The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-10-29
rae GRRAr
Will the Politicians or the People
Solve it7

6&O 4uOL1dS OLldAU4GGS NO5 DOEu IN
Fifeshire, Scotland. He devoted his
life to the study of the welfare of the
people. the mass as he termed them
the millions. He was a big Drained
man, a man of wonderful zeal and ardor
which coupled with his giant intellect
and intense Christianity made him a
power, towering high above the states
men Of those days. And besides being
a philanthropist, and the greatest au
thority on the laws governing the poor
masses, he was so intensely religious
that he was called the spiritual king of
Scotland He lived to a ripe old age,
and when he died, more than one hun
dred thousand people followed his re
mains to the grave.
Now surely such a mar should be
high authority on social and economic
questions. Now listen to his signif
cant, and we might with truth say
prophetic words, in speaking of the
evil condition of the masses and the
tyranny of the rich and great. He
says: The first thing to seek, there
fore, is the welfare of the great prepon-
dering mass the poor, the millions, for
if they are faring we'll society in gen
eral will be sound, comfortable and Sc
cure. If they are faring i'll, society
will be diseased and tending to some
fatal catastrophe. The bane of modern
society is the separation and hostility
of the classes, the rich holding aloof in
dangerous isolation and grandeur-ob
jects of envy when their mountain
stands strong-targets Of revolution
when their mountain is shaken by any
convulsion from beneath"
Now what volumes are spoken in
the above few lines by Mr. Chalmers
and Goes not he diagnose our condition
of to-day more accurately and point
to the remedy more distinctly and
clearly than any or all the statesmen,
or so-called statesmen, who have legis-
lated for US in fifty years. Let our
rich men ard corporations take warn
ing before it is too late, and remember
and what the great Chalmers said
about them holding aloof in danger
GUS isolation and grandeur, objects of
envy when their mountain stands
strong, targets of revolution when their
mountain Is shaken by some convul-
sion from beneath, " for just SO surely
as 1.-THE great prepondering mass" is
much larger and much finer ground to
the dust of poverty, degradation and
disgrace, just SO surely will some con
vulslon from beneath shake the strong
mountain" of the great and rich cor
pora,ions and individuals, and when it
passed all remedy, then indeed will
they be hopeless targets before the
STAN ede of the reckless, hunger crGzed
millions.
We are no part of an Anarchist, or
even Socialist; we think it no crime for
a man to get riches h~OnOrably. We
have many good rich men. But we do
think 1t a crime against civil liberty,
against humanity and against every
instinct of right and happiness, com
fort and security Of the masses, and of
our civil liberty for the head of our
government, in collision with the
money kings of this country and EU-
rope to plumber our nation of millions
of money in bond deals, and so hedge
about the greedy and grinding monop
olist ard national banks with unjust
laws, that the toiling masses are at
their mercy. The liberties of our PEG.
pie have been taken away by lying and
deception, by political thieves.
The coinage of our money stopped,
the currency contracted, the duty
taken eff of u cotton, wool, lumber,
coal and ores and practically all
raw materials produced by the great
prepondering mass" and a high rate of
protection offered the sugar trust, the
great steel rail robbers of the world,
the Oarnegie's and many similar trusts
and institutions who say to our people,
as did the Egyptian KING of old, to the
enslaved Hebrews make your task
of brick and gather your straw" Yea
their taak masters were rigorous and
exacCing, even as our task masters
Cleveland, Rothschild, Belmont, Nor
gan & Co, r rigorous and exacting.
But deliveranCe came to the ancient
~Israelites and d~eliverance will come to
Us, Our corrupt 8 called statesmen
who rule us have utterly failed to
solve the problem, and now the people
will solve it. Our crops are beautiful,
our resources are unoounded, our rade
and commerce Is capable of triple *.