The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1868-10-07
YOUNG MEN.
Young men OF A America

| 1OuDg men OF America J
You are now entering upon the duties
of liie-are bending your energies tc
solve the problem before us ALL and
are about voting for or against your in.
tcTests.
You live By labor You have sweet
hearts to marry-wives to make homes
ior-children to care for, educate and
teach the duties Of life--parents to love
support, make happy and lie away with
their fathers as you must in time be laid
away with yours.
| What are you here for? What do
you labor for =? Ofwhat use is it to toll
day after day? Why do you rise early
and work late, save money and strive to
accumulate property, aud to add to the
prosperity Of our country !? Is it to
benefit yourselves and those you love, or
to beautify the homes of others who toll
not You may be Republican. You
may be Democrat. You may be a
christian or you may be an inGdel-
Foreign oil native born. We care not
for these but you are a young man
and to you we talk.
The Republican party has created a
gigantic aristocracy based ou your labor
on bonds given and made exempt
from taxation. These bonds are simply
your notes You must pay them. They
must be paid fiom your earnings. To-
day - to. morrow next week - next
month-next year-for years and years
to come you, young men all the while
growing older, must work to redeem
these notes which are your chains bind
ing you to acknowledges on your
| labor
When the war began the notes did
not exist. Under the laws of America
they cannot legally exist as created, for
they bring wealth to those who hold
them and are not taxed The Republi-
cans le2islatci the power to create such
notes, then created the notes and called
them bonds, sold them for half their
face, declared them exempt from taxa
tion, declared that you young men,work
ingmen Of America. must pay interest
on those notes in gold, and in time pay
tho principal.
If you have little farm, or team,
or trade, or piece Of property worth
one thousand dollars, on it yoa pay tax
es. This is right. If a rich man has
million dollars invested in bonds, your
notes, which he says you must pay, he
pays no taxes. He locks his bonds in
safe, rides at his pleasure, aud you pay
the taxes, pay him interest in gold, pay
the principal work hard and live poor,
he does nothing and GETS richer, and in
time dies and leaves his children the
very dollar you earned, which should
have benefited YOU and made your chils
dren at least the equals of his children.
Your labor, under Republican laws
enrich the aristocrat who produces moth.
ing. He docs not work the law compels
you to support him. The carpets on
his floors, the books in his library, the
pictures on his walls, the horse he
drives, the carriage he rides in, the
watch he sports, the diamonds on the
neck of his wife, the silks on her body,
the laces next her flesh, the beautiful
dresses on his children, you youngmCn
who work are paying for They do
not pay for these articles Your wife
may wear chemiesette of course linen
or cotton his wife wears laces. Your
children 90 with bare feet, his with
warm stockings and pretty boots. You
eat from pine board he from mahoga-
ny. You have one course, he a half
dozen. You pay for these luxuries, ne
docs not
If you are content with this inequali-
ty Of taxation f; if You are willing to be
robbed to support the rich if you are
willing to work, not to teautify your
own homes, but the homes of the bond
holders, then you are indeed unfit to
be husbands, fathers, or citizens of
America.
Your duty is to those you love, and if
you love the aristocrat, the wife and
children Of the Republicau-mad aristo.
crat, whose wealth is the pocket full of
notes somebody signed for you to pay
ifyou love the.oncs whosnoor at you, who
look upon you as poor, ignorant work.
ingmen If you love those who boast Of
holding you as slaves, more than you
love your own wife, children, homes, or
happiness then you deserve to be slaves
forever.
If you do not care to enjoy the fruits
of your OVID toll, vote the Republican
ticket-strenglhen the claims Of the
bondholders--sink labor into the mire
and elevate the carriage of the bond
holder and add to your taxes.
Young man-w orking man, this con-
Germs you and yours more than it does
us--you may vote as you please, II
you wish to support an arstocracy- il
you prefer to,we will sell our property in
vest il bonds, and you can suppoCt US also