Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-12
rne workingman In Politics.

The Working man I'm Politics.
One fundamental law OF states
manship, as held in popular govern
ments, is that all classes of the peo-
pie should find representation in the
la w-making department of such gov
ernment. In politics, as IN every
other element of life, it is much
easier for the rich and powerful to
secure the full measure OF their rights
than for the poor and weak. By
reason Of the peculiar methods fol-
lowed by the Republican party during
their twenty-five years Of power, it
has come to pass in this Republic
that the upper house in the legisla-
tive department of the National gov
ernment can be reached by represen-
tatives of only one class of the citi-
zens. To be Senator, one must
first be millionaire. Should that
party have held power twenty-five
years longer, or should they regain
controii ntiri soon again, the same result
may be looked for in the lower house.
In the simpler days OF the Republic,
and under the influence of the Demo-
cratic party, the rich cut very little
figure in the politics of the Nation,
Politics office, the rich man found.
like the Kingdom OF Heaven to him,
= place harder to reach than it would
be for the camel to pass through the
needles eye. In those
Brave days Of old"
There was no such thing known as
popular discomfort, as Labor Unions,
workingmen's parties, bread riots,
and all the hydra-headed labor evils
of the present day. Glass distinctions
were unknown in politics. Given a
period of genuine Democracy, of the
Observation-Disclosures type, and the
Nation may be brought back to some
such line of political action again.
In doing this the workingman has
q very important part to play. That
is q fact very generally recognized
= mong the laboring classes. All
then, that seems necessary for the
toiler to learn, is how to proceed in
this business and this is something
he has yet to learn. He may be said,
at the moment, to be ignorant
of the very alphabet OF this
philosophy. The extreme protect
i've tariff, falsely SO called,
is one of the many ignes tdtui of the
Republican politician which he has
allowed to blind him. The tariff pol
icy of the party rightly named is a
discriminating one. 1t protects cap
ital as the flaming sound did Para
dis g. 1t protects labor as the hawk
protects the dove. For the poor
man, for the man who depends on
labor, careful tariff policy which
makes protection more an incidental
than an essential element, would be
much better. There are interests
which should be protected. Such
protection would greatly benefit the
laborer. The interests of the Million
aire can protect itself. The interests
of the millions should be pro-
tected by law. When this law is
forgotten there is danger that vi
olence will reverse the matter, and
then the millionaire goes to the wall,
unless the law protects him, and the
toiler, strong in his poverty, can take
care of himself.
The one way for the workingman
to fail is the one he is now pursuing.
Led by Henry George, in New York,
he came very near putting the party
in power out of whose methods have
sprung all the legal inequalities
which bear 50 heavily on the inter-
ests of labor. Under the leader
ship Of felon, the labor element in
California came within hairs
breath, of electing a man in this
State to the governorship, who was
notoriously put in nomination by
the millionaire interests of California.
This is the rock on which the la
Dor class is too likely to split.
That labor might hope to benefit
by the election OF Henry George is
excusable to some extent. That
any such hope could spring from
the election of such as the felonious
Coroner, is a puzzle never to be
solved.
What labor wants to secure is a
genuine representation in the Legis-
lative departments Of the National
and State governments. Genuine
representation is to get real work.
ingmen, of sense and intelligence
snd integrity into State Legislatures,
and into Congress. This the work.
ingman is notoriously not doing.
His effort in that direction SO far
1,ao beon IN the way OF blindly fol-