Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-12-02

ton crouched upon the desolate hearth
and hunger with its fangs pulled at the
breast of the mother.
Everywhere the conditions of pros
perity existed. but the prosperity it.
self was absent. Distress was over the
land; despair took hold of man. and
disturbance in the streets threatened
our peace. What was the cause of all
| this? 1t was not, as i have said, that
Providence averted its face, but it was
| that the folly of man perverted its
| blessings and robbed the people of the
! benefit of them. Today the same por-
| tentous signs are visible; but let us hope
that the conditions that these signs in
| dictate may be averted. They can be
averted, but the condition of averting
them is vigilance-vigilance prompt and
quick, the awakening of this people to
a conception of the conditions which
surround them. blow determined and
quick at Republican graft and Repub-
lican plumber wherever Republican pol
iticianS attempt to ask n vote of con-
fidence at the hands of the people.
The collapse and the ruin which in
variably follow attempts at plumber
have overtaken the promoters of bogus
enterprises. Their shares have fallen,
but the capitalization remains. which
capitalization is in the shape of bonds.
and the interest on these bonds must
be paid. They can no longer raise mon.
ey by floating bogus securities and
plundering the community because the
immunity won't buy any chromos
that they have to offer. and there is
but one way in which they can try to
repair the waste which they have Gre
ated. and that is by striking at the
wages of labor.
Already we hear a statement that
the wages of labor are too high, that
they must be reduced if industry is to
remain prosperous. Now, my friends,
there is but one test of prosperity any
where in the world and that is the
rate of wages paid to labor | have
said that often; l repeat it now. There
is no way that the rate of wages can
be made high except where the prod
uct of labor is extensive, and where
the product of labor is extensive COM
modities must be abundant; where
commodities are abundant they must
be cheap. and, therefore. you cannot
have genuine prosperity unless two
things cOncur-first, wages must go
up, and the price of commodities must
so down.
Democrats believe that the founda
ton of prosperity is the extensive en-
ployment of labor upon the bosom of
the earth. the increase of the volume
Of commodities available for the well
fare of man. Republican grafters be-
lieve that prosperity is to be found in
an artificial increase of prices. in a
smaller product, Il larger profit to the
employer and Il lower and smaller en-
ployment of labor and therefore lower
wages One is the result of graft; the
other is the result of honest patriotism.
Democrats stand for patriotism, and,
standing for patriotism, they stand for
labor They stand for honest industry.
The Republicans stand for graft, for
plumber, for corruption, for restricting
the production and increasing the prof
it's of the employer.
There is nothing which Il govern
ment has which must not be produced
by human labor If it undertakes to
benefit one person it must rob another
in order to give him the thing which
enflCIeS MIN.
say. my friends. we find that,
starting with the vicious example in
Washington, Republican graft reaches
down through every channel of life.
This is what l complain of as the
chief injury of the system. Against
this Democrats owe Il sacred duty. 1t
is true that Democrats ut least profess
hostility and opposition to plumber and
to graft. Republicans only oppose it
when it is small and insignificant
Democrats have undertaken to plum
der. but they have always done it
bunglingly. Republicans are always
plundering, and they are doing it eff
GENTLY.
When a Democrat undertakes to deal
in graft he goes to Jail or into exile,
while Republican CRATER lands in
the United States senate and becomes
a candidate for the presidency. Tweed
divided about $6000,0O0 among his fol-
lowers which he took from the city
treasury, and he died in prison cell,
an object of universal infamy.
But Mark Hanna proposes to take
more than that sum every year from
the federal treasury for the benefit of
waterlOgGed trust, and he is today
the idol. the leader, of the Republican
party. He would be its standard bear
err next year il the real disposition of
the members found expression in the
convention. tG4