Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-06-02

lobby agents. That thing en- larger OF
smaller scale is all the time going on in
some Of the states i'm the union, but il
is not so blundering as il used TO be.
and therefore not so easily exposed or
arrested. tell you that the overshad-
owing curse of the United States today
is monopoly. He puts his hand upon ev-
cry bushel CT wheat, upon every sack of
salt, upon every ton of coal, and every
man. woman and child in the United
States feels the touch Of that moneyed
despotism rejoice that in "a states Of
the union already antimonopoly leagues
have been established. God speed them
| in the work Of liberation.
have nothing to say against capital
lists. A man has right to all the mon
ey he can make honestly have moth
ing to say against corporations as such
without them no great enterprise would
be possible. but what l do say is that
the same principles are to be applied TO
capitalists and to corporations that are
applied to the poorest man and the
plainest laborer What is wrong for me
is wrong for great corporations. If
take from you your property without
any adequate compensation. am a
thief. and if railway damages the
property Of the people without making
any adequate compensation, that is a
gigantic theft What is wrong on a
small scale is wrong on large scale
Monopoly in England has ground hun
dreds of thousands of her best people
into semistarvatiOn and in Ireland has
driven multtudinOus tenants almost TO
madness and in the United States pro
poses to take the wealth of 60, 600, 600
Br 20. 600. 600 of people and put it in
few silken wallets
Monopoly, brazen faced, iron finger
ed, vulture hearted monopoly offers his
hand to this republic. He stretches it
ont over the lakes and up the great
railroads and over the telegraph poles
Of the continent and says, "Here is NY
heart and hand be mine forever" Let
the millions Of the people north, south,
east and west forbid the banns of that
marriage forbid them at the ballot
box, forbid them on the platform, for
bid them by great organizations, for
bid them by the overwhelming senti-
ment Of an outraged nation, forbid
them by the protest Of the church #
God, forbid them by prayer to high
heaven That Herod shall not have TINS
Abigail. 1t shall not be to all devour-
ing monopoly that this land is TO be
married.
Another suitor claiming the hand Of
this republic is nihilism.
The Menace of Nihilism.
He owns nothing but knife for uni
versal cutthroatery and a nitroglycerin
bomb for universal explosion. lie be-
lieves in no God, no government, no
heaven and no hell except what he can
make on earth He slew the car Of
Russia keeps many a king practically
imprisoned, killed Abraham Lincoln,
would put to death every king and
president on earth, and if he had the
mower would climb mp until be could
drive the God Of heaven from his throne
and take it himself, the universal
butcher In France it is called com
munism; in the United States it Il
called anarchism, in Russia it is called
nihilism. but that last is the most
graphic and descriptive term. 1t means
complete and eternal smash mp. It
wodld make the holding Of property a
crime. and it would drive a dagger
through your heart and put torch to
10 your dwelling and turn over this
whole land into the possession Of theft
and lust and rapine and murder.
Where does this moster live? in all
the towns and cities Of this land 1t
offers its hand to this fair republic. 1t
, proposes to tear to pieces the ballot
box. the legislative hall, the congre7-
sional assembly 1t would take this
{ land and divide it mp or rather divide
. it down. II would give as much to the
idler rs TO the worker TO the bad as &c
the good. Nihilislnl This panther, hav-
G irx prowled across other lands, has sci
r its paw on our soil. and it is only wait
O. ing for the time in which to spring
upon its prey. 1t was nihilism that
burned the railroad property at Pitts
burg during the great riots; it was M
bilism that slew black people in ON
northern cities during the war; il was
njbilism that mauled to death the Chi
: nese immigrants years ago; 1t IS nihil
ism that glares out Of the windows o.
the drt nkeries upon sober people a
they 20 by. All Its power has neyei
yet been tested. l pray God its powel
NAV never be fully tested. 1t would, j
! it had the power, leave every church
. chapel cathedral, schoolhouse and col
2 lege in ashes
+ Let me say it is the worst enemy o
=, the laboring classes in any country
q The honest cry for reform lifted by op
Z pressed laboring men is drowned ont b.
. the vociferation for anarchy. III
Z criminals and the vagabonds who rang
through our cities talking about thei
10 rights. when their first right is tn
= penitentiary-if they could be hushe'
y mn and the downtTodden laboring mel
: of this country could be heard ther
!, would be more bread for hungry chill
y dren In this land riot and bloodshe
!. never gained any wages for the peopl
= or gathered up any prosperity In thi
II land the best weapon is not the clut
not the shillalah. not firearms. but IN
=, ballot. Let not our oppressed la0orin
y men be beguiled to coming under III
7, bloody banner Of nihilism II Will max
:, your taxes heavier. your wages smaller
your table scantier. your children nuI
= grier, your suffering greater Yet thl
= nihilism, with feet red Of slaughter
y comes forth and offers its hand for tn
4, republic. Shall the banns be proclaimed
If 20, where shall the marriage alta
:. beY And who will be the otiiciatln
priest9 And what will be the music
That altar will have TO be white VII
- bleached skulls. the officiating prie
20 must be a dripping assassin, the mus
=, must be the smothered groan Of mutt
80 tudinous victims the garlands must
" twisted of nightshade, the fruits mu