Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-01-13


inspiration from the eartern press, is:
''You fellows who are crying out so
much against the influence of the hold
ers of bonds and securities, who raise
such kick against the rich. should not
envy them"
They are not envied by the intelli
gent voter. The rich have troubles of
their own. The man who has wealth
up into the millions of dollars; who has
more money than he can possibly spend
in supplying comforts for his family and
? educating his children. should be more
an OBJ ect of pity than of envy. If he
boards this we alth and increases 1t, as
they generally do. he is certainly
troubled constantly with the fear that
he may lose it. His love of God and
humanity is warped by the constant
growing greed. His heart grows
smaller, his conscience shrunken; his
distrust of human beings increases as
does his desire for bestial pleasures; he
becomes more and more a slave TO
passion and a creature of desire. In
stead of friends who love him for the
good he does he is surrounded by
horde of society buzzards who hover
about him as those foul birds flap their
wings over a peutrid carrion. each
eager to get his beak into the golden
carcas and glut of that which he above
all other things possesses money.
Do you, reader envy such a man7
Would you trade your circle of true and
honest friends and nelghbors-small
though it may be for the condition of
the multimillionaire and all his sur
roundlngs7 Would you, Barton county
farmer, desire to give up your friend
whom, when you meet and clasp by the
hand, you know admires and respects
you for your honest toll and the spirit
of human kindness you possess, be
willing to give up that friend for one
who smirks and smiles in your face
with lavish profusion the while he is
devising in his mind some means to
coax the dollars out of your pocket and
into his?
We believe not. We believe the
son of honest toll, the man who makes
his living by personal effort. who
''earns his bread in the sweat of his
brow" is as far superior to the indo-
leut. aimless, accidental offspring of
the immensely wealthy as the sun is
superior to aotallow dip.
The masses do not envy the rich.
They do not blame the rich, as indi.
vi iuals, for being rich. All fair mind
ed men admire man who by honest
effort lifts himself above financial en-.
barasments.
But, when such men, as class, hav.
ing become thus independent band
themselves together to secure, by rea-
son of the power OF wealth, special
privileges not given to every honest
citizen of our land whereby through
enactments of law their class is enabled
to become more powerful and accumu
late greater wealth; then does the aver.
age citizen protest-uot actuated by the
cowardly and senile spirit of envy, but
inspired by sense of justice and a
spirit of freedom, that spirit which in.
duced our Forefathers to revolt against
the oppression of the Mother Country
aud declare that .sall men are created
free nd equal before the law"
And this is the spirit which actuates
the followers of VIM. j. Bryan and the
principles he stands for today We
contend-and the future viii prove our
contention just-that through the CON-
biuatiou of wealth our proud land has
been legislated into the hands of the
owners of gold, and that the continu-
snce of such power will be contrary to
the spirit of our government and event
ually disrupt it by bringing on war of
the masses against the classes. Actu.
ated by the TRUE American spirit we
wish to a9oid such catastrophy. We
he ieve that if our laws are go formu-
dated that they give an equal chance to
rich and poor alike there will be fewer
OF the useless millionaires and fewer
no neless tramps; more manliness.
more of honest purpose, more encour-
,2eement to laudable ambition, more of
Christ on earth and less of the devil
Disenthrall IS from the rapidly CROWN