The Labor enquirer., 1886-07-24

il II
years. say, created two gigantic mo.
nopolies-one Of money and the other Of
transportation. To one it gave full con-
troll of the financial exchange, with a
government endorsed money subsidy
of $56O,0O0, 900, and an open letter of
credit for an unlimited amount. To the
other it gave sec, ,OO0. 900 in money and
266, 100000 acres of the public domain,
the peoples heritage, the chief means of
maintaining that life, to which we are
told all men have an equal inalie nable
right. j.
In 1884 the railroads collected from
the people of the United States the sum
tof $77O. .356. 716. The net profits. after
paying all expenses, for damages, re-
pairs, extensions, additions to rolling
stock, ETC., besides nearly $500, 100000,
interest on bonded debt, was, $3I0, ,6S2,- :
S77. The last item amounts to an out
and out steal, as the interest OIL the
bonds, which belong to themselves is all
they are entitled to, even under the
present system, for the use of their capt.
tai. This is where part of your wealth
has gone. If should give you the fig
ures of the banks they would show you
a record ten times as black. 1t takes
considerable of your nations wealth to
pay the Vanderbilt estate an income Of
81 800 per hour.
And what are you going to do, what
can you do about itP Appeal to con-
gress? ASK the government for help I?
Listen to what committee of the
United States senate said in report in
1874: There are to-day four men rep
resenting four trunk lines between Chi
cago and New York who possess and not
unfrequentlY exercise powers which the
congress of the United States woul not
venture to EXERT" aad congress gave
them this power and at that very time
| was supporting them in it. But the re-
port continues: "They (these four men)
may at any time, by single stroke of
the pen, reduce the value of property in
this country by hundreds Of millions of
dollars" And the man who protests
against this sort of thing is called
crank, and it is quite common thing
lately for him to be hunted down by the
sieuth hounds of the robbers, hacked by
the government, and thrown into
prison.
These railroad and money kings own
your congress, your executive and your
judiciary, and you are slaves. The la
borer may still own his body, but his
time, his energies and his manhood are
in chains. He can no more command
the reward of his toll, nor contr Isrts6SIi 81
product of his labor than could h1s1 dnskS !
5rother ID soathebn bondage. I Al tbst
rate by which fortunes have beeG acc,
mulated during the past two decades tr
score of monopolists will hold all the
wealth of the nation ere many years;
the rule of the system being that
whales eat big fish; big fish eat and lit
tie fish eat-mud." And the next gen
Grafton instead of inheriting liberty will
find fastened upon itself the chains of
absolute bondage.
With this system, crime, insanity, sui
eide. pauperism, and all their kindred
ills increase proportionately with the
accumulation of wealth into the hands
of few. Others than "labor gi'ators"
begin to see these things. Says Rev.
DR.. Talmage: 'The society of this ma
ton Is out of joint. While some men
have more than they deserve, others do
not get what belongs to them. fittings
&C on as they are now going all the
troubles of Ireland will be here, but in
worse shape"
Rev. DR.. Pullman said: "The really
dangerous classes are behind rosewood
doors and under frescoed ceilings" ;"
And thousands of the thinking men of
our country, who have been silent 80
long are speaking in this strain with he
roic earnestness to-day. What say you,
worklngmen, what say you at this time
when we commemorate grand and
glorious epoch in the history of our
country? We are travelling the road
traversed by Rome and Greece, and all
the other nations of the past, and we
shall share their fate unless We do some
thing which they did not. This is true
or all history is a lie.
What shall we do That is the ques-
ton. Well, first, let us throw off all hy-
pocrlsy let US stop trying to humbug
the world and cease deceiVi1g ourselves
by pretending that we are free people
let US stop shouting of an equality which
we know naught of. Instead Of boast
ing, loud-mouthed that we are the de-
scendants of themen of '76 let US under
stand their memory has been traduced,
their deeds forgotten and their prlncl
pies tramuled in the mire of corrupt,
money-m aking, man killing, soul-damn-
ing age.
The people must act while they yet
have a remnant of freedom left, and the
necessary prelimlnaries to action are or
ganization and lucation-organ zation
because there must be com ination and
method in. the action; education, be,
cause it is necessary to know what we
want and how most effectually to secure
it at the least possible cost. Now in the
matter of education. it has been truly