The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-08-28

cork and is generally creditor for a
eeeks work Ut two weeks work.
Every great industrial enterprise has for
Its chief creditors it's own,laborers. The
heaviest account in every department of
industry, whatever it may be. is always
the wages account
Wages First Lien.
Here is an abstract which will show you
just how the earnings of great corpora
tion are distributed.
The New York Central railroad handles
ever year about $40, 600, 900. OF that sum
S10, 900, 900 is paid for interest on bonds
and for rental OF leased railroads, "a, 000,-
900 is paid for dividends, S13, 900, 900 Is
paid for equipment and repairs, and $780,
500, 900 is paid for wages.
Tho railway employees of the United
States alone draw $500, 900, 900 a year in
wages II the New York Central railroad
went into the hands of receiver tomor.
row, IL it became totally and hopelessly
bankrupt it's dividends could be passed
and it's shareholders could not complain.
Tho interest on its bonds might be In de.
fault and the bondholders would be with
out redress, but the wages of the laborer
would always be paid, for they are first
lien upon every industrial enterprise.
Not. my friends, because they love the
labor of man, but because he is absolute
ly necessary to the existence Of the enter
prise.
Here we have the figures from the Unit
cd States bureau of statistics showing the
amount of wages paid every year in the
United States, and we find that 1t was
over ST. 2S3, 250,0 600. Talk of the interest
on the national debt, talk Of the principal
of the national debt, talk of any other
debt that exists throughout the civilized
world, and 1t forms but small percentage
of this debt which Is duo to labor, wher
ever man works and tolls, wherever things
of value are being created, wherever means
of transportation are in activity wherever
the forces of civilization are at work.
A farm is an industrial enterprise The
pretense that the farmer of Nebraska Is
suffering under the weight of a mortgage
contracted under n metal which has stead
lily increased in value is but Populistic
metaphor. Two-thirds of the farmers
have no mortgage debt whatever. ! do
not believe there is per cent of them
that owe mortgage over three years old,
during which time there has been no
change in the value of the metal, but every
single farmer is creditor in the shape of
his own labors.
The Farmer a BIainstay of Order.
This proposal of the Populists is an at
tempt to enlist the farmer In o conspiracy
to reduce the wages paid this labor that he
may have larger proportion OF his own
products, and they are willing to cut down
the wage of every man who works in cities,
who tolls at tho bench, who digs in the
mines, who manages the train, In the
hope that they can ride into power on a
wave of cupidity and greed awakened in
the breast of the voter.
But, my friends, 1t is triumphant vim
dication of American citizenship that this
attempt to enlist the farming and agrioul-
tural members of this community into this
conspiracy has failed miserably, utterly,
absolutely. Every western state which In
1890 and 1899 fell into the hands of the
Populists or went into the Farmers ALI
ance, before their real purposes were ex-
ecuted, was purified and the Populistio
forces were scattered out of existence when
the farmers Of this country understood
precisely what the Populists meant for his
welfare was really for his ruin.
The farmer EEo. ,When- this cor ntry was
aside when the last shot had been fired on
the southern battlefield, whose moderation
prevented tho political warriors at Wash
ington from pursuing policy of discrim
ination and punishment in the southern
states--that farmer, who made the policy
or the north policy of Cancellation, of
forgiveness, of reunion, whose hand 1t was
that made ruins of her cities and ashes of
her homes received her once more and
said, Live in peace and sin no more. "
That farmer today is the mainstay OF
order and of property, as he was the main
stay of the Union.
There was Populistio delegation from
states that were Democratic, but it is a
significant fact that every northern state
in which there was q chance of electing q
Democratic governor or of choosing Dem
ocratic electors, with the exception of Mis-
souri, and Indiana, stood boldly and firmly
for the gold standard at Chicago, and they
were submerged by wave of Populism
from the south.
My friends, there has been great
change in the Democratic organization Of
tho southern states. The men who, from a
mistaken sense of loyalty, followed their
states out of the Union, whose gallantry
in war, whose fortitude in defeat won the
admiration Of the civilized world, tho men
whose virtues commanded the support of
northern public opinion in the attempt to
overturn oarpetbag governments in the
southern states, the men who led their
people through all the troubled period OF
reconstruction back into full union with
the sister states-these men, like Hampton
in South Carolina and Caffery in Louisi-
ana, have been swept from power new
set has got into the saddle, a set of leaders
of which Tillman is the exponent, who
boldly unfurled the sectional flag at Chi
cago and declares that this Populst move.
ment Is u direct movement against the
prosperity of the east
Conspiracy Against the Industrial Masses.
Men of New York. toilers of America,
guardians of your own homes. will you
allow yonr rIte of wnges TO he affected by
any man who never has paid wages at ail
| IL no could got out of III Will you submit
| to this conspiracy between the profession
nj farmers the farmers who cultivate the