Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-09-02

preston and dependence. ranging
/ through different grades from ssrt-
dom to absolute slavery It took
thousands Of years for mankind to
learn that governments are insti-
tuted amongst men to secure the m
the right to life, liberty and the Pur-
suit to happiness And that in
these rights men were created
equal When the great founders of
4 our government announced these
profound truths, they revealed to the
masses of men a new future. Great
nations had been born. grown to ma
turity and declined with the rights of
men little understood and little heed
ed. Even tie records of their great
ness. for the most part, attest the
degradation and servility of their
common people. Their gigantic
ruins. though often spoken OF as mon
uments of the civiliz alton, are. too,
| merely the records, wrought in
sweat and blood, of the most degrad-
ing serfdom and slavery. The his
tory and literature of the past is full
of int quality. caste, persecution and
darkest ignorance of human rights.
When. in future ages, the history of
this era shall be written, grea' or
and grander than all the discoveries
of modern physical science than the
uses of steam and electricity and the
myriads of labor saving devices will
be the discovery that men were
! created equal, and that governments
are an instrumentality for their
betterment and not their subjec-
ton.
Must Progress Retrograde.
There is no equilibrium ia nature;
there is mona ia government. We
must progress or retrograde. 1t is
fair to suppose that the maintenance
of the conditions that have given US
the results we have will give still
greater advancement. There ara not
wanting advocates of a change. The
| favorable conditions under which we
have lived have given US, as a nation.
great wealth. Wealth has been styled
the curse CT republics. 1t has been a
curse because men have not uudsr
stood the laws of it's just distribution
among its actual producers, and uD-
equally distributed wealth is wor e
for a country, and particularly re
| public, than poverty. Government
|
tcctor of the strong rather than the
weak. Government has been made
TO bring forth and rear monopoly.
Monopoly and governmental favor
have been seized by private hands.
Government and it's laws and instita-
tions, instead of being a protector
sgainst, have been made a source aud
powerful instrument OF oppression
and wrong. From the loins of this
inequality have sprung great wealth,
luxury. corruption. arrogance, loss of
independence and pauperism have
said that there are not wantiugAadvo-
cafes of, and sympathizsrs with, u
new order of things Indeed there
are ominous clouds. looming big
above the horiz IN, that bear star
ling resem bling to those that were
precursors of the storms that swept
away the republics of antiquity; that
have given the old world It's monar
chies, nobilities. aristocraces, mill
tarism and pauperism. The perpetu-
ity and prosperity of the nation de-
ponds upon its industrial cUndi.
tions
Most Dreaded Industrial Blight.
Monopoly, that most dreaded in
dustIial blight. is at the roots of the
J., tree OF national progress. Land mo-
nopoly used to no the favorite in
trenchment of wealth and privilege.
Not so now. That plan is too slow.
Modern monopoly prefers to control
the land owner by liking the price OF
what he both sells and buys. Some
times this = is termed the age
1 ~ he "A
machinery. 1t may be with equal
propriety termed the age OF corpora
lions. We no longer have trusts, they
are simply big corporations. CorPo-
rations are pure creations of the law.
They have no rig hts but what the law
Civ. them. They are no doubt q bust
ness convenience. As an instrument
tality of conducting big enterprises
and permitting the cooperation of
those desiring to enter into such en-
terprises they are of great value But
on the other hand their nature is
such, under prevailing laws, that
they have enabled shrewd men-de-
signing and INSCRIPTIONS men-to
amass billions OF the dollars earned
by the tell OF the land. They have
invaded every field of enterprise. BY
their manipulation the original in
weston, the toiler and the consumer
have alike fallen victims TO their soul
less greed and secret methods. The
criminal confidence game is a crude
way of getting other peoples earn
iDgs as compared with the so-called
financing of these great industrial
companies"
| Urges Spread OF Unionism.
LET unionis m spread. Let it pre-
! pare TO do battle as 1t never did be-
| fore. Let the laboriDg people demand
the rights of men. Let them demand
re- oguItion IN the affairs that SO
closely touch their welfare and pros
psrity. Let them strive for the main
{, nance of thai equality of opPortu-