Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1897-11-26
BOSSES AND VOTERS.


that is hard to understand. For years, there
have been occasional protests against boss rule,
but there has been no persistent effort New
York city overthrow Tammany four years ago.
In the late election, Tammany re-enthroned.
One year ago. New York state went over 2oo,-
600 Republican. Now, the state is Democratic,
ON chief Justice of the court of appeals.
Is Tammany better now than four years ago?
and is Republicanisn worse than one year ago?
We take parties as a whole to arrive at con-
clusion, and parties as whole do not change
very much in one year, OF in four years.
All the wickedness of both men aud measures
was just as apparent in the Republican party
one year ago as now, to close observers, and
Tammany is no better for the drubbing it re-
ceived. 1t will be little more cunning. Boss
Hill steps to the 'front.' and Boss Plat retires.
Next year, or the year after, people will again
shift their bosses, but they never SHIFT their
burdens along with their bosses.
Last year, the Democratic party overthrow
its bosses, and the bosses overthrow the party
at the polls. The bosses had their revenge;
likewise their pay. All the bosses work for
the corporations; so boss never gets left, no
matter which side wins, so it is not the people.
!. The people seldom win because their efforts
are generally put forth in dethronng one set of
bosses to make room for another set.
In New York city, George and Low stood for
the people, Instead of two men, theie should
have been but one The corporations and
trusts don't do that kind of business. They
always have sure thing SO long as they can
defeat the masses, and the masses help the cor
porations all they can by either dividing up or
voting direct. The masses would, it seems,
rather be serfs than make united and deter
mined effort to defeat rings, bosses and plun-
derers. Efforts are either spasmodc or misdi
rected.
Colorado once had reform governor. 1t
hasn't now. Too much thunder and not
enough rain. This year, the city Of Denver
had about twenty tickets. Everything was i'll
the field, from anarchy up to highmuck amuck
holiness They were all 'reforiners," but the
greatest reform needed was lost sight of entire
ly. The first reform in importance was for re-
formers to have but one ticket, and have that
gone into the fight as one man. That is the
way the corporations fight. If the corpora
tons have two tickets, it is when both tickets
are for the corporations If one or more of the
tickets are opposed to corporations, the corpo-
rations Join hands. Not so the masses. Many
men of the masses are never so happy as when
they are pulling down their fellows. Syco-
plants and lickspittles are they.
Many of the people are honest, but misgud-
ed. We boast of the intelligence Of the Amer
lean people. Comparatively, the boast is we'll
put, but, all the same, the American voter is
not near up to the highest standard 1t takes
brains and study to make hrst-class voter
The voter who does not read and study politi
cal questions is an unsafe voter. He uses a
razor with which to cut his own throat. The
unintellgent voter is never reformer. The
bosses easily hold the uninforned 1t is the
man who thinks that kicks, and it is man who
kicks that the bosses hate. ''No Office for
kicker' is a law in the kingdom of the bosses
that is unalterabe.
To sum up the whole matter, the bosses in
most places are still in the saddle, and the
masses are still in that stage of bewilderment
that calls for more leaders like Bryan, George
and Seth Low. That we have such men is the
favorable symptom of Our times. These three
men stand for the triune forces that preserve
free institutions All are educators, but along
different lines. Bryan educates from the plat