The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-03-08

equallty OF political rights, the man with
no capital is more fortunate than the one
born with silver spoon in his mouth :"
and lastly general encomium and glorih-
cation Of the effect Of a struggle for
bread and shelter
page 2 is missing ED.
They would also hear Of another class Of
capitalists, manufacturers, who by means
Of Legislative enactment, keep off all for
eiJn competition. and then form rings, by
which they get triple prices for every
tIcls the toIler buys, from button up to
an overcoat. class of railroad capitalists,
too, might be mentioned upon whom the
lands and bonds Of the people, have been
bestowed T. an amount sufficient 10 furnish
q home and farm to every laborer IN the
United States who does not own one
By conversation with aborers the editor
might learn that at least nine-tenths Of the
capital Of the United States, instead Of be-
ing the reward Of merit" is simply the
reward Of rascality, protected by Law. A
cabmam would tell him that he paid a law
yer SO for an hours lying, and the lawyer
WAS protected by law, while if he charged
the lawyer e. for an hours service with his
cab, he was fined by law or sent to
prison, and Just the same with all other
professional men while half the time his
education costs more time than theirs, and
he WAS always certain If obtaining the OBJ
ject ne attempted, and they not half the
time. Equality before the law Every la
borer knows II ID be, practically, a lie. If
a hungry toler steals loaf Of bread, or
shoulder OF mutton, he Is promptly sent 70
prison. But the capitalist who steals a mil
lion is never punished. Equality Of politi-
cal rights has about the same meaning. Con
ventions are packed by the knav 5 that clam
II is one Of the functions Of Government
to maintain on the peoples money, and
! no downright honest man can he nomlna-
ted, or elected. The best the people usually
have is a choice between thieves
Now these are hard, undeniahle facts
l. That the holders Of the 3 ~ bonds, by
lobbying and bribing congressman. re-
ceived many millions OF The people ; money,
to which they had no claim, either il Law
or equity neither according TO the letter,
or spirit Of their contract, transaction not
particle better than stealing, a thing
which would never have been done had
| Thad. Ste ems, about the only honest man
III Congress, been alive.
2 That bankers are permitted 10 draw
interest on their bonds, deposited OF secu-
rity, and again interest on their notes.
making double interest. and are now NOV
ing heaven ana earth to enable them Il
clutch the control Of the whole currency Of
the United States a result that would cost
the working class full seventy-tive millions
annually aud moreover, It was owing to
their internal knavery that greenbacks were
not made legal tender for all dues public
and private, a trick which has cost the
people more than one Thousand million Of
dollars.
B. That manufacturers are assisted BY
legislation t. plumber the people t" an
enormous extent.
g. That railroad men have been subsi-
died to the amount ~ untold millions
men vino not content with exhibiting the
most INSCRIPTIONS raIaclty towards the
public, have shown themselves destitute NJ
! the honor common among thieves, ~ their
usage Ut one another.
B. That the cxtnrtious rf capitalists and
! professional men. for rent or services. are
| protected ANA even encouraged, while the
| extortion Of the working class, If a cab
| driver for instance, are punished As un
/ bearable, and now, " hen with all this before
! their EYES. body ~ wurkngneu apply,
not for the pft IF money VI land hut
simply that they may have All opportunity
4 ~ purchase homes without being -vinilri
} bv capitalists W. are told that this Is mot
\ the function ~ government Thls y no
news to Us, We have been long aware that
\ the usual function III government ha-
\ been, not % protect the v, rklng classes.
7 but to plumber them But W. would like
v 10 know II the vdItnr 81 the Iusf does ac
/ tuaily think that working 4en are really
I such fools as ms article prrsumes them &,
/ he 1t So. We assure the editor that he q
most egreuuu.sy fooled himself such
writers As he and Gail Hamilton deceiv,
/ nobody 50 much as themsel ives.
Working men know there Is no difference
in principle between the extortIon 81 a mil
honalre and the extortinn az cab driver
but they see It is made the junction @
government, u protect the one and I,
punish the other The working elias,
know there is no difference Ia principle
between gambling III "A dirty saloon and
gambling IN gold room, OF on the sto,k
exchange, ana they know the lattyI y i'm
measurably the most demoraliNug ~ the
public morals, yet they scr The h'st pun
lshed as a crime, and the second upheld a.
a legitimate business auj followed by
clergymen We know that the fundamen
tai principles Of trade, As Land down by
I Moses, COnfucius ana Jesus, the three
great law giyers IF mankind, are the "a
change equivalents reciprocity, duingas wt
would be done by, thus proving that NJ,
love our neighbor as ourselves But 80
see these nnmutable God gwen principles.
not only neglected but overslaughed, CON
teuned, denied, even ny editors pretend
eddy religious, aud ia self-termed religion.
newspapers.
W. know that the true function Of
government" is to establish Justice, t,
protect the weak IN brain Or muscle. from
the aggression Of the strong But We SEE
it made tO maintain monopoly, and tp pro
tect and uphold the most grinding extor-
tiuns.
We know the mission IF Christ was Z,
raise the downtrOdden, to relieve the op-
pressed, to Danish oppression and wrong
dong from the earth, establishing the
principle az equal, universal and practical
brotherhood a mission worthy Of q Gud.
But We see it curtailed ana degraded u
a mission, for relieving the uppressor from
the penalty due to his crimes, and perpetu
ating wrong doing on earth, ny making II
consistent with happiness in Heaven
We know there is God IF justice and
truth. We bide our time 1t cannot be
that the working bees Of the human hive
shall forever be driven out to shelterless
starvation, while the idle drones rcvel III
lazy Injury We would fam, peacefully
and gradually remove the evils, and pre-
vent the robberies that fitch from us the
fruit of cur tolls. Gladly would we, one
by one redress the wrongs and violence
with which earth is filled. avert The
poor mans contnmely, and the scorn
that patient merit from the unworthy
takes" But it may be that the pow erful