Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-04-04
A Bid for WOrkingmen's Votes.

. There are three members of Congress from
Pennsylvania who, in their bOundless sympa-
thy for the workingmen, their fearful desire
to PROSTATE themselves before them and be
used as humble demagogues in the great march
of human reforms and progress, may not in
aptly be described as the three graces, Faith,
Hope and Charity. Mr.. Errett has introduced
bill giving every workingmaa farm and
$3.50 in Government bonds, Mr.. Wright has
bill to dive among them mary millions of
dollars, and Mr.. Ward is in favor of bill to
provide free transportation to these farms,
furnish all persons with farming utensils,
certain personal effects, and Government
seeds sufficient for two years use. We call
them the three graces, because it requires
faith to believe Mr.. Wright is. not a simple
demagogne, hope to believe Mr.. Errett is not
a fool, and charity that Mr.. Ward is not
knave. All these men know that to offer such
bills in Congress is an insult to the good sense
of the Nation. They know that such meas
ures of so-called relief are utterly impractica-
Bile, can never boone laws, and are offered
with the simple motive to deceive. Aside
from their cruelty-raising, as such proposals
do, the hopes of men and woman who would
gladly avail themselves of such generous
legislation. and whose expectations of indie
pendence by such means must necessarily end
in disappointment-suchb bills are clearly un-
constitutional, and can never re 3eive the
sanction of the Government. The money of
the Nation is held in trust for its people 1t
is the property of the entire people. One
individual has exactly the same right to his
share of it as another-this, and no more. TO
give certain class of our people $3.50 each, to
another class half the amount in tools, furni-
ture and seeds, to another travelling expenses,
a farm, and means to carry it on, is simply
class legislation of the most odious character,
and could not be tolerated moment. At
this time the Nation has in its vaults as money
$S0,00O,0 900. Supposing that money was not
necessary TO pay any public debt or expense
of carrying on the Government, and was not
needed in any manner by the authorities for
National purposes. To whom does the money
belong if Congress was to order its distribu
ton? Clearly to the whole people, and not to
any individual. There are 40, 900, 900 of peo-
pie in the United States, and if Congress or
dered the money distributed fairly to its
owners, each person would nave two dollars
as his or her individual share.
If these three bills were to become laws
they would bankrupt the Government. One
quarter of the entire population would seek
directly to avail themselves of the Govern
mont aid. The result is easily seen. We can
scarcely speak with any patience or respect of
men who in the Hall of Congress thus seek
to deceive their fellow men. They are enc
mics of the people, demagogues of brazen i'm
pudence, who do this to catch votes. They
bait their hook but leave the barb plainly
visible The gravest objection to all this
class of clap-trap legislation is that it often
excites the most honest hopes in the minds of
genuinely worthy people-hopes that like
broken reed will bear no weight. There is
pain, disappointment, and trouble enough in
the homes of poverty, without taking special
pains to create additional sorrow by law
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