The times., 1897-07-05
EVILS OF LAND MONOPOLY
Jerry Simpson Occupies the Pul-
pit at the Peoples Church.
DANGERS TO THE REPUBLIC
He Attacks the Administration in
His Characteristic Style, and Says
That the Senate Is Body OF
MiIIionaires- Land Monopolies
Must Be Broken.

The members OF the Peoples Church, in
common with many OF the other houses
of divine worship in this city, yesterday
devoted the entire morning service to the
standing the excessive heat the church
was crowded far beyoEd its capacity,
but those who remained until the services
were concluded were amply repaid for
the time they spent by so doing. The
principals were Hon. Jerry Simpson and
Senator 4 Hen, of Nebraska, each OF whom
took advantage Of the opportunities OF
the occasion and made some rather racy
remarks, during which the present Ad-
ministration was the butt oil rloicule.
The meeting was opened at / l O'Clock
by Rev Alexander Kent, who, i'll few
wcll-choscn words, introduced the speakers
as "the tribunes Of the people"
MI Simpson was the first speaker.
This is the very first time l have ever
had an opport unity OF speaking iii a meet
ing L came here to listen To a patriotic
discourse from my colleague here, Senator
Allen, OF Nebraska But in some way
or other, he saw fit TO decline To ad-
dress you nrst, and 1t has thus deyolyed
upon me He has been SO busy discussing
that tariff Iately that he insisted that |
should open the celebration, and promised
Inc that he would indulge III a few re-
marks lateI OF -
Il suppose l am here to speak to you
about the Fourth of July and things
associated herewith. 1t is one OF the
days Of all the year when we should go
over the glorious achievement of our an
cestors in giving the world one OF the
grandcst governments ever seen. Up TO
tie time OF the Declaration OF Independ-
cncc there had never been an attempt
To give the world freedom II was an
unheard-of declaration. The Idea Of gov
crnutent by the people was an unheard-9f
| thing Heretofore the idea prevailed that
the right to govern came from on high,
and that ii belonged IN the few. We all
CDucede to Jefferson alone the authorship
OF that great paper 1t was Jefferson's
greatest declaration that Just govern
| ment can only exist by the consent of
| the governed II was launched upon
an unknown sea. Has it been Il success?
| What are the achievements or that deCla
ration? Have people realized its full
| import?
! Il doubt if II half-dozen neu at the time
who took an interest in the affair, really
understood the fun Import Of the Declara-
tiou Of independence jefferson under
| stood it and laid IL down as a cardinal
! principle What little success we have
| achieved lies in the fact that Jeffe Tson
realized ana incorporated therein equality
for all is Jeffcrsonian Democracy. The
| progress of the new government has been
! marvellous We look baCki We see the
| coIonists fight seven years war Of devas-
tation and devotion to their cause, to a
I successful conclusion. We see q few
settlements on the bays and inletS OF the
! scaCoast develop into the gTandest ma
| ton of the world. We see them during
this time conquer a continent. We see
| con .nerce and trade spring up everywhere
! That increase Of growth was because the
! declaration of equality OF opportunity had
| been made. Under the benign influence
! Of the same the great storehouses of wealth
! were opened II 5 easy to account for
! The same old story over again. Every
! government that has risen is one where
! tn. masses are given equal opportunity
| We sometimes think that when we
establish public schools and libraries that
! all is done India and Spain have had
| public schools, libraries and municipalities,
| hut they did not save India or Spain. In
! France, before the great revolution, there
! We're all the opportunities Of education and
reading, but they did not save France
| Fifty years before the great French revolu-
tion IL, 900 persons owned all the land.
No wonder the people revolted.
Il want to point out, if possible, some
Of the evils confronting US. We have seen
| the progress made and the building OF the
institutions. l want to ask some questions
Has this given the people equality Of
| opportunity? Have the masses shared the
| blessings, or have only the few been bene-
fitted? II this is not the case we have but
| to Ir%ke new resolve that we viii try TO
secure the advantages that should result.
| 1t is hard TO speak on these topics without
stepping on some ones prejudice But it
is the duty of every public speaker To tell
the truth as lie sees it
Il hold that today the struggle for
existence and the conditions of life are
harder than in the days of jefferson, and
that we do not receive the full benefit of
| our Government. What are the causes? ?
We see the land taken up and controlled
by syndicates. We ought to devote more
attention to pleading the cause of the
miners of the State of Illinois, and should
manifest an interest in the conditions under
which they struggle. What is true Of them
is true of every laboring man in the United
! states We say that ought not to be
In so grand a land, with all its resources,
and the inventive genius of labor 70 create
machinery. Yet these are the conditions
confronting us today. We are on the verge
of revoluton-a political one, perhaps
a peaceful one, perhaps I do not believe
that people who listen to annual Fourth OF
July OratiOns Will sit down quietly and
submit to those conditions 1t is the duty
Of every statesman to proclaim and point
out, when he gets an opportunity, the evil
he sees, however much he may, by so doing
hurt the prejudices of these fine haired
statesmen.
"One of the great evils is the power OF
accumulated wealth. If you would use
your common sense and mother wit 70
just a moment you would know that many
of the men i'll Congress are only developed ii
the faculties of gaining wealth. If yot
point to the United States Senate you vii
find n body of nillionaires There are no
more than a dozen States that will send tC
the Senate man without the capacity o
gaining wealth. 1t is the same with tht
House, which, should say fas gene int
tie hands of a receiver. 1t is so that W
can't even get report from the receive
as to- the assets. Oh, how far the Ship o
State has tlrifted from its mooragel Sc