The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-12-20
A DEKAeueIcAL HARAHeUg.

fore the Progress Club, of this city, was
a good illustration of the kind of dis
jointed thinking that is current among
a certain class of pessimists who, be-
cause they are chronically SOU towards
existing conditions. imasine themselves
social reformers. The Progress Club is
composed largely of workingmen. en-
bracinR nlsO some theorists of the So
c~ialistic school. and Judge Baldwin in
formed his auditors that he was ga CAPT.
talist interested in the laboring classes
of this country" No American who
takes healthy or patriotic views of
things speaks of 1.-The working classes"
A very large majority of the people of
this country work for a livelihood, Judge
Baldwin being n of the comparatively
few exceptions. but they resent the idea
of being called "a Glass; There is a
large army of working people in this
country. but there is no working class.
If Judge Baldwin is a friend of labor
ing men he did not show it by his ad-
dress any more than he has by his life,
acts and record. Unless his reputation
does him great injustice, it would puzzle
his most intimate friend and ardent ad-
mirer-it would doubtless puzzle himself
to cite a single public or private act
done by him to tighten the load or
smooth the path of labor. We speak of
acts. not words. The Judge is a good
talker, and of late he has become a very
ardent friend of workinRmen-with his
mouth. His interest in them, however,
is strictly that of a capitalist and phrase
maker who essays to butter the poor
mans parsnips with fine words and
make him happy by telling him how
down-trodden and abused he is. His
nicious rot. Statistics prove" he said,
that $500 900 persons own so per cent. of
the wealth of the country, and that they
pay but One-fifth of the taxes. The peo-
pie who own the balance of the wealth,
or 20 per cent. of it, pay fOur-fifths of
the taxes. The latter class is what is
called the submerged class. the working
people of the country" And this
vicious stuff comes from ar American
and I%ndianian! 1t is monstrous for one
who sets himself up as an instructor
and reformer to make such assertions
as the foregoing. Judge Baldwin says
Statistics prove" so and so. What sta
tistics? By whom were they compiled,
and where are they to be foundf We
challenge him to produce them or to
give any reputable authority for his
statement In regard to the distribution of
the wealth of the country. 1t is not true.
No part of it is true. The assertion
that those who own only one-ffth
of the wealth of the country pay four
fifths of the taxes is the product of
somebody's wild imagination, evolved
for the use of notwithstanding COM
munists and professional dcmagogues in
their efforts to deceive and mislead the
people. 1t is q libel on American insti-
buttons, without q particle of evidence
to support it. To make the falsehood
more offensive, Judge Baldwin followed
it with the statement that those who
owned only 20 per cent. of the wealth Of
the country and paid 80 per cent. of the
taxes constitute "what is known as the
submerged class. the working people Of
the country" Still harping on classes.
The Journal does not know where Judge
Baldwin picked up the phrase "the sub
merged Glass; as applied to American
w~orkingmen, but it is likely he coined
it to suit his pessimistic theory. Warm
ing to his subject, the speaker proceeded
to attack the government, the Christian
church, the courts, and pretty much
everything else. He favored AN income
tax on incomes of So. 900 a year and over,
thereby implying that his own was less
than that. mo man ever earned a
million dollars" he declared, "but men
have often stolen that much" The Judge
is probably worth $500. 600. accumulated
by industry, economy and usury. He
would resent the i%mputation that he had
stolen any part of it. yet from the day
laborer's point of view it is as impossi-
BILE to accumulate S2OO. 600 honestly as
it is to accumulate a million dollars.
Passing to the courts, he asked: "What
chance does a poor man stand against a
rich man in our courts7 Under present
administration the laws are for the
rich." This. coming from a lifelong
lawyer, Is disRraceful. 1t is an imputa-
ton on our whole system of jurispru-
dence and an insult to every judge on
the bench. A poor man stands as good
a chance in our courts as a rich man
does if he has money enough to employ
a lawyer. Lawyers fees constitute the
most expensive feature of litigation,
and we do not remember ever to have
heard that Judge Baldwin did a charity
practice. He knows perfectly well that
the courts in this country are open I'd
the poor as well as to the rich. and that
justice is weighed on equal and impair
tial scales. Ii he had beer addressing q
bar association he would not nave dared
to assert that a poor man stands no
chance for justice in the courts against
a rich man, but because he was address,
ing an audience mainly composed of
what he constantly referred to as "the
working class" he & ught to win n little
cheap applause by such false and mis-
chievous statements. The entire adj