Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1886-12-10
WHAT DOES TT MEAN

WHAT DOES 1T MEAN!
Probably it has never occurred to the av,
erage citizen of the United States that there
is anything peculiar about the fact that in
this new and free country the agitation of
unhealthy associations is more pronounced
than it is in any other land on the GARTH
What does it mean?
In many of the European countries there
are aristocracies fortified by centuries of as
tendency which rule with an iron hand and
which enjoy many advantages not possessed
by the people. In these countries land is
scarce, and the great mass Of the people are
compelled in the matter OF wages to take
what is offered them. If they refuse, or if
they fail to get work, the alternative pre-.
sented to them is the poor-house or the
grave Here, owing to the sparseness of
population and the abundance of land,
man who is dissatisfied with his lot in one
place may pass to another and probably
better himself. There is plenty os land that
may be had almost for the asking. The
natural resources of this continent have
hardly been touched, as yet II anywhere
on earth it is possible for man to get along
and be contented with his situation it ought
10 be right here. But does not the fact that
of all countries in the world this republic
has more discontinued people, that its work
ingmen are uneasy and at times boisterous,
and that among them all the widest schemes
Of contscation and communism take deeper
root than they have recently done in any
European monarchy argue that there is
something the matter
twenty-five years ago how many follow
ers would the Socialists, Communists and
Anarchists have had in America? Where
would they have preached the doctrine OF
socialism and the theory that property is
robbery? How much of political party
would these products OF foreign oppression
and crime have been able to organizer-
They could have gained no foothold here at
all Now behold the difference
We find that, with the resources of this
vast continent hardly touched and with
room here for countless millions, the repub.
lie is already confronted with problems
which, in spite OF oppression, wrongs
and unnatural conditions, have not been
forced upon the crowded Kingdoms of the
old world. We find the ablest leaders of
the proletarians making this republic their
headquarters, and from these shores extend
ing the propaganda TO other nations. We
find the people here better prepared for the
acceptation Of extreme doctrines in conflict
with the laws and usages of civilized socie-
ty than are the people of any other coun-
try, and we find that in spite of our boosted
liberty and patriotism, there is greater read.
mess on the part of our people to pursue
these destructive doctrines to the extreme
ends. The man who imagines that there is
no cause for all these things greatly
mistakes the situation. There is cause for
this unrest, and for the daily alarms which
fill the country, and is to be found in the
systems and policies which have been in
PRODUCED here since the war.
American citizens can see about them
men who have become millionaires in day
almost. But it takes week to figure out
even dubious proof that there has been any
increase in the wages of labor in the past
twenty five years. la the West foreign
capitalists control 100000 acres of the
best land on the continent an empire in
itself Granted originally to rich corpora
tons, il has been by them traded off and is
now closed to the people forever except as
they accept the degraded conditions of ten
antry All through the country business
of nearly every description is controlled by
rings, and there are rings within the rings.
Every four years the national government
takes from the people the sum of one thou.
sand millions, to say nothing of the city,
town and State taxes, and the thousands OF
millions which the protected monopolics
wiring from honest toll. In addition to all
this there are demagogue chiefs who an.
nually go up and down the country mis-.
leading the Ignorant and the prejudced
with iallacies, which they are too ill-n-
formed to detect, about the prosperity which
can be created by law, the wages which can
can be raised by act of Congress, and the
legitimacy of one class of men robbing an.
other class If they can but command the
power.
All things considered, it is not strange
that We see class arrayed against class, and
hear from every corner the bloody preach.
ments of the commune. The most highly
favored nation of the earth is, as the result
of these vicious teachings and practices, the
most 10 be commiserated, the one which is
confronted by the most serious social prob
lem, and the one which first of all is to be
forced 10 deal with questions which are as
old rs the earth.