The Dillon tribune., 1881-03-26
.gaisrel1a'.es.
The Question Of the Age.
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The Question Of the Age.
I'M Lori Beaconstied's latest novel the
wife Of the great banker, surrounded ny all
the luxuries Of his "vast prncipalit.y, with
IN an hours drive OF White Chapel" Is
,nadc to say with sigh: NJ cannot help
feeling there is something wrong In Cur
present social arrangements. When ! tit
down to dinner every day with all these
dishes and remember that there are mill
ions who never taste meat, cannot resist
the conviction that It would he better II
there were some equal division, and all
should have, IL not much, ut least some
thing" The only reply made to t"is rath'
or comm.nistic aspiration Is, ~ think Tile
would be very insipid II all our lots were
the same" No doubt life would lose much
Of its picturesqueness by the carrying out
of any levcliny process. which should pro-
auce something like equality In all human
ullot,nents. The brilliant and striking con-
trasts between the great and the humble,
l,et~een prodigal wealth and AFFECT power
", would be toned down to mild gradations.
Both extremes would disappear, Or at least
the distance between them would be din,tn-
isi,ed, 10 that the social world would IRE.
sent the appearance Of a rolling prairie with
moderate eminenccs and depres>ions, rather
chan of u mountainous region with deep
valleys where the light Of day scarcely ev.
CT penctrates. alternating with shining
heights lifted into perpetual sunshine.
In the history Of every civilization Of
which any record has been preserved we
lind periods ii popular revolt against the
systetn Of social inequality which conserv'
atisn has in all ayes held to l~ the divine
order of the world, an order not only fixed
and i,nmutabIc. but bcnificent. Though
the teachings Of rcligion have been invoked
IN aueli az rebellious repinings against
Providence the aspirations Of the poor for
= better lot, and to impress them az pious
duty IL b. content with the condition In
life to which, they are horn, AZ being heav'
rn.appointsd, tl,e lesson has never been e.
.sctually learned. In England the spirit Of
discomfort first assumed formidable shape
IN the "Peasant Revolt" near the close o.
the f,arteentb century. II was but natural
that the English landowners should hay.
denounced Is mailman the Kenttsi
meacher who more than five hundred vear'
ago pictured to the common people thu
+. misery and oppression oi the poor and thu
corruption al the rich. 'l'hey make III
gain for them bv our toil," criet! the '"'ad'
John Boil, "what they spend In their pride
They are clothed In velvet and warm Il
their furs and their er,nines, while We ar
covered with rags. They have leisure nm
tine houses; we have pain and labor, tn
rain ard the wind In the fields; and yet
!. Of Us, and III our toll, that these mel
hold their state."' II this language seen'
10 smack ri communism, It must be r.
,,,etnhered that the man to whom It wa
addressed and to whose feelings It gave
voice, had grievances such as our moeler'
communists know nothing Of Their con-
ulaint was not against that order Of thing
which rewards industry with prosperit
and Furnishes Incidence or vice with priv;
ton; which erccts safeguards itr the prt
lection OF property and brushes schemes I
spoliation. They were in u condition :
virtual slavery. The famous, or rather IL
famous, Statues of l.a,x,rcrs reduced tt
tillers Of the soil tn the status Of Russia
scrfs, bound to the gl.'Ne. They were 70
hidden under severe penalties to quit the
rarishcs in search OF better employment
They had no voice In regard to the price
their labor, the rate Of wages being fiNt
Nv parliament in the interest nj the lam
owners; and f;r u refusal to work ut the e
,ablisl,ed rates they were liable to impriso
memt. Similar causes operating at Il
same time in France led to the terrib
peasant rising which figures IN history I
the "lace,ueric." Nowhere In the wor
are the lahoring classes now subjected
such oppression, though :he actual s1tfe
iuys OF the Irish leasantry to-day ~
scarcely less than those that in the tou
tcenth century caused wide spread ins.'
rection and bltsxisied throughout Franc
and in England seemed to- threaten Il
overthrow of the monarchy ut the critic
time when the gates ut London VT
thrown open ut the summons OF Wat T,yl
ut the head Of his army Of insurgents.
Those who believe that the aspirations
the masses ri mankind to improve their =
cial and material condition are not in va
and there is a steady progress In the rig
direction, though slow, and often tempo,
Willy checked, vii, find cheering confirm
ton Of their faith IN the character If t
second uprising Of the English peasant
which came threc.quarters Of a century
ter, and is known AZ Jack Cade's insurr.
ton. 1t clearly appears from the dc'na
for the redress OF grievances made by Ca
and his followers, and formulated in I
"Complaint Of the Commons Of Ken
that during the interval Of some scvc,
years that had elapsed since the rising
Wat TYLER the condition of the labor;
classes had very materially improved.
the earlier revolt It was the outrageous