The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1894-04-06
The Coxey Army.

On the surface this has nothing appar-
ent but ludicrous Quixotic adventure.
But by grouping many things appa1 emily
remote from and having no seeming con-
nection with such movement the march,
or attempted march of this Common
veal army may prove to be of very
great significance. In the first place it is
allied to the movement of the classes on
Congress to influence legislation favorable
to their interests The manufacturers,
the bankers, Chambers of Commerce,
Boards of Trade, etc, etc have at every
session sent delegations to influence
Congerss, and in the name of their asso-
Citations solicit Congress to pass such laws
as would favor or promote their interests
as a class. These bodies are compare
lively few i'll numbers, with full treasures,
can readily appoint committees and fur
1lish them with money to defray all
necessary expenses and in addition ample
funds to bride members, if necessary, and
fee lawyers to lobby for their interest.
For years the people have stood afar off
and looked on at these proceedings.
The newspapers have kept them appraised
of these facts, and while reporting have
approved OF at the very least acquiesced
i'll them.
The people have seen what great in
fluence these proceedings have had on
Congress. They have seen manufac-
turers dictate the per centage of ''protec-
ton they claimed was necessary for
conducting their business; they have seen
Boards of Trade defeat laws which the
common people asked for; they have seen
national banks through their committees
receiving favors and assistance i'll their
business from the government Treasury;
they have seen them receiving millions
of interest year III advance OH U. S
bonds; they have seen the same class
selling bonds to the Treasurer at pre-
MUM of 80 per cent, i'll order to get a
surplus out of the Treasury, so that the
currency would not suffer contraction to
the injury of business; they have seen
sixty million dollars deposited in national
banks without interest the banks given
the privilege to loan and receive interest
OH this large government deposit; they
have seen national banks supplied with
money by the government at the low rate
of one per cent interest; the common
people have stood afar off and seen all
these things go OH for years They in
the mean time have felt themselves grow
ing poorer year after year; the price Of the
products of the farm has fallen steadily
till it will no longer pay the cost of rails
ing; they have seen their neighbors fall
ing one after another into bankruptcy and
losing their homes after a hard struggle
against poverty, taxation and interest,
with the same fate hanging over their
own heads. All these things have the
people seen with no means to reach the
ear of Congress, employed so successfully
by those favored classes, Their crude
efforts, in the way of petitions and dele
cations, have been scounted by Congress,
till they have abandoned such efforts in
despair.
At this point modern Don Ouixote,
apparently, arises as the leader of an
Army of the Commonweal of Christi
who proposes to march to the Nation s
Capital and present demands i'll the name
of the people-the great common people
for the passage of laws similar in import
conditions considerable those de-
manded by the classes above named.
A little band assemble to put this plan
into operation, at little town III Ohio,
and in the midst of winters snow and
howling winds, thinly clad, and without
food, pitch their camp, as cherries, as
desolate and comfortless as that of Valley
Forge. With the strong faith of the men
of the East who followed the star of Beth
lehenl, they turn their faces to the East
and take up their cherries march for
Washington, the Jerusalem of American
liberty.
Were these pilgrims to the shrine of
liberty, that shrine set up and consecrated
to freedom by the seers of the Revolution
jeered and Knocked by the multitude as
they painfully marched through snow
and mud? No indeed. The people every
where greet them with fraternal welcome,
bring them provisions and clothing and
furnish them with shelter the best they
can provide. Bands gather on the line of
march to join this picturesque army"
Messages from distant places cheer them,
and strange, hypnotic sympathy for
this Quixotlc movement runs through
the whole country. A common wrong is
felt throughout the entire country and
the brotherhood of humanity acknow1-
edges this singular movement as an effort
i'll good faith and honest purpose in their
cause.
The movement may be nothing In
itself. The pilgrims may never reach
Washington, or their appeal not be lis
tened to if they reach the end of their
proposed journey, but the slumbering
masses and the great busy throng of
greed have been and are being aroused to
inquire what such strange movement
meaus. Coxey's army has awakened
inquiry which will reach every car in the
country. What great wrong has caused
this strange pilgrimage If conditions
were as the politicians and the subsidized
press say they are such things could not
be. No one would synpathize with such
movement. Now the sympathy and fra
ternal welcome is universal among the
and so pronounced that the cor
porat1on press scarcely ventures to raise
more than tinid sheer. And what does
Coxey and his Army propose to ask of
Congress-
WHAT cOXEY PROPOSES TO DO.
He proposes to follow his march to
Washington with demonstration OH the
steps of the Capitol, and the introduction
in Congress of two bills which he firmly
believes are for the welfare of the people.
One of these measures authorizes nom
interest bearing loans TO States, Terri
tories, counties, townships municipalities
and incorporated towns or villages. and
the other for the building of roads by the
government. The first bill provides that
any of the corporations mentioned may
borrow for the purpose of making public
improvements sum or sHms not exceed
ing one-half the assessed value of the real
estate. The money is to be issued i'll the
form of 81, s.. IS, $40 and $40 treasury
notes, which shall be full legal tender for
all debts, public and private. The gov
erument is to retain per cent for the
expense of engraving and printing The