The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1894-04-28
THE acoKMoNwEALs."

A branch of the industrial army,
sometimes called "commonweals," Is In
Portland, and the most difficult prob
with the municipality is how TO get
rid Of them. The papers Of the me-
tropolis say they are well behaved and
peaceabls. No drunkenness has been
reported among them, and their lead
ers advise them to be law-abiiing
under all circumstances. This is to
their credit, and will be guaranty of
safety to the cities through which they
may pass. But the method they have
adopted to redress the wrongs of which
they complain, real or imaginary, will
not he endorsed by all classes of the
community.
Until the last year laborers have
had constant employment, and have
been better paid than in any country
on the face of the globe. BY the ex-
ercise of economy anyone in the
United States could have saved some
thing to last him through the
hard times, and it is very evident
that the '.commonweals" paid no at
tention to the future when they were
in q comparatively prosperous condi-
tion. In the years Of plenty they
gave no thought that time might
come when wages would be lower and
laborers out of employ ment. Conse-
suently, during this time of business
depression, they are forced to be fed
by the public, and are not entitled to
the Same sympathy as if they were
suffering from long train OF evils
which they had no power to avert. 1t
is not humanity to allow them to starve,
and still it is q heavy tax on
the industrious of any city
or community to furnish meals
for several hundred hearty men.
If the individuals had stayed at
their respective homes and depended
upon the charity of their neighbors,
they would have Jared much better
than by adopting the plan they have
of swarming together like g flock of
locusts and marching throughthe land.
Of course, the novelty Of the journey
to Washington is very attractive to
many and may he considered recrea-
ton and sport; but this initiation into
an aimless, rowing life cannot be con-
ducive to the good morals or steady
habits of any. It is very much to be
regretted that conditions exist in the
United States at present that render
an industrial army possible; but ths
idea should not on that account be
sanctioned or approved.
When the different branches of this
army congregate at the capital of the
nation-if they do not disinteerate and
60 to pieces before they reach their
destination-csn they expect that con-
gress and the president will be ebedi-
ent to their behestsq Not by any
means. If they do succeed the theory
of free institutions and the power of
the ballot box will have been abro-
gated, and mobs will hereafter accom-
plish what citizens, by peaceable means,
have failed to do. This will be step
towards anarchy,a and the very fabric of
will Be shaken to its very
foundation. The right of petition has
been sacred one since the days of
Magma Charta; but anything more than
this is in the nature of riot and revo-
luton, and is equally dangerous to re-
publican government as to monarchy
Hobs are not in harmony with the
rule of the people, where the ballot Is
considered the expression of sover-
eighty, and legislatures, national or
state, should not be coerced by them.
into the passage of laws not sanctioned
by the majority of citizens.