The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-12-25
WE GREET YOU.


WE GREET YOU,
The Calamity Howlers Present Their Com.
pliments to the People.
The epithet OF calamity howlers" is
-applied to- those advanced thinkers
who believe present tendencies to be
in the wrong direction, and their ulti-
mate result disastrous. Lacking facts
upon which to base sound arguments,
those persons who are, or think they
are, interested in maintaining the ex-
isting order of things, substitute ridi-
Guile, abuse and opprobrious epithets
for the philosophical reasoning they
ought to use, and thus, hopeless of van
gushing their opponents in the fair
field OF debate, expect to overwhelm
them with ridicule and obloquy. Have
these poor fools forgotten how a crown
OF thorns became q crown of glory.
and typifes to-day faith, purity and
heroism? We do, not write this
to protest against the vile term
which the tools of the plutocrats
have applied to us in hatred and
derision, but rather to accept it if
they choose to continue its application,
and to assure them that we will make
it an honored appellation which thew
themselves will some day be proud to
wear. We well remember the dav when
the name s'abolitionist'' was term of
vile reproach. We all realize now that
the abolitionists were about the only
men of their day whose souls were
lifted high into the. clear atmosphere
OF truth and honest conviction, who
accepted duty and spurned policy, and
drove straight forward, each for him
self. towards, the establishment of
justice and the elevation of men, re-
CARELESS of what all the world beside
might do, or think, or say. They were
the calamity howlers'' then. We have
canonized their memories-they are
the saints and heroes now.
Calamity howler'' is also coming to
be very comprehensive in it's scope of
late years. Ten or twelve years ago it
only included stray individual here
and there, and only two or three papers
in the land. It was rare indeed that
men of eminence, especially if they
were ambitious, allowed themselves to
be compromised by association with the
fanatics. Peter Cooper was one of
these few-but then he was a patriot,
and not am bilious. Nearing the close of
useful life-a man of discernment and
comprehensive reach of mind-he saw
the breakers ahead, and raised warn
ing voice to his countrymen from the
edge of the grave. That voice reused
many good men from lethargic indiffer-
ence, and made calamity howlers of
them. But latterly the river is broad
ening as it nears the sea. A calamity
bowling literature is growing-every
review and magazine is teeming with
calamity bowling articles, and all over
the land press is springing into being
for the sole purpose Of calamity howl
ing. The names of the calamity howl
ers is legion, and the list embraces
many of the foremost in religion, liter
allure and politics.
Prof. Richard Ely, Bishop Hunting
ton, r. Heber Newton, Benjamin F.
Butler, F. B. Thurber, Chancellor Cam
field, Ignatius Donnelly, Senator Nor
gan of Alabama, ex-senator Ingalls, of
Kansas, Edward Bellamy, Rev. George
tor William M. Stewart These men
are all eminent in our ranks, and we
could extend the list indefinitely. They
are scholars, poets, statesmen, sages
They all see breakers ahead. They
have all stood up and faced the rime of
the storm, and with warning finger
raised. said: 20 my countrymen, be-
hold the line of foam on yonder rocky
shore" Each has pointed out specific
sunken rocks, which we are rushing
toward with fearful speed, that with
their jagged corners will cut the hull
of our noble ship of state unless the
helmsman is changed and the ship put
about. These men are the calamity
howlers! We glory in belonging to
the noble band. Well make the name
a holy memory and shrine, and when
age creeps upon those who can claim
to share it they shall yearly feast
their friends" and say I'VE, too,
shared the glory of those days. Lin.
coin (Neb Farmers Alliance.