The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-08-03
KEARNEY:

4 KEARNEY, the SanFrancisco drayman VIII
< has become the famous leader of the labo
|, party IN California which claims to have carrie,
{ the state, has arrived at his old home in Boston
HIS reception in Boston where his advent wa
, duly advertised beforehand, was not very i'm
, posing, "A procession Of not over 80 workin!
men turning out to meet him. Kearnev mad
a short speech in which he said he had left la
Dor king" while the plains were strewr
with the fostering carcasscs ofthe public plum
derers, the thicving capitalists and numbering
plundering land pirates;" and he came tc
help the wOrkingmen at the last to organize
IN the same way, that they may become more
powerful than the sword of monarchical le
gions" THE starspangled banner" he said,
sis Haunting lie, and only fit token of ma
tional protection of legions of numbering mo.
nspolists who are grinding the workingmen
in the dust We propose to do at the East what
the laborng men have done in California
that is to meet the capitalist in squaee fight
We won in California and we'll do so here"
Kcarney undoubtedly is blatherskite His
success in California was owing to clrcum-
stances which would have given the same sue
cess to any man who might have been lortuit-
ously tossed to the top as leader The condl-
ton Of California is peculiar. Workngmen
there must enter into competitor with Chimes
labor with which there can be no fair comp .,;.
ton, for the reason that the Chinese wor' <;tr .,
man underbids until he gets the job, 40 ,aat
ter how low it may be necessary to ,,,o1.o =.
bid. When he has driven av az, .,,o MI. -,
competitor he can show a gr ss,,;nc ,,,o.nnos.
that few white men are sra,,ah,c or via,
o', 'oi,p,',,'on ,'.'' is no help in Califor
MIA but that the WI .,,e or tine Chincse WORKING
man mus. i'''' Fire and water can no more
hins'e TIA 4. two such elements, and once ar
l'y'" 10 n political organization, success in
SUI" contest was inevitable
Ehere is another California peculiarly that
( gives force that can hardly be understood al
the east to the cry against the land monpolists
While California was Mexican possession
the greater part of its arabic lands was given
hired or "peon" labor. When California was
passed over to the United States these grants
were recognized and now they have largely
become the possession of the California mil
lionairs. These men make monster wheat.
| fields of them-wc read of 10000 and 100000
acre fields in California. The ground is pre-
pared and worked by Chinese labor and the
wheat is harvested by monster steam machines
run by American engineers and Chinese help
All the best lands in California are thus mo-
nopolized. There is no chance for poor OF
small farmer. He can get land only in the
most barren districts and is wholly unable to
compete with the monopoliSts. No wonder
therefore, that there is an outcry in California
against the land monopolists and that a party
that makes opposition to this abuse its rally
ing cry should get the sympathy and votes not
only Of the workingmen but ofall of the poor
and middle classes.
Kearney will find no sympathy on any
such score in New England or the Mid
die states. There is no Chinese labor there to
crush out white labor and there are no land
monopnl!sts. There are few farms of over
100 acres in all New England and a farm of
over 200 acres in New York, Pennsylvania or
Ohio is a rarity. A workingman's agitation
in the east musl be based on very different
grounds than those which serve IN California,
and Kearney will find his ranting there as
much out of place as he would to attempt II
crusade against Mohammedanism in Arabia.