The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-02-24
1--WE ARE ALL OF ONE FAMILY
ARE ALL BROTHERS AND
SISTERS"

Is a prOdlg1OuS talS0hOOd.
The meaning of this sentence is this,
precisely: that we preach, hear, be-
Geve and pray for that which is not
true, and we know it. We legislate In
the face of it, and never think of the
poor sUfferers-Our brothers and
sisters
Seventy-fve one ~hundredths of the
people in the United States belong to
these poor brothers and sisters, over
whom the crOcOdiles weep when the
daily papers record their forced de
parture from earth, because it is better
In the Judgment of the starved and
overworked ones to depart than to re-
main and suffer.
Mary Carlton was the product Of
the tenement district, and perhaps
never in her life had quite enough to
eat. Now she is thirty years old, is
tired of the grind, has breakfasted,
dined and supped ON despair, and o n
cluded that even in a city full of
churches and charities, it is easir for a
poor girl to die than to live" Il am
very hungry" she said land then
drained the bottle of the deadly drug,
and waited for death to come"
To read the contents in the New York
Herald:
Now this is a representative case.
Not the Submerged tenth" but thou
sands all over this land thus suffer and
die.
Look upOn the other side-31, 600
individuals out of the sixty-fve mil
lions of population, in this great cOun-
try, own fOur-ffths of the entire wealth
of the land.
Is this fact strange and u~naccOunt-
able? No matter about that. The
question of the civilization of this en-
lightened age is not whether 1t Is
strange and unaccOuntable; but, IS 1T
riQht! Can Christian civilization stand
upon so narrow a foundation as that
Did the author of that civilization
when he said, the poor ye have al
ways with you" mean that it could
ever be right for 81, 900 men and wO-
men out of Is, ZOO, 600 of people to be
possessed, rightly or wrongly, of four
fifths of the entire wealth of the land 2
No, not one of the rich fools ever be-
Geve a word of it.
But what will you do about it? How
can you alter it2 Not by force, GER
tainly. The day has passed when men
will successfully contend, in a free
country and under a constitutional
government, for their rights by force.
But light, truth, intelligence and
argument behind the ballot, and With-
out the bayOnet a alone do it, and 1t
will do it.
There are hopes for a people when
they begin to think-think! think!
think!
This very Alliance movement is
worth more to the people than all other
schools in the land. 1t is a school
the highest school-Of right, truth and
charity.
1t is because the masses Of the peO-
pie, for one hundred years, have ig-
nOred thinking for themselves, and
have relocated that divine right and
duty to their representatives, SO-calIed,
that the high interests of the people
have become only secondary In the
estimation of the politicians; while i'm
purity, corruption, robbery and thiev-
ing are undisguised and rampant in
the highest departments of our national
government.
This beginning to think, on the part
of the people, who are the only I'VE
eigns in the country, has already
pierced the deaf ears of men in Office,
and a mighty Overturning and turn
ing out" has been the result. But this
can scarcely be called a beginning.
The great majority of the best people
in the land-''the common people,
have taken hold of their own matters
and will manage for themselves their
interests which have been ignored by
the men to whom they were entrusted.
Now the great thing, just here, is to
think rightly. The enemies of the ALI
ance base their hopes of your defeat
along this line; that eXtravagant
measures, rashness, madness-and
there are plenty of men everywhere
capable Of these ~things-wil destroy
the unity of harmony of your Organiza-
ton and Self-deStructiOn will result.
Guard this point, for this is the only
weak one you need fear.
Avoid the mistakes of extremists in
history, who doubtless were as sincere
las men of this day, but deluded. Re
member that equality of property al
Rys has been and isnOw as impossible
Nunjformity of sentiment is among
men. Both are utterly impracticable,
and would be injurious rather than
useful.
1t is better to have supremacy of law
and it's obedience by citizens; the wages
of the master and the labor of the ser
want; the c~OndescensiOn of the rich and
the respect of the poor; the charity of
the benefactOr, and the gratitude of
the receiver. All these are not usual,
and the bitter OppOsites of cOmmunistic
counterfeits, which have deluded and
defeated the masses so often in the
past.
If all were the seeing, where were
the hearing? The hands and the feet
cannot dispense with each other, or
even exchange their place and office.
All cannot be equally rich Or poor, but
all can be Just.
This last is what we understand to be
the great underlying principle of the
Alliance, and with which we are most
profoundly and sincerely in alliance.
Nor AN ALLIANCEMAN.