The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-08-24


abolished, selfshness in its obnoxious sense
will be well-nigh eliminated from the hui
man heart. Abolish the system by which
greed is enabled to monOpOlize natural re-
sources and tax the people; secure to all the
wealth which they create; remove the fear
of want; and the selfish man or the selfish
woman, in the obnoxious sense, will be
known no more, as all motive for selfshness
will be removed, and the better environ
ments will naturally tend to develop,
strengthen and perfect all the natural good
ness of the human heart. The time has
come when the wholesale reformation of
individuals can be secured by reforming
the environments under which individuals
are compelled to live. Selfshness, greed,
vice and crime are the necessary cOnse-
quenCes of our systems of finance, land
tenure and the private ownership of the
means of production and distribution.
But how are we to remove this system and
establish the rule of absolute justice among
men, that would encourage and develop
all the best impulses of the human heart,
by removing the fear of want3 We have
seen that the power which sustains the pres
ent system of wrong and oppression is the
nations of the world, their armies and their
navies. Even in the United States, our
once boasted "land of the free and the home
of the brave" all the machinery of the state
and the nation is arrsyed against the pro-
ducers Of wealth. This machinery is a
stern fact which cannot be ignored in the
consideration Of this question. 1t possesses
and exercises, at the beheSt of triumphant
plutOcracy, all the power to crush. But In other
hands 1t would be even more powerful In the
defense of humanity against the imperial power
Of organized greed. We must take possession
Of all this machinery Of government and use 1t
for the benefit Of the whole people. Make Occu-
pancy and use the only title by which land can
be held and thus abolish the over to tax land
for the enrichment Of the owners Of paper titles.
Establish q system Of financial exchange that
will secure to the whole people at cost the
untrammeled use Of their public credit, which Is
the equivalent of cash, In the transaction Of
under the right Of eminent domain, all mines,
railroads, telegraph and telt phones, and operate
them at cost for the benefit of the people. Sc
cure to labor the control Of the machinery by
which 1t Is enabled to create wealth. Whenever
any branch Of production or distribution be-
comes mOnOpOStiC In It's character, 1t Is time for
the people to take possession. Let governments,
municipal, state and national, earn their reVe-
nues by rendering such services to the people as
the people are willing to pay for, and discharge
all assessors, tax collectors, custom house off,
cialS, and leave the people free to produce
wealth and exchange 1t without paying any one
for the privilege Of doing so. Abolish child
labor and make all schools secular and indus
trlaD free and open to pupils OF all ages from
che infant Of four and upwards, thus guarantee
ing to every person an opportunity to acquire
liberal education.
All these results can be secured In this country
by wise use Of the ballot, strictly In accordance
with the requirements Of statute law. This kind
Of political action iSstrictly on the line Of the least
resistance. The ballot, used intellgently, is all
we need In order to abolish taxation In all It's
forms and establish the cooperative common
wealth In the place Of our present system Of
putOcratlc rule with all It's ct ceteraS Of prisons,
almsh0useS, Pinkertons, private gunbOatS, to-
gether with the military and naval establish
ments which are necessary for the perpetuation
Of bad governments the world over.
We cOncede all that has been said In regard
to the despOtlsm Of msjoritleS and the evils
which have grown up under our system Of
using the ballot. But these things are but the
legitimate fruit Of the false teachings on eco
nomlc questions by which the voters have been
controlled In the present widespread poverty,
misery and oppression, we have only the logical
results Of the economic theories in regard to
land, finance, transportation, etc., for which the
people have been voting, There can be no real