The Labor enquirer., 1886-06-26

of parasites, land grabbers, railroad
kings, bank swindlers, litigant law
sharks and pompous politicians with
their twaddle and insolent bombast,
whose whole life has been study to eat
their cake in the sweat of labor's face. 4
With here and there brother wage
man who joins the army of arrogant DOS
SCISSORS, with the brilliant hope of be-
coming one of the scurvy crew. E. R. 4
Wary .a Il
For the Enquirer. y... 4
Man is the animal which makes war
upon his own kind. His superior intelIi !
gence enables him to do this scientifically.
The few live at their ease while the null
titude slave. The minority appear to be
quite harmless and peaceable. 1t is the
legal profession who do their fighting.
The battles are waged with tongue
and money. Every labor measure is
hotly assailed; every corporation
scheme is ardently defended. The law
yers, when elected, are not the rerre-
sentatives of their constituents, or of
their fellow citizens at large; they are
regularly hired by wealthy corporations
to help feather their nest. With the
corporation lawyers it is not the COM
mon welfare, but, on the contrary, the
interests cf private corporations as
against the general interest 1t is re-
lentless onslaught of corporate greed,
which cares nothing for the common
good. Thus the toilers are forced to
rally in sheer self,protection. Monnp-
oily acts as did the slave power in ante
bellum days. The slave power had
turned legislation in its favor. 1t die
tated to the press and to the pulpit. 1t
gagged free speech. 1t instinctively
hated liberty. Sure enough, for how
could slavery and liberty agree? One of
these two had to yield to the other. Le-
galized monopoly and competitive wage
slavery are branches of the old upas tree
of oppression.
Whatever liberty we possess TO-DAY
did not result from voluntary conces-
sion, but had to be struggled for on
many closely contested field. Man
will oppress his fellow man; therefore,
organized resistance is virtue, virtue
born Of necessity. Party lines and class
divisions are drawn not by our choice,
but by circumstances beYOnd our indi-
vidual, feeble power. Glass contests are
again the order. of the day, just as they
have been the order Of hist ory for CEN
turies. Strange as it may seem, the men
who protested against the extension of
chattel slavery into the territories are,
not few of them, slow to give up wage
slavery.
What difference is there between the
avowed tendencies and aims of both old
parties? It's distinction without diff
ference. In what do they resemble each
other? The7 are alike in the legal de-
fense of corporate wealth against the
interests Of the toiling masses through
out the country. Labor has during the
last election disproved the old and stale
falacy and falsehood that it could not
find men to elect from its own ranks.
The beginning of political independence
shows that this beginning can be aug
mented " successful continuation of
the same enterprising course. Let Us
hope nothing; yes, less than nothing
from either of the old machines.
The writer of this article feels graft
fed to remind The readers of THE En-
QUIRER that political independence will
lead to industrial independence The
success of the last election, as far az it
went, was largely owing to agitation.
Although labor has to all appearances
entered upon new and more promising
course, 1t is not we'll to remain inactive.
Without pains no gains. Just see how
the head politicians of the old machines
are already gathering like wolves. They
have begun laying wires quite early.
What can the matter be? What else
except to defeat the labor candidates?
Under the grinning mask of pretended
friendship, thev are in reality arrayed
in organized hostility against all at
tempts on the part Of the toilers to abol-
ish the present system Of wage slavery.
This is the reason why the capitalistic
press Intentionally mixes up Anarchists
with Socialists, to make them appear
Identical in aims and methods, and to
arouse and feed a strong public preju
dice against progressive men and pro-
gressiVe measures, coming from the
ranks of honest toll.
An election is truly called a campaign.
1t is campaign. There will be two
kinds of campaigns: one for more legal
privilege for manufacturing, railroad and
other corporations; the other for eman-
cipation from unfavorable and serf-like
conditions. One for legalized injustice
the other for justice and equity. Let
labor capture the state and make equit-
able co operation the only recognized
and legal conditions for indust rial enter
prise, and thus abolish wages slavery.
UNo.
D. A. 80.
Delegates to District assembly No. 80,
will please remember that the regular