The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-10-03


ilish invention by which men cheat each other
and rob the people.
He here spoke of subsidies granted to rail
roads, which, under them had become the most
tyrannical and Oppressive of monopolies He
next spoke of the scarcity of money that we
have no more moneyin circulation now than
in 1873 when we had but AS 100000 of people,
and that no change in national banks and other
matters had taken place for the reason that both
parties were controlled by monopolists.
That Democratic national convention of ours
was enough to make a cat laugh. Great
laughter. Who was the chairmanl l don't be-
lieve there is a man here remember. Yes,
Villas, am glad you remember it. You remem
Der him because he is the most competent rail
road attorney in the United States. l mean to
say he is servant of monopoly. There are 153
electoral votes of the South standing with mo-
nopoly-the monopoly of labor. 1t gives them
control of over 1000, 000 working men and wom
en- in the South. There have bone to pick
with my Republican friends. The Republican
party was grand old party. 1t was begun by
earnest, honest, conscientious men and
women who prayed to God to take care
of their cause.-the relieving from bondage of
four millions of slaves They threw away their
votes year after year, as men said; but they
were triumphant at last If you will look back
you will see the hand of divine Providence in it
all But that was twenty odd years ago, and
the Republican party put the ballot IN the hands
of the negro as the safeguard of a freeman.
But if that ballot cannot be freely cast and hon
estly counted it was no safeguard; it broke the
word of promise to the hope, but kept it to the
ear,
For twenty years the Republican party has held
almost unlimited power so far as governmental
power can be unlimited, and there has not been
honesty of purpose enough or energy enough to
make that ballot which it gave to the negro afree
ballot and a fair count. If they can't do that i'll
twenty years, why. in Gods name, are we to
wait any longerl 1 can't wait twenty years
longer. l shall not be here They come every
four years and tell you there has been massa-
ere of negroes down South, and there is nobody
punished for the killing Of these citizens. Why
should we keep party in power that cannot
protect our citizens in our land or any
piece of land on earthl The Democrats answer
back not so; the negroes have been numbering
the white men, and neither gets punished. am
no respecterof color in that regard and had the
power there would be lot of first-class funerals
on both sides down there. Cheers How else
does the question of the negro affect youl Why
his wages are only half the wages of the laborer
of the North, and your wages will be cut down
under this competition. There will be no tariff
to save you there.
could get no resolution through the Demo
cratic convention that looked to the relief of la
bor because my resolution looked to the relief of
all laboring men, white, black or gray. Our
platform is all expressed in four sentences, the
one have sailed under and the one have fought
under for more than six years. The platform of
the Peoples party is equality of rights, equality
of power, equality of burdens and
equality of privileges to all men
under the law Now, then when asked them,
will you put plank in your platform which
shall declare that labor ought to have the power
bylaw to combine for its own protection, as
capital does by law, it would not be heard for
moment That would not do The negro
must not have tine right to combine.
When I asked them to declare that labor is in
titled to a Just share Of the profits of its own
production, they said no. the laborer cannot
have any such right as that When 1 asked
them to say in the platform that there should be
fair division of the profits, told them what
meant / said the statistics showed that in
the last thirty years there has been produced in
this country by the laboring men, in the increase
of its wealth, 5000 year per man, per laborer,
and that the same statistic, showed that the la
berer has received in wages only 5000 year.
Out of that 5000 who has got the other
six, and how did they come by
it, and what did they pay for ita The other $500
has been swallowed up by capital in its various
FORMS Now, ara wiling that capital shall be
fairly paid, but if capital takes two-thirds and
labor one-third, it is one-third robbery GER
tainly. Suppose we call fair division
half then, for the last thirty
got $3.50 a year and the laborer would be enabled
to have comfortable home for his wife and lit
tie ones. The Democratic convention would not
promise half. Did say half? They would not
promise to give just division. They wouldn't
, agree to anything You can't get Democratic
convention ruled by the Southerners who con
troll negro labor to have Just division, and yet
they call themselves Democrats, Oh, God, /
wish Jefferson could look down on
give them mis- opinion on that kind
of Democracy Great laughter How many
lSboring men, voters, do you think there are
S,427 900 agricultural workers, there are A. 22O,-
600 mining and manufacturing laborers and
1900 900 of freight and transportation laborers,
altogether there are Ii, 000, geo of men all of
whose interests are exactly alike on this ques
ton and who, by their votes, are able to control
their own interests and crush a party opposed to
them out under their heels And they want You
to vote the old Democratic ticket.
You Republicans do worse than that. You
get your men out, and if they won't come out in
any other way you clothe them in uniform
that is a cross between an organ monkey and
pumed knight, and they march you about the
street and prepare to vote for the grand old Re-
publican party that for twenty years there is
not a man of you can tell that it has ever done a
single thing for the laboring man in the Congress
of the United States Oh, yes, the Republican
party passed the tariff. What for2 To carry on
the war; and they put it on as heavy as they
could to gat as much as they could.
That was right; they had to pass it,
They know how, but the Democrats don't. The
Democrats had two-thirds majority in the
present Congress. They got together and
elected free-trade Speaker and great thrill
of joy ran through the bosom Of every British
manufacturer when that news got to England.
With that power in Congress, having it all their
own way, they chose a committee on ways and
means, and they worked four months to see how
the tariff could be amended They said they
wanted, in the first place, to cut off great deal
of the revenue and to get things exactly right,
as there were many irregularities in the old tar
if that needed correction. They worked away,
and at last came out and admitted
they could not do anything with it,
but they could pass bill that would be hori-
zontaI reduction of 20 per cent. The joke of it
was that the 20 per cent. horizontal reduction.
been received before. You think this strange;
that is because you do not know any more
abount the tariff than the Democratic commit
tee on ways and means will convice you that
our tariff is so high that in the highest grades it
is prohibitery-that the. highest grade of goods
are not imported into the country and we get no