People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1893-01-13

Is eFOkeu IOuay. Our hearts nave acneu De
cause Of evictions under the Irish tenant laws,
but hundreds Of our own families are made
homeless by the foreclosure laws OF Kansas,
and thus the power which freed the African is
forcing into the same crucible the sons and
daughters Of our own blood
Two great forces are forming in battle line
the same under different forms and guise that
have long been in deadly antagonism, repre-
sented in master and slave, lord and vassal,
king and peasant despot and serf, landlord and
tenant lender and borrower, organized ayarice
and the necessities OF the divided and helpless
poor. appeal 10 the people Of this great com.
monwealth TO array themselves on the side OF
humanity and justice II 1t be true that the
people have no right to the property OF the rich
let it also be declared that the rich have no
right TO the property OF the poor
1t is the mission OF Kansas 10 protect and
advance the moral and material interests OF all
its citizens 1t is its special duty at the present
time to protect the producer from the ravages
Of combined wealth National legislation has
for twenty years fostered and protected the in.
terest of the few, while it has left the south and
west to supply the products with which to feed
and cothe the world and thus to become the
servants Of wealth The demand for free COIN
age has been refused The national banks have
been permitted TO withdraw their circulation
and thus the interests of the east and west
have diverged until the passage of the McKin.
| ley bill eliminated in their enforcement The
purchasing power Of the dollar has become so
great that corn, wheat, beef, pork and cotton
| have scarcely commanded price equal to the
cost Of production The instincts Of patriotism
have MAJ urally rebeled against these unwar-
ranted eEcrolchments Of the power Of money
Sectional hatred has also been kept alive by
the old powers, the better TO enable them 10
control the products and make the producer
contribute to the millionaire And thus while
the producer labors in the field, the shop and
the factory, the millionaire usurps his earnings
and rides in gilded carriages with liveried ser
wants. To check and change these conditions
for the good Of all, Kansas steps forth to-day,
and while dema nding the rights Of the laborer
and producer she also presents the olive branch
of peace and good will TO the people of the south
| by sending to the national congress distin.
| guished 1armer and stock raiser, who was a
colonel in he confederate army
And thus change is foreshadowed change
! is written on all things One generation passes
away-and another succeeds-from life, 10
death-thc tomb, the spirit-the seed, the plant
the chrySalis, the butterfy-out Of the III roes
Of characterization, higher lfe-progress
| There must be change, and change must be ex-
altation and progress The old man bows to
the earth with the weight OF years and amid a
mighty conflict of ideas the new man takes his
place. From the accumulation of past wisdom
i md ha .
with great events and new ideas are born
These linked together become the silver chain
Of human destiny.
Under the peaceful revolution that comes to
Kansas to-day, let US hope there may also
come a spirit of renewed devotion to the inter.
ests of the people, spirit of sympathy for
those who struggle and an awakening to the
greatness and the responsibility Of citizenship.
! The state is greater than party: but the citi-
zen is greater than the state, while the family
the citizen produces, is the priceless jewel Of
our civilization. The problem Of to-day is how
to make the state subservient TO the individual
rather than to become his master Govern.
ment is a voluntary union for the com
mon good 1t guarantees to the individual
life, liberty and the pursuit Of happiness The
government then must make it possible for the
citizen to live by his own labor. The govern.
ment must make it possible for the citizen to
enjoy liberty and pursue happiness. If the
government fails OF these things 1t fails in its
mission. 1t ceases 10 be of advantage to the
citizen, he is absolved from his allegiance, and
is no longer held by the civil compact II old
men go to the poor house and the young men
go to prison something is wrong with the econ
omic system Of the government And what is
the state to him If its labor is denied him and
his children cry for bready
Talk to the winds and reason with despair,
But tell not misery's sons that life is fair"
What is the state to the farmer who YEARLY
drags himself from dawn to dark to meet the
stern necessities of the mortgage on the
farm? WHAT'S the state to him If it sanctions
usury and other legal forms by which his home
is destroyed and his innocent ones become a
prey TO the iends who Turk In the shadows OF
civilization? What is the state to the business
man, early growing gray, broken in health and
spirit by the successive failures, anxiety
like q boding owl his constant companion by
day and the disturber Of his dreams by night?
How is life to be sustained how is liberty to be
enjoyed, how is happiness to be pursued under
ouNu duNCIoC NOuulllOio do lllC btdlt IL
it does not sanction? Is the state powerless
against these conditions? Then the state has
failed and our boosted civil compact is a hollow
mockery.
But government is not failure and the state
has not been constructed in vain. This is the
generation which has come to the rescue.
Those in distress who cry out from the dark
ness shall not be heard in vain Conscience is
in the saddle, we have leaped the bloody chasm
and entered a contest for the protection OF
home, humanity and the dignity of labor.
The grandeur Of civilization shall be empha.
sized by the dawn Of new era in which
the people shall reign. And II found neces.
sary, they will expand the powers Of govern
ment to solve the enigmas Of the times" The
people are greater than the law or the statutes
and when nation sets its heart on doing q
great and good thing, it can lind legal way to
do it" The old may for time stand in the
way Of the new, but the old must yield Every
age and every epoch is marked with conflict
The lines may waver, but victory is TO the
new and the true. In its general course
the great march OF human destiny
is forward The winding stream
may return upon itself, but the channel still
makes progress toward the sea- Egyptian civ
ilization passed away, but lived in Jewish his
tory. The prosecuted Christians were scat
tered to the four winds, but like the seed watt
ed on the breeze, their principles took root in
every soil Rome triumphed and passed away
but the world inherited the results OF its bril-
liant achievements. Thus Alexander con
quered and gave added impulse to intellectual
life. Thus Bonaparte enthroned the idea Of 9
government Of the people and Washington ex
allied human liberty.
have dream Of the future and enduring
faith in the evolution Of an abiding human gov
eminent In the beautiful visions Of comins
time behold the abolition Of poverty. A tint
is foreshadowed when the whitening hand O.
want shall not be outstretched for charity
when liberty, equality and justice shall hay,
permanent abiding places in this republic.
Having finished his speech, Lewelline
waved his hand in token that ne de