The independent., 1903-04-30


of the toiler, and the thought might
be followed farther-followed till it
brings one to the palace OF the rich;
and, too, the institutions of learning,
which are kept up by wealth, that is
obtained, like the vampire that sucks
the blood of his victim, from the mis-
cry and poverty of the masses. Fol-
low the thought to it's ultimate and
see where wealth is illegitimately OBJ
tanned, subsidies the press and turns
it's endowed institutions into kinder
gartens of false ideas about the rights
of man, and teaches fallacious doc
trines of wealth as the highest science
of economy.
If we are to allow an idea, which
gives to labor only part or what
it justly earns, to become part and
parcel of our economy, then why not
look farther and see the restitution
which such doctrine causes? We
mean If we are to allow the pluto
cratic theory to be our standard, then
Why not see the poverty and misery
which is the natural result OF such
doctrine? 1t is bad enough to allow
individuals to prostitute themselves,
but it is a thousand times worse to
make wealth harlot, which serves
as libertine, to ravish and prostitute
the virtue of the whole people. II
we are to allow the doctrine of wealth
to warp our government from the
true and tried paths of equity and
justice, we will become sponsor for
theory as perfidous as that which
made Pharoah king of Egypt, and de-
MED to Joseph's brethren the straw
they needed in brick-making.
The question is, where will this
theory lead us? or where will it not
lead us? 1t will lead us into paths
made CORY by the blood of conquest;
teach us that some are made to
serve, others to govern. Such would
divide the nation into servers and
rulers; and define parallel, which
has for it's opposite lines, ultra-opul-
ence and poverty.
The great principle that is the
guide, and is superfine in its equity,
is that. no government that is justly
administered, can recognize the right
of either capital Or labor to organize,
if the workings of such combination
is a detriment to the welfare of each
and every citizen.
If we build upon the idea that capi-
tai has a right beyond the legitimate
bounds of its business, or has right
to destroy competition, and that, too,
without any regard for the consumer.
we would destroy every barrier, which
would make potent the idea of equal
ity.
To destroy the bounds of legitimate
business, and say that capital has a
right to monopolize the avenues CT
opportunity, would be to teach a doc
trine that is as vicious as the divine
rights of kings. Such doctrine would
become a Nero or a Caligula, more
than citizen of our enlightened re-
public. Nothing could help the mon
archical idea more than to say that
the working class are the servers OF
opulence; and that labor must be the
one that carries the dainty idler' on
his back. Nothing could foster an
aristocracy of wealth more than to
say that such doctrine is the most
exalted of the sciences and is the
only science that deals with progress
of mankind.
In searching for the justice OF the
organization Of capital, one must take
into consideration the whole bearing
in the case. What is the aim of capi-
talists forming commercial combines?
Is it to make a cheaper article? Is it
to manufacture a better class of
goods? Or is it to reach into new
territory, where different people
are the consumers? Does such COM
bination confine their work to the
legitimate channels of their trade, or
do they combine for the purpose OF
making a monopoly of the whole
business?
In retracing the pages of history,
we there find that nearly every re-
form which was started on one side
were the erudite and opulent; on the
other, the struggling masses, who
have long been ground down by the
patrician.
All Of the struggle that has come
to the toiling millions is a burden
WI lch has been laid ON by those who
enriched themselves at the expense of
tbs masses. All new doctrines that
have been advanced, all forms of new
though which carried with it the bet