SECTION IV.

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

THE subject of Political Economy is one that is attracting widespread study, and we find our land is full of political economists who propose to tell us the true secrets of government. Their instructions are based largely upon their individual views of what is and what ought to be. To accept these lessons without analyzing the positions of the author, is accepting another man's theory without bringing into play the gifts which God has given you. You have no right to accept any political doctrine without weighing the questions involved. We may rely, perhaps, upon the statements of astronomers and mathematicians because they are based upon actual demonstrations, but the man who propounds a theory of political economy is not necessarily infallible. It is simply his opinion, and neither greatness of character nor eminence of station is proof of

correctness. All theories are, as it were, lotteries. The banker expounds his theories from the standpoint of a banker; the manufacturer from that of his business; the protectionist and free-trader from their preconceived relations, the miner from his; the artisan from his, and the farmer from the standpoint of the farmer. We all are apt to advocate that line of policy that is of most account to us. One section of the country may be interested in a measure that is detrimental to another section, and yet it cannot be said, truthfully, that one is less loyal than the other. It is an impossibility to enact general legislation for the special benefit of all, and no political economist can lay down a perfect form of government.

The author would earnestly advise in dividual thought on every question brought before the American people. It is an age of strife and preferment, of large expenditures and small economies, of profit and loss, of wealth and poverty, of force and surrender, of ambition and defeat. We are making rapid progress in every line of invention; in the arts, in the distribution of food and manufactures, in educational systems; and what was

for the best interests of people yesterday may not meet the requirements of to-morrow. We will soon have outgrown the traditions of the past and will awaken to a new order of things. Discoveries and inventions have developed new exigencies, necessitating new lines of action based upon new principles of economy. We may no longer govern ourselves by what has been, but by what is, and what will be, and he who attempts to conform, without adaptation, to the old economy will become the old fogy of the day.

Do not depend too much upon the brains of others. Think for yourself, and accept theories only as they command your own assent. If the question be a political one, view it from all sides, and when you have planted your feet upon your platform let it be one of your own hewing. But do not attempt to demolish the platform of another until you have effectual batteries in the form of arguments of your own construction.

This book teems with the vital questions of to-day. They are outlined from the standpoint of the seeker after truth and not from any vantage-ground of personal bias. They are questions that are not to be settled by

ridicule or sarcasm. They must be settled by reason, and experience, and education. They are not of recent origin, but have slowly emerged out of many yesterdays, until now they assume proportions that command attention. You are called upon to study them, to discuss them, and to act upon them. ARE YOU READY?

SECTION V.

QUESTION.

Resolved, That the single gold standard is for the best interests of the country.

NOTE. In the discussion of this question we have suggested many points for expansion. We leave it to the student to analyze them, and set them forth in the form of appropriate arguments. It is one of the leading questions of the day, if not the one of most account at this time, and will admit of a vast amount of study. In deciding it as a question no thought should be entertained as to how the people voted in 1896, or who was elected, but the decision should be based upon the real arguments given. This is one of the objects of debate: To school one's self in discussing a principle opposite one's belief. It gives a wider range of thought, and the mind becomes more fertile, freer to respond to circumstances, and more capable of grasping the various conditions of life. Train yourself to one side only, and you become narrow-minded in your views, selfish in your demands, and irritable under opposition.

Affirmative.

FIRST SPEAKER.-I. Much has been said during the campaign of 1896 for and against this