The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1896-09-19
Labor In the Campaign.

In the present political situation
the greatest importance attaches to
that part Of Mr.. Bryan's Labor Day
speech which lays stress upon the
coercion adopted by employers to con-
troll the votes Of their working people.
1t is subject which might well en-
gross the attention of Labor Day au-
dience particularly an audience in
Chicago, where, more than anywhere
else in this country, the consolidated
forces of plutocracy seek to bend to
their will the man who works for a
living wage.
A few questions only need be adj
dressed to workingmen in this cam
paign. Some were put specifically by
Mr. Bryan. Some grew inferentially
from his speech. One, and it is the
ugliest one, has been whispered from
man to man until the undertone has
grown to be a shout; until what has
been whispered has come to be openly,
violently, bitterly asserted in public
places and on the hustings. To our
mind this latter question is the one of
prime Importance in this campaign
the one of prime importance in all
campaigns il the Government Of the
United States is to continue a govern
ment by and for the people. Let us
state it boldly-for it must be frankly
proffered, repugnant to American
ideas though it be:
Does the man who buys, by a week
ly wage, another mans labor, buy his
political conviction, his rights as a
citizen, and his vote as well?
Probably it would be safe to chal-
lenge every employer of labor from
Mark Hanna down--or up-to answer
this question. All would respond in
the negative, but all who are at all
active in McKinley's behalf are giving
it affirmative effect. In Chicago and
other towns men who are on Mark
Hanna's Executive Committee are
putting Mckinley buttons in pay en-
velopes, hiring secret service men to
mingle with employees and talk for
Mckinley, holding MONDAY meetings
in McKinley's behalf, paying out,
with shallow logic, Mexican dollars,
and even openly threatening men who
express themselves for Bryan with dis
missal. The degree to which coercion
by employers has been employed in
this campaign cannot be estimated.
The men who suffer by it have too
much pride to tell the story.
This the Journal thinks one of the
prime issues of this campaign. The
economist and statesman may give
first Importance to other issues. They
may say, and we agree with them,
that it is essential, If the wages of
labor and the profits of farmers are to
be maintained, the volume of the cir
culatlng medium shall be increased,
and that the increase can come best
through silver coinage. This is true
beyond cavil. 1t is true, too, that
only by an income tax can the very
rich be made to bear their share of the
burden Of government expenditures;
true that without extension of govern
ment authority over railroads the rail-
roads will get-what perhaps they now
have--authority over the government.
But in the end there is greater issue
than all these.
Has man the right to vote accord
ing to his convictions? Who is trying
to deny him this right? Is coercion
exerted in behalf of Bryan or In be-
half of Mckinley? And, at last, If
there be coercion, what, under our
theory of government, should be the
action of free American citizen when
he goes to the polls?-N. Y. Journal.