Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1897-03-24
HARD WORDS, BUT TRUE.
Willing Slaves of the Nineteenth
Century.

tiSH III tHS CHlNtSO IA IiesS-Wilfn |
she was engaged in writing upon la
Dor reform. 1t fits as well to-day as
it did the day it was written:
II know the slave-driver, and / know
the slave; and | mean to say that the
slave driver, selfish as he is, is a gentle
man in comparison with the slave
There is nothing in all the world so
ignoble as the slave. He is in his true
position as slave so long as he will
lingly bears his servitude. He is fit
for nothing else.
Why should | care that his back is
bent under the burden of another?
Why should | be distressed at his
wrongs? His wrongs are just dues SO
long as he bears them in tame and
cowardly submission. What would be
the wrongs OF freeman are for him
just deserts.
l mean to speak the truth from
this time on. | have coddled the slave
and called him a man when | know
there is no manhood in him. | will
do so no longer. On the contrary,
hereafter, mean to assert everywhere
and on all occasions that he who wears
fetter needs it; that he who bears
kick deserves it,
wash my hands of spirits that are
so mean and slavish as to take part in
the justice that is cru. hing them down.
Moreover, say that the bent back of
the toiler, the horny hands, the coarse,
distorted features and the general ugli
ness that marks him, are confession
OF his own sins in abetting the sins Of
his mastert
! desire TO speak face to face with
you-the slaves of the nineteenth cen.
fury to tell you how have seen more
and worse than this-that you have
no respect for any man but the one
} that kicks you, and no regard for any
J power but that which tramples you
down. You are the obstacle-the only
: obstacle-in the way Of race enamel
patton.
, Your masters are handful; you
are legion. Your masters are intelli
! gent-many of them considerable and
just, as the world goes; and though
|, they will not voluntarily relax theil
selfish grip on the good things Of life
not one of them would dare to refuse
, you justice if you had it in you to take
a brave and manly stand for your
, right But you are more befooled by
the far of dazzle OF their gold than
they are by its possession. They have
sane moments, when they reflect how
their money has been gathered at your
; xpense-moments when they almost
' wish that the system which fosters
e robbery and makes gold king, which
e puts in allegiance every noble impuls
Y could be changed for some bette
and more righteous way.
But you-you adore the system
You doff the ragged cap and bend the
q servle knee before the baser part ol
these mems nature, and your only de
!. sire for liberty is for the sake of emu
:, lating their vices instead of their vir
tues. They know this and they kno,
also, that social rupture that woult
: transform you into millionaires at thei
n expense would be the greatest possible
e calamity. For these men, selfish a
they are, have cessariiy-withou
Is intending or desiring to do so-bene
fitted the race throughout by their en-
s terprise. They have built railroads
and made the different races OF me
a. one nation. They have utilized you
= dumb energies to serve mankind i
s serving themselves. They have use1
J yon as machines, employing your SCI
: vices at the lowest cost compatibl
IL with the preservation of your lives an
t. your muscular power, until at last the
T. can supplant you with the cheape
:. material of wood and iron. And a
because they could do it-because 20
have permitted it.
They have done you but simple jus
!, tiee, blindfolded though it were. 70
t, were and are as worthless as the dus
!, under your feet, except for the powe
:. of physical contraction, extension an
a flexion of your muscles. You will nc
R. think. The moment one of you bt
gins to do this, he ceases to belong
that class to whom these words ar
addressed. Your faces are prone to til
ground to which your labor wor
bodies are rapidly hastening. 70
plod and delve from day to day, nevt
casting upward an admring look t
save when your masters, with liverie
attendants, splash mud upon you fror
q their carriage wheels as they pass i
o naughty splendor by. What are 20
d going to do? Your muse es--th
only part of you that thinks when tn