Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-09-21
POVERTY AND cowARolcE.
Labor Voted Itself Into the HoIe-the
Way to Get Out Is to Vote Out.
Tho TO1,rna1 ~ tho Kninb%S of q I,<,y

Labor Voted Itself Into the HoIe-the
Way to Get Out Is to Vote Out.
The Journal of the Knights of Labor
says:
"A poor man" is but another word for a cow
ardly man. The poorer man Is the less apt he
is to defend his rights. For this reason il Is in
the interest OF all rulers to keep the masses Of
the people poor possible. For poverty is
always accompanied by ignorance, and, as
knowledge is power, so is ignorance weakness.
The cowardice OF poverty you may observe to
manifest itself wherever you go Meekly and
silently the majority of the IL 900 900 American
workmen submit to the robbery perpetuated
upon them by hardly 5000 people, who own the
land and the instruments Of labor in this coun-
try. They allow them to fleece from them about
100000 every year. But this they do only be-
cause their limited knowledge prevents them
from using their own superior physical power
Their lack of enlightenment has made them
towards to the extent Of millions bowing their
necks when only thousands dictate 70 them. It
is audacity need to regain our economic and
political liberties and audacity that the masses
will not possess unless enlightened upon their
rights. And this is our most noble task-to en-
tighten the masses What have you done, my
brother who reads this. to assist in making the
worl6ingmen OF America as courageous as their
forefathers were, who knew their rights, who
owned the soil and who were not slaves to
lanlords, factory lords, railroad lords and cor
rupt politicians and their tools, and who there
fore were not towards?
The foregoing is a stinging arraign-
ment of poor men. We doubt If all
poor men are towards We infer that
the Journal, if it would explain what it
says, would say that inasmuch as the
poor men of this country are in the ma
jority, they could. if they would, so
change affairs that wise laws would
take the place of vicious laws, that hon
aof al 1S fal fho ,ol1 0fA n
honest officials, that employers would
pay such wages as honesty demands,
and that the robberies, expressions and
| degradations, now existing would dis
appear.
That poor man is but another word
for cowardly man." is not true and
never was true. The term, poor man,
when used as synonym of a cowardly
man, should be so sharply defined as
| not to lead to a confusion of ideas.
| There are poor men who are towards,
| and there are rich men who are cow
ards. 1t has been said that great
wealth 'maxes man timid." 1t would
be strange indeed if great poverty did
not exert similar influence upon its
victim. Cowardice is lack of courage
| There is said to be two descriptions of
courage, physical and moral. Have
| poor men either of them? Or does the
Journal assume that poor men are des-
titute of both?
We maintain that poor men, that is to
say, workingmen who are poor as COM
pared with men of incomes derived
from sources other than labor, are
physically and morally courageous. We
write of the great body of workingmen,
not of the degene rate few. They are
not only not towards but are the brav-
est, most resolute and lion-hearted men
in the country. Why then does the
Journal say ''a poor man is but another
word for cowardly man?" We infer
it is because ''the 100000 American
workmen submit to the robbery perpe-
trated upon them by hardly so, 900 peo-
pie who own the land and the instru-
ments of labor in the country Here,
then, we have the explanation of the
declaration that "a poor man is a cow
ard" He has not voted in way to
prevent the robberies perpetrated by
$50, 900 men" upon "12, ,O0O, 900 American
workmen." Why is it that the leaders
of the organized workmen of the United
States have not suggested the organiza-
|
omission the result of a combination OF
poverty and cowardice? or of ignorance,
poverty and cowardice? And why is it
that the leaders in organized labor cry
Silence" when some courageous work
ingman suggests political action?
The rank and file of the organized
workingmen of America are sufficiently
intelligent to know that if just laws
are enacted it must be by men who are
in sympathy with labor. and until la
Dor asserts itself politically, the pres
ent condition of affairs will continue.
Poor men are not necessarily
towards, nor are all poor men ignorant,
and until those who assume to be their
instructors exhibit more intelligence
and courage than at present, their
labors will be of little consequence =
Eugene V, Debs, in Locomotive Magi-
| zine