The Louisiana populist., 1895-05-17
HE HITS THEM HARD.
WHAT If CHRIST CAMT TO
CONGRESS?
Howard Defends Himself Against the
Attacks of the Plutocratic Press and
Points Out the Source OF Unjust and
Corrupt Legislation.

praise OF the plutocratic press,
II he is looking after fat
places for his relations and friends, If
his heart longs for the smiles of aris-
tocracy and the fawning of sycopants,
he has only to be the willing tool of
plutocracy and all these things are
within his grasp. If thus he chooses,
his future pathway is strewn with flow
ers, and for him there is the purple and
fine linen of Dives.
On the other hand, il he champions
the cause of the people, and stands up
for the nations toilers and antagonizes
Shylocks who are enslaving the honest
yeomenry of the country, he will be
called a crank, an agitator and an an
archist.
He will be scorned by society, ma
ligned, abused and ridiculed by the
plutocratic press and treated discour-
teously and snubbed by those in power,
and given to understand that he has no
influence with the administration.
This condition confronts every man
who Is chosen to represent the people
and he must become an ally of the
aristocracy Of wealth and desert the
people or stand up for the rights of
the people and be hated by the money
power. Surrounded by lobbyists and
corruptionists, with unlimited Shonsy
to purchase votes, with avenue sitter
avenue to luxury and ease continually
open to the mental visios. surrounded
by vice and profligacy, Is Il to be won
dered at that so many of our public
men fsil victims to the temptation, and
forget the poor toilers who labor In
the mines and factories. the vineyards
and the fields. and who are looking to
their leaders with such intense, fearful
suspense? Here lies the great danger.
This is the very root of the evil, the
source Of all our ills.
So long as the trusts and monopolies
hold such unlimited power, just so long
will our legislation become more cor
rupt and vicious. The greedy, unscrup-
ulous grasping, trusts have entered the
halls Of congress and they have pol
luted the men whom the people have
trusted. and instead Of a government
by the people. 1t is a government by a
money oligarchy. The capital city of
our nation is reeking with rotteness;
corruption and bribery stalk hand in
hans with luxury and licentiousness
The man who sells his vote loses his
honor and becomes the prey of vicious
habits. Once started on the downward
road there is no stopping and he be-
comes the easy tool of the money pow
er. Thus 1t has come to pass that the
congress Of the United States Is ever
ready to foster the robber trusts while
the people are starving. We talk of
reform along certain lines, we hold
monster meetings and petition congress
for the passage of certain laws in the
interest of the people. and we wait and
fondly hope for good wholesome legis-
lationv when the very men who are to
pass the laws have sold themselves to
the money changers. We must break
the hold which the money power has
upon this nation ere we can hope for
reform. We must scourge the Shylocks
from the capital even as Christ scourged
the money changers from the temple
and we must turn out the unfaithful
servants, and with them the corrup-
tionists, the lobbyists, the rogues and
prostitutes who make of the great cap
itol building at Washington a veritable
den Of thieves. II we would have the
stream pure we must purify the head
waters. so IL we would have Just laws,
a. ~ tukc - H. \
women who have produced the wealth
of this nation, we must work q reform
alton among those who gave US the
laws.
With an earnest desire to reveal to
the American people this most shock
ing state of affairs and to show them
the source of the great danger which
menaces us, wrote my book If Christ
Came to Congress" The pictures
there drawn are no doubt vivid and
startling, but this Ii because they are
truc-taken from real life. The pluto-
cratic press all over the country IL
heaping abuse and vituperation on me
for drawing aside the veil 30 that the
voters Of this country might look upon
this shocking scene OF corruption,
shame and debauchery, and have been
threatened with ostracism by Washing
ton society and expulsion from congress
because of the revelations and expos
ures have made. but In spite of all this
/ propose to wield my pen and raise
INV voice in behalf of the honest toilers
who have elected me to congress. and
to 'cry aloud and spare not until
every man in the land shall be ac-
unainted with the true situation and
stirred to action.
Let me conclude with picture Of the
closing scenes Of the session OF con-
gress which expired March Z. It was
the holy Sabbath day and the church
bells were ringing merrily over the
Nsy In ~ capitol champagne asvsd !