The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-10-17
IIBERTY A MOCKERY.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES TooSoF-
TEN "A MYTH.

1No Lessons of History Teach tIiRt tho l
Great Common People are Considered !
by Monopoly as only Voting cattle.
Many and frequent are the les
sons of history. Forces born of hu-
man vice and weakness constantly
reassert themselves with destructive
effects as the old globe rolls onward
in its imDassive career.
From human strength and cunning
on the il hand, and human weak
ness and creduility on the other, are
evolved conditions blighting as. the
simoon's breath, corroding as the
pestilencc.
Byron has in four sad lines optic
miZed all history.
This Is the moral OF all human tales,
IT'S but the same rehearsal at the past;
~ aHs.a-
y, Wealth. vice, corruption. barbarism at
There it but one question before
the world to-day. England the com
mercial tyrant. France the aesthetic
tryant. Germany the Unitarian ty-
rant, and Russia the military tyrant,
musts soon decide whether humanity,
in their borders is far enough ahead.
to arrest the doom which has always
fallen upon nations drunken with
power, and dead to honor and Justice.
From the depths there. is an cutlery:
Humanity is perishing: is there no
means of %rescue?:. and the awful
answer is hurled back to the despair
ing. Perish. and be id! the
flttest will survive"
Amid the wreck Of ancient ciyiliZa-
tions there arose a light in the east.
No brighter, none as bright, has
since shown out upon the world. The
straight and narrow way was in this
light, seen to be the only safe path
for nations as well as for individuals.
Rome rejected virtue and based her
empire upon power Profigacy seized
her people and they rOtted to dissolu-
ton. What a gulf between Cicero
and Nero: Cato, and the beast, Cali
gula! From the barbarian to the
philosopher, poet, statesmen; from
these again downward to au%tocratic
swine-this has been the curse Of
nations.
1T is a little more than a century
since. our present government was
formed. No truer, no purer, no more
intelligent set Of men ever undertook
a similar task. How much remains
of their work, to-day?
The mere form, the shadow, the
ycstjge, the imitation.
Farmers cringing under the threat
of the money loaners: wage workers
uuaking with fear at the slightest
d~iSpleaSure of the employer: all the
means of life and employment in the
hands of the few. and the necessity
for employment forcing the many to
bid against one another until their
wages are reduced to the lowest that
men will consent to live upon.
Verify, the free American citizen
who cannot work unless some other
mar permits him to do so, is soar
ing bird of liberty: a perfect aurora
borcalis of independence. Look out
for this cyclonic son of freedom: he's
coming. Two years have elapsed
since he had Il Whit of citizenship,
and bow he approaches, proud Of his
grand heritage, to put a piece OF
paper into a box. He hates monop-
olies, and is going to vote the ALI
ance ticket. Is he though? As he
approaches the polling place a we'll
dressed gentlemen steps out from the
crowd to meet him. 1t is his.em-
ployer. 'Good morning. jim: what
ticket are you going to vote::" Jim
hesitates. His arGor for the Ali
ance ticket begins to cool. He has
heard his employer declare that il
the ticket should be successful he
would have to close up his business
This means the loss of employment
for jim. A cold winter is before
Aim with chances Of employment
almost hopeless. Fuel must be had
food must be had, clothing for. hi:
wife and little n es must be had, rem
must be paid. Jim Weakens. III
knows a vote for the Alliance mean:
the displeasure of his employer, ant
that when the time comes for reduc
ing the number of help he will bt
the first.to go. He tries to assert hi
manhood however, without directly
endangering his job.
81 was thinking Of voting
the-Alli-ance-ticket--Mr JONES'
Jim tremblingly ventures to stammel
out.
sob! nonsense, jim. Have yor
lost your wits ent1rely?: J. always
y fou credit for good sense
Surely you amt going to vote against
your own interests. Why those fel'
lows propose to bring us into direct
competition with the English man
ufacturer, by cutting down the tariff
on the goods we make. You see thai
Ican't do business it that policy pre-
walls. The Alliance don't give you
employment. / do. Will you yot,
to throw yourself out Of a job
Think OF your wife and children, ane
let these Alliance cranks go. Hal
Of them don't know what they wan
themselves. Here take this straight
grand old ticket, and stand by th!
men who stand by you. A good jOt
is better than all their talk With al
empty flour barrel"
Poor Jim! The Alternative is pre-
sented. He is not directly told tina
his discharge will follow a vote TO
The Alliance, but he understands i
inst the same.
The cvclonic son Of freedom Is /
slave after all. He hobbies OFT to tn
Dolling place and casts a straight g
8. y. ticket: Monopoly is free; labo
is chained!
Yet that unknown thing in over
alls has a heart that feels. and a brail
that Enthusiastically, il not quite 81
much az MI. Jones.
Nhen Jones spoke VI piOueCulOE ~
his goods, Jim thought, but dare no
ask, how it was that q week before
ten me who demanded higher wage
had been discharged by MI. Jones
and ten English wofkmea put il
thetR places?
When Jones spoke Of standing b.
him, he thought, but dare not say
that Jones Was merely standing b.
himself.
When Jones spoke OF, foreign compe
tition. Jim thought but does not say
that Jones was now free from domes
tic competition, by virtue Of hayin,
Joined the tr,ast; that the public, jim
incladed, were now paying the prie'
that Jones and his trust saw fit t.
exact, while Jim was forced TO eo9M9l
pete, not oply with foreign labor, biui
with domestic labor as we'll, for les