The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-19

NAANpOHSO NsAAA ~
removal. There are, however, other
and artificial cleavage planes, which
| threaten not merely to divide society,
but utterly to disintegrate the nation.
The national cleavage planes may be
called UerticaL, since they cut down
| through all classes of society. The
other planes are horizontal; they
divide society into upper and lower
classes. We IRE beginning to hear a
great deal about the "1aboring classes"
and the capitalist classes" the "rich"
and the "pOor"1as thoughthey formed
81 many distinct parts of society wholly
unrelated to one another, and having
some independent existence. With
this tendency to distinguish between
classes comes the idea that in some way
the interests of the different classes are
not only distinct but often antagonis
tic. Each class frames for itself a bill
OF rights and a corresponding system
! of morals, and there is no little clash
ing of claims and friction of systems.
The gradual fusion of races and the
ultimate disappearance of national dis
tinctions is only a question of time; but
with the distinction between rich and
poor, or between upper and lower
| classes, the case is far different. This
tendency to artificial separation is not
a tendency that will cure itself, if left
alone. These artificial cleavage planes
can only be eradicated by persistent
effort in the spirit of true loyalty and
love of humanity. If the parts are to
be welded into one, the whole must be
fused with mutual sympathy, and
wrought with true manly principle.
All narrOwness must be swallowed up
in the desire for national and social
unity and the welfare of the
Instead of this process of fusion and
welding, we see many forces at work
for division in every part of the land.
At every one of these cleavage planes,
wedges are inserted, and men are ham
mering them in with might and main.
The first of these wedges is, the
riUalry Of political parties, which ap-
peal to disloyalty and divided interests
in contrast with the interests of the
people at large. A second wedge is the
claims of the more extreme female
suffragists, fostering the idea that the
interests and aims Of the women of our
land are wholly distinct from those of
the men. A third wedge is ~sectarian
prejudice and strife, which usually
takes the form of anti Omanist agita-
ton. A fourth wedge is sectional
rivalry: a striving to secure selfish and
sectional erds in legislation. A fifth
wedge is the bitterness of many social
istic writers who delight in depicting
in glowing colors, the contrast between
the poverty of the "laborer" and the
luxury and idleness of the capitalist;
the inevitable result of which is to
kindle a feeling of bitterness in the
hearts of the poor against the rich.
Thus every trif1ing event is utilized to
foment strife and envy. The least in
dicatiOns of antagonism are nourished
and cultivated with the greatest care,
and with little regard to truth or
justice.
Division is destruction. Theinterests
of society are No section of So
ciety suffers without injury to all Sec
tiOns. The rich prosper most with the
prosperity of the poor; and conversely
the poor are blessed in proportion to
the true prosperity of the rich. In all
this wide world there is no real clash
ing of, rights and interests. Capital
and labor are mutually dependent
forces which must work in harmony
or both will be paralized. If labor is
in distress, capital feels the pain; and
every blow struck at capital rebounds
with undiminished force upon labor.
Unity is the secret of social power
and progress. By the union of many
individual forces, the race has won a
constant victory over nature, and the
more perfect this unity. of force, the
more complete will be the victory
gained. Whoever, therefore, would
help in the solution of social prob
lens, and confer a real blessing on his
fellows, must cultivate in himself and
others a spirit of mutual confidence
and sympathy, abroad-mindedloyalty
not to one classor section, but to the
interests of society as a whole, to our
common country. Whoever breaches
a gospel of antagonism is the enemy of
all classes and should be treated with
contempt by all.-G IT. Hubbard, Ne1U