The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-04-24
WHAT COXEYTgV WEANs

1n.spite of the jeers and jibes of many
of the newspapers, the antagOnism of
state officials and hardships without num-
Der almost, Coxey's industrial army is
beginning to assume astonishing, not to
say alarming proportions, and the public
is beginning to at last regard it as very
serious affair. A hundred thousand men
may yet march into Washington as pc
tition which can not be thrown into the
was te-basket
On the evening of March 18th there
assembled at Massillon, Ohio, 500 unem-
ployed laborers, called together by one,
J. 8. Coxey and Carl Browne. The sense
Of the meeting was that national army
of the unemployed be assembled to
march to Washington and demand of
congress that legislative cognizance be
taken Of their needs. Resolutions were
adopted denouncing President Cleve-
lands Hawaiian position, the proposed
Wilson bill and the tariff now in force;
and against the further issuance of inter-
est bearing bonds.
On the same evening another meeting
was in progress in far Los Angeles, Cali
fornia, under the direction of L. Q. Frye,
who had caught some of the Coxey spirit.
1t was attended by 500 idle workmen and
was similar in sentiment to the Ohio
one.
These two meetings were the nuclei
and around them rapidly gathered
movement that may soon perplex and
appall the country.
From that day until the present the
the sentiment has spread and the army
has increased. Derision and abuse were
fnll I011f
they persisted in their course, travelling
as best they could-in wagons, now on
barges, mainly on foot-stumbling, tired,
hungry and footsore, on and on, with
courage that demands recognition as
such, and a steadfastness of purpose such
as is seldom seen.
Contingents of the army have sprung
up everywhere, until now in the aggre-
gate it numbers thousands and contin-
ues to increase. From California, Mas
sachusetts, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ill
inois, and even Oklahoma, they come
with one united purpose-to call on con-
gress at whatever cost-an unprece-
dented uprising of a desperate people
made bold by the presence of deter
mined leaders.
These men were made desperate by
the persistent refusal of the peoples
congress to recognize the peoples voice,
or to apply a successful remedy to
help the unemployed. The contagious
spirit has been fostered by an ever ready
congressional eagerness to bend the knee
Of servitude to and answer the demands
only of Wall street and the capitalists.
Wall street never makes plea that goes
unnoticed and seldom one that is refused.
Legislation is hers to command and con-
gress sits in mighty dignity and waits
until the golden cord is pulled
1t has seemed easier for a camel to
pass through the eye of needle than for
the poor and unemployed to find hope or
haven within the walls of the capitol
There is no doubt that Coxey's
army will accomplish something. 1t will
start congress to thinking and much
good may yet result True, the army is
infested with tramps and "hoboes," but
back of the movement are the honest I'M
employed that congress has refused to
recognize in the past. It will be a strong
appeal to congress to legislate for others
than the rich, to keep down the bonded
Indebtedness of the country to re-
strict immigration and to give the peo-
pie better roads Its great result, if re-
suit there be, will be to compel congress
and the president to give an ear to those
who need Legislation the most; to those
to whom it means not greater profits,
more luxury, but work, food, clothing,
nay, very existence.