The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-01-18
THE REvOLUTIoN.


alarming condition Of the Rcpublic will dare
to gainsay itf Us, fellow citizens, though
the booming cannon is no longer heard on
our hills, or in our valleys; though the
warrior bugle resoundsnot Ger hill OF dale;
nor the royal sun gHsseu on thousands
Of bristing bayonets; though our railway
trains are not turned into omuibuses, nor
our houses converted into hospitals, never
theIess we are passing through revolution,
more certais and deadly in It's effects, than
If our mountains and valleys, our rivers and
towns were dyed red With the warm life
blood of our fathers and brothers. We are
in the midst of one Of those grand events
which happen in the worlds history, and
the life Of natons-a moral revolution,
revolution which will bring to future gene
rations all the blessings Of free govern.
meut, and grand and mighty Republic, or
will entail upon them the curses aud the
blasphemies Of degenerate, demcralized,
centralized Despotism. Are you willing
If not, then be mp and doing. Know ye not
that the enemies Of the Republic are at work,
with their subtle weapons-deceit and fat
terry They are deceiving you as TO their
purposes, and fiattering you as to the secori-
| ty Of your government, Will you be caught
| by their wiley diatribesf Will you be the in
struments Of your own destruction Can We
hear you, in the majesty Of your insulted
] freedom, exclaim-Noi and echo taking it
up and carrying it from the cities to the val
legs, from hill TO hill, and ocean &c ocean,
gathering 10 its fulluess, until, like the thun-
ders of Jehovah, it bursts above and around
the conspiratOrs, as an omenOus warning Of
the storm that is to fJllowf
! Let no mawkish sentimentality stand be-
tween you and the performances Of your du-
ty. You are no mere physical machine, to
be set in motion at another's dietum. Be
mindful Of your sovereignty guard il with
jealous care, that you may entrus' il to the
generation that follows, as a sacred trust-a
priceless jewel. How, then, may you do
I this By carrying out the principles OF the
Labor platform To do 50, however, you
should join the labor party. We know when we
ask you TO renounce your party and become
one Of US, we ask a great deal, but we also
know that in doing SO. We give you good
deal in return. When yoa lock at the desc
lation that old political parties have sur
rounded you With; the periodical stagnation
Of business, which is the natural outgrowth
Of their economical system; the inevitable
results which must dow from IT; the dissipa-
ton, licensiousness aud corruption, which
is everywhere manifest; the ultra non-demo-
cratic republican doctrines advocated BY
your representatives in Congress; the hatred
which is being engendeTed by one section Of
the county for the other, is it not time that
you rose in your might, and with one voice
exclaimed, "Thus far you shall go, and no
farther"
Workingmen, we propose to alter some at
least Of these evils. We mean TO clean the
augean stables, and instead Of the monde
scripts which are now misreprsseatiag Won,
to place men Of sound mind, whose wisdom
teaches them respect for honesty and virtue.
We mean to have a financial policy, based
on the products Of American industry, equi-
table table end md iRss alike to the labOrer and the
capitalists home policy, wnIta vii giye
satisfaction to all sections Of the republic !;
a foreign policy that win cause Us to be re-
spected abroad a revenue system which will
encourage home industry and enable cur
manufacturers to compete wi h foreign pro-
ducers, and exacting just sufficient from or
people to defray the expenses OF government
as administered on economical principles.
These are some Of the reforms which We
contemplate; in them thereis nothing Of ag-
grarianisnr; we do not propose to pull down
Our intention is not to work on the level
ling principle. Those who now possess
their millions will aot be whit tAe poorer
from the effect of our reformation. We do
not propose to work on the Jacobinical or
der; We guarantee security Of life aud pro-
perty, that men shall be rewarded according
to their wisdom. honesty, virtue and ability.
We know there 10 one stumbling block in
your way. The ghost Of your party baunts
you, and your mind is filed with suspicious
Of party tricks. II you are democrat you
suspect it is flank movement Of the Repob- |
lican party to regain the ground they have !
lost, and you think you are sustained in those
suspicious by the action of some Of those i
leading men, who have been and are ack-
nowledged leaders in that faction. If you
are republican you make the same Charge,
because of the sympathy Of certain leading
minds in the Democratic party. To all sueh
We say "dying men catch at straws." We
will not reject the voluntary services Of such
men, whether they be democrats or republi-
ans, bat to make them our standard bearers.
n to become the instruments to build M
ither party, has net entered into our re-
hottest speculation. Certain men, Who are
Inevitably doomed to political oblivion, and
ertain papers whose career 10 almost run,
my think they can retrieve their fortunes ,
cutwardly adopting our principles, but at !.
he proper.tine and in the proper place, we
nall expose their mAehinstions. !
And now As to leaving Jour party: II ID
OF such terrible thing 20 DO after all. =
lbile We are willing to admire yoar dsvo- !
on, and give you all due credit for the came h
., at the same time, are oonssrainsd 10 e. =
1T that ycu afe laboring under ! strange
'losien. As workingmaa We again ask !,
~ what has your party done for yoa that :
- should adhere to II with such blind !,
naeity2 Under il fostering csr6 esntrali-