CHAPTER XX.

THE LAST STAND OF the eighTEENTH REGULAR INFANTRy of the american empire.

"Professor," I said, as we strolled down the avenue, "it seems to me, as I begin to understand your system of economy, that in order that the first law may be obeyed there must exist often conditions which are contrary to the other laws, and that, as civilization progresses and men gain in knowledge, that gain will be shown by such a change in social conditions that the system, while still satisfying the first law, will satisfy also the other three laws."

"Very true, and any change, to be beneficial, must come from an increase of knowledge among the masses, since without this any change is apt to violate the first law. Thus if a people believe thoroughly in a protective tariff it would be folly to force them into free trade, as it would tend to make business unstable, since a large body of men would always be clamoring for protection; and this

is so in spite of the fact that free trade as a policy will cause a great increase of wealth. And, therefore, while the philosopher says truthfully that protection prevents the increase of wealth while free trade tends to the reverse, the statesman says as truthfully, So long as people hold that protection is better than free trade, it is better not to give them free trade, for the first law of economy is more important than the second.

"The philosopher must not consider people's opinions, but that is just what the statesman must do; and the only way to bring about free trade is to show the people that it would be better for them than protection, which was done early in the twentieth century."

We took a cab from the St. James and started north up the Lake-Side Drive. I had known the Chicago of my day pretty well, but your Chicago is an entirely new city. I recognized nothing, and few of the old buildings are in existence.

As I looked upon this city and compared it to the one I had known, I began to realize the magnitude of the change the Chaotic Era had brought about; and I was both amazed and puzzled, for I could not understand how it

was possible in a democracy that such injustice should be dealt out as to cause an uprising of the masses; for my contemporaries had always claimed that the right of suffrage was a safety valve, and so long as that was given to every man, battles would be fought with votes and not with muskets. The professor surprised me again by reading my thoughts; he certainly is very expert at this art. "The right of suffrage is a safety valve," said he, con. tinuing in speech the line of thought I had been following for some minutes, "but it did not exist at the time of the Chaotic Era. It had been withdrawn some fifty or seventyfive years previous to that date, and that is the reason why the battle was fought with bullets and not with ballots."

I turned to him in astonishment and could not conceal my amazement at this fact, which was news to me.

"Do you mean to tell me, professor, that the right of suffrage was limited? That the great republic of Washington and Jefferson reached a stage where it threw over its principles of democracy to aid and protect the upper classes?"

"That is just what it did."

"Alas! I weep for my country. That is

the saddest of all news.

How did it happen?

What was the cause of it?"

"It was the result of the policy of imperialism which followed the Spanish-American war of 1898. At the end of this war the United States found herself with Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines on her hands. These islands contained many millions of uncivilized people, and it was utterly impossible to give them the right of suffrage and have a stable government. I may say here that economic science, in dealing with forms of government as a corollary of the first law, shows us that democracy is not always the best form of government from the economic standpoint. It shows us that democracy is best suited to that nation which is most civilized and which is the most definite heterogeneity' of all nations; whereas, for an uncivilized nation, nothing is more conducive to the greatest production of wealth, than to be governed by a representative of a highly civi lized nation, provided, of course, that this representative is not corrupt. In this condition the uncivilized peoples may not be as happy as they were, but there will be a tremendous gain in the production of wealth, so that in dealing with two different peoples,

it is often necessary that, to get the same result, i. c., stability, two diametrically opposite methods of government must be used.

"Now from limiting the suffrage in Cuba to limiting it in the United States was but a step, and soon after imperialism had become the policy of your country, a property and educational qualification was put upon the right of suffrage. The immediate results of this were beneficial, and most men of your time could see only immediate results, for a large majority of the Americans of your day did not know enough about the principles of government to use their votes intelligently; but the later results were disastrous, for discontent, not being allowed to show itself at the voting booths, grew silently, and finally attained such proportions that it was satisfied only with blood, and thus was the Chaotic Era brought about."

Going up the avenue, the professor pointed out several spots as the scenes of bloodshed during the early part of the revolution, and he described to me the last stand made by the regulars against the mob. Undoubtedly you are all more familiar with the history of these times than I am, so I will not weary you with a description of them, except perhaps