The Labor enquirer., 1886-06-05

per Qay system LnaG peTInlCS SuCu III
man hogism as will enable Vanderbilt
! to accumulate Sl20,oO0,OO0 in the brie
space of twelve years, at the ex pense o
bis employees and the public in general
ought to be consigned to Dante's Inferno
as speedily as possible. 1t is a system
built up by fraud and maintained by
force. The purse, the sword, the judici
ary and the legislation of the Lation il
behind it to perpetuate it. The press o
the country defend it. And the hypo
critical. pharisaical church endorse!
their action with an amen
The industrial classes will get nothing
under this form of government worth
having. It's failure. Its fruits have
been class legislation, millionaires,
tramps and paupers. 1t has become de-
structive of the rights and liberties OF
the people for whom it was established.
1t is therefore the right and duty of th !
people to alter or abolish it, and to in
stitute new government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organ
izlng its powers in such forms as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their
safety and happiness.
Therefore, workingmen, withdraw
your state assembly committees. Send
no more committees to congress. Send
no more petitions to YOUR political mas
ters. We are done with both the old
parties; they are no good. How often
have you tried them, weighed them and
found them wanting No good can come
out of Sodom and GomorrAh. Turn
away from that whited eepulchre mis-
named the church Turn away from
that political abomination-the state.
They are the two organized thieves
between which labor is. being con'inu-
ally Cruclfed. The church has sold out
Christ to Mammon. 1t witnesses the
grinding up of the flesh, bones, tissues
and sOuls--if such a thing be posi- Bile
day bv day, of men, women and inno-
cent children, that are considered typical
of the kingdom Of heaven, into divi-
dends on Watered stocks and bonds. 1t
witnesses day by dav the degradation
and decentralization of honest manhood,
toiling in mines and factories, over
worked and under paid 1t witnesses
the sharks of commerce, trade, finance
and landlordism rob them of their hard
earned dollars, through an internal sys-
tenn of rent, interest and profit. 1t wit
nesses dav by dav the destruction of the
beautiful temples of the living GOd-the
bodies of working girls that are stitch
ing shlrts and wearing their shrouds at
the same time. 1t witnesses all these
iniQuitles and scarcely enters a protest.
Its representatives make lOud-mOuthe | ,
long-winded, blasphemous prayers, and
then devour the substance of widows
and orphans The tell us the Master is
coming again in splendor power and
glory, and every knee shall bow to Him.
Behold he is here. DON'T look up to
the skies for Him, bu, down in the
mines, in the factories, at the forge and
at the bench. Listen, ye hypO"rites, and
; l. 20 will hoo
Him say: "Why persecutest thou me?
| am a presence felt in the hearts of
those who love Justice. | come to
Judge the institutions Of society on the
basis of Right, in accordance with a
higher law laid down 1900 years ago"
And the church of to-day will have to
90 in sackcloth and ashes at the feet of
this Redeemer of the ninete nth cen
tury, before it can be reln8tated in the
of the masses.
And what state Labor sha ckled
by legislation and handed over, bound
hand and foot to shylOCk, in the form Of
organized capital. Workingmen of
America, you have nothing in comm on
with these institutions as at present Or
ganized and managed. God forbid that
should raise my voice against any re-
ligion, pure and simple, which, summed
UP, is to care for the widow AMI the or
phan, to deal iustlv W tn all men, and
to keep ourselves unSpotted from the
vices of the world.
God forbid l should raise my voice
against the s. ate when it carries out in
law and legislation the principles and
spirit of the Declaration of Independ-
ence. This government Is not govern
ment of the people, by the people and
for the people. 1t is a government Of
politicians, by politicians and for pOIiti-
clans, and run in the interests of bank
ing mining, manufacturing, railroad,
landlord and money syndlCates of this
and countries of Europe. All the ele-
ments of good-if there are auY-that
exist in the church and state of to-day
will surely gravitate to the cause of labor,
because thev claim to be predicated on
the Idea of Justice.
Vote no more, workingmen, until you
are thoroughly organized in every state
of the Union. Let all the factions of
the labor movement pool their issues as
speedily as possible. and when every
state is properly organized, call a con-
vention on some Fourth Of July in the
near future, issue a Second Declaration
of American Independence declare a
separation from the present form of
government-statet to the world, as they