Connecticut western news., 1896-08-20

cooperation" Everything that man does for his own benefit acts directly upon the inter ests of his neiah bors. No man stand aloncss in a civilized community. His interests, his prospects. his fortunes are to some extent shared by his fellows There is not an eSr of corn ripening in the western field that does not affect the price of bread to you and to me. The farmer who scatters seed upon the ground by that acts starts into motion tue wheels of the factory; he sharpens the tools of the car penter: he stimulates the construction of rail roads; he causes the engineers Co plan new bridges crossing currents, new tunnels under rivers, new canals joining oceans and sepze rating continents. If the farmer did not work. if the miner did not dig in the subterranean gallery. every other department of industry would languish, for men would not produce and create if they did not sec in the industry and activity of others prospect of a demand for the commodity which they produce, and every man in the world Is bound closely to the destiny and interests of his fellow man.
 Underlying the whole scheme of civilization is the confidence men have in each other, con. hdence in their honesty. confidence in their integrity, confidence in their industry, conh- dence in their future. If we want silver coin age tomorrow, If We even dehase our standard of value, men say that still you would have the same property you have today, you would still have the same soil. you would still have the same continent. And it Is true. But did the Indian have the same rivers that roll past
 
 they pass So the mountains, piled full of min eral treasures, soo years ago.
 .A Pathway of Destruetion-- r
 The same atmosphere enwrspped this oonti- nent, the same soil covered the fields, the same sun shone in heaven, and yet there was none but the savage pursuing the pathway of war through the trackless forests, and the river bore no single living thing except the Indian in his canoe, pursuing a pathway of de- sfruction. There was no industrial co-opera- tion. because the Indian was s savage aud did not understand the principles by which men aid each other in taking from the bosom of the earth the wealth which makes life bearable and develops the intelligence which makes civilization. Anything that attacks that basis of human confidence is crime against civi. liEation and a blow against the foundations of social order.
 We believe that the very essence of oivilira. ton is mutual interest, mutual forbearance. mutual cooperation We believe the work has got past the time when mems hands are at each others throats. We believe today that men stand shoulder 10 shoulder. working to- gether for a common purpose, beneficial to all and we believe that this attempt to aszAil wages, which means an attempt 10 attack the prosperity of all, will be resisted not by a class, but by the W hole nation. What labor has gained, that shall 1t keep. The rate of wages that is paid to it today Is the lowest rate we will ever willingly accept. We look forward to a further and further increase in the prosper ity of workingmen, not merely by an increase in the daily wage. but by a further increase in the purchasing power of wages. Men who tell us that the prices of farm products have fallen and that the farmer for that reason Is a sufferer forget that while the price of wages has risen of the farm the efficiency of labor has increased; that the cost of production has been reduced through the aid of machinery while the wages of the individual lsborer may have risen. While wages remain at their pres ent rate l hope there will be further and further and continuous decrease in the cost of living. There is no way in which can he sd- nitted to s share of Gods bounty except through a fall in the prices of the neoeSsaries of life.
 --rhe Crown of Thorns-
 While we have in existence a system of mutual cooperation, which is but another name for civilized society. all men are admit. ted 10 a share in every bounty which provi- dence sho<ers upon the earth. The dweller in the tenement house stepping over his bench who never held of waving corn. who has never inhaled the perfume of grasses and of flowers. Is yet made the participator in all the bounties of providence in the purifying influence of the atmosphere, in the ripening rays of the sun, when the product of the soil is made cheaper to him every day by the abundance of the harvest. It Is from his share in this bounty that the Populist wants Co ex. clude the American workingmnn. To him say, in the name of humanity, in the name of progress. you shall neither press & crown of thorns upon the brow of labor nor press a scourge upon his back. You shall not rob him of any one adv antage which he has gained by long years of study, of progress in the skill of his craft and by the careful organization of the members vho work with him at the same bench. You shall not obscure the golden pros pects of further improvement in his oondi- ton by further cheapcning of the cost of living well as by further depreciation of the dollar which is paid to him. The man who raises his hand against the progress of the workingman raises his hand against prosperi- ty. He seeks Co restrict the volume of prcduc- tion. He seeks to degrade the condition of the man who is steadily improving himself and in his own improvement is accomplishing the improvement of all mankind. but this attempt will fail.
 do not regret this campaign. Tho time has come when the people of this country will show their capacity for self government. They will prove that the men who have left the world in tho pathway of progress will be the jealous guardians of liberty and of order. They are not to be seiuced by appeals Co their cupidity moved by threats of injury. They will forever guard. and iealously guard. and trim the lamp of enlightenment, of progress. They will ever relentlessly press and crush discontent Populist agitation and Populist de- struction. When this tide of agitation shall have receded-this tide of Popu.st agitation, this assault upon common honesty and upon industry shall have been absted forevcr-the foundations of this republic will remain disturbed. This government will still shelter a people indissoluhly welded to liberty and order. iealousiy forbidding any distinction of burden or of privilege, conserving property. the tried basis of American patriotism and Amerf intellicen-N