The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-03-27
mrs. LEASE IN COOPER UNION.
WILD KANSAS oRAToRY FOR
THE UNEMPLOYED OF
NEW YORK.

the Populist Woman Tells How the
Downtrodden Poor Have Been Wronged
Hope of the Country Centered in the
Party She Champions.
CNew-YOrk Times.1
Mrs. Mary E. Lease, of Kansas, made
her first attempt last evening to capt.
vate a New York audience. She sue
ceeded. The audience was not too
critical, and it was very ready to be
captivated. 1t was assembled in the
large hall of the Cooper Union. Ad-
mission was % and so cents, and the
proceeds were for the benefit of the
unemployed. The hall was three
quarters filled.
Among those on the platform were
Samuel Gompers, President of the
American Federation Of Labor; Thad
deusB Wakeman, Hugh o. Pentecost,
Clarence Ladd Davis, John I. Rooney,
DR.. Henry Carey, Wilbur ]. Davis,
Mi. and Mrs. Henry George, Mrs. J.
Ellen Foster, Mrs. Cynthia Leonard,
Harding Weston, Fl. Allen Spencer,
and DR.. Foote.
DR.. McGIynn, in introducing Mrs.
Lease, said the present distress was due
''to the cupidity of a great many of us
and the stupidity of nearly all of u.s."
It was a unique treat, he said, for the
audience to have an opportunity of
hearing Mrs. Lease speak, but he could
tell them that her oratory, great and
fascinating as it was, was not as great
as her high moral courage. She IS
woman who, no matter where she was,
always told the truth. She told it
with a touch of poetry in it, but that
did not deteriorate from it's good quail
tiles.
Mrs. Lease was not embarrassed as
she stood waiting for the applause that
greeted her introduction ceased. She
is slight and tall, and wore a becoming
travelling dress of dark gray. In the
corsage was a bunch of red roses. Her
face was noticeable for it's extreme
pallor,
Mrs. Leases lecture was devoted to
a description of the prevailing distress,
its causes and remedies.
"Why are there starving millions in
IndiaY" she asked. Because that an
Gent and bloodthirsty enemy of Amer
lea, England, has demonetized silver.
Why are there starving thousands in
Ireland? Because of the relentless
righteousness of landlordism. But
these things we're expected of the Old
World. Why should we now find
them in the New9 The reason is that
England has fastened upon as her hate
full gold system. It was treason to
strike down the American flag, but ten
fold more treason was the act of the
man who dared to strike down the
American dollar, the symbol Of liberty.
"As Nero fddIed while Rome was
burning, so did the two hateful old 20
litical parties keep up their tariff tink-
ering while the Workingman starved"
The speaker said that the official
figures of 1890 showed that one half the
wealth of the country was in the pos
session Of less than "a, 900 men.
'Selishness reigns supreme" she
said. "Our life is a lie. The time will
come when the man who erects a
church when the poor starve will be
considered knave or a fool. You will
wander long and far in your great cities
today before you find a minister who
is as brave as DR.. McGIynn. They are
afraid to preach against ~plutocracy.
The great mass Of the laboring people
stay away from the church. Why9
Because the preachers hold the hay too
high for the sheep.
eff we are afraid to preach against
the p~lutocrats, we need a new Christ,
not a Christ who will wear a tile hat.
smoke % cent cigars, and give dinners
at 500 a plate to railroad magnates
who will say that Heaven is for the
rich, and that the poor shall go to that
hell where your social Four Hundred
are sending them.
"But we r just beginning to COM
prehend the religion of Jesus of Naz-
areth. Consciously Or unconsciously, |
humanity is beginning to realize
that all the religion in the world is
centered in the words, Love one an
other We must either practice this
religion or take down our signs, go out
of the business, and become half decent
pagans. For every wrong that is done
against the poor there will be blood
oa1Ic6 for from the rich In generalization
and explanation Of their crimes. There
is unrest abroad. There is unrest at
home The giant of labor is aroused