Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-06-22

the enrichment of royal fayorites
are unknown Every man, whatever
may be his nativity, his faculty, educa-
ton or morality, has an equal chance
with every other in the race of life.
Legislation, whether good or bad, is
enacted by the majority, and bears
equally upon all. The means OF educa-
ton are as widely ditfused as the desire
| to know. and the opportunities for hap
piness are commensurate with the ca
pacity to enjoy.
| Less than century ago the social
condition in the United States was one
of practical equality. In our first GEN.
sus period there was neither a million
aire, nor a pauper. nor tramp in the
! country. The first American citizen to
pass the minion-dollar goal was the
| original Astor, about 1906, who had mi
grated from Germany not many years
before, the son of a butcher, with a
pack of pelts as the foundation of his
fortune. The largest estate before this
time belonged to George Washington,
/ which, at his death in 1899, was APP
praised at $3.50, 900. Robert Morris, the
| great financier of the revolution, had a
large credit and he raised on his own
notes the sum of 81, 400, 900 required for
the final campaign against CORVALLIS,
ending at Yorktown, but he became in
volved in disastrous real estate specu-
! lations and died comparatively poor.
| The mass of the people We're farmers
and fishermen, living contentedly upon
! the products of their toll. The devel-
| opment of the continent by the intro
duction of railroads, agricultural
| machinery and the. scientific APP
| plications of modern life has made us
| the richest nation on earth The ag-
| gregate possessions of the country prob
ably exceed a hundred thousand million
| dollars, one-half of which is said to be I'M
| der the direct central of less than 80, 900
persons and corporations. The largest
| private fortunes in the world have been
accumulated in the last half century in
| the United States. We have scores of
men whose annual incomes exceed in
amount the entire fortunes of Morris
and Washington, the richest men in
| the country less than hundred years
| ago, and one American estate surpasses
| the assessed valuation of the four
| smallest states in the union when the
| government was established in 1879.
And our material resources are yet
| hardly touched.
| Less than fourth part of our ara BILE
| area has been plowed. Our agriculture
| is thriftless and unscientific. Our
| mines hide treasures richer than those
| of Ophir and Potosi. Our manufactures
| and commerce are adolescent, but they
! have already established an aristocracy
| of wealth that wears neither garter
| nor coronet, and is proclaimed by no
| herald, but which is welcomed in the
courts of princes and the palaces of
| kings
/. If the unequal distribution of the
burdens and benefits of society depends
upon legislation, institutions and gov
| eminent, then under system like ours
| the equilibrium should be restored. If
wealth results from unjust laws and
poverty from Legislative oppression the
remedy is in the hands of the victims
Il they suffer it is from Self-inficted
wounds. We have no feudal tenureS,
no primogeniture nor entail; no oppor-
ti1nities that are not open to all JUS
tice, equality, liberty and fraternity
are the foundations of the state. In
every hand is the ballot. The school
offers education to all. The press is
free. Speech, thought and conscience
are unfettered.
But universal suffrage has not proved
panacea for the evils of society. Pow
erty is not abolished. Though wealth
has accumulated beyond the dreams of
avarice, the inequality of distribution
is as great as in the time of Job and
Scion and Agis Many are called, but
few are chosen. Dives is clothed in
purple and fine linen and fares sumptu-
ously every day, while Lazarus longs
for the crumbs that fall from the rich
mans table Not only is the old prob
lem unsolved, but its conditions are
complicated and intensified. Vaster
political power is consolidated in the
hands of the few and more stupendous
fortunes acquired by individuals under
republic than under monarchy
The great gulf between the rich and
the poor yawns wider and wider day by
day. The forces of labor and capital,
which should be allies. auxiliaries and
friends, are arrayed against each other
like hostile armies in fortified camps,
preparing for seige or battle. Millions
of money are annually lost in wages,
the destruction of perishable property,
the deterioration of plants and the de-
crease of profits. by the strikes and lock-
outs which have become the normal
condition of the war between employ
ers and the unemployed.
The condition of the masses is i'm
measurably bettered with the advance
of civilization. The poorest artisan to-
day has free enjoyment of comforts and
conveniences that monarchs with their
treasures could not purchase five CEN
turtles ago. But De Toqueville observed
the singular anomaly that as the state
of the masses improves, they find it
more intolerable, and discomfort in
creaSeS- Wants and desires are-multi-
piled more rapidly than the means of
qualification. Education, daily news
papers. travel, libraries, parks, CALLER
| les and shop windows have widened the
horizon of workingmen and women, in
creased their capacity for enjoyment,
| familiarized them with 1uxuries and
the advantages of wealth. Political in
struction has taught them the equality
| of man and made them acquainted with
| the power of the ballot. False teachers
have convinced them that all wealth Is
created by labor and that every man
who has more than he can earn with
| his hands by daily wages is a thief,
| that the capitalist is a foe and the
| millionaire public enemy who should
| be outlawed and shot at sight
Although the tendency to centraliza-