Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-08-11
SLAVES AND MASTERS.

know the slave-driver and I Know
the slave, and say that the slave
driver. selfish as he is. is gentleman
In comparison with the slave. There II
nothing in all the world so ignoble a.
q slave. He Is In his true position 50
long as he willingly bears his servi-
4ude. He is At for nothing else. Why
should I care that his back 10 bent
with the burdens OF another? Why
should I be distressed at his wrongs?
His wrongs are his rights so long as
he bears them willingly. That which
would be the wrongs OF freemen are
for him his just desserts.
mean to speak the truth from this
time on. I have coddled the slave and
called him a man, when l knew there
was no manhood in him. will do 1t
no longer. On the contrary, I mean
to assert everywhere and on all occa-
sions that he who wears fetter needs
it; that he who bears kick deserves
1t. wash my hands Of spirits so slav-
ish as to take part in the injustice that
is crushing them. Moreover, say that
the bent back OF the laborer, the horny
hands, the coarse distorted features.
and the general ugliness that marks
him are a confession Of his own sins
in abetting the sins Of his master.
desire to speak face to face with
you, the slaves Of the nineteenth CEN
fury; to tell you how have seen every
effort made by philanthropists for
your benefit fall to the ground worth
less, because your own base influence
was against it. There are labor papers
working for you to which you never
contributed the cost OF drink OF whis-
ky. I have seen more and worse than
this; that you have no respect for any
man but the one that kicks you, and
no trust in any power but that which
brushes you.
You are the obstacle in the way Of
race emancipation. Your masters are
handful; you are legion. Your
masters are intelligent, and though
they will not voluntarily relax their
selfish grip on the good things OF this
world, not one OF them would dare re-
fuse II you stood up for your rights.
But you are more besotted with the
far-off dazzle Of their gold than they
are with its possession. They have
moments when they reflect how their
money has been gathered at your ex-
when they almost
wish that the system that fosters rob-
berry and makes gold king, that puts in
allegiance every noble impulse. could
be changed. But you adore the sys-
ten; you doff the ragged cap and bend
the servile knee before the baser part
of these mems natures and your only
desire for liberty is for the sake OF en-
ulating their vices instead OF their vir-
tues. They know this, and they know |
that social rupture that would trans
form you into millionaires at their ex-
pense would be the greatest possible |
For these men, selfish as they are, |
have benefited the race through the
thrift Of enterprise. They will build
re .lroads and make the different races |
of men as one nation. They have util-
lied your dumb energies to serve man
kind in serving themselves. They have |
used you as machines, running your
services at the lowest cost compatible |
with your lives, until at last they begin |
to supplant you with cheaper wood and |
iron. And all this because they could |
do it-because you permitted it.
They have done right. You were and |
are as worthless as the dirt under |
your feet, except for the power OF
contraction and expansion In |
your muscles. You will not think. The |
one Of you begins to think he |
ceases to belong to that class to whom |
this article is addressed. Your faces |
are prone to the ground to which your |
worn-out bodies are rapidly fastening. |
You plod and delve from day to day. |
never ing CyCo diOieb ga
cept wheI your masters with liveried |
splash mud over you from |
the carriage wheels as they pass in |
splendor.
And you have the privileges OF citi-
zenshlp in a land where such privilege |
is denied by you to those whose intel
ligence ten generations Of culture will |
scarcely enable you to comprehend
the Intelligent women Of these states.
And, what is more, being in the ma
jofity, you hold this magnificent ele-
ment in check, and prevent its pure
current and turn 1t away from that |
point where it would be of incalculable |
benefit, and where, above all other in
fluences, it would benefit you and lift |
you out of your down-trodden condi- |
ton. For American women, above all |
others, are your sympathlzers. They |
resent for you the wrongs your era
ven souls accept And you turn up |
your noses CONTEMPORARY when refer
ence is made to their political equality. |
What are Won going To do? YOur I,