The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-08-10

the nrsC and most lnRllenable OF all pos
sessions" Gods command, ain the
sweat Of thy brow shaIt thou eat bread, y
was fairly we'll praCticed. We had no
milliCnaires nor paupers. They do not
exist In Gods political economy.
The corporation is born. 1t does not
exist In nature; hence 1t has no lnalien-
able rights; yet the law confers upon 1t
inSllensble rights. Through the power
of the aggregation Of capital, and the
monopoly OF patents, the corporations
make improbable the small mechanical
industries. The village shop is aban-
doned as Improbable, and the mechanic
is forced to seek work from the corpora
tiOn, join the over-crowded ranks OF COM
mon labor, or tramp. He is confronted
with changed social conditions. Neces-
sity Compels him to seek work from the
destroyer Of his village shop-the corpor-
alton.
His skill and toll build up the corpora
ton, for "labor is the father and active
principle OF all wealth, and the lands are
the mother" Corporations, through the
power OF machinery, have Cheapened all
commodities and advanced civilization,
but they have done it without an equits-
bic accruing advantage to the mass of
laborers, who produce all wealth. Since
"God is no respector of perscns," and
His laws are immutable and eternal, it
follows that men have the natural right
now TO earn their bread by the sweat Of
their brow as they had in the beginning,
and If the law creates corporations that
do violence to this divine principle, the
corporation becomes obnoxious to clvili-
zatiOn, and a mocker of the Almighty;
and Its maker-the law-must regulate
it, or annihilate it.
Now, since the corporation, which has
no existence In nature, has had inallena-
BILE rights conferred upon it, to the de-
struction Of small industries; and since
the skilled artisan, In order to maintain
an existence, has been compelled to exert
his skill and labor for the corporation In
stead of himself, and thereby has been
the prime factor in the growth of our
factories, it follows that since the natural
rights Of labor cannot be alienated, the
laborers' natural rights lnure In the fac
tory, and those rights cannot be arbi-
tEarily ignored by Carnegie or a Frick,
for the Homestead mechanic has as
great q natural right In the plant as the
lncorporators, aye, more, for the latter
have profted millions from their labor,
while the former have simply earned the |
privilege to live.
Since the government has conferred |
Inalienable rights upon corporations
rights which God Almighty alone can
yiVe), to the subveEsion of our former
equal social conditions, it follows that
he law should sacredly see that the cor
poratlon does no violence to the natural
lights and equal opportunities of all.
Again, If these rights and conditions are
lbrogated by the corporations, the law
should step in and recognize the equal
lights Of employer and employe. There
'ore 1t Is the bounden duty of the gov
,rnment to arbitrate. But this leads to
lationallsm. Let justice be done though
he heavens fall. If the corporation
lOes not like this solution of the labor
question, then let him use his voice in
I'D Of restoring to society the natural
iOht of the IlaA of countara of value