixir of life, and that the stone which the builders have universally rejected ought to have been made the head of the corner. And this verity is vital to the common welfare. And no difficult task it is to make plain and readily comprehensible the paradox. Let ye old schoolmaster of ye olden time be hearkened to while he undertake the task.

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Tradition is the cause of the misconception. It has been coined into law like that of the Medes and Persians,-unchangeable. illustrate: Ten shillings (two and a half dollars) a month is the wage paid the Zulu by the English in the mines and on the farms of South Africa for his labor, and the blacks are compelled, at the bayonet's point, to work for that wage in the payment of "hut tax." Let that condition of the native laborers there be fixed irrevocably and believed to be right, not only by the tyrannical masters, but by the slaves themselves, and acquiesced in by all mankind-then shall falsehood have secured another triumph and wrong be placed on the throne of right there, as is the universal order.

Yes, we believe it is right for the fifty men of Wall street, New York, to hang above the heads of the American people the sword of Democles, and that it were wrong for us to remove that sword from its fastening, though suspended by a single hair. That belief rests on tradition. It has always been that the few have made slaves of the many, and the common belief is that it is wrong to do otherwise than "stand pat." True, we have, on the one hand, the Declaration of American Independence, that tells us what we ought to do in such a case; but, on the other hand, we have by tradition (that is to say, vested wrongs misnamed "vested rights"), this charter annulled *To Mr. E. A. Prickett, of Syracuse. Indiana, thanks for space given "Syracuse Papers" in his sprightly journal. The Syracuse Register.-The Author.

and inalienable rights set at naught. What power does this? Fixes, in the common belief, this annulment? Unalterably (all think and say) crystalizes tradition into law? The law of the Medes and Persians? An Ogre does it. What is the name of that Ogre? Corrupt Court! That is its name-the name of the power that "fixes things." It stood behind Charles I. Both Court and King "lost their heads," figuratively; but, literally, the King. Does history repeat itself?

Yes.

"Vested rights" (so-called) are ever vested wrongs. The Zulu that hesitates to take up his spade or pick or hoe to work out his "hut tax" is a "rebel" and shot. We are all Zulus but the fifty of Wall Street. Has not the Court so declared? For us to say "no" is "contempt of Court," punished by imprisonment or banishment enforced by regulars or national guards. So it is in Colorado, as all men know to the public shame.

We must apply the sponge to the slate and wipe out tradition. Then let us solve the problem of equality. We must break with the past. One thing is sacred. What is that? It is not vested wrongs, falsely defined "vested rights." What then? Natural rights. He that does not stand ready to say "In the defense of my natural rights is the best time for me to die," and to maintain them with his blood and his life, if need be, will ever be exploited by the rich man, as is the Zulu by the English. When every man's possessions are limited to his necessities and the surplus is made common, will we have reached the limit of the rights of property? Whoever controls more of wealth than is, according to nature, essential to the well being of himself and his dependents, controls more than he has a natural right to control. In whom or what rests rightfully the control of the surplus? In the Commonwealth.

II.

There is a supreme and paramount natural law of society. What is it? It is that the city, state and nation exist for the good of the units, and not the units for the good of the city, the state and the nation. The units are the men, the women and the children individually. The right motto is not, "See that the republic receive no harm;" but, "See that the individual receive no harm." Now what is the one specific object of the city's, state's and nation's existence? It is to assure each individual his natural rights. Now, what are these? (1) The right of life; (2) the right of liberty, and, (3) the right of the pursuit of happiness. This, all Americans concede, nominally at least. But how many really and positively? The right of life means that there be no restriction of offspring; the right of liberty means that no one be forced off the path of nature, and the right of the pursuit of happiness means an open door for the exercise and development, according to beneficent nature, of every God-given faculty and organ of mind and body.

All may be stated and defined in one short sentence, viz: "It must be made good for all children to be born." This is the one definite, positive and paramount purpose, end and design of the existence of city, state and nation. This means that nature be ever paramount.

Now, a great volume,-a mighty tome,-might be written right here, presenting nature's superior claims. Yet, after all, her demands are plain and simple. They are one: "Be natural." This is the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night to be followed unhesitatingly and always by all men and all women. A life, according to nature, every human being ought to live, and the city, state and nation should hold him derelict if he do not live it. Above all, he should be or become a husband and father; she a wife and mother. Reproduction is the one and only purpose and end of plant and animal life according

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