davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
DOW'TBL4 HODGE.

SINCE the defeat of Gladstone's
Home Rule measure for Ireland, the
great organ of Irish nationalism in
America-The Irish World is back
again on the tack of striving to show
that the English masses, as well as the
Glasses are imbued with a hostility
to any and every concession to Ire
lands rightful demands, and holding
them to blame for it. While the
logic of the Irish World proving that
poor "Hodge" is guilty of the charge
of ingratitude to Gladstone and the
votes of Irish representatives. for the
privileges he now enjoys in the equal
exercise of the suffrage with his lords
and masters is faultless, still it is use
less to blame Hodge for it, as at
present he ought not to be suspected
of being a responsible creature. Be
sides, was he not distracted by the
preachings and the teachings of an
other whom the English workingman
also swears by-John Bright, rein
forced by small army of Liberal
Seceders of lesser stripe and impor-
lance. And were not falsifications
preached Hodge, also, of the injuries
he must sustain If this measure of
Home Rule for Ireland was successful,
in various ways, which the inventive
brain of the designing politician con-
jured up for the occasion? And
would not poor Hodge have voted
against his own best interests as we'll,
providing the politicians conspired to
befool him into it, as the Hodges of
America have done for generations,
and will yet do for years to come be-
fore they become sufficiently enlight-
ened to detect the conspiracy and the
ends for which they were duped.
Don't blame poor Hodge, rather
pity him. And do not undertake to
incur his hatred by arousing spirit
of revenge against him, for that can
only succeed in begetting revenge in
turn. If there be any way of reach
ing him it should be by the voice of
argumnet rather than anger. When
he knows better he will act better;
he must be reached by spirit of
kindness rather than of hate in order
to teach him better, as more flies are
caught by honey than vinegar.
The establishment of some such
national organization as the Knights
of Labor among the workingmen of
the united Kingdom, would be the
best and surest means of securing
this much tc be desired consummation.
And that we soon hope TO see done.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
"GlVE US A CHANGE"
Respectfully dedicated to my friends, the
Democrats.

Respectfully dedicated to my friends, the
Democrats.
You've 'turned the rascals OUT my
friends,
You've turned the rascals OUT"
You've done just what you said you'd do,
Therefore why do you pout?
They've fourteen kinds of " Inc, my friends,
Tor so I've heard it said
When they sit down to dine, my friends,
But you can scarce get bread
The pearls and diamonds flash and CLEAN,
The silks and satins shine,
.'The brides sweet ways have won all
hearts,"
So why do you repine?
simplicity of Jefferson ?''
You ''haven't seen it yet ?''
You haven't seen the business boom
Nor payment of the debt ?''
You marched ''For Cleveland and reform"
And boie the torch on high;
And still your wages do not rise,
But still "bard times" you cry.
You shouted "Let us have changed
A sentence wise and terse;
But, if you've got e'a change" at all,
Is't not from bad to worse?
I've this advise to give, my friends,
If you would justice win,
Next time you turn old rascals out,
Don't put new rascals in.
CELIA b. WHITEHEAD.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
'"/T7S GOTTO COME. :"

IT'S got to come. The prosecution
and persecution of the boycott-the
last resort of blind resistance to
tyranny, has at last forced the vic
TINS of unjust government to turn
their eyes in the only direction where
break in the woods was visible.
And now if they can only be pre-
vailed upon to keep their eyes fixed
on the opening while marching
towards it amid the thicket of under
brush impending their pathway, their
deliverance is assured. Many strag-
glers no doubt, will fall by the wayside,
scratched and torn by the briars and
brambles of invincible ignorance,
prejudice and stupidity, but the be-
leaguered army will eventually escape,
to reform on the open plain beyond
the plain of Scientific Governmental
Co operation.
In this great move of independent
political action, New York city seems
to be taking the initiative, at least in
the Eastern States. And the source
of the movement too, is from a point
from which it was least expected, the
conservative Labor Unions, who
heretofore have ignored all political
action, save that of individual voting
for the spawns of the party caucus
the men who forge the chains of their
industrial slavery.
The action of the Labor Unions
will now force the Assemblies of the
Knights of Labor to cooperate. 1T
was the Assemblies which should
have led the van instead of being
dragged out by the Unions for the
platform of Principles" of the one
especially implies political action,
while the constitutions of the others
especially debar even its agitation.
However, it makes little difference
which is the first or last in the break
ing away from fossilized environments,
that should have been sundered long
ago; the point, now is, that they
march together, shoulder to shoulder
on the new road to deliverance,
diverging not to this side or that in
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
THE EXAMINER, SATURDAY, JULY, "a. 1886

and go, but their places will be filled
by intelligent independent citizens
who have SO far not enrolled within
the Knights of Labor were not practic-
ing the precepts of its own school.
Shakespeare, the great delineator of
the human heart and mind has laid it
down as an axiom, that there is tide
in the affairs of men which taken at
its flood leads on to fortune. We be-
lieve that such tide has now set in,
in the great Labor movement of the
United States of America and we
therefore cry out with all our might,
Avast there we land lubbers, let go
the life boat
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
HOW CLASSES ORIGINATED.

There is no doubt that the first division
conquest of some men by others. Force
was the origin of slavery and serfdom.
And this servitude of one class TO another
has come down to us through unknown
centuries, modified now and then according
to the progress of mankind. The brave
baron of old, with his mailed warriors,
ready to risk his life in every conflict, has
gone forever. They kept men in servitude
through force, but the force also has dis
appeared.
But did the exit of the baron and his
retainers give the serfs liberty and originate
a ff-e world? Nothing of the kind. The
toiler is still in slavery. He has simply
have broken his head for characterization
has given place to the crcumventic coward
who starves him by modern ''lockouts."
He is worse off than ever. He is denied
even the freedom to roam in search of
better conditions The prison awaits the
poor tramp in every town. There is no
longer the freedom to beg. What further
changes can De Tor the worse
How is it that the servitude of the work
er is maintained after the force that estab-
lished it has departed? Because class dis
tinctions have been perpetuated. The lance
has given place to the dollar, an insignifi-
cant, dirty, crnmpled piece of paper, which
keeps the toiler in more unbearable servi-
tude than the lance did.
The modern baron is the man with dol
lars, and what a degenerate bandit he is !!
He never feasts his retaiuers of the mine
and factory, as the cd baron did. He
cares nothing for happy faces and cheer
full greeting. The manhood has departed
from him. He has become bag of dry
dollars, without heart or soul, and even
his individuality is swallowed up in the
Corporations" e#z.
And what are these dollars, so potent for
slavery and just as potent for liberty :?
Simply pieces of paper theoretically rep
resenting pieces of gold and invented to
give paper the purchasing power of gold.
Who gave authority to do this ? The gov
eminent. And to-day the paper dollar
governs Europe and America, and holds
the masses in industrial servitude 10 the
men with the paper dollars.
Just see what these dollars have done.
They have been the instruments for build
ing cities and industrial establishments of
all kinds, and have filled every state with
railroads, telegraphs, and other accessories
to progress. Masses of men were not pre-
pared to set themselves to work to accom-
plish all this, neither were there dollars
enough. So banks were established and
dollars manufactured by the million, and
the men with the dollars set them to work
for their board and clothing, and the dollar
men looked on at their ease; and now that
the work is finished the poor wretches who
did it all have nothing, while the men with
the dollars own all, and have their dollars
also! Wonderful! j. +. BRAY.
Pontiac, Mich.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
LET 60 THE LIE BOAT!

STRANGE as it may seem, there are
some Of the most intelligent members
of the Knights of Labor who oppose
the idea of the order going into poll
tics as an organization. And among
these members, too, are men who
themselves preach and act indepen-
dent political action as opposed to TIE
two old parties. This is one of the cases
where extremes meet, and the mo-
nopolist and old bunker partisans are
also opposed to the idea of the
Knights of Labor entering the politl-
cal arena as an independent gladia-
tor. One is afraid that if the order
is known as political, it would at once
stop the further growth Of organiza-
ton, and perhaps ALLEVIATE many, now
members, who are not sufficiently ed
ucated to see the necessity for politi-
cal action, and whose old party preju-
dice is not yet worn off sufficiently to
allow them to try the experiment.
The other side is afraid that the re-
verse will be the case, knowing that
every provocation has been given the
workingmen to go into business for
himself, and that certain
ly he must have had his eyes opened
by this time if stupidity has not
sealed them forever.
We are in the hope and belief that
the time has at last arrived to try
what the elements composing the
Knights of Labor are made of. IT
the effort will break the ranks and
prevent further recruiting, well and
good, so be it. There is nothing lost,
for there can be 10 permanent gain
in the mode of operation now en-
ployed and the intelligent and indie
pendent among the order might as
we'll see the matter tested now as la
ter, and understand whether their
time and money are to be further
wasted in useless hurly-burly circum-
locution with incorrigible lunkheads,
or leave them to perish at the shrine
of their own idolatry.
If organized Labor cannot see that
there is no other hope for it, it must
be blind as bat in sunlight. The
Strike has had its backbone broken,
and the boycott has been circumven-
ted by the law. What other weapon
is there left? We have had, too, a
change" in our National Administra-
ton which many had so blindly yet
fondly hoped would usher in the dawn
of the millennium but these hopes
are vanished and disgust supercedes
expectation. When, therefore, could
a time more propitious be ushered in !?
It may have been wise to defer this
action till now, and allow everything
else to be tried in preference, not
withstanding that every plank in the
platform calls for political action from
the beginning. But there is danger
in further delay. The enlightened
members of the order will not stand
it much longer to see their time and
labors going for naught; and they
out of the organization, its soul soon
takes flight, leaving the body to return
TO it's original chaos. A few of the
cunning who joined for sinister pur-
poses, and few of the hide-bound
narrow-heads may pick up their traps
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
LATTER DAY SLAVERY.

While no arbitrary lule can be laid down
to regulate the hours of daily toll to nicely
that would not be open to argument, there
is abundant reason for the belief that the
workers of this country are subjected to
too severe o strain in being required to
labor for ten, twelve and fourteen hours of
every working day. In the regulation of
labor, the physical ability of the workman
to bear continuous strain for years is a
primary consideration and it is his duty to
himself to carefully watch this important
concern. Good health, the preservation of
strength and other considerations enter into
the question, and careful study leads to
the conclusion that shorter hours than now
generally sindulged would prove of material
advantage not alone to the workman HIM
self but to his employer and the community.
A duty which the worker owes to himself
and is bound by all laws to observe, cannot
be neglected with impunity. Nature will
imperatively demand the sacrifice of an
abuse, and shortened, miserable lives will
prove the inevitable penalty. If the labor
er Is not at liberty to abuse himself by ex-
cessive physical strain, the employer is
still less justified in requiring it. The gen.
eral community would be shocked to hear
that any employer of labor insisted upon
the exercise of physical exertion by an en-
ploye to the extent of wearing out his life
in the employment. Yet this is being
daily done on every side and the victims
feel that their very existence and the abso-
Lutte needs of those dependent on them
demand it. 1t is difficult to distinguish
between such condition and abject slavery,
and the most humiliating phase of the sit
uation lies in the fact that this severity of
work is required to fill to overlooking the
Golfers of those who are already rich.
With all our boosted freedom we have
arrived at condition where the poor are
absolute slaves to wealth and greed, and
that the weary labor, unceasing exertion
and hopeless effort of those who are poor,
result alone in mere sustenanee to them
selves, and immoderate accumulation to
their masters. 1t is to be hoped that the
present labor agitation will reach and
remedy this sad condition. Unless effect
ual means are soon devised and put in prac-
tice there will soon be reached state of
affairs compared with which southern
savery was an incomarable blessing,
and to witch death alone will bring
relief. ALBANY Telegram.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
BULLHEADEDNess

Henry Georges new book, 'sPRorncTIoN
OR FREE TRADE" oFens with his omely
but striking figures:
Near the window by which / write, a
great bull is tethered by ring in his ose
Grazing round and found he las wound his
rope around the stake till he stands cl. Sc
prisoner, taniaiized by rich grass he cannot
reach, unable even to toss his head to rid
him of the flies that cluster on Ills shonld-
ers Now and again he struggles vainiy.
and then after pit'fnl beliowines. TtIapees
into silent misery. This bull, a very type
of massive Strength, who, because he has
not wit enough to see how he might lie
free, suffers want in sight of plenty, and Is
helpiessly preyed upon by weaker creatures.
seems to me no unfit emblem of the work.
ng masses"
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
A FUNERAL POEM.

The Boston Sunday Herald says that at Balh
timore mans funeral, lately, the whole service
consisted OF the reading Of this poem, written by
When DER my cold and lifeless clay,
The parting words of love are said,
And friends and kindred meet to pay
Their last fond tribute to the dead,
Let no stern priest, with solemn drone,
A funeral liturgy intone,
Whose creed is foreign to my own.
Let not a word be whispered there
In pity for my unbelief,
Of sorrow that / could not share
The views that give their souls relief.
My faith to me is no less dear
No less convincing and sincere
Than theirs, so rigid and austere.
Let no stale words of church born song
Float out upon the silent air,
To prove my implication wrong
The soul of him then lying there.
Why should such words be glibbly sung
Ger one whose lively tongue
Such empty phrases never rung?
But rather, let the faithful few
Whose hearts are knit so close to mine,
That they with time the dearer grew,
Assembled at the days decline;
And while the golden sunbeams fall
In floods of light upon my pail,
Let them in softened tones recall
Some tender memory Of the dead
Some virtuous act, some words of power
Which |, perchance, have done or said,
BY loved ones treasured to that hour;
Recount the deeds which admired,
The motive which my soul inspired
The hope by which my heart was fired
And the good that have done.
Boston Investigator.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

THE yawning gulf that divides
Democracy and Republication is
once more illustrated in the attitude
of the party leaders in Texas. The
workingmen and Changers having
proclaimed a union Of heart and
hand in struggle to overthrow the
schemes of monopoly at the coming
election, through the peaceful instru-
mentality of the ballot, these leaders
have buried their hatchets-no, not
that, but they have agreed to raise
them together and bury them deep in
skulls of those who dare to rebel
against their rule and that of their
masters.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24
MORRLSON'.S MEASURE.

THE lower House of Congress, by
vote of about three to one passed
the Morrison resolution for reducing
the Treasury surplus above 100 mil
lions, by paying off the bonds at the
rate of ten millions month. This
measure is bitterly opposed by the
bondholders, the national banks, and
all their satellites in and out of Con
gress. The tendency would be to IN
crease the volume of the currency,
which of course would be resisted by
the banks, and all the creditor class
who live by usury. Then those bonds
would have to be paid partly in silver,
and the intelligence of the people is
insulted by the reiteration of the at
trocious falsehood by certain mem
bers of Congress and the subsidized
press that the bonds are to be paid in
gold, when every man ip the nation
who can read, and knows anything of
a citizens duty knows that according
to the contract they are payable in
''coin." And the impudent assertion
that gold is the standard of value in
this country and all over the world is
presuming upon the ignorance of the
people, when it is not the standard
here nor anywhere else, save in Great
Britain, Germany, and few other
countries. What miserable nonsense,
this talk of the nations obligations
being repudiated, and its credit i'm
paired bp paying the bonds agreeable
to contract.
If the Senate should pass the reso-
luton, of which there is no prospect,
it is predicted that the President will
veto it, Notwithstanding the platform
on which he was elected, and which
said, THAT change is necessary, is
proved by an existing surplus of more
than $1oo, 100000 which has been
yearly collected from suffering peo-
pie" 1t is also soberly thought that
if there was any danger of this propo-
sition becoming law in any way, it
would never have received the vote it
did, and probably would never have
been introduced at all, especially by
Mr.. Morrison, as his record in the
past is not such as to incline the
sceptical to believe that he would
lead himself to any scheme likely to
disturb the golden nest egg of the
money hatchers.
These Congressman and Senators
receive a salary of $1,000 year
whether engaged in befooling the
people or not.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

strike at the ballot box by the united
Labor organizations, does any one
believe these gentlemen at Washing
ton would have acted so promptly q
week since, in favor of the bills re-
ported by the Committee on Labor ?
They passed the bill prohibiting the
use Of convict labor or the product of
it in any department of the Govern
ment, also prohibiting the employ
ment by it, of any one, not a bona
fide resident of the United States or
has not declared his intentions of be-
coming a citizen. Another bill was
passed that will more surely prevent
the landing of paupers and criminals,
and also TO make operative the bill
against the importation of contract
labor, passed last year, which in real
ity has been dead letter. A third
exempting from attachment, to the
amount of $500 the wages of all me>
Chanics, laborers and servants, where
the Government has local jurisdic-
lion, as the District of Columbia, and
the territories. But these bills will
probably be killed by amendments in
that body which is not elected by the
people, nor amenable to them, and
which seems to have been instituted
expressly to oppose and defeat the
wants and wishes of the people as in
Dictated by their representatives in the
House. How long before the peo-
pie will come to the conclusion that
they are old enough to know what is
good for themselves, and not have a
monitor over them to snatch the COW
eted morsel away declaring it would
give them ezoleya intaHtnm.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

WHEN those two members of Con
gress were complimenting each other
the other day with the endearing cpl
thets of "liar" and "blackguard," they
evidently entered upon a subject
with which they are better acquainted
than they are with many others for
which they draw full salary for dis
cussing. And they entered so heart
lily into this, too, that they ought to
be considered as deserving of extra
pay for the effort. Congressman who
tell the unalloyed truth are like an
gels visits, few and far between.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

WHATEVER may have been the po-
litical and other sins of Grover Cleve-
land in the past, he is to be commend
ed for one praiseworthy act at least,
that of ordering the disbandment of
the Daniel Manning Social Club" at
Washington, and nippins in the bud
the unhallowed design of its members
in playing the sneak and traitor on
their fellow employees of the Depart
ments because they happen to be
marked with a different political tag.
However, the christening of the club
after Manning was very appropriate,
as he is credited with beng of the
cleverest manipulators of partisan and
Doodle hunting politics, extant. 1t is
Manning who managed for Cleveland.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

So long as the great horde of work
ingmen quietly pulled along in the
party traces, helping political bosses
to pile still heavier burdens upon the
people, the subsidized, monopolistic
press looked qnite complacently at
their organizations, and sometimes
condescendingly patted them on the
back, and called them "good fellows ~
knowing that all their efforts were of
no avail while they ignored the politi-
cal lever-the only instrument by
which they can effect anything in
their own behalf. But now that the
Labor Unions and Farmers Alliances
propose to organize for political
action, howl is raised by the organs
of monopoly, and some of them GO
into Mysteries, crying ANARCHY and
Communism " at the suggestion that
Henry George may become candi-
date for Mayor of New York, or T.
v. Powderly for Governor of Penn
sylvania. We should have more hope
for the nation and its people, could
such men be allowed to take a part
in its government. We would then
have science and heart at the helm
of the good ship of State, instead Of
empiricism and piracy as now.
The examiner. (Hartford, Conn.) 1881-188?, 1886-07-24

The "Gold bugs" are gleefully
quoting the decline in silver bullion
as reason why silver coinage should
cease. They call it decline in sill,
yer, when it is in reality onlv rise in
the price of gold bullion. The latest
quotation of the amount of bullion in
a silver dollar is 743 cents. But
what of that? the paper on which a
Greenback dollar is printed is not
worth one cent, but it will buy gold
dollar the same. The Government
stamp determines the value, no matter
what the material upon which it is
placed, and as long as the Govern
ment makes it legal tender for all
dues, it cannot fuctuate. We have
often asserted these facts, and no
doubt will have to assert them many
times more, in order to keep in front
of the noise of those who rely upon
assertion alone in all their claims.