Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-12-07
A CALAMITY Wall.
Lieutenant Governor Felt's Remark
able Editorial.

4
ance movement altogether. II was a
combination of dissatisfaction rounded
| up in real cause-distrust of the pro-
LESSONS of the republicans. That dis
| trust had become deep-seated and gen
| eral. There was reason for 1t too. The
party of Abraham Lincoln had become
the party of the Platts, Quays and De-
| pews Its promises have been trifled
with in the house of it's friends. 1t
| promised revision of the tariff and
| made the revision odious to both pro-
| ducer and consumer by making new IN
dustrl es Its particular pets. 1t was so
framed as TO leave it open to the suspi-
| cion that Its real heart was more in the
| interest OF capital than of labor. Mr..
Blaine saw the error and sought to null
lily it by reciprocity features. We be-
lieve that America has been vastly ben
Gifted by the doctrine of protection, but
the doctrine of protection for the sake
OF protection was not the doctrine of
the republican party of Lincoln, Grant
| and Garfield. Under existing conditions
a state of affairs akin to those of Eng
lana. There are the very rich, the md
| die classes and the very poor. Some
thing is the matter. The people know
| that sure enough and appreciate it
| strongly. The great bulk of the owners
of three-fOurths of all the wealth on
| this continent live north of the Patom-
| &C and cast Of the Appalachian range. 1t
is not the result of their superior
thrift, knowledge, pluck. age or geo.
graphical position. They are loaners of
| money and merchandise. The balance
of the United States are borrowers of
| money and merchandise. Ninety per
cent of all the interest paid by the boz
rowers of this country goes to New Eng
land, New York and Pennsylvania.
| They control the money market in all
the south and all the west. -Four years
| ago the republicans attempted to rem
| edy these conditions, Two years ago
the democrats promised free coinage CT
silver. Wall street raised the cry ''that
is for the benefit of the silver regions of
the west" 1t was beaten. Tie a1v0-
| Gates Of the gold standard own and con-
troll this country today. And that, too,
in the face of the declaration Of all par
ties for bimetalisn. Democrats never
| desert their party on account of its
broken promises. If they did there
| would be no democratic party today.
Republicans are independent and leave
in herds when they distrust the policy
or leaders of their party. The result
| shows that. Reform or revolution!
Which shall it be? There has never
been a time in the history of the world
when SO many people were giving pa
tientthoughtful study to financial ques
| lions as at the present moment. Some
thing is vitality wrong and the people
| know it. The people know they are
sick. They think they know what aiIs
them. They are seeking the remedy.
Affairs are rapidly assuming a condi-
ton when it will be the struggle be-
| tween organized capital and organized
| citizens. Trusts and combines govern
the country. They elect congress, make
and unmake laws. are intrenched in
I courts and dictate party platforms. The
| struggle is bound to come. Resolutions
cannot prevent it. Party promises can
not stay It's course. There must be
prompt, absolute reform in financial
affairs or revolution in parties. The
people know that policy which makes
combines rich and individuals poor is
| radically wrong. Dollars combine to
double their value. The people are COM
bining to hold their own. The issue is
! here. It must be met. To attempt to
| evade it is abject folly. To refuse to lis
ten to its demands is to invite disaster.
To make the fight in the interest of the
organized capital against organized cit
liens means revolution! To say that
the groundswell is all caused by dema-
gogues and shysters is to initiate the
imbecility of George the Third, who re
garded Washington as rebel, Hancock
as demagOgue and Patrick Henry as a
political adventurer. There many grains
of golden truth hidden in the train
loads of bubcombe offered by populist
| movement. To disregard those truths
IS boil unwise and unpatriOtic; and
swings wide open the gateway of chaos.
when the Armours can fix the price
of every hog and steer grown on Kansas
prairies, it is time to demand a hault.
When the banks of Boston and New
I ork can in one hour close every bank
in twenty-five states and cause the
loss of hard earned millions In the in
terror cities and towns, is it any wonder
there was general distrust? When a
ring of soulless grain gamblers in Chi
| cago and New York can dictate the
| price of the cereals of all the west, and
a United States senator can touch a
button and raise the price of coal oil
30 per cent; when the coal kings in
PENNSYLVANIA can say whether you shall
pay six or twelve dollars a ton for
anthracite, is it wonder there is a
revolution and the tariff had nothing
| TO do with it.
The real wonder is that the demo-
cratic party-the party of persistent
obstruction, the party of constant and
| continued political retrog cession
should receive the benefit of the
awakening. This is great country for
varied interests and needs. The question
OF labor and capital ccnfronts us. It is
grave and potential. 1t brooks 70 delay
ltblames the party in power for existing
conditions. Had Mr.. Cleveland been
elected in 1888 his defeat this year
would have been as decisive as that of
Mr.. Harrison's: Majorities rule. The
voice OF the majority must not be ig-
nored. Its reasonable demands must
be met or the revolution at the ballot
box may become the outpost of a
revolution trying to its utmost tention