The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-04-26

country best yet a public man who
steps outside of regular party lines is
exposed to misrepresentation of his
motive and to a charge of weakness
or corruption in his conduct; he gains
little credit for his moral courage of
self assertion. But Dean Stanley saws
what is called public opinions of any
age may be in itself as misleading, and
as corrupt as the opinions of any indi-
vidual. He must be blind or a fool
who cannot see that the minds of the
masses are awaking to that opinion,
and Is revolving in that direction, when
they see and feel that the money power
has succeeded in impoverishing the
people through acts of Congress till
less than one eighth in each hundred
own any land They have become
tenants and slaves, and one million
tramps upon the highways; the wealth
and homes of the nation surely and
swiftly moving into the jaws of a
financial octopus"
g 81. w. Beecher says the glory and
safety of a country is in it's homes,
which contains the true element Of
national safety and vitality.
"The godly Edward Payson, speak
ing of the power of money, says:
when with the hand of mammon it
can lay it hand on a nations wealth, is
the first second and last great cause
of the ruin of the republic Then, as
if inspired by prophetic wisdom, he
says: In vain does experience offer
us the wisdom of the past for our direc-
tion. In vain does the genius of history
spread her chart and point out the ruin
to which we are advancing. In vain
do the ghosts of departed governments
linger around the rocks on which they
perlshed and warn us of our approach
ing fate"
And yet, in spite of past experience,
will we to day f1atter Udrselves that the
same causes which have proved fatal
| to all other governments will cease
their pernicious tendency when exerted
on our own2 And yet there are hun
dreds to day who see nothing : o alarm
us, nothing of storm in these prophetic
truths. ASLEEP, rocked to sleep by
the very storm their ignorance and in
difference has permitted to Overtake
| them"
The burning and earnest counsel of
Young may be appropriately applied
| here: Awake! stand in arms! nor
lean against thy spear, lest slumber
steal one moment over thy soul, and
fate surprise the nodding"
Rome was never stronger In all the
seeming elements of power than at the
moment of her fall She had grown
rich and riches had corrupted her
morals, and while mammonism cor
rupts morals, it blocks reforms, for as
you can see to day, men who have
| favOrs to ask, or have only simple JUS
tice of the public are slow to follow
their convictions into any reform move
ment. Yet they can see that popular
government is to-day no more In the
hands of the people, but is degenerating
into the hands of boss.
During his visit to this country,
Herbert Spencer said: You retain
the forms of freedom, but so far as |
can see there has been considerable
loss of the substance, 1t is true that
those who rule you do not do 1T by
means of retainers armed with swords,
but they do it through regiments of
men armed with voting papers who
obey the word of command as Loyalty
as did the dependenFs of the feudal
mobiles and who thus enable their lead
ers to override the general will and
make the community submit to their
exactions as effectually as their protO-
types of old. Surely he says:
Those who framed your Constitu-
tion never dreamed that twenty thou
sand citizens would go to the polls led
by boss" S. +. QUERY.