The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-02-09
rainy day.

the country today we are terror stricke en-
at the change. Today a quarter of a
million persons own more than eighty
per cent OF all our wealth, while the
middle class is being rapidly eliminated.
and the ranks OF the extremely poor
| have been swelled to millions OF re-
cruits from the well-to-do to such an
| extent that the abjectly poor largely
outnumber those belonging to the mid
| die class.
Today idleness Is not the exception,
| but rather the rule. Skilled laborers
are seeking all over the land for work.
without obtaining 1t; and if, perchance,
one should be more fortunate than his
| fellows, he must work at greatly re-
| duced wages.
| Only the other day l was discussing
! the question of wages with a skilled
mechanic in Birming CHAM, and he said
! to me:
There are plenty of houses being
built here, and can get all the work
can do at one dollar and twenty-five
cents a day, but cannot support my
family on this"
A few years ago he could earn three
to four dollars per day.
On the railroads, in the South, men
work fourteen hours day, as section
hands (the most laborious work i'm
aginable) at from seventy-five to nine
ty cents per day.
Today the small dealers are being
/ driven out Of business by the depart
ment stores, and the small manufac-
turers have been crushed by the large
combinations of capital
Should the country boy Of today go
to the city, he could never hope to rise
to eminence, either in profession or
business, for equal opportunities no
longer exist.
The farmers of the country are barely
existing, their farms are under mort
gage, and their boys and girls must
stay home from school and college to
help pay the interest ON the mortgage
AASAJ oN~SSN, I1SoC al VI IllC
changed conditions.
And we have not far to seek for the
cause. It Is the encroachment of capt.
tai upon labor. The plutocracy, which
always places capital above labor, has
held undisputed sway in this country
for thirty years, and 1t has we'll nigh
succeeded in crushing all vitality out
of labor and gathered into It's capacious
nav all the fruits Of toll
Our plutccracy Is an aristocracy
formed on wealth. Money is it's chief
cornerstone, greed and avarice it's only
incentives. Plutocracy proposes to rule
the world through the power of gold.
While the people have been fighting
| great political battles over false issues
under the guidance of foolish or dis
| honest leaders, the plutocracy has so
entrenched itself into power that its
| position seems almost impregnable.
| 1t knows we'll how to appeal to the
| cupidity in the human heart, and with
its 1ll-gotten gains it buys newspapers,
| corrupts legislatures, controls congress
| and the senate, and owns the courts.
1t dictates the nominees Of conventions.
! and then tells the workingman to vote
| the ticket OR starve
Should patriot appear upon the
| scene, with brains and capacity to lead
| the people, and undeceive those who
have been blinded or prejudiced, all the
power of the plutocracy is directed to-
ward his undoing. The hireling press.
the paid lackeys, will hound him down
in every conceivable way. Even should
he succeed in coming into high posi-
ton the attacks will be kept up. He
will be cajoled, flattered and tempted.
II he will not be bought, If he is found
to be incorruptible, other means will
be resorted to for his destruction.
Thus does plutocracy fight, beneath
the black flag of the pirate, taking all
that is in sight, while its insatiate ap-
petite ever clamors for more.
II it makes such gigantic strides for
the next dozen years it has in the past
thirty, the plutocracy will become the
absolute master Of this country
Then, with the army and navy to
back it, reinforced by the courts, the
railroads, the telegraph companies, the
newspapers, and the money OF the
world, what chance will there be for the
people to further resist it's encroach-
ments? 1t will then be too late, and the
masses will be reduced to a condition of
serfdom, while the plutocracy will own
all the wealth.
A few men will own all the land.
and the great body of citizens will be
mere tenants on the great estates of
the landed gentry. The money trust
will control all lines of business enter
prise, and men will become machines
in the hands of few
This may, indeed, seem to be
gloomy picture, but it is no worse than
existing conditions really portray I'm
less its power is destroyed the American
plutocracy, more tyrannical than feuual
despot, will surely undermine our free
institutions and pull down the Temple
of our Liberties