The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1877-02-03
FROM MARYLAND.
BALTIMORE, Nd, Jan. "a, 1877

BALTIMORE, Md, Jan. "a, 1877.
To the Editor Of the woEEISsHANs ADVOCATE
have not forgotten you nor the AID
voCATE, but am sorry to say that have
neglected your valuable paper for a long
time But the crisis that We are now
passing through is enough to make a man
forget anything but his country.
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR
have come and gone. Merry Christmas :;
and happy New Year, we used to say in
the past, but the last has been a sorry
Christmas and unhappy M Year to many
in our land-a land tine expands from
Ocean to Ocean, with it's millions upon
millions of acres Of fertile soil, yielding
abundant supplies for everybody, and yet
many thousands Of our people spent the
last New Years without fuel or clothing to
keep them warm, and many Nlt1hpt a
crust OF bread te satisfy their hunger.
Why is this in a land where there should
not be a pauper known A country that
has done SO much in the past for the starv-
ing millions Of the old world why are our
own people left to die of cold and hunger
now, with abundant crops and the vaults
of our banks filled with money. Whose
fault Is 1t This is a question that cannot
be answered satisfactorily to everybody at
this time. But the day will come when it
will be answered to the satisfaction of all :;
that will be the day when the great Judge
of Heaven and earth will sit upon His
high throne, in presence Of the assembled
multitude of the whole world. Then.
when each one will be called upon for an
account Of his stewardship in this world,
then woe be to them that closed their
eyes, then ears and their hearts, 10 the
lives Of the poor woe be- to them, that
were placed in power in this world and be-
trayed their trust.
POLITICS
have been all the rage here as in all other
sections Of this broad land since the mid.
die Of last summer. but the excitement,
has been more intense, since the election,
than at any time previous Why all this
excitement IN 4 country that is governed
by the will OF the majority as our fore
fathers intended 1t should be, and for that
purpose gave us a constitution to that eff
feet. That constitution was adopted as
the foundation Of our free government,
AMI, 1t has been pronounced, the greatest
and wisest instrument, for the government
Of free nation, that ever emanated from
the brains Of men by the great Statesmen
and historians Of the past century.
OF the long line Of illustrious statesmen
that have filled the office of Chief Magis-
trate Of our country, but one has been bold
enough TO undermine that foundation;
that is to say. but one has dared to violate
that constitution, which he swore, in pres
ence Of the American people, to obey and
defend, as his predecessors had done-t that
man, | am sorry to say is, Gen. Grant
the military president.
The illustrious Heary Clay, spoke with
a far seeing mind, when he said that, che
wonld rather see his country visited by
pestilence and famine, than see a military
chisftain elected president of this country,
that indeed would only be a temporary
curse, but history teaches us that a people
once robbed of their liberty, that it is not
for year, or a score of years, or a century
strewn with wrecks Of Republics. Go
among the ruins and seek the cause Of all
such destruction, and you will read upon
every fragment written the name Of some
ambitious military chieftain."
1t makes me shudder to think that we
are upon the same precipice from which
all former Republics fell Oh, it is horri-
BILE sight to take history and look down
into that deep, dark and fearful chasm,
before we reach the brink. Let us take
one more stand and review the happy past,
and ponder over the dark future let us
cast aside our political prejudice, and clasp
hands as our forefathers did, one hundred
years ago, for Liberty or Death and tell
those, that would rush us into the dark
abyss of ruin: Thus far shalt thou 90 and
no further" for even reckless tyrsnts have
been taught to fear the voice Of a united
people. Let us remember that zoe will not
be the only sufferers by this great calami-
ty that threatens us, but millions, Of our
defendants, yet unborn, will live after us,
and pass judgment upon our political
blindness, as we have judged other repub-
lies, that have fallen. If we succumb to
an ambitious man, or a set Of demagogues
and office holders, and permit them to de-
stroy our free government, We cannot
blame any one but ourselves. Of course
every politician, upon beholding the
spectre. will exclaim as Macbeth did, Thou
cans't say did it" butgnevertheless, the
future historian Of the world will hold the
American people up as the distroyers Of
the best government the sun ever shone
upon. Once more, my countrymen, stop
and think, and do not let the historians Of
the ninteenth century write the epitaph Of
the American Republic. E. j.
FROM MICHIGAN.