Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1900-09-28
DELIVERED AT ST. LOUIS,
SEPTEMBER Is, 1900.

farm product by foreign conditions!
Advance In Merchandise.
When, however the farmer attempts to
use his income in the purchase of the ne
cessaries of life he finds that the trusts
have raised prices He must pay more
for lumber, nails, wire, harness. hardware,
stoves and agricultural implements. More,
also for oil, sugar, clothing, furniture,
etc.. and in addition to these drains upon
his income he must meet an increase In
federal taxation.
Let the parent calculate how long 1t
will take farmer to become Independent
under present conditions; let him con-
trast the lot of the farmer with the lot
of the man who profits by governmental
favoritism and grows rich by the exploit
alton of his countrymen through the In
strumentality of monopoly, and then
let him answer the question, rs the
young man. Absalom safe? Has the
farmers son, or the farmer himself any
reason for giving support to the Re-
publican party?
Next to the farmer in point of num-
, bers and Importance come the wage-earn-
ers. What is the trust doing to Increase
the wages, shorten the hours, improve
the condition, or protect the rights of
the laboring man? Is his present prospect
an inviting one? Is he receiving fair
share Of the proceeds of his toll? And, II
not why not? Republicans assert that
the working man has a Full Dinner
pail" l ask, in the first place, whether
full dinner pail is all that laboring
man needs? 1t is an insult to the wage
Garner to say that his thoughts are en-
tirely conferred upon his physical wants.
Republican speakers and editors assume
that the laboring man Is all stomach.
They act upon the theory that he COM
plains only when he Is hungry. and Is
happy whenever his hunger is appeased.
The Full Dinner Pail.
If full dinner pail were the only thing
desired, and If every laboring man had
plenty to eat. 1t would still be necessary
for the Republican party to show some
connection between Republican policies
and the laboring mans food supply. If
bountiful crops come to the farmer he
does not thank Republican administra-
ton If famine abroad raises the price
of farm products here the farmer does
not thank the Republican party for bring
Ing the famine. If an unexpected and an
unpromised Increase In the gold supply
gives any respite from financial string
ency can the Republican party claim
credit? The question is not whether
the laboring man is able to exist under
present conditions, but whether he is en-
joying his share OF the blessings Of the
country and of the protection of the gov
eminent Compare the laboring man
with the trust magnate, and see which
fares the best at the hands of the Re-
publican party. Enquire also whether
the laboring mans income has increased
as rapidly as his living expenses.
But even If every laboring man was
prosperous. and even if that prosperity
could be traced to Republican legislation.
still the laboring man is citizen, and
must look at political questions from the
citizens standpoint. He cannot afford
to barter away future security: he can
not afford to sleep while his industrial
independence is being destroyed. Neither
can he be enticed into an imperialistic
trap, no matter how well the trap may
be bated with food.
During the last campaign laboring men
were threatened with idleness by en-
ployers who desired to coerce them into
the support of the Republican ticket.
Many of them were told not to return to
work unless the Republicans were sue
some of these employers closed down their
shops and others reduced wages. If adj
vances have been made in any branch of
industry since 1896 remember that some
advance was necessary to compensate for
the reductions which occurred after the
last election.
Coercion In 1898.
A firm in the City of Washington an
nounced shortly before the election in
1896 that 1t would not be able to continue
in business If l was elected. 1t went
into bankruptcy Immediately after cleo
ton Notwithstanding the fact that it's
candidate was successful at the polls.
There are indications that this attempt at
intimidation may be resorted to again
this fall. If business man feels justi-
fled in holding out the prospect of his
own bankruptcy in order to Influence
voters he cannot complain If his credit
ors take steps to collect their accounts
before the election in order to avoid a
possible loss.
The Chicago-Times Herald of Septem-
Der contained a special dispatch from
indianapolis setting forth the complaint
made by the anthracite coal miners. In
the dispatch l read the following state
ment made by one of the miners: 1T lis
merely question whether the men would
starve to death at work or starve in idle
ness" The dispatch also contains the
following figures in regard to wages, said
to have been furnished by member of
the national board of the United Mine
Workers of America, viz: Average daily
wages received by miners, $685. average
wage of day men at mines. 80 cents" And
reasons for calling out the miners, Presi
dent Mitchell of the United Mine Work.
ers says: The average wages of the
anthracite miners for many years has
the parent calculate the annual income
of miner and figure out, if he can,
how the miner Is going to keep himself
and support his family under present con-
ditions; and then let the parent ask him
self whether he is willing to have his
son take his chances with the miners Is
1t due to natural or to human laws that
tha of wealth