The Republican journal., 1874-02-26
Kate Stanton's Lecture.

proportional, with very fair complexion,
light and abundant hair, and features de-
cidedly handsome She wore an elegant
train dress Of black velvet and satin,
trimmed with lace. Her elocution was re
markably good, every word being distinct
ly heard throughout the large hall. Il was
| no effort to hear her, as the well rounded
periods fell upon the ears of the audience,
pleading for the better recognition Of hui
man rights and better aids for the aspira-
tons of the sons and daughters OF labor
Hers was no holiday dissertation merely to
please the ear. no scented and rose eated
rhetoric to hull the hearers-but dis
course that grappled with the great social
| problem Of the day, and threw about ii the
| force Of reasoning, the beauty OF rhetoric
and the persuasion of eoquencc
She introduced hcr lecture by an allu-
| sion to the barbaric era Of the worlds his
tory when labor was considered base. save
| for women and cattle. and violence and
robbery We're applauded rs noble deeds
Natures not fierce and brave substituted
the cunning exploits and jugglerics Of
| Of commerce for the bold violence Of rob
| berry in order to deprive labor of the lcgi-
| innate fruits Of its tirelcSs industry. Con-
| gressmcn vote themselves SILL ~ for five
hours work per day while the laborer IN
ours censure when he strikes for one fifty
| sixth part ~ MUCH pr forty cents per
| hour. \ man without = dollar in Wall
| Street in a few DAYS becomes millionaire
| while the toiling millions spend their lives
in the struggle to drive want from their
| door These radical wrongs We're shaping
the questions Of poverty, wages, slavery,
| labor and capital into the form OF social
! philosophy and demand q solution. In
general terms they would be met by the
advance Of human intelligence ana human
goodness. shorn OF the lolie5 and inva-
| sion OF society
| She thought the trouble had been with
the heads and not with the hearts OF men,
| and if the vitality expanded on The battle
| fields had been utilized in enriching the
earth it would be an universal paradise
| Instead Of going to work in the right di-
recton, the leadcn and sluggish brains Of
| the past had blocked the wheels of pro-
gress, and mystical philosophers have
| never reached the true remedy through
| their impractical theories of social science
| Compulsory education would not purity
the ballot BOX and secure good govern
| ment for the schools good as they arc, do
not accomplish the greatest needs Of socl-
ETY.. There had been enough OF schools
such AS they are, and too little Of Justice,
enough OF building hospitals for the poor
and prisons for the criminal. and TOO little
toward that organization Of society which
shall leave no poor TO pity and no crimi-
mails To punish The schoolmasters of tile
past ages have indoctrinatcd sllmdry no
lions OF the beauty Of dependence and the
highly moral influence of one sort and an
other OF slavery. The patriarchal era, the
centralized civilization Of Greece and
Rome, the subsequent dem cracy of the
one ana the repubicaniSm of the other
could not be touched with more sombre
hues than will be used by the future his
torian in painting the iniquities Of our
time. In all of these civilizations the
masses secured It living, and they did no
more now. What, after all, have modern
governments accomplished for the rights
Of mankind The advance made was not
Il be credited to governments. but to an
aspiring human nature aided by the in
crc1sin@ light OF science. Government
had 50 tar failed to organize real human
rights. and they had ever stihrd the rights
0f one-halt Of the governed.
The lecturer then glanced briefly ut the
history Ct ancient Rome and Greece. the
Spartan industry, paid Il passing compIi-
ment to the sterling qualities OF l.ycurgus,
and even q kind word for Eplcurus, not as
he was painted, but rs he was. All through
those times, the people managed to exc
out an existence; then came the ciyiIiza-
ton Of Constantine; and up to the present
day there has been an advance, and the
condition Of the masses i, better. to-day
than it was 1900 years ago. But what
have we, a governments done for the
masses? Nothing Human nature, aided
by The increase Of science, and the march
Of intelligence, has accomplished all that
has been done The people have the free
dom OF the ballot-bON, the great mark Of
human liberty; at least the politicians lead
them blndly into the belief that they
choose their own representatives when
they assembled in caucus But the poll
ticians know better than that they calcu-
late too finely on the result-the profits
and pelf of office, and cajole the people.
II Milton We're writing bis "Paradi>c Lost"
III our day, and would profit by our eN-
perience, he would have Luiciicr in the
United States and snip him direct to Wash
ington where he would do the most good.
There was corruption everywhere IN ma
tional as well us State councils, but the
legislators We're rs good rs the politicians
they represent. School craft has indeed
sharpened the faculties for money getting
Miss Stanton hopes for a peaceful solution
Of the problem through cooperation. to
which the labor unions and oranges may
be the first steps The natural law OF
supply and demand has been practically
set aside from time immemorial by the
common law which forbade combinations
affecting the price OF commodities Co
operation is the first step toward the re-
iemption of the world and the oblitera-
ton Of all the classes in society; but to-
day money is the popular deity, traffic is
the spirit, and competition and monopoly
the fever and cancer OF the body polite.
Cooperation is the only medicine that can
be administered with good effect. A few
millionaires own most Of the really valu
able property in the country, and in Eng
land for the fifty years previous to 1872
the capital increased go per cent. There
We're 1920 900 producers. The aggre-
gate income was t4l7 5000 sterling,
one half Of which was divided among l.
300 people, and eleven millions of
people have an annual income Of less than
$50 per year. The people Of this coun-
try We're clustering in commercial and
manufacturing centres. and as matters
stand the immensely wealthy have all
things in their own hands But the whole
matter is in the hands Of labor were it
rightly educated for the solution of the
problem, and this education must come
through cooperation.
Moral corruption, poverty, and all crime,