The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-04-12


poor. SO long as majority of the race is robbed
OF the fruits of It's toll, there will be slavery
more ahiect aud hopeless than that of bolts and
bars and chains, for It's master has not the indi-
Vidual heart ana conscience of man, bnb as
sumes the form OF an mpsriOus and unreenting
/ late Our country ana our gisiattoa encourage
! the accumulation of property by gigantic mo-
nOpolies which, under the euIse or enterprise
| are weaving above our heads a cloak of decep-
tiOn beneath whose sitting folds the life of this
nation is going out. Under the shadow of
the benefits that accrue from consolidated
capital, evils are sprnging nD which,
like weeds, indicate the luxur of the soil in
which they grow. Frauds are tolerated when
perpetrated BIZ these institute rs. only on ac-
count of the brilliant gliding which crime
snmes when associated with riches, The world
treads lightly on the SINS of men who hold In
their hands the keys to the wealth of States,
who can reach with their subtle bribery the
avenues to public opinion, away the acts of
| legislatures and maintain formidable deputa-
lions st tine doors OF Congress. The great tinan-
cial interests of this country are in state of
anarchy. The law thar reaches the peccadiloS of
findividuals is too weak TO restrain the enOrmties
OF these great offenders. They have canOnized
robbery as success and legaized fraud law.
An ohgarchy of four men could, TO morrow,
were iJ not for temporary considerations of
policy, cause 100000 of people TO groan under
the burden of the exactiOns they might levy.
European nobility was born of the soil. the
soil has fed it TO this hour, and from it will it
live until it dies, crushed by the peoples mi ght
In Europe the peope got possession of the land
by the sword; the effect will be the same when
ever few are allowed to accumulate and trans
NIT the property of the country. This is "A truth
Americans cannot be too careful To notice. The
growing desptoism in this land is not essential
~ different from that which has desolated
happy Ireland and swept her factories from the
face of the earth. Do you know that Ireland
was once the home of contented people, the
seat of a prosperous and busy Industry To-day
her sons are born only to be hunted as telons,
or eXiied from the land they love well. Do
You know that in one of the richest agricultural
regions IN the world 100000 people starved
in single year because England's heartless and
unrelenting landed monopoly would not permit
them TO diversity their lnluries9
The industries of this country are becoming
concentrated into few hands. and organized
brains arc growing to be the monarchs. Dis
tributed business is dying out, and society is
tending to produce the results of the labor man
aged by vast mechanical associations Comb-
bations of capital and brain are reducing men
from independent laborers TO wheels in the ma
chinery of great manufactures. But do you ask
if there is hope2 Three-fOurths of our legislative
enactments have partisan and not "A human
aim.
The true purpose OF government is to well
form human character; TO produce wisdom and
happiness for the human race; to promote the
advance of progressive knowledge, and to create
wealth in an abundant and beneficial man
ner. Let the State encourage the dissem-
ination of knowledge. Let there be a limit to the
accumulation of wealth. Let the government
assume the right of eminent domain over the
railroads and telegraph lines OF the country.
Let the people choose their represen tatives
men who will place the honor of country above
partisan prejudice and the sordid interest of self
Then perehance in some better day controlling
men will arise who shall wear the jeweled hOnors
as symbol of peoples homage to intellect,
fairness, lnagnanlmity and brotherhood: Let
this land be free TO receive what other lands can
give. Give employment to labor and nd gence
is cured. Legislation which, under the insidious
pretense of protecting labor, cripples commerce,
is laOOr's most danger Gus enemy. The South
forged chains for human beings. The North still
FORCES chains for commerce. and deprves eman-
clpated labor OF its means of life. Let the
markets of the world be TO the
fruits of our toll. And may the time soon
come when the idea of mans universal
klnship shall supplant the narrow and selfish
Thought of foreign exclusion and national isOla-
zion. Then commerce will expand the bounds
OF interchange and enelrcle the earth with
white zone of American argosies. Then will
our land grow green under the hand OF honest
toll.
But no legislation can supply what society
must accomplish by its own inherent energies
of progress. The law of social growth is the
principal agent for the elimination of social
weakness CAN iE what you will, il is the power
that has revolutonized bad government, de-
throned tyrants given to the flames their mar
tyrs and the scaffold its victims. 1t may at
times assume grim and revolving forms. 1t may
take the form of apparent wrong, out tits neces-
sary wrong Its roots strike deeper than
the mob. They penetrate into the de-
ranged and poisoned pool of civilization
itself Beneath the furious passions of hate
and discomfort that bubble in the caldron
nf civilized snciAty prospssS SO feraientsd Erera
under the dark clouds that hover in the horizon
OF the Commune ''shoot rays of light parallel 30
the eternal laws OF right and justice and truth"
Communism is truth fraternizing with ven
geanee to assert itself by the upheaval of
ciery. The violence of communistic commissions
ouly Indicates the power OF the evil TO be ex
plunged.
But society has more peaceful methods of
growth. The world is still advancing, though
fettered and blinded and dazed by the higotry
and superstition and intolerance of the cruel
past. Tnere are now no tortures for the astron-
0mer, no cells for the chemist no fagots for she
thinker. But the millennium Is not here. Satur
nine and unhappy must DO the temper; cold, dull
and dead the heart that cannot discern, even
amid the can't and hypocrisy in the politics
and religion of to-day, firm, reso-
lutte spirit OF progress yet alive.
How far, by the powers of association and fell
lOwship, may this go2 How far may il WORK
relaxation In the exclusion and seihshness that
has hitherto governed the laws of social life2
May not the associated energies of mankind go
on increasing in power and prOhuctiveness until
they shall irrigate the Sahara with the waters of
the Nile, and render the deserts of Africa the
garden spot of the world2 May we not go on
peopling the earth and modifying its climate
until the steppes of Siberia shall hear pOpula-
ton as numberless as the plains of Europe, and
along the frozen seas shall wave the fields of yell
low grainY Until the earth, with its circle of
habitility widened and it's beauty refined, shall
be redeemed from the curse of selishness and.
hate, and encircled with justice and virtue and
truth.
The precepts of the great philosopher of Nazar-
eth are whitening rebuke to the humanity
egaliZed expressions of property, and will
gradually assert their power over the hearts and
minds of men to stay the hand of this social rob-
berry. The chorus Of Bethlehem, "Peace on
earth and good will among men," should receive
an Interpretation as broad as human intercourse
IL is the Keynote to the ideal development of the
race; the grandest philosophy of human life in all
the volume of the past. The vibrations of that
chorus dispersed themselves into history, and all
subsequent manifestations of human sympathy,
in charity or philanthropy, are but the modula-
tions OF its rhythm. They have flowed along
with the current of humanity, cooling avarice
and healing the selfish passions of the human
heart. They come to to-day, after 1000
years, sweeter than the strains of an Eoliau
harp and grander than the chorus of
the morning stars. Their spirit tells
us that England has no right
to feast while Ireland starves. 1t tells us that
legalIzed robbery is worse than bioodshed and
famine is than war. It commands hos
pitfalls for the sick and alms-house for the hun
CRY, IL brands monopoly extortion and
oppression crime. IL demands schools for
childhood and colleges for science. IL admon-
shes all these links in the triple chain of
charity, love and law, the emblem of the BROTH
erhOod of man and the fatherhood of God. Aud
when It's teachings attain their destined power,
humanity will be spmred the cry of the hungry