The Grange advance., 1874-05-20
Old Line Politicians Die Hard.

the chicago f0st It. Mat. 1t reminds
of what might have been the language
OF an old feudal lord, long accustomed
to look down upon herd of plebians.
The editors standpoint is so far the
level Of ordinary lite, that thought of
an agricultural element being found
competent to form laws to govern
themselves, never occurs to him. He
fastens his eyes upon pack of 'savies
wheeling dirt on railway or canal, and
jumps at the conclusion that of such
material is his imaginary substructure
Of society composed, intellectually too
feeble to know or provide for it's own
wants
This pretumptuous argument might
have had weight some forty years ago
and in some of the Kingdoms of Europe
may be appreciated to-day, but since
the system Of common school education
has exercised its beneicent influence
upon the popular mind, the argument
is at this time as ridiculous as offensive.
A singular infatuation possess the
minds Of some nervous old gentlemen.
They are always afraid to trust the in
telligence Of the people The horrid
spectre Of communism is ever present
before them. The people will commit
some wild irregularity il: they break
loose from the old partizan leaders.
That if the people even mean we'll,
mentally they are too feeble to act in
dependently. Better keep quiet and
bear patiently present evils that risk
everything by invoking the power of
the people.
Just now the people are not taking
much stock in that style Of argument,
and when the end comes we will see
/ what we shall see. We have already
gained point on the railroads, the
next tilt will be at the public swim.
dlers:
POLITICAL DIFFICULTY.
a day or two since a boiler-maker from
Milwaukee, on his way to the East, re-
marked that the Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail-
o,,h,
ten per cent. Of their wages, during the
fight with the State. "For," said he, elf
the byes stand by the road, the road will
stand by the byes, don't you see?" It does
not matter whether this statement is true
or not; the boiler-maker thought it was
true, and his philosophy deduced from that
belief is very important. 1t illustrates the
fallacy of imagining that the average of
men can be depended on to consult the
| ultimate advantage of their class when it
seems to be opposed to their own personal
interests. Poor men are eternally warning
upon and talking about the extortious and
overshadowing influence Of capital At
their meetings, when begrimed and fervid
orators have the floor, and their blood is
up, y spectator would imagine that any
plan which tended to repress and control
capital anywhere, would secure the united
voice and influence Of work:ngmen: and
that National party, made up Of working
men in the shop and on the farm, on the
platform Of s. cheap transportation and
big wages would be not only eminently
practicable, but sweepingly successful.
But this gentle boiler-maker, with his
notions about the byes " standing by the
road and the road standing by the byes,"
It indicates that when the uffrage il. broad,
the balance of power is held by vote&s who
are too ignorant to understand and too
selfish to believe that to secure the good of
all the persons in class is preliminary
step to securing the good Of each individ-
ual in that class. This difficulty increases
directly with the number and extent Of
the influences to be harmonized, and the
consequence is that an absolute democracy
is perhaps the worst government in the
world in which to institute sweeping re-
forms. Where few persons operate the
legislation it is possible to compromise, but
this possibility varies inversely with the
number let into the ring. 1t is always easy
to band men together to pull down those
above them and near to them, who oppose
them. Probably many bosses and Super
intendents in the Milwaukee & st. Paul
shops, and along their lines, could be
hurled from power any time when the bal
lot of their subordinates would do the
work but they have no spite, and only
sympathy and admiration for the great
overshadowing corporation which, wrapped
in the gloom Of its solitude, seems to them
a sort Of vice-deity, q source Of blessing<or
cursing, beyond their power to hinder and
surely for their advantage to propitiate:
This disposition accounts largely for.the
party 'collapses between the great Presi-
Dental elections. The local elections bring