The advocate., 1894-03-21

country; it's the same way all over Eu-
rope. 1t can't be because there's too
much grain raised, for there are mil
lions of men, women and children in
this land all the time, and the republi-
can speakers call the working people of
Europe 'pauper labor'-Which shows
they haven't had their health ruined
over there by too much yictuals. When
the farmer has raised his grain, he has
to take it to certain set of men and
they fix his price for him. He hasn't
thing to do with it. They tell him just
how much he's to be allowed for it.
Isn't that so? He can't help himself.
If he holds his grain whole year, or
two years, he's got to let that same set
Of men have it at their own price at
last.
But another set of men in Chicago
fixes the price for the set of men the
farmer has to sell to, and they can't
change it any more than he can. At
last you get round to little clique in
this country and in Europe that fixes
the price for 'em all. This is the spec
ulatOr set that controls the money Of
the world that goes into handling grain;
and in little while after harvest these
men control all the surplus grain in
America, Russia, India and Australia
all the surplus grain in the world.
"Then nearly all our mills are con-
trolled by kind of miller's trust, and
they grind the grain and fix the price
of the products. So, you see, few
men in the world have all the farmers
working for 'em, just like l work for
a railroad, only they let the farmers
play they're running their farms them
selves. And while these men are max
ing the farmers grain cheap, they're
making bread dear to everybody else,
and have it in their power to starVe us
all to death if they want to-. The work
ingmen can't get anything to eat un-
less they get hired by somebody to
work at sOmething-making cloth, or
shoes, or furniture, saving lumber,
or running railroads or something the
people want; there are millions OF farm
ers, and when they're kept so poor they
can't afford to buy the things others
make mills and factories shut down and
workingmen can't get work. So here
stand the men who can make shoes,
and cloth, and furniture, and saw lum-
Der, and all that, but they're not
wanted, and so can't buy what the
farmer raises. And here's the farmer
wanting shoes, and cloth, and furniture,
and lumber, and all that, but he can't
sell what he's raised for decent price
and so can't buy what the WOrkingmen
could make if they were allowed to gotO
work and be fed. Neither class needs
a thing but what the other is anxious
to give in exchange; but they stand
looking at each Other-just paralyZed.
One starves for what the other wants
to get rid Of; the other goes without
what the Workingmen are begging to
be allowed to give him for his food;
but a few men stand in betWixt 'em
and just paralyZe both crowds.
"What fools these mortals be, sure
enough. Both crowds have been made
to believe that they've got to trade for
money first before they can trade with
each other; and few men have got
control of all the money, and so can
keep each crowd from giving the other
what it needs. If you draw chalk
circle around a goose it thinks it can't
get out and it will stay inside and
starve. This money superstition has
drawn chalk circle around all us
geese, and we're just the same kind OF
fools as the common goose.
"It seems to me that it's about as
important for the. government to take
charge of the production and distribu-
tion of these things people need, as it
is for it to run the railroads. Why
there are million and a half of able
bodied men in this country right now
that are willing and anxious to work
for a living and can't get work to do.
That means over 100000 hungry
nnnrln hninn ctnrunh ont nv the nnan