Wichita eagle., 1890-02-20
WHATS THE MATTER?"

cause, III ne had been "wIde awake al
the time he would have been full,
aware that the same causes which ar
bankrupting the farmers of the west
have been stealthily progressing and in
creasing IN their effect for the last fifteer
years, and as population increases ant
commerce and industry become
larger and more widely extended, thei
force and effect becomes more exagger
ated and aggravated, and the work O
ruin more visible and more crushingly
felt. | believe it is conceded by ali fail
minded men that money is scarce anc
dear, and that labor and property is
cheap, and that farmers and other in
dustrial classes are receiving ruinously
low prices for the products of THEN
labor and lands. But don't see where
they have any right to whine, or where
they are deserving af any sympathy.
Notwithstanding the fact that the peo.
pie themselves, and the men they have
! been sending to represent their interests
IN congress, have all the time been well
aware Of the existence of the conditions
that have worked them SO much hard
ship. and have had ample time and op-
portunlty to correct the evils from which
they suffer and against which they so
loudly complain. If we may except the
small benefits that have been derived
| from the appointment of the state and
interstate railroad commissioners know
OF no other effort that has been made by
| the people or their representatives to re-
| move the causes that have and are de-
| prlving the industries of the country
from receiving fair share of the profits
arising from their labors. 1t must be
very refreshing indeed. after some seven
teen syears of the most disastrous Cir
| cumstances experienced by the people Of
Kansas, to have some hoodlum bob up
in their midst and in the most ''child-
like and bland manner ask, Whats
the natter" Where has he been keep
ing himself all these years?
If you will bear with me while I make
few quotations from that speech of
John j. Ingalls,, delivered in the senate
of the United States, February Is. 1878,
just twelve years ago, [ think it will
make very interesting reading just at
this time, It's as true as gospel preach
ing, and as true today as it was then,
only a little more SO:
After going on to state F'That labor is
prior to capital, and independent of it,
capital is the result of labor, and not the
cause OF it, society could survive with
out capital, but not without labor, both
have rights and are entitled to prOtec-
ton, but labor is superior to capital
and should have the first consideration.
For months the air has been dense with
the din OF denunciation. The vocabu-
larry of vituperation has been exhausted.
No epithet has been too atrocious to be
applied to the people Of the west and
south by the salt water despots who are
trying to foreclose their mortgages on
the whole country" he continues: Mr.
President, the state which | represent is
about exclusively an agricultural COM
munlty. Its history Is a marvel, even in |!
the age of miracles. Its growth is un-
precedented; its development has no
parallel. Men of all races and |
creeds have assembled there from every |
continent, amid the most favorable |
conditions of nature, assimilated and |
blended by a common purpose to build |
stately edltice, where they and their |
children and all who love liberty and |
order and law may dwell in peaceful
They are tolerant. thought
ful, progressive and laborious people.
x Like all new commu-
mites they have been borrowers, and
were obliged to anticipate their revenues
and pawn their future. They had to buy
their land, to build houses, to make
to bridge streams. to con-
struct school houses and lay the founda-
ton of the state.
The capitalists of the east captivated
by the prospects of secure investments
and large interest, advanced money to
the farmers and took mortgages on their
farms; they purchased tax titles, they
induced cities and counties to issue bonds
for the construction of railroads, and
court houses, and works of public I'M
They loaned their money at
exorbitant rates, beginning at 10 per
cent and thence ranging through all the
various gradations by which interest
passes into usury, usury into extortion.
and all into larceny and spoliation.
Even under these conditions, so long
as money was abundant and exchanges
easy the country thrived. great enter
prises were stimulated, new industries
were developed and the state grew opu-
ent and prosperous. But soon the cir
culating medium of the nation
began to be diminished by law.
The public debt was declared to be pay
able in coin. The value of property di-
IN proportion, wages fell and
inally employment ceased. the value of
everything was deprecated except debts
md gold. The mortgage. the bond. the
coupon, the tax. have retained immortal
Touth and vigor. They have not depre-
lated. The debt remains but the capac-
ty to pay has been DESTROYED. The ac-
of years have disappeared
lnder the hammer Of the sheriff, and the
iebtor is homeless, while the creditor
obtains the security for a fraction of |
what 1t was actually worth when the
iebt was contracted.
The people will not be deferred by
hreats nor deluded by sophistries. They
Know that an abundant and stable cur
ency is the essential production OF ma
lonal prosperity. They know also that
heir distress is chiefly due to the efforts
# those who own the debt and money
II the nation to enhance its value. Who |
re rapidly obtaining fatal control of the
the forests. and the fertile
ands of the south and west. through !
olossal monopolies, which threaten
With arrogant menace not only the
udteEIdi prosperity pul tue SocIai oTuer .
II the country.
I'VE cannot disguise the truth that :
We are on the verge of an impending
evolution. The people are arraying (
themselves on one side or the other of a
'ortentous contest; on one side Is
apltal, formidablv intrenched in priv
lege, arrogant from continued triumph.
Conservative, tenacious Of old theories. :
demanding new concessions, enriched
" domestic inr-r nr,i fo-o,nrr, con, r,,.,-1.,