Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-07-31

We're necessary to them; therefore the
institution of serfdom was legalized
The lords did not work They pro
duced nothing and had everything
The serfs produced everything and
had nothing. Five days of the week
the serf worked for his lord. One
day he was permitted to work for him.
self to produce enough to keep himself
in working order. The lord thought
that he ruled by divine right in ALI.
ance with the Almighty; the earth
was created for his benefit and the
serfs were the ones to cultivate the
earth that the lords might enjoy it.
This system lasted for hundreds of
wears and the lords believed it would
last forever. Then came the discov-
cry and invention of the machine. and
with it the development of new
class They were called tradesmen.
business men had no social standing
at first. but in the course of develop
ment these tradesmen combined in
the ownership of machines, very
large class arose and overthrow the
few. From that time to this the capt.
talist system in which we live has
been steadily developed. and it has
about reached its height.
| Capitalization and combination are
Of this age. The economic basis of
society is undergoing transforma-
ton. 1t is cooperation which is going
to rule instead of combination, and
he question is one of economics in
the future.
When great changes have occurred
and great principles have been inaugu-
~ated the majority have been wrong.
| the minority right In the early his
| tory of the colonies, when 1t was de-
rlared that all men were equal. the
majority refused to believe it. They had
| been ruled by king all their lives.
| They believed that the king ruled by
divine right and they couldn't under
stand how they were to get along with
| out king. any more than the modern
workingman can understand how he
20 Id get along without someone to ex-
plot his labor.
There were a few men in advance
Of their time. Thomas Jefferson was
the apostle of democracy; he was de-
bounced as the arch-rebel. and people
would have restrained him from
preaching his revolutionary doctrine.
Samue! Adams of Massachusetts was
considered the arch incendiary. He
loved liberty. He was SO poor that
when he was elected to congress,
subscription had to be taken up to
ret him suit of clothes. and that was
stolen from him on the way and he
was as bad off as ever. He was poor
n purse but in principles he was
multi-millionaire. Thomas Jefferson
said:. Where liberty is, that is my
country" That was splendid. Thorn
as Paine said Where liberty is not,
there is my country" That was mag
nificent
The Boston tea party was once
charged with trying to overthrow the
social order. In the march of time
they have been vindicated, and they
are now demigods. We don't remem-
Der one of their prosecutors. This has
been true all along the track of the
century
Two thousand years ago a revolu-
zionist appeared on the earth. He
was in cooperation with the working
man and opposed to the system of
his time He preached doctrine that
was revolutionary-that the slave was
equal to his master. There is not a
minister in Durango or Colorado who
'iares to preach the unadulterated gos-
pei of Jesus Christ, and If he did, on
Monday morning he would be a
preacher out of a job. 1t was this
same reforming Redeemer that
scourged the rich from the temple,
saying that they had polluted it and
converted it into a whited sepulchre
filled with dead mems bone. He was
a demagogue. He incurred the ill-will
of all the scribes and Pharisees, and
they nailed his quivering flesh to the
cross. He associated with the poor
If he was on earth today he wouldn't
be a member of the 400: he would be
member of the rs 100000. He would
be of the working class and stand by
| the side of them in the great struggle
that must come. He made such al
| lowances for social conditions that
| men stood aghast. Even in the case
OF tne INFAMOUS woman VINO ndQ cOTl-
| mitted what was then considered to
be an objectionable sin, he said: Let
| him who is without sin cast the first
stone" That stone has never been
| cast.
When | see tramp. think of him
as the melancholy offspring of our
present system. Sixty years ago men
worked There were no tramps. Why
is there so great a number who do not
work today? Has there been a trans
| formation of human nature or social
revolution? Somebody says that these
| tramps were born tired. This is hag-
gard truth. Take a girl at 6 or Z
years of age and put her into fac
tory and make her work there in an
unsanitary place for ten hours day
| with no fresh air. She cannot live
anything like complete life, and
when she assumes the sacred office of
motherhood. her offspring are born
tired; they have no chance in life;
When see one of thise tramps, | say
he is the victim of his environment.
would have been a tramp under sim
liar circumstancesThrou his wretch
| ad ragg I snu etiIl GOO tho human ha-