Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-06-17
LETHARGY OF VOTERS
THE CAUSE OF THE. DISTRESS
OF PRODUCERS.
A Majority of the People Do Not En-
Joy Prosperity and Will Not So Long
40 the Producers Control the
Government.

! The power Of this government was
attended to be vested in the people.
The Will of the people was intended
to be the supreme law, when expressed.
It Is believed by the founders Of the
government that the people would
have sufficient intelligence to divine
their interests and enough courage TO
demand their projections and advance
ment. In the earlier years Of the coun-
try, public men sought, by close obser-
walton and study, to evolve theories to
be made issues, by which the interests
Of the people would be advanced; and
he who succeeded best in bringing forth
these practical theories and carrying
them to successful contamination was
the ideal public servant, and was con-
tinued in Office, because Of his fidelity
and loyalty to the interests of the peo-
pie. All the progress made by this gov
eminent was secured during the prev
alence of that system.
1t is a remarkable fact that the in
terests Of the majority Of the people
no longer envoke or bring forth plans
for their elevation and welfare. This
country has less attention paid to the
masses of the people than any In the
world. 1t has become reproach upon
any man to be a champion of the in
terests of the masses He Is called an
agrarian, socialist, communist or
anarchist
The people still have the power, but
they do not or can not use 1t. two
thirds of them are mere party slaves,
who belong to party and blindly fol-
low its leaders. Partyism has become
more practical and business-like, as TO
the party, and less so as to the people.
The first desideratum of party as
has been practiced by the two old
parties, is to get campaign fund. In
order to do this 1t must make pledges
and enter into obligations which must
be carried out in case of success. In
this way an administration is sold in
advance. It is pledged to interests
adverse to the people in order to get
a campaign fund to pay speakers and
newspapers to mislead and deceive
them.
A majority of the people have not
enjoyed any modicum of prosperity
for five years. There is little prospect
Of their enjoying much more for the
next five years. The agriculturists
produce large crops and the mines
yield immense products, but those
who produce this wealth secure only
bare subsistence. Why is this? 1t
is a recognized fact that if man
wants to become independent, that
he will seek some other field for his
energy and industries. This is not
the place. He who produces does not
get the product OF his labor. When 1t
strikes the market the first man who
strikes it gets one-fifth as much profit
as the man who produced it; and 1t
goes on down the line to the last hands
with each one securing five times as
much profit, relatively, as the man who
produced it. These inequalities are
caused by business sense and manage
ment, which all these other people dis
play, through organization and all
other assistants, which the producer
scorns. But even this account Of this
reason is unsatisfactory. There is
something more. Systems are organ
lied to assure this result. These sys-
tens embrace and embody all the
factors in the problem, with their ratio
or proportion of benefit, which have
become so fixed that it is almost i'm
possible to change them, certainly
never to be changed while so little ef-
fort and so little organization are COM
bined for their overthrow.
If 1.-The laborer is worthy of his hire"
certain it is that the producer is
worthy of the best and largest proper
ton of the benefit realized in the use
of his product; but such is not the case
and 1t seems very long way ahead in
the future before it will be vouchsafed
to him.
But if public men were held to
stricter accountability for their man
agement of the public interest.
1t would be a great stride
| towards return Of favorable
conditions for the producers and la
borers, but that is what it seems i'm
possible to impress or to secure any
tangible and earnest effort to secure.
Failure Of one causes failure of the
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