Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-10-05

near future will bring about divis.
ion in political matters along class
lines, and, as in the past, that ele-
ment whose only thought is money
making will expect to win their polit-
ical battles by the lavish expenditure
OF money and by the coercive power
that money Sc ems to possess.
The commercial party, whatever be
its rame, will prate of greatness" of
national honor" of progress, of
prosperity" and deal with prodigal
hand prefe ment to its loyal support
ers: On those who dare oppose its
will political persecution and the in
dustrial blacklist will fall.
The party of the people, whatever
be its name, will preach discomfort,
Will denounce the avarice of the com
mercial class, will demand justice for
the poor. and its leaders will be hound
ed by the commercial press as "dema-
gogues" and anarchists
The party of the commercial class
will seek to build a great army, will
prepare to enforce its dictum by mill
tary power. The party of the people
will preach crusade that must result
in victory at the polls, in spite of
bribery and bayonets.
What then! Will the commercial
class ''bow to the will of the maiori-
ty,' or will the vote of States be
thrown out by Congressional ''re-
turning board?
When such time comes God pity
the nation! A Patriotic Henry will
shout defiance from every State
General Miles and his troops will De
concentrated in rethless haste and
military government will be installed.
The constitution will be ignored. the
regulars" will partol the larger cities
regardless of the protests from State
Governors.
And who will these hired soldiers
confront? The same class that re
sponded SO gallantly to the Presidents
cal for volunteers in the war with
Spain, But they are not trained
fighters, and cannot hope to preserve
the liberties of the American people" )"
some may say. Be it remembered
that they are of the same class, the
same stock that camped with Wash
ington at Valley Forge, the same
breed that fought at New Orleans
with Jackson, the same fighters that
followed Taylor over painless wastes
to Mexico, the same invincible vo;un-
teers who fought with Grant and Lee,
the same heroes who charged through
the jungle and up the hill at San
Juan. God forbid that this day shall
ever come, but it may as well be
known now as then ''that the govern
ment of the people, by the people and
for the people shall not perish from
the earth.
And while We are speaking of the
commercial Glass; in contradistinc
tion with the masses of the people let
us not forget that all nations of the
past have owed their degeneracy
aid extinction to commercialism.
The ruins of Rome are monuments to
greed OF her patticians; the decadence
OF Spain is due to its commercial
class that grinds every penny of pro
hts that the colonies will yield; the
capital invested in Southern planta
tions in days of yore depended for its
profits, its power, upon slave labor;
capital invested TO day in Northern
mills, mines and factories demands
conditions as profitable as that OF
chattel slavery.
Commercialism is best promoted by
monarchies that government "of
the people has been distasteful 10
those whose only idea of government
is that which ''builds up trade and
protects vested rights is known the
world over In its greed for gold the
commercial class of America may Kill
the goose that lays the golden egg.
Quien sahe.
The editor of the Trainmen's Jour
nal also knows what he is talking
about when he speaks for the work
lngman. He says:
But what makes the American
soldier 30 superior to the soldiers of
other nations! It is the simp e fact
that this government is made to con-
form to the need of its people aud not
that the people are made to conform
to the needs of the government
This is nation wherein the need
of the people are considered first and
government policy made to conform
to such needs. The plans of other
governments are largely of the re-
verse order. and the result is that the
American stands above the other in
every respect.
The conditions which have become
SO apparent should lead the Ameri-
can to demand that they SO remain.
The soldier of the present has been
and will be the artisan. He must be
protected from the grasping tenden-
cies of capital that seek to crush him
down to the living level of those whom
he has 80 gloriously defeated in battle.
The American workman has thus far
made living wage, he has been edu-
Gated and takn care of his family he
has demanded fair treatment. and
when it has been denied him he has
fought to secure it. Often misunder-
stood by the people who should have
studied his demands, his actions in
the past, that were actuated by de-
sire to maintain his working and liv-
ing st indards. are exemL lifted in his
splendid performance as the intelli-
gent volunteer soldisr.
Let the American people under
stand that the government depends