The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1894-05-11
ION to Washington"

mon destination, and under leadership,
is a new phase of the tramp nuisance.
1t does not seem possible that sober, in
dustrious men could be found to engage
in such movement as that now going
forward in so many parts of the land.
The whole scheme is so ridiculous, and
involves so much labor and privation
there is so little, if any, possible adj
vantage, from any point of view, to be
gained after all is accomplished, that is,
after the long tramp OF thousand
miles or more is achieved, that
it does not seem credible, if it
were not an actual fact, that men
in their reason could be found
to undertake so formida able journey
on basis of inducement so utterly
devoid of valuable results to themselves.
Men are marching from Ohio, Iowa,
Montana, Washington, Oregon, Cali
fornia and elsewhere to the National
capital, hundreds of them; men who
are utterly penniless and dependent
upon the country through which they
pass for their food and support.
Necessarily these men, in such circum-
stances and in SO large numbers, must
be subjected TO no small amount OF
privation and suffering in order to reach
Washington. And for what! No one
exactly knows, and the men themselves
least of all. CoXey, the leader of the
movement, and from whom the craze
takes its name, proclaims that they are
Hgoing to petition congress with boots
on" and "a petition of 10000 men with
boots on congress cannot refuse" Petl-
ton for what? That the government
goes into the business of road making
pose of giving men employment. In
order to pay the men it is proposed to
demand that the general government
resumes the manufacture of greenbacks
on large scale; and since these are
easily made, made out of paper and
thus only require printing, why, they
can be issued freely and the men be
paid big wages. Pay big wages and
money will circulate again freely and
everyone will prosper. incidentally, of
course Coxey demands the free coinage
Of silver.
There are several things that suggest
themselves to ones mind in considering
the claims of these men who are tramp
ing ION to Washington" In the first
place, while the right of petition is one
of the most sacred aud well assured of
the privileges OF the people of this coun-
try, it is nevertheless true that the
boast of petitioning with boots on" and
of congress not daring to refuse the de-
mands of 10000 men before the capital,
etc, smacks of coercion. The cry OF
petition with boots on" is somewhat
in the nature of threat, and that is
another matter. Congress represents
the will of the majority of the people,
and no outside force must override
them. When tramps become so numer-
government, or any department of the
government, they will be suppressed,
dispersed.
Then again, the making of roads is no
part of the work of the government of
the United States, except in the way of
military operations. Highway regula-
ton, etc, is wholly matter of state
legislation. The control of public roads
is everywhere given over to the counties,
townships and municipalities. The Ma
tional government has no use for roads;
the people have. The people build them,
locally, for their own use. They are
nearly always built at local cost, by
local labor, and are usually good or bad
according to local wealth and intelli-
gence-the local ability to do the
necessary work OF pay the cost of good
roads. While good roads are exceed
ingly desirable and are for the public
convenience, and not for private use
exclusively, still the work of making or
improving highways has never been
entered into for the purpose of giving
people employment.
No sensible man in this country has
ever though it the duty of government,
either general or local. to furnish work
for the people. 1t is the people who
make and support the government
With roads, as with everything else that
is done by government, the cost comes
out of the peoples pockets. The people
pay for all work done on highways
And if all the tramps in the nation
should go to Washington and congress
should set them to work on public high
ways, the people would pay for it all
Even if congress should issue $500, 000,-
900 in greenbacks, as Coxey demands,
to pay for work on highways, the peo
pie have ultimately got to redeem these
greenbacks. The Nation cannot furnish
money otherwise than at the expense
of the people. The greenbacks are
notes of hand-bOrrowed money! They