Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-10-20
ingalls, Speech.
fronl 80 nnne J

soite of the means they adopted TO
ACQUIRE it, of more than one-half of
the entire accumulated wealth OF the
country.
That is not the worst, Mr.. PresI-
dent. It has been largely acquired
by men who have contributed little to
the material welfare of the country,
and by processes that do not care IN
appropriate terms to descrlbe-by |
the wrecking of the fortunes OF lnno-
cent men, women and children; py
iugglery, by bookkeeping, by imam
ciering. by what the senator from |
OHIO calls 'speculation"-and this
Drocess is gong on with frightful
and constantly accelerating rapidlty |
The entire industry of this country IS
Dassing under the control of organ
ICED and confederated capital. More |
than fifty Of the 9lecessdrles OF tfe
fod1qL zcithout lchieh the cabin of the
farmer and the miner cannot be
Iiohted or his children fed or clothed, |
hare passed absolutely atl1der the con-
troll of sulldicates and trusts and col
porations composed of spectators,
and by means of these combinations
and considerations competition is de-
stroyed. small dealings are rendered
be acquired; for it is superfuous and
unnecessary to say that II, under
system where the accumulations dis
tributad per capita would be less
than 81, 200, $1,000 persons obtained
possession of more than half OF the
accumulated wealth of the country, it
Is impossible that others should have
a competence or an independence.
n hot
our society is becoming rapidly STRAIT
flied, almost hopelessly stratified,
into a condition of superfuously rich
and helplessly poor. We are accus-
toned to speak of this as the land Of
the free and the home of the brave.
1t lCiLL soon be the home of the rich
and the land Of the sIGUe.
1t is no wonder, Mr.. President, that
the laboring, industrial and agricul-
tural classes of this country, who
have been made intelligent under the
impulse of universal education, have
at last awakened to this tremendous
condition and are Inquiring whether
or not this experiment has been sue
cessful; and, sir, the spectators must
beware. They have forgotten that
the conditions, political and social,
here are not a reproduction of the
conditions under which these circum
stances exist In other lands. Here is
no dynasty; here is no privilege, or
caste, or prerogative; here are no
standing armies; here are no heredi-
tary bondsmen, but every atom in our
political system is quick, instinct, and
endowed with life and power. His
ballot at the box is the equivalent of
the ballot of the richest speculator
Thomas Jefferson, the great apostle
of modern democracy, taught the les
son to his followers, and they have
profted we'll by his instruction, that,
under popular democratic represen-
tative government, wealth, culture,
intelligence, were ultimately no match
for numbers.
But I cannot fOrbear to affirm that
apolitical system which under such
despOtIc power can be wTested from
the people and vested In the few Is a
democracy only in name A fnan-
cial system under which more than
one half of the enormous wealth of
country derived from the bounty of
nature and the labor of all, is owned
by little more than 10000 people,
l.OO
able and willing to toll, are homeless
tramps, starving for bread, requires
adjustment. A social system lUhich
offers to tender, UirtuOltS and indie
pendent 1UOmen the alternative be-
tlCeen prostitution and suicide as an
escape from beggdry as organized
crime, for which some day unrelent-
ing justice will demand atonement
IL
man who loves his country and who
for any national cause for this appal
ling condition.
It was peaceful revolution, an at
tempt to resume rights that seemed
to have been infringed. It is many
years, Mr.. President, since I predict
ed this inevitable result. In a speech
delivered IN this chamber on the 18th
of February, 1878, from the seat that
is now adorned by my honorable
friend from Texas, who now sits be-
fore me MIR. Reagan I said:
we cannot disguise the truth that
we are on the verge of an impending
revolution. The old issues are dead
The people are arraying themselves
upon one side or the other of a por-
tentoHs contest. On one side is CAPT
tai, formidably entrenched in privi-
lege, arrogant from continued trl-
umph, conservative, tenacious of old
theories, demanding new concessions,
enriched by domestic levy and for
eign commerce, and struggling to adj
just all values to its own standard.
On the other is labor, asking for en-
pigment, striving to develop domes-
tic industries, battling with the forces
of nature, and subduing tho wilder
ness: labor starving and snIlan 70