Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-10-08
THE RICH AND THE POOR.


The most despicable substitute for
an argument is the assailing of the mo-
tiVes of ones opponents and the ap-
pealing to all the latent hellishness in
men. Down with the richn' is the
cry of the ne 'er-do-well agitator, in
stead of up with the poor.." This is
much in the spirit. of a. dog in the
manger, with this difference, that the
four legged dog doesn't know any bet
ter. Do these calamity-howlers not
know that under our beneticient insti-
tutions the poor man of to-day is the
rich man of tomorrow? Who can
count the independent farmers of to-
day who came to this country forty,
thirty, even ten years ago, without q
dollar? And yet when you speak OF
''benefcient, to these malcontents,
they curl their lips in scorn. They
cannot believe that there is such
thing. They will not be rich men of
tomorrow, for those who never SOW
never reap, and their only hope of
gain is in picking the carcass of slain
society. But, my farmer friends and
fellow laborers, whenever you hear
this cry, look at the mouth from which
it issues, and will guarantee that you
will find tusks instead of teeth-nice
long tuslzs just fitted to tear things
asunder, but very poorly adapted for
slow, patient grinding.
1t is not the sober, law-abiding toll
er that makes this cry. He knows full
we'll that without capital his strong
muscles are of no more avail than the
fabby cords of an imbecile. It is not
the capitalist that says 'down with the.
poor, J" for his capital without labor is
useless. His manufactured product is
saleable only when the workingmen
have money with which to buy. It is
dollars, not men, which create demand;
and the American laborer, with the
daily wages of 1892 in his pocket, Gre
ates more demand than twenty China
men or greasy Mexicans jingling to-
gether few miserable coppers.
Farmers, when you hear a man cry
out hoarsely, "Wall streets ask him
patiently whom he means. Ask him
to tell you the names of a few of these
human vultures, as he is fond of call
ing them. Do not be harsh with him,
for men have been crying out against
capital since the days of boil-plagued
Job. These are the ''gold bugs" he
will toll you, who have cornered gold
and deprecated the price of railroad
and other property. [ tell you that
these same men are the largest owners
of railroad and other property in the
land. Will they depress the price of
their own propertyc The Populist
tells you that these men deal in money.
How many rich men have deposits in
the banks amounting to $4,000? Yet
these same men are worth millions.
What is it in? In railroads, factories
and plants of all kinds. How can they
makt money? By closing these factor
les and pushing down their value?
Certainly not, but by putting these
plants into operation, by producing;
and to produce they must hire labor
ers, and it needs no argument here to
show that the wages they pay are the
highest in the world.
When this agitator tells you that
wheat sold for S1.47 in 10, tell him
that you seem to remember that it sold
for SOC in 1860. Tell him that your
statistics show that in 1910 it sold for
8 cents. Tell him that you are not
aware that the S6O0.O00.OOO in silver,
coined since 1878. has raised your
wheat any, and that you are inclined
to believe that wheat is dependent up
on something besides a silver dollar.
When you, fellow lahoring men, hear
cry go up against the rich. don't turn
your eyes upon Wall street in the hazy
distance, which is only a short, narrow
unpretending street on Manhattan Is
land, but look at the rich men nearer
at hand, whom you know and have had
a chance to study. Look at the men
in your own town. Count over how
many of them we're once poor. Hu-
manity is the same everywhere. These
men are good index of the whole.
And do not count only those worth
100000 or more. Count all those who
have accumulated anything, for anar-
chy snaps and snarls at all property,
however humble. Are these men try
ing to Cypress you? Are these men
yos,r sworn enemies? Will their down
fall bring you an extra dollar? Does
the merchant in your town want you
to have good wages or poor wages?
And upon the prosperity of the mer-
chant depends the prosperity of the
manufactures, for it is to the merchant
he sells, and it is to you that the mer-
chant sells. If you can't buy and pay