Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-07-25

parents were.
Nations prosper while the indie
pendence of their wealth producers
is maintained. Nations die when
their wealth producers become serfs
and vassals, the fruits of whose la
Dor pass into the hands of a rich
and favored few.
AGAINST THE WEALTH PRODUCER.
The trend Of present conditions is
against the wealth producer. He is
losing his proper influence in pub
lie affairs; little by little his indi-
vidual independence is being crush
ed out, and little by little the de-
velopment of his individual faculties
and human character is being cir
cumscribed.
Not many years ago the great ma
jority of wealth producers owned
their own homes and were their own
masters. The farmer may then have
cut his grain with cradle made in
the shop at the cross roads, and his
wife and daughters may have spun
the yarn and made the cloth with
which the family was clothed, but all
hands were independent and all felt
a keen interest in public affairs.
They owed allegiance to their govern
ment only.
A half century ago, probably
majority Of the common carriers of
the country were proprietors Of stage
coaches, or wagons Of some kind
used for the conveyance of goods and
passengers. These men owned the
business in which they were engag-
ed, and did not have to depend up
on any master for employment.
What great change few years
have wrought Today hundreds Of
thousands of men are employed by a
few corporations. The men are like
cogs in great machine. Free will
is being crushed out by these con-
ditions, and passive obedience, with
little hope of rising in the scale Of
responsibility, is the lot of rapidly
increasing number.
In the large factories the employees
are, not taught how to make and
finish any completed article. Each
man makes some particular piece,
and others assemble these pieces.
The men are like the machines with
which they work, valuable in the
manufacture Of a particular thing,
but not able to do anything else, ex-
cept, possibly, to enlist in the army
OF tramps.
Conditions bode evil when their
trend places few in positions of
authority over very many. In this
connection just think Of the army Of
railroad men subject to the direction
of score Of railroad presidents. 1t
is doubtful whether an equal num-
Der of ieudal lords ever held in their
hands The destinies of an equal
number OF homes.
The student of history, who is
familiar with the human suffering
caused by the domination of the few
over the many, can find much in our
changing conditions not calculated
to benefit the nation or the masses Of
its people.
OF course no one should find any
fault with the legitimate business of
railroading, because It'll is one of the
grandest features of our country's
development. The trouble with our
railroads is their Wall street attach
ment, or connection. In some way
the baneful influence Of the gamblers
in wealth predoninates in the man
agement Of many railway corpor-
atoms, and in that way tens OF
thousands Of wealth producers are
made dependent for their daily
bread upon the will of few heart
less spectators. The trend Of pres
ent conditions in that direction is
anything but reassuring to the
thoughtful citizen.
Under the feudal system, with its
law of primogeniture, its entailmen,
of estates, its attainder Of blood and
other schemes, the few were enabled
to lord it over the many. When the
founders Of this government drafted
our organic laws, they guarded
as well as they could, against the
evils Of feudalism The unjust
privilege Of giving the entire estate
to the eldest son was generally
abolished. In Iowa the law prohibits
the entailment Of estates for a longer
period than the life of persons living
at the time Of the grant and twenty
one years thereafter. And the feder-
al constitution prohibits the attainder
of blood, the depriving of children
Of any Of their rights on account Of
the crimes of their ancestors. But,
while these old schemes for the en-
slavement Of the masses have been
carefully guarded against, ourchang
ing conditions are opening new
doors for the accomplishment Of
similar results, results fraught with
Just as great powers for evil as the
feudal schemes ever possessed.
Let me briefly describe the feudal
system which prevailed in nearly
every country in Europe for several
centuries, and is not yet wholly ex-
tinct.
THE rEuDAL SYSTEM.
The first or primary thought was
the founding of system Of govern
ment upon land. The king owned
all the land, and hebuilt his govern
ment in this way: lie divided his
country into certain parts, the same
as general would divide an army
into divisions. In fact, the feudal
system was more like great mill
tary organization than system of
civil government. If feudalism
prevailed here the kinp would unite