Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1898-01-07
The enemy nowadays

International war to-day The enemy nowadays
is poverty.
One-third of the presidents stupid message
referred to Cuba, and there was not word for
the overworked or unemployed masses.
Men must have bread 10 live, yet the govern
men. builds no bakeries, erects no Hour mills,
sows no wheat. 1t says: "Anyone that likes
can grow wheat, and anyone who is rich enough
can corner it," Amazing craftsmanship!
Men must have clothes to live, yet the gov
ernment owns no tailor shops, no cloth factories
no cotton mills. Men must have houses to live
in, and land to build on, and jobs to work at,
vet the government says: "That is no concern
of ours. We have only to provide all those
things for ourselves, and not for you!"
If the government can distribute letters, why
can it not distribute wealth?
If it can issue fiat postage stamps, why ho'
fiat money? If it can own and manage vessels
for war, why not for business? II 1t can bullo
and attend 10 1872 lighthouses, why cant II
build something on the land to prevent thou
sands of industrial citizens from being ship
wrecked OH the rocks of monopoly?
If congress can't answer these questions, let
it shut up and go home, instead OF insulting
starving voters with debates on the tariff.
In the early town meetings, when the In
dans were about to attack the village, the set
tiers did not waste their time discussing botany
or anthropology. They got down to business
and loaded their gums.
But to-day when hungry, unemployed
American citizen goes to the gallery of legis-
lature, he hears his representatives giving eway
franchises to wealthy corporations. Ii he goes
to congress, he hears debate OH Hawaii. II he
seeks some great college hall, he hears lecture
on meteors aerolites. If he enters church, nc
hears a sermon OH Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. He finds there social and politi-
cal boycott of the poverty question.
If the government can carry your letter, why
can't it carry you? You are less trouble than
the letter IS. You don't have to be collected
and stamped and put in bag and delivered
You collect yourself and deliver yourself and
buy your own ticket; yet full-grown men say
the government could not manage the railroads
If the city can own and distribute the water,
why not the ice? Why not public ownership
90 below the freezing point? And, if it can
organize and manage the ice business why not
the milk business? And if milk, why not
sugar? And, if sugar, why not bread' And
if bread, why not all the necessaries OF hlef
When man is sick, we have place for hlnI
the hospital. When he is murderer, we have
a place for hiln-the JAIL When he is old and
worn out we have a place for him-the poor
house. And when he is dead, we have place
for him-the potter's field. But in all the length
and breadth of this great country we have nc
place for young, healthy, honest, living man
If that flaming fact does not make your anti
Socialist prejudice shrivel to ashes, then moth
ing will regenerate you but the eternal bonfire
The individual management of business Is
the failure of the nineteenth century. Millions
Of living witnesses can prove that capitalists
a1e not fit to control our industry.
Suppose that monopolists do possess "Supe-
rior business ability" what then? Is such al Ii
ity 90 or bad thing Should they be re
warded or punished for it Some of them de
serve a twenty years sentence for their 'su
D. rior ability looming Nation.
WHEN it costs SIS, 900 TO get elected to cor
gress, 500, 900 to get elected to the Senate
ST. .ooo, 900 to get elected to the presidency, /