The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-08-27
"ORGANIz. { A PARTY,
Brave, Eloquent. an ] Far-seeing Words
Uttered Twelve Years Ago BY
Wendell Phillips.

Tho following; is m extract from l
speech, eloqut - s5eyoHd the power o.
words 30 ,-xpr .ss. delivered by Wendell
Phillips n Ne " i-olk City, as far bach
as Dec. I, 1877. The remedy which he
proposed wa ), "Organi .e party
As look down the ears that are
coming and. descry the ha..vests Of oul
own instls otions in their growth, / feel
very gravely tho vast I'm, 7ortance-I
might almost say the terrible signifi-
cance-Hf this Vii or question. You
ask me to 3 eak to Oh On the relations
OF capital and li.cr. ! am capitalist.
Why do 1 come, Lere? Because am
gra.ciy s!issntj SIZED with the citiliza-
ton around me. sln itk from SO large
word As TINT. Civilization is in seem
ing large and generous iE some Of its
results; bnt. at the same time, hidden
within are ulcers that confront social
science ar9 lee it ;.gi,. st. The stu
dents of s'G:sst ,ci.,,-e, in every meet
ing that gather, Itself ii every debate
and discussion, .,.i.fsa, themselves at
their wits end, III Tea ing with the
great social els o. the day. Nobody
that looks into the subject but recog-
nizes the fact that the .liease is very
grave and deep. The superficial OBJ
server does not know of the leak in the
very body Of the ship, but the captain
and crew are suffering the anticipation
Of approaching ruin.
Stretch ont your gaze over all the
civilized world. There are. perhaps, in
ChristendOm two or three hundred mil
lions of people, and oue-half of them
never have enough to eat. Even in
this country one-half OF the people have
never enjoyed the resources of this life.
All over the world one-half Of Christen-
dom starves either bodily or mentally.
This Is no exaggeration. Take your
city, and 60 down into the very slums
Of existence, where human beings by
the thousands live year in and year out
in dwellings which no man IN Fifth
avenue would trust his horse in for
twelve hours. (Applause.l l have
known men who were intemperate in
Boston cured by being sent to Paris.
Why? Because in the brighter lite, the
more generous stimulant, the great
variety Of interest in the European
capital, he found something tha. called
out his nobler nature, starved out his
appetites. So it is with tie intemper-
arce of q nation; and T., cure it YOU
must supplement their life with the
stimulus Of the soul. Applause. I
will take the SOCIAL specter that con-
fronts social science the world over:
prostitution. tn. social ulcer that eats
into the nineteenth century. Every.
body who st.ies the subject will con-
fess that the root frcM which it grows
Is that the poverty Of one class makes
it the victim Of the wealth Of another.
take the thcrmomete.' of the price
Of English wheat for tn last century,
and place beside it tha thermometer Of
crime, and ] lind - the wheat goes up
or down the crime increases or dimin-
ishes. Applause. The great majority
Of tho human race stands Just on the
edge Of necessity. Has the classic
genius OF Greece and Rome and the
common sense Of the Saxon race given
US nothing better than these apples Of
Sodom for the golden fruit of Paradise? !?
One quarter of the human race lives in
ease, and the other three-fourths con-
tribute to it without sharing il. IL
that is the end Of human existence. let
us sit down aud biasnheme the God
who made us. Applause.
l am ashamed Of the civilization
which makes 1900 needy nen depend
ent on one. The asstem which devel-
ops this is faulty In it, very founda-
tion.
You say, why find fault with civiliza-
tion? Tonight is cold night, and you
will go home to arlors u d chambers
warmed with the coal of Penn 7ylvania
Why don't you have coal here for -
or s3 . ton? Why don't yon have it
here at an advance of 81 over what it
costs at the mouth OF the rit. Because
Of the gigantic corp. rations and vast
organizations of wealth. The capital
lists gather three or four millions Of
tons in your city. SILL it when they
please, at such rates rs they please,
and the poor man, struggling for his
bread, is the sufferer.
A rich man II careful; he won't put
his foot in any further than allows of
its being pulled back. II he heard .
groan from the people at something he
did, he would withdraw his investment,
for nothing is more timid than wealth.
But let that man take 800, 900 or so
and put it in with nine others, and
make corporation with . capital Of
| 81, 900, 900, then he is as bold as julius
Cesar. He will starve out $4,000
coal miners. The London Spectator
says that the colossal strength OF
Britain has reason to dread the jointure
of $456, ,OOO. 600 Of railroad capital.
How much more should America have
reason to dread such combinations,
when Britain has more than ten times
our wealth?
Now, gentlemen, you say to me,
@What do you intend to do?" Every
man has different theory, but have
no panacea. My theory is only this !:
know that wrong system exists, and
the only method il these States of turn
| ing the brains Of the country to our side
| is to bring on . conflict and organize d
party. II I should ask one OF your
editors tonight to let M, indite an arti-
Gle ON labor and capt !. very likely he
would refuse me, or if he granted it,
it might be because fanatic like me
would sell cony or two. But if you
will gine me N,,U Votes on our side,
and the balance i'm ,artially divided be-
tween your Fentons, and Conklinga,
and Seymonrs, will show you every
journal in tho .itv Of New York discuss