The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-01-24

lIIC UlIC ID Wo vi % tOuIUiJ anu L WIZ
show you the condition of it's peo-
pie"
Starting upon this proposition, we
are lead to the conclusion that the
laws Of our country are not in &C
cordance with the principles of just
ice and equality, for there is nothing
in the condition of the masses that
denotes prosperity, but rather a
tendency to poverty and demoraliza-
ton. No period Of our history has
been marked by such general dis
satisfaction.
Wherever we turn is discomfort: la
Dor idle, or at least working on short
time and low pay; mill after mill
silent; furnaces cold and unproduc-
tive; tramps filing our highways;
the gaunt wolf Of starvation staring
into desolate homes, and strikes
against starvation wages-those
foferunners of revolution springing
up on every hand. On the other
side, we see granaries bursting with
the abundance with which God has
fattened the land, palatial mansions
rising in fabulous magnifcience, and
mountains of wealth-the product of
half-requited Ia bor-poured' into the
Golfers of the idle and affiuent. All
over the land the wall of distress
comes up from pOyerty-s striker
homes crushing out the manhood
and womanhood of human kind,
blighting the beauty and buoyancy
Of youth, and destroying the faith
of mankind in an all-wise merciful
father. Il land of plenty, where
the willing hand of industry has Gre
ated untold wealth, why should that
hand be paralyzed for want of the
very wealth it has created? Why
should comfortable food, clothing
and homes be denied to those who
have produced these things in such
abundance? Reader, these are ques-
tions that must soon be answered
before the tribunal of a long-suffer-
ing but much enduring people.
In view of these facts and the re-
sponsibilities that rest upon us as
American citizens, | earnestly ask
that you lay aside your prejudices,
and with me briefly consider few
Of the circumstances that have
brought about this deplorable condi-
ton. 1t is within the memory of
many Of my readers when million
aires were not indigenous to Amer
lean soil. But that period has
passed, and today we boast more
millionaires than any other country
on the globe; tramps have increased
in geOmetrical ratio; while strikes,
riots AMI anarchists trials cOnSti-
tute an exciting topic Of conversa-
ton in all classes Of society. There
! is no doubt but that the unequal dis
tribution Of the products Of labor is
one of the most fruitful sources Of
social and political disturbances.
Any rational person must admit
that d nations prosperity does not
lie SO much in the amount of its
wealth as i'll a just distribution Of
that wealth among those who have
produced it.
That nation is the most prosper
Gus whose laborers hold warranty
/ deeds. rather than leases OF their
homes, and a hundred cottage homes
and gardens owned ly a hundred
workingmen is greater evidence OF
national prosperity than million
of property in the hands of single
individual. The ownership Of home
i is the great safeguard of liberty, and
! it is impossible for people long to
remain free who do not own their
I homes History bears US out in this
statement. and we trace with min
utencss the connection between land
monopoly and national death. God
/ has implanted in the human heart
an unquenchable thirst for know
ledge and FOR liberty, knowledge
of that liberty which makes men
free from the bondage of their phys
/ zeal necessities and breaks the man
acles of that slavery which through
all ages, the strong have imposed up
on the weaker portion of mankind.
Since the day that ltsau sold his
birthright for mess of pottage,
crafty men have taken advantage of
the physical necessities of their less
artfull brothers: since that day, too,
hungry men have been selling the
birthright Of their liberty for a mess
of pottage which barely enables them
to exc out miserable existence.
From the days Of Esau to the present
time two classes Of people have ex-
listed upon this earth, the one class
who live by honest labor, the other
who live off of honest labor. From
earliest times the one class have
lived by tilling the soil, raising fiocks
and herds, delving in mines, working