The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1894-04-13

Z
Col. Bob IngersoII and Rev. Sam
| Janes, though the antipoaes Of each
other In religious belief, and il the
conception Of the divine mind III the
matter Of creation, are III perfect
agreement that the present economic
conditions are Just as they should
be and we can hope for no inn
provement. In civilized life,u says
the great apostle Of unbeIief, you can
not make men happy by legislation, =
and the Rev. Sam Jones says, If
the laws had anything to do with the
unequal distribution Of wealth Jay
Gould, Stanford and Rockefeller, and
Maekey, and Carnegie, who wers
once poor. could never have become
rich.n Yet what reading man is it
that does not know that If the laws
had not permitted these men to have
made monopoly Of natural oppor-
tunities they could rot have accumu-
lated their vast millions, and especially
in so short a time.
Contrary to the opinion Of these
men / do not hesitate 10 say in this
Intelligent presence that men can be
benefited and made happier by legis-
lation, and the nearer they get to car
rying out The divine intent Of per-
hitting every man to have an equal
share in the natural bounties Of ma
ture the happier all men viii become.
When Abram said to Lot, Is not
the whole land before thee; Il thouwiil
take the left hand / will take fheright,"
and when the two put 4 sanatter's
claim on tile whole of ii, think You it
made no liffarencesto the other inhab-
itants thereof? and ut Il later period
when Joshua took al the land Of
Goshen think you it made no differ
ence to the Goshenites2 When Will
liam the Conquerer parce!ed out the
LANDS Of England to his mobiles and
military chieftains, think you il
made no difference to the native Brit
ons Think you the ownership
of the soil of Ireland by absentee
landlords, makes no difference to the
lot of the Irish tenant? And If the
laws shall permit the holding Of vast
bodies of unused land for specula-
tive purposes, and right to all the
treasures they conceal, the condition
of the masses here will, in time, be-
come the same as that Of weeping
Ireland.
The idea that the conditions of a
people can not be made better or
worse by legislation, or the usurpation
of powers by few, and the monopo-
lies and benefits these powers confer,
is contrary to the plainest facts Of his
tory.
The adoption of the gold standard
in the early part of the century alone
reduced the land owners of England
from 100000 to 10000, and the legisla-
ton against silver in this country, and
the consequent dimunition Of the
| worlds supply of money of final pay
ment, has been one of the factors
in producing the picture that we
have for our consideration to-day,
and to which Ihave called your atten-
ton, and which we thought few de-
cades ago could not occur under our
/ form of government with so many
rich resources yet undeveloped.
The whole world was aroused to the
horrors of chattel slavery. Admitting
| its horrors. Babes torn from the
breasts of mothers; wives separated
from husbands; yet the picture was
not so fearful that it did not have
some ameliorating colors. II the
milk of human kindness was lacking,
self-interest prompted the master in
order to have the slave healthy and
strong, to see to it that he
should not shIver from the effects
of cold or feel the biting pangs
of hunger. But OF industrial sla-
very, to which are consigned nine
tenths of the population of the whole
civilized world, and fully one-fourth
of the population of the free govern
/ ment of America, there are no soften
ing outlines-no pleasing colors TO the
dreadful reality.
Fellow-editors If we permit these
things to continue; if we sit thought
lessly and say these things are as
they should be, and as God intended
them to be, Christ's entrance into the
world; his mission among the lowly;
his mingling among the poor, reliey-
ing their necessities and distresses, and
giving them inspiration and hope, was
for naught. say if this is to be the
condition of humanity Christ lived in
! vain.
Every editor should be "reformefo
and have the courage of a ''reformer.n
The fact that Christ was crucifed
John the Baptist beheaded; Socrates
given nemlock; Calico sent to the
dungeon Pascal confined to his soli-
tary Lamp; Columbus put in irons
More, Sidney and Russell sent to the
scaffold, and the Christian martyrs to
the stake, should not deter US from
bravely attempting to strike the
shackels from every industrial slave
and drive the pangs Of munger from
every home.
Let us consecrate ourselves to this
high purpose.
Wherever the press goes let it be
t. the poor as a burst of sunshine
| to the darkened earth.
II