Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1898-09-09

L ~ II n
: $ KENNEDY SKINS LoUCKs.
Canton, s. D., Aug. 90. Nj. q. =.
!, ,Loucks, Altruria, s. 3. Dear Sir: /
have read your letter to the Republican
convention at Mitchell, and in the Ian
guage Of the great Caesar when stricken
down by his friend Brutus, ] feel like
exclaiming ..Et tn Brute!" For eight
years you and / have labored side BY
side politically and literally spent Of
our time and means to build up 9 party
that would stand for equal rights for all
and special privileges to none You
were a leader in this movement. To-
gether we discussed the principles and
policies Of government which we thought
necessary in order to secure the laborer
and producer Of the land the just reward
of,their toll. This letter brings us to
lth1 parting Of the ways and before
q bjdding farewell to the leader with
whomI left the Republican party, I
thought 1 would analy 20 the reasons he
gives for going back to our old party
and forsaking the party which he build
ed at such great sacrifice Of time and
means.
You advance one reason, that I am
10th to consider. You say that your
motives have been maligned and you
have been the subject Of contumely and
ignomonious charges, That is ever he
fate of q vigorous reformer but only
towards turn back or lay down their
arms or surrender for such reasons. The
brave man let's them pass as the vapor-
ings of malice, jealousy and resentment
and he continues steadily on, regardless
Of this injustice, conscious in the recti-
tude Of his motives, knowing that he is
standing on the solid rock Of truth and
/ eventually it will prevail.
B I have never regarded You as cow
4 ard and hence cannot believe your &C.
ton to be the result Of fear, notwith-
standing your letter bears the impress
Of shrek Of despair and surrender
4 to the despot whom you have been com
I Shgfting in mortal conflict.
p You say in this letter that you have
not changed your views on the great
questions and issues for which you have
contended while advocating the Peoples
party cause It may be profitable to
review few Of these principles and see
whether or not their abandonment by
the Peoples party or their adoption by
the Republican party justifies your ac-
tion. You assured the people that the
one great issue here and in the world
was the struggle between the money
owner and the laborer and producer for
for the products of the latter's toll; that
the laborer and producer created all the
wealth, and the moneyed man, the plu-
tocrat az you were pleased to call him,
monopolized that wealth as soon as it
was produced and robbed labor Of it's
just fruit; plutocracy had 80 won in
this conflict that less than one-tenth of
the people had monopolized more than
nine-tenths of all the property and re-
sources of this nation; that the means
used by plutocracy to secure this mo-
nopoly. was the private ownership and
control of the means of production and
s,aistribution, viz: the transportation
.scilities, municipal franchises, coal
mines, and other natural products and
also the land itself, and controlled the
circulating medium; that all these
things were public in their nature and
should be owned and operated by the
nublic for the benefit Of the whole peo-
nle: that when owned and operated by
private parties they inevitably became
the instruments of trusts and monopo-
lies and combines and that they wrung
from labor everything but a bare sub
sistence.
agreed with you on these great prin-
ciples. and believed there could be no
Justice and equal rights for the laborer
and producer until the government
should administer all these instru-
msntslities., We also agreed that the