Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-11-06
Three Great Conflicts.

an address before the recent meeting of the
National Agricultural Congress at New
Haven, upon "Government and Agriculture"
from which we make the following extracts,
treating of topic to which we have fire.
quently referred in these columns as of vital
interest to the farmers
"Our civilization has seen at least three
great conflicts since the dark ages. In each
case it was the fight of the many, the ma
jority, who were individually weak and op.
pressed, with the few, a minority, who we're
strong-strong by wealth, social position,
intellect, custom aud law. In each case the
oppression had been OF slow growth, begin
ming with some rude benefit, and had on its
side the most of the keenest intellect and best
culture of the age, particularly that phase
which we may call professional culture. In
each case it had concentrated in its hands
practically all the legal power, and in two of
the three it had aggrandized vast proper
ton of the accumulated wealth and landed
property. In each case the way out was
possible ways, from the secret intrigues of
the closet TO the public speeches in the mar
ket places yes, and by bloody battles, rang
ing all the way from mere mobs, striking
madly and wildly, to battles between the
armies of nations. One of these conflicts
we call the contest with feudalism. 1t was
a conflict between the many who were OPP
pressed, and the few who held the land and
the wealth and the law (and the lawyers)
on their side. But in the end the people
won, and in the victory the tiler of the soil
won place he had not held before the fight
He won citizenship in a wide sense of the
word; won the right to own the land he
titled won the right to the fruits of his own
labor; but the traces of that conflict still re-
main on the agricultural customs and on the
land-laws Of nearly every country of Europe.
"Another was the conflict between the
laity and the ecclesiastics. We call this Tin
popular language) the reformation.
/" The third conflict to which allude was
the struggle of the people with their hered-
itary rulers. 1t was fight for more Just
laws and greater liberty. The result you
know. Some countries, as a consequence,
have republican forms of government, and
all the leading monarchies of Europe have
changed in their character, the subjects
have practical constitutional checks on the
power of their rulers, aud the people are
freer, happier and better for it.
Now believe that the coming conflict
in our civilization will be fight of the
people to better define and limit the power
and prevent or diminish the expressions Of
organized capital, or at least certain kinds
of great corporations; of combinations of
CAPT al founded on legal enactments created
by laws made by the people chosen by rep.
resentatives, managed and controlled by the
strongest business intellects the world now
knows; defended by the most eminent law
yers whose services are in the market. We
all Of us feel the power of these corpo.
rations, sometimes most uncomfortably
so. We all of us see individual cases of
wrong and oppression by them, sometimes
very definite, but often il vague, yet not the
less actual. We see that some one or some
class may be oppressed without being able
to either right the wrong or to lay the blame
on any one man whom we can call to ac-
count.
sour laws, our traditions and our in.
stincts are for the protection of our property
and earnings from violence. We have Of
fcers to catch, and courts to try, and prisons
to punish the thief, the burglar and the rob
Der, with almost vindictive severity; but we
see life's earnings go through Sound
reilly insurance company, and We are power
less either to redress our wrongs or to pun
ish the oppressors. We all feel that as yet
there is no practical remedy applied.
ave feel, too, their strong hand (and moi
always gloved hand either) in every state
legislature, and mutterings all over the land
show widespread fear that even now theil
power is more than match for the national
government itself. We see this as grea
cloud rising all along our political horizon
with ominous portent of coming storm,
GAS have said, believe this will be thu
next great contest in the general history o
progress. 1t may not be 80 bloody as SOM
that have gone before, but it will be hare
and bitter struggle. That time will solve il
and the race take long step ahead, be
lieve, when such organizations shall hav
their power so defined and controlled tina
they will be, as they ought to be, the benef
| cent servants rather than the cruel master