The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1891-1893, 1891-08-12

reign of luxury which bears efemi-
macy and which was the ruin of
Rome is with us. May the purity
OF heart of the American laborer
save US from the untimely fate of
the once greatest work of the chill
dren OF men. / touch upon these
features Of our social and political
life. not because they are unknown
to you, bu. because we can not hope
for success till every producer in the
land is acquainted with the short
comings of that system which has
forced him in position but shade
removed from that occupied by the
Grecian helot Of old. Education,
the power to think, the capacity to
draw conclusion from
premise, are the practical lessons
that should be taught the hard
worked, Ill paid and unfortunate
members of this great Order. The
ballot with which this man is armed
is a terrible engine of destruction
as well as the only hope which at
the present time makes life worth
living. In the hands Of the igno-
rant the lives and liberties of the
citizens are endangered, but in the
hands of the enlightened it is the
destroyer Of oligarchy, the preserver
and bulwark of our freedom, and
the nations peace and happiness.
Until larger element in a repub-
lie is honest and enlightened it is
republic only in name. Men who
have no honor to uphold are en-
trusted with the power and resnon-
sibilities Of the most dignifed offices.
They have nothing to recommend
them save their worldly possessions.
These they have wrung from the
producers and these do they lavishly
expend in the passage Of laws
which still further arm them with
the power of binding the laborer
hand and foot. Matters grow from
bad to worse and at last we awake
to realize that the monster we have
created is oligarchy, oligarchy in
its most terrible form.
Our lawmakers for years past
have been losing sight of the main
point, which is, that republic is a
form Of government wherein the
laws are made looking to the vel
fare of majority Of its citizens.
IF this be true, there is one govern.
ment inaptly called arcpublic. Ths
majority Of the citizens IF the States
are agriculturists, and the tariff
which seems to be the supreme law
of the land, protects only the manu-
facturer. If we were exclusively {
manufacturing people there woulC
: bejustice in existing conditions, bu
) since only one man,we may say, ou
of five thousand is a manufacturer, !;
very little consideration will show
that four thousand nine hundred
and ninety-nine are taxed for tn,
benefit Of the one. Pursuing thi
principle to its greatest extreme
you should find the wealth of tn
5 country centred in the hands of tn
few-and such is actually the case.
: repeat that 80 per cent. of the eDtir
4 wealth of the country is either con
S troiled or owned by combination
n numbering not more than $500
+! souls. Does not this state Of affair
e smack nightly Of the fuedal syster
/ Of the middle ages? One Of tn
: greatest men America ever pre-
e duced, Abraham Lincoln, saw thi
i picture when he said: "You ca
: fool all the people part Of time,
n part of the people all the time, br
/ you can't fool all the people all th
n time" He used these words i
( condemnation of the trusts an
T combines which were already estal
< fishing themselves and which /
le foresaw would surely sap the Ii
'e blood of the republic. He is NJ
ni yet wholly a prophet for he predi
r ted the downfall Of the State if sue
ID cancerous growth were allowed
P exist. Time may yet prove him
st prophet indeed
II He ends with an expression
j. thanks for the honor and courte
n accorded him both in his official c