The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-09-08

Hgntingi the gas that God gave you to
warm yourselves withi Who owns one
you 50 TO the stove more this year than you
Were charged last year to heat your dwell
ingsf Who owns the citys Who owns the
county, tine State and the nationi
20 across the dividing line in your
city. Look at the humber dwellings over
tnere. There Is where the workingmau
lives, the man who builded your city. who
made your county, and your State, and
your nation. Why. oh, why must the man
and the woman who have done all this
work live in the howell while he who en-
Joys the fruit of your labor lives In the
mansi0nf
WOULD NOT STIR UP STRIFE.
i am not here to start mp strife among
the people. am not here to ask that one
single comfort or one single source of en-
Joyment be taken away from the men of
wealth. am not here to speak unkindly
OF any living man or woman; but am here
to call your attention to q few great facts;
and to ask you, before God and your coun-
try. to solve them for yourself. l wit
messed to-day q great army of the Repub-
lie. i do not mean the boys in blue. but
the army of peace that marched through
your streets to-day under the same banner
that We marched under in those dreadful
years of blood, and observed, looking out
over that grand ssemblage. too great facts.
We t0lers, class BIZ ourselves. Oh,
what commentary upon free America.
One little banner contained these words
We are clerks. but we are citizens" and
that was the proper sentiment. Then imme-
diately came this idea-an appeal to our
employers. Again l say what q commen-
tary that any American man or woman
should be compelled to kneel before any
man and ask kindness of treatment / am
here to say TO you, and through you to the
them tn the men and women of the world.
that the time has come to stop this class
distinction. The time has come for us to
be men. to be women. and IL our employers
are not willing to be merciful let the en-
ployers employ somebody else or let their
One banner referred to the merciful en-
ployer. Has it come to that in this country
that we are TO appeal to the men who pay
US for our work for mercy! Oh. great God!
let us bow our necks and let the car of
Juggernaut come over 1t and crush the
cowardly life out of us.
1T is not my purpose to discuss questions
with which you are as familiar as l am,
but. rather, to throw out few hints along
the line that is Just little way ahead of
you. in order that you may join your forces
together for mutual protection. There is
no sort of use to deny the cruel fact that
the accumulation of capital in this country
tyranny; that the average workingman
grows poorer, relatively, year after year,
and that his family grows poorer with him.
| heard q distinguished gentleman assert
that we are the happiest and most prosper
Gus people under heaven. Bnt go out
among the people, my dear brother among
the homes of the toilers. and you will find
that the prosperity of this country is shown
among the wealthy people. The men and
women who produce this wealth don't en-
Joy it, There must he q change. The men
who work are entitled to all the profit on
their labor.
Two years ago employed a carpenter
to do some work for me. He employed
three men. These three men performed all
the work. The boss paid them each S1.75 q
day and charged me 81 day for each man.
He charged me 81 for the mems work be-
cause it was worth that. Why, then. didn't
he give IL to them? That Is usury; IL Is
legal robbery. An honest man cannot rec
onclle such transaction to his con-
science"
What about the responsibility Of the
boss who directed the men in their work.
inquired man directly in front of the
speaker. why wasn't he entitled TO payP
The Senator. somewhat nettled. an
swered snappishly: II don't know; am
looking after the workingman."
But Pm - workingman," persisted the
guestioner. land | would like to know"
The Senator. without paying any further
attention, continued his speech:
THE GREAT RED DRAGON.
Il understand that we have q fight on
hand; that we have to fight all the great
corporations, for they will never cease till
the great red dragon fills bis nav with the
blood and sweat of the people. The time ia
coming when the men will receive oil their
work is worth, or this Nation goes down.
There is no use to mince matters We arc
entitled to all we earn, aud we are going to
have it. The time has come for men to be
bold. Why shall we stand around the
corners and hide ourselves away from men
no better than We are? But spoke about
the condition of the people. 1t is not what
it should be. Tho last report going from
our Census Bureau shows that upon the
homes of the American people at this hour
there are about 100000 mortgages, and
two-thirds of them are upon farms. One
third of the farms are unincumbered. This
vast Indebtedness remains upon the other
two-thirds; and so 1t is in the city. While
there are about One-thIrd Of the farms oc-
cupied By renters il is not too much 10 say
that 75 per cent. of the working people OF
own. 1ha. is all wrong You are
clothed with the ballot, and You are en-
titled to what you earn, and | ask you as
Americans TO educate yourselves to know
your rights and then unite your forces for
political action when the time comes. We
are on the eve of great changes. Machinery
has displaced about 30 per cent. of our
labor. One man does as much work to-day
as five did when was q boy. yet you know
that the workingmeD are not receivin g
more tnan 1873 per cent. more wages than
they did forty years ago. He does five
times much work and gets only one
third more wages. and as 10 the women aud
little girls even, ten and eleven years old.
making dozen pairs of boys pants for s
cents, and women making mems shirts at 30
cents q dozen And right ON the other side
of the block men and women revel-
ling in aitiuence every day in
the year. How are you going TO remedy
iza;ions bring in all the recruits we can.
teaching them their rights. Don't breed
anarchy. Talk development. improvements.
the broadening of citizenship and the
equipment of men and women for it. And
then. when election day comes, mass your
forces. That is the way we did in the
army when we took rrdoubt. That is the
way the workingnen of the United States
and of tho world will conquer--by our
tongues our peEs and by our ballots
have called your attention To the one great
fact that there is line drawn between the
rich and the poor, and that IL IS GO
ing deeper and higher. That line
must be destroyed. We have wiped
out the line that divided freedom
and slavery. Mason and Dixon's
line. and now we IL st wipe out this one.
But. thanks to God Almighty, there is no