The Labor enquirer., 1886-07-24

powerful few at the sacrifice of the rights
of the many 2" Thew viii tell you, hyp
pocrites and traitors that they are, that
governments are instituted for the pur,
poses laid down in the declaration to
which You have referred.
| Then ask them for an account of their
stewardship. Ask them to point you to
one act of any consequence performed
by the representatives of your govern
ment in the last % years which has been
in accord with these principles. Let
them turn over the records of aided land
steals. illicitly purchased charters, con-
niying with bond-sharks, political ras-
calif bleeding of the honest work ers
and reckless and licentious expenditure
Of the peoples wealth. Bring out the
whole horrible record of bribery and
corrRFtion of recklessness and treach-
cry. Learn of the robbery of the widow
and orphan, the washerwoman, the la
borer, the mechanic, the plowman then
ask once more of these sleek, easy going,
laissez faire men at the head: "Why
are governments instituted among
men 2''
| Go to the ash pile, the rag man, the
lumber room and contemplate what re.
fhnains of the ocean of documents closely
signed by the citizens of the United
States-documents which have been. for
years praying for the protection and
amelioration of an oppressed and un-
happy people, and then ask your sena-
tors amt representatives what they have
done wgsn the right of petition which
was established for you through the de-
yotion and labors of John Quincy
Adams in 1886. Ask them what has
been done with the right to amend or
alter the constitution when the needs of
the people demanded it, and why you
always have. "It is unconstitutional"
flung in your face when you ask for sub
stantial relief from your sufferings
(This query might also be propounded
to that chief tool of monopoly-the su-
preme bench of the United Statesl.
When you have asked the questions
that will naturally occur to you if you
are in earnest in your inquiry, then see
| if you can find one man in the capital
who remembers that George Washing
ton said, when he came to sign the con-
stltution (which, by the way, was not In
conformity with the Declaration of In
dependence, and was opposed by such
patriots as Jefferson, Paine and Henry,
and which was not adopted by all the
states until three years after it was
drafted) see If any of them remember
that George Washington said, while he
psuset 81 dippisaassshis d. gf sa51he ink /:
I"ShouIH the sta0rss REJECT fhis constltu-
ton the probability is that never again
will an opportunity be offered TO cancel
another in peace-the next will be
drawn in bloodW And this from the
father of his cou ntry, when the wounds
of the Revolution were still bleeding.
Was there not warning in these words
We're not the most important amend
ments to that constitution, without
which it gave the lie to the Declaration,
drawn in blood, in the blood of 100000
men, which flowed through four years Of
the most terrible civil war? Have the
words no warning yet unfulfilled? We
shall see.
What is the matter with the country
to-day, when men who have never been
known to concern themselves until
lately about the material affairs of the
people, are writing startling articles for
the magazines and are delivering as
founding lectures upon such subjects as
"The Danger Ahead" "The Spectre of
the Nineteenth Century aWhither Are
We Drifting" and the likef Figures are
dry, know, and statistics are not inter-
esting to all audiences and, as a-rule, |
deal as little as possible in them; but it
seems necessary now that I should devi-
ate from my usual custom, flr the pur.
pose of showing why have no sympa,
thy with the twaddle that Is talked by
the ordinary Fourth of July orator and
also that none may say that have sim
ply growIed in general terms without
showing one reason for nv discomfort.
l have asserted that the principles Of
the Declaration of Independence have
been trampled under foot in the mad
race for wealth and that the producers
have been robbed by the upholders Of
our present economic and industrial
system; now let us, for few moments
look at the cold facts. as presented by
statistics, statistics which are well au
thenticated:
The increase in the wealth of the
country for the thirty years, from 1850 tc
1880 was 81, ,197 per head, notwithstand
ing the rapid increase of population
The total increase in the aggregate
wealth of the country for the same pc.
Rod was SAL, ,s2O, 100000. All this in
crease was due to the hand of labor
Now where Is it all Surely not in tht
possession of the laborers, who are poore
now than IN 1850. Up until as late as
1866 there was not tramp in the land
in 1878 the country swarmed with them
and every year sees the number of thess
poor, helpless and wretched creatures
increasing at an enormous rate. Yor
ask me where is this wealth. Well 8,