Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1873-07-27
The People VS.. Monopolies.

The People VS.. Monopolies.
dred years has taken pla e in human
society, said De Tocqueville, has been
in favor of the democracy, the work
ers, the producing classes: the noble,
the privileged classes, lave gonedown
on the social scale, and the lower
orders have been constantly tending
upwards. All events, improvements,
discoveries in science and art, revolu-
tons and changes, have endedtoward
the practical recognition of the doc
trine of equality. The parior and
sitting-room of the mechanic of to-day
are as comfortable and as elegant in
their appointments as those of u noble
or prince We're five hundred years
ago. But the changes which the new
order of things have established have
not been without their disadvantages;
or i'll other Words have not yet equal
~ affected every branch OF the admin
ADMINISTRATION of society, particularly
that of the law. We are still bound
by rules and presidents which were
established when the noble regarded
his privileges not only as legitimate
but a part of the divine economy, and
when the serf looked upon his own
inferior ty as a consequence OF the
immutable order of nature. The class
of mind which steadily resisted the
progress of events, and regarded the
advancement of public sentiment in
the direction of equal rights as revo-
~lutionGrv and tending to anarchy,
still exists and preserves the same
undaunted front against the recogni-
ton OF principles which would abolish
all determinations and bestow equal
ly upon all classes of people the
blessings of administrative power,
and guard with equal jealousy the
rights and interests of all. It is true
we have no lords with their dignities,
rights and privileges prescribed and
confirmed by Parliament, and inn
mense estates peopled and worked
by serfs; but we have powers
created by special legislation
and confirmed by the courts
with estates equally large and an ad-
ministration of their affairs equally
grasping, extortionate and unscrupu-
lous. The feudal barons claimed
equal validity for their rights and
privileges with the Conquest and the
British constitution SO the corpora
tons which we have created and
which WELD more wealth and power
than the feudal barOns ever did claim
that the inviolabilitv of a contract,
and the pillars of the American Con-
stitution are no more sacred than the
franchise which in defiance of equal
rights and the pltinest principles of
justice in the administration ofgovern-
ment have been taken from the people
and conferred upon them. The
growth of commerce, the acQ uisition
of military knowledge, the progress
of science, and the development of
the arts overthrow the ieudal system,
redeemed lands from en:ailment, and
the producers from serfdonl. But the
science of government has not kept
pace with the progress Of society. In
the formation and administration of
law we are bound down by rules and
precedents which we're established
for a totally different age from ours.
and for a civilization which has passed
away. Men of ~far-seeing sagacity
have taken advantage of this condi-
ton, and while the land and the man
have been made free, commerce has
become ens,aved, and the mode only
has been changed by which the
wealth aud Intelligence OF the land
rob the labor. At every step in his
career the producer is met by some
monopolist who, by the authority
granted in his charter Of special iegis-
Iation, demands eXtortionate toll, un-
til public sentiment everywhere is
CRYING aloud against the wrongs i'll
tlicted upon the great body of society
by monopo!ists. To bring this new
and alarming power to a recognition
of the principles Of equity and equal
rights, i the work Immediately before
the people.