The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-09-03

to have been allowed to come here at
/ all. The American-and by the Ameri-
can mean the man. under whatever
! sky he was born, to wheteve r flag he
/ may have owed allegiance; by an Ameri-
| can l mean the man who is heart and
| soul devoted to American institutions; he
is my brother, he is my fellow citizen,
and is entitled to enjoy the franchises of
| citizenship. But I believe that the great
multitude of those men, when they come
| to reflect upon the perils that surround
! them, will be compelled to the conclusion
that they are forced into a condition that
/ they ought not to be, by the presence of
men on this continent who would make
/ good strangers under any style of gov
! eminent | am acquainted with. | am a
! protectionist. 1 believe in the protection
of American labor, because l believe
there Is no happiness, there is no pros
/ perity, there is no safety for the Ameri-
! can laborer except at competent and COO
! slant wages; and / do not believe the
American labOrer can get wages for goods
! that are made in Great Britain But if
could get the ear of the great apostles
and leaders of the doctrine of protection,
| if l could get the ear of our friend
Mckinley. or of Thomas Bracket Reed,
or of William B. Allison, or that
/ other eminent statesman, Benz amin
/ Harrison-if could get the ear
of any of those gentlemen l should
| like to ask them what is the use
of talking about protecting American
/ labor classes-and why not protect the
American Iaborer as we'll? What is the
use of laying a tax upon the fabric and
product, and having free trade in men?
! What is the use in excluding the thing
manufactured by heavy tax and tariff,
and at the same time opening wide the
gates of Castle Garden and Ellis Island
to admit the men that make those same
fabrics in foreign countries at low
prices? What the laboring men of this
country want to do is to create healthy
public opinion that will prevent the in
vasion of incompetent, disqualified
pauper, and criminal immigration.
1t is too late, 1 presume, to proceed
further in the matter l presume that
the laboring men themselves ought to
| form ulate some system by which their
! Legislators shall be instructed to allow
no man to set foot upon the deck and set
sail for these shores unless he has first
atfirmatively esta blished the fact that he
is able and willing to be a self-supporting
! patriotic American citizen. And l believe
one thing further. That is this: That
nothing could sofar contribute to the well
fare of the American laborer, to the pres
ervation of his personal liberties, to the
| protection of his franchises against greed
| and aggression, as to have each state de-
clare in its corporate capacity that no
man should be permitted to exercise that
right of the American citizen by deposit
ing ballot in the box unless he can
! read and write and speak the English
language
Stronger Americanism.
What we need in this country is a
revival of more robust and vigorous
Americanism. We have become the
scOrn and reproach and by-word of ma
tions. There is no power so small that
! does not feel able to smack us in front or
smack US behind as we pass by. We
| need d revival of the robust American
ism that shall say to the Emperor of
Germany, sit will not do for you to say
publicly, Damn all these Americans; we
have got enough of themp" 1t won't do
for them to exclude the Shawnee county
hog and the Kansas steer from their mar
kets upon the false and injurious ground
that they are contaminated and diseased.
1t won't do for a third rate power like
Spain for the second time to send a shot
ted gun across the bows of an American
ship pursuing her vooations in neutral
waters without being called to swift and
| instantaneous account for it. And we
need a revival of robust Americanism
! that will enable US to say we are the
greatest, the strongest, the most popu-
lous and wealthiest nation on the earth,
and that all other nations have made
| their financial system to suit themselves
| and we have made our system to suit
ourselves. [Great applause,]
Circulating Medium.
have not time to dwell, as I desired
to do, upon what l believe to be the
most important question to American
labor, and that is the relation of our
circulating medium to their wages and
the prices of their products. l am going
to leave that to discuss with you on
some other and more appropriate oc-
casion. But in taking my leave of you.
thanking you for your attention to this
discussive and incOherent observation
upon some of the great questions that
concern American labor, | want to say
that l shall not appear here in vain and
| my rehearsal of these facts will not have
been without use if l shall have succeed
ed in convincing the American laborer
and the laborers of Shawnee county that
the redress for their wrongs and griev-
ances is in their own hands; and the true
remedy and solution will be found not in
the destruction and overthrow and ruin,
but in the faithful, patriotic discharge of
political and social duty by every Ameri-
can citizen. Remember, also, that there
is one great law that gives labor, as it
gives everything else in this universe
law from which neither the humblest
nor the mightiest is exempt, a law as
high as heaven and as deep as hell; and
that is the divine law of compensation.
''Ye do not gather grapes from thorns
not figs from thistles," Industry, courage,
fidelity, will have their reward. Drunk
ness, Incidence, incapacity will have
their reward. "The wages of sin is death,
and whatsoever a man soweth that also
shall he reap"
j. r. BUTTONS SPEECH.
Labor Has Equal Rights With Capital and