The Louisiana populist., 1895-04-05
NEED OF THE HOUR.
FIRST PAUSE AFTER NINETEEN
CENTURIES. -
Nor'entious omens OF an Impending CrIcis
OH for Lincoln to Lead Us Oot of
the Land of Bondage Into the Land
OF Golden Light and Hopeful Promise.

By e. H, selden.-rn webster's i'm
mortal reply to Hayne. the opening
p'asrapIn reads as follows:
Mr. President--when the mariner
nas rAen tossed for many days and in
.' <k weather and on an unknown sea,
naturally avails himself of the first
pause In the storm, the earliest glance
az The sun, to take his latitude and as
certain how far the elements have driv-
EN- him from his true course. Let us i'm
ntate his prudence and before we float
aurther refer to the point from which
we departed, that we may at least be
'aoie to conjecture where we are now"
From this extract let us see II there Is
any comparison to the present condi-
ton OF our own times, and whether
tnere are any lines of prudence marked
OUT That would be we'll Tor US to fol-
low.
Like the mariner, the great army Of
round-shouldered bread winners, hav-
Ing been tossed for. yea, these many
years. ere slowly but surely awakening
from the deep slumber Of ignorance
tna} has prevented them from knowing
tAeir rights, or realizing the depth Of
slavery from which their generations
have gone down to early AID anhal-
lowed. yet acceptable. graves. After
nineteen centuries, during this the first
forced pause in the storm of dog-eat-
dog policy that has swept the worlds
surface throughout the cycles Of ini-
quity. they are catching glimpse OF
the golden light of hope that is break
ing through the veil above them, and
are pausing to find their latitude, and
to learn. If possible, how far they have
been driven from the course marked out
by their God, in which all men could
reap the first fruits of honest toll. Be-
ware! The lion is awakening In Its lair.
His voice is penetrating the farthest
recesses Of the jungle. Unbrowned and
effeminate aristocracy stands aghast
with fear. The combined power Of the
worlds Drawn and muscle is being unit
ed to grapple with caste and cunning
In one grand effort to restore the long
lost diadem, the equality and brother
hood Of man.
A million rivulets Of thought and ac-
tion are being turned into one mighty
stream, whose swelled tide Is carrying
away the food-wood of prejudice and
superstition that has been built up
through the dark ages Of federal
knight-errantry and barricaded
throughout succeeding centuries by the
prestige of musty statutes and standing
armies, that have been as leeches upon
the labor of helpless humanity. en-
shaved thereby. The very atmosphere
Is surcharged with the electricity of
portcntious omens for the future. All
men are awake to the impending crisis.
Savants are searching the vocabularies
OF ancient and modern literature to ind
soothing phrases to calm the thirst for
economic investigations. From the es-
thetic literature of the most exclusive
magazines to the one-cent dailies, we
tind exclusive articles on the great
movement. while the caricatures Of the
illustrated press represent the contest
In its lurid forms. Strong men walk
as II treading the crown Of volcano,
while mothers, clasping their infants
to their bosoms. look out into the dim
future. wondering II the impending con-
test will remove the present maniacs
of unequal opportunities in the race Of
life before. her darlings are grown. or
win they In their tender years have to
90 out ON this frozen sea of corporate
greed to be permanently dwarfed upon
the tread wheels of unreQuited toll?
In this hour Of expectance. of anxiety,
of hope and fear, oh! for Lincoln to
lead Us out Of the land of bondage into
the land of light and promise. without
such leader to pilot the way, many
weary and wornout toilers will 90 down
ms their feet sink into the cold sands Of
the Jordan that separates us from the
land Of our inheritance.
AS Moses raised up the brazen serpent
IN the wilderness that all who had been
bitten By poisonous reptiles might be-
hold and live, so millions are praying
that the leader may be raised up whom
all may follow that are perishing under
the bite Of the poison Of corporate op-
preston.
Not with bullets. but with ballots. we
trust the citadel of plutocracy's host
must be destroyed. The calling Of the
ditcher, Of the hostler and the hod car
rier are called ignoble. but each forms q
rung In the ladder up which all Indus
try and progress must climb. and the
ballots Of these will count a much as
those whose gilded chariots spatter the
toiler In rags.
The battle-scarred veterans of toll.
awake to your opportunity and vote
only for those to make your laws whose
callvused hands are . living witness
that they live not from the fruits Of
others toll.
We WIN meet the enemy on our own
line Of battie-not upon "his chosen
s{uo - Wo bayo forpad fbo foo,rn and