Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1892-12-02
The Leader.
"Stand BY Your Guns"

"Stand BY Your Guns"
After any great battle the combatants
whether victorious or defeated, will reflect
upon achievements and methods of
opposition and measure results. That
little army of the peoples party was not
considered of enough Importance by the
great central forces to command any
serious consideration. Nevertheless the
vigorous maneuvers of this growing
factor upon the political battlefield
caused the central divisions a great deal
of bother and was no doubt the cause of
defeat to the heitherto dominating giant.
''Stand by your guns" is now the
watchword of both the old sham battlers.
If that is of Importance to them, it Is
even of more Importance to the little
patriotic peoples army. The two great
parties are verv desirous of giving it a
show, that this new intruder has no
grievances of any weight, but is moved
solely by desire for Office. If that even
was so, the new factor would be in no
more disreputable condition than the old
are, but there IS something deeper and
more irritating that moves this new
force, and the insinuators know it we'll.
The peoples demand for justice and
right is nothing new; it is as old as
history, but it changes in form as con-
ditions develop. 1t is perhaps the first
time it appears in this form since the
little nation at Sparta under Lycurgus
contended for and maintained a republic
under comparative equality by peaceable
means. The great advantage of our
republican form of government lays in
this particular feature, that the people
have it in their own power to right all
grievances by the ballot, therefore the
great Importance Of a common and wide
education to all the citizens and as
thorough knowledge as possible of the
fundamental principles underlaying a
peoples government. If the members of
such a commonwealth lose sight of this,
and get their MIND wholly bent on obtain
ing property and spoliations for individ
ual selfish ends, a government by the peo-
pie becomes very dangerous, for the
schrewd will take advantage of the unsus
pecting people, and the nation will soon
find itself covered up under conditions
such as are threatening this nation now.
We often hear 1t said that no people
yet effected radical change in their poll
tical grievances except through violent
means. In the majority of cases this
may be true, but they were not people
who had their government in their own
hands to a degree like the American peo-
pie. In all the European nations the suf
ferage of citizenship is more or less limi-
ted, and when the conditions of the pro-
ducer becomes intolerable through the
voice of the ruling classes, there is no
way left to get out but to resort to vio-
lence. Hence the ruling powers have
found it nessesary TO keep large standing
armies always on a warlike footing and
garrisoned in the large cities and laboring
centers, to overawe any turbulence in it's
first outburst, they can do this so much
easier and without any inconvience to
themselves as the producers have to pay
the expence in keeping up this arrange
ment and serve as their own executors
too, just in perfect harmony with the
mnch adored Malthusian doctrine, that
any great multiplying of the laboring
people will serve to keep their conditions
on balance, because they will kill
themselves off in their own misery.
Are we advancing to such conditions
in this country.