The Labor enquirer., 1883-10-27
What We Are Here Fer.

John SWlntOn'S faper (tnaL u lLS ndlneJ
is out, and as predicted is launched as
the firm advocate Of the peoples rights.
The first number is filled with good
things. and | shall be careful reader of
each issue. Following is Mr.. Swinton's
salutory, which tells better than | can
where he stands;
We are not here to whine.
We are not here to threaten.
This Is not country where the men
who own it and have the power to rule
it need to beg, or whine, or threaten.
We are here to assert the rights of
human nature and of democratic citizen
ship-our rights as natives of the world
and as masters of the state-a state
founded upon the right to life, liberty
and happiness. We have come to pro,
claim the duties and crush the wrongs of
those whom we represent-to give en-
couragement on one hand, warning on
the other.
Old things are passing away; all things
are becoming new. The world is whirl-
ing in these times.
We see the work of the stupendous
agencies of modern mechanism, the
fierce Transforming forces of steam and
electricity, the daily novelties of science,
and the impact of concentrated capital.
We see man writhlng under these
things, while knowing that they ought
to be put to his service, and that the
evils which have grown up with them
should be swept out of his way. The
forces of nature, of mechanism and of
capital are all friendly and advantage
GUS to man when properly used.
We see the franchises of public right
undermined without protest. Here are
formidable individuals and corporations
usurping legally or otherwise the proper
functions of the state, seizing the public
property, and turning to their own ag-
grandizement the things that by nature
and by justice are for the common good.
These formidable usurpers prosecute
their schemes in defiance of such laws
as we have, and of the public welfare,
and of the destructive effects of their
action. =.
We see, as the fruits of these things,
the growth of false and ruinous state
of industry and society, for the relief OF
which no adequate provision has been
made by any existing legislation. Here
are multitudes and millions of lmpover-
ished toilers confronted by powerful
agencies with which they have felt un-
able to cope, and looking to the future,
in which these things must attain still
greater predominance, with an appre-
hension that is destructive to the very
springs of their life Here, on the other
side, is an awkward squad Of all-devour-
ing millionaires, some of whom are hun
dred-millionaires, and one of whom
already casts the shadow of the coming
Millionaire. This is not the genuine
purpose of our government, or the order
of democratic manhood.
In our country, we must have nc
powers, not of the people, no corpora
tions adverse to their welfare, no body
of persons with privileges denied tc
others; but one great American com
munity we must have, with equal rights
under fair play. This fact is the founda
ton of the republic, the groundwork o.
the constitution, the living principle o.
American politics, the first law of de
mocracy, the fundamental and unchang
able feature of our country.
1t is time to make a struggle for thu
Declaration of Independence, the self
evident and everlasting truths of which
are being overwhelmed by the tides o
plutocracy, 1t is time to proclaim agaiI
its true and original purposes, to appl.
them to institutions and legislation, t'
enforce them upon all men and ever.
man.
1t is for this that we are here, and TO
this that the paper now in your hands
brought into the world.