The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1911-09-22

monopoly Of one thing or another thin
which the people had to buy or had q
sell. and the monopolies paid the toll 4
the government In that way they main
tained an aristocratic class OF societ,
called government. while those who la
bored. those who tolled, those who Gre
ated. then as now. were the people wh'
constituted the productivity OF the coun'
try, and without whose toll famine would
have come 10 al alike
But people win learn. Thank God
for that They learn slowly sometimes
and they forget easily sometimes. but as
we look back down the dim vistas Of the
past and read Its history. we find that
the face OF mankind has been set to the
front and up-working up. pulling up Oc-
casionally they stumble and fall. they gel
down. but they always get up. and when
they do. they get up with their faces
pointing to the front
First Organization.
The people who FIRST learned to throw
or the power OF the military. the abso-
lutte swordsmen OF the centuries back.
were the merchants. Merchants gather
ed in stores and bought and sold their
then, that is, 1t was more enticing to
the soldiers to plumber then, than the
single individuals separated articles out
yonder. SO they preyed upon the mer-
chants. The merchants then for self pro-
lection. got together. Mark the initial
point. they got together" Whether that
is good grammar or not II is good sense.
They called themselves a Merchants
Guild" Tor moral delectation. do you
suppose? No; for business protection and
advancement. for safety. How did they
do it? BY fighting?. No; there were not
enough merchants to fight the soldiers.
but that they might make their power
felt in government, and by the multiple
cation OF their forces in unity, they could
impress upon the government arguments
that would appeal to them. which no one
mans argument would.
The government outlawed them-pass-
ed statutes to punish them, confiscated
their property. Merchants were the first
organization outlaws. They were not
called Might Riders" but II means the
same thing. because the purpose was to
annihilate and scatter the concentration
of their power The merchants did not
quit. They continued to contend and to
organize. and so history records IT that
away back yonder before Edward Nv.
they were powerful enough to go to their
king and say to him, "If you want to
carry on your wars, we will contribute q
part of our stores in the way of taxes.
AS gift? No; as payment for corre-
spending benefits to be received from
you" What benefits? The recognition
of the Merchants Guild. What are you
going TO do? We will congregate in
towns and you give us charters under
the royal hand by which we will have the
lawful authority, to exercise prerogatives
of government in this locality. The king
struck the bargain. and that is the foun-
dalton of the town charter. under which
you people of Hartford live to-day. II
has grown, 1t has developed, but it was
founded upon the experience that | recite
to you. and was developed out Of the me-
cessities which have stated. From that
has sprung the whole system of munici-
pal government which we enjoy in Amer
lea.
The merchants were traders. There
were no manufacturers, save those who
worked with their hands. There were but
few and crude implements by which
things could be made But these man
ufacturers in time came to band together.
and the men who employed them. who
furnished the capital Joined the Mer-
chants Guild. and Joined the class OF
governing authority. while the men who
worked. who toiled, who made things,
called the artisans. were stin morgan
lied, with the Guild of the employers
upon the one hand and the power of the
government upon the other, until they
had a sorry enough lot indeed.
These laborers were necessarily con-
gregated also about the towns and viii
lagos where the merchants were that is,
the manufacturers. and they saw what
their employers had achieved by the for
nation of these guilds; therefore. they
undertook to and did form the laborers'
guilds. to-day called labor Unions. They
were formed upon the same principle pre-
csely 1t was in this way that they
wanted to get a better share of the
fruits of their labor from their employ
ers. They said, in substance: Your
wealth and your wisdom are entitled to
be paid for, but isn't our toll. our sweat.
the giving of our lives, also entitled to
be paid for?" The employer said; Don't
we pay you enough for you to live upon.
10 keep your Soul ana DOuy tOBetnerE
But the artisan answered. II am a man.
1t is my duty to raise man. l am enti-
tied to the opportunities of a man. to
grow. to expand. to become broader. more
useful, and to have at least some pleas
ure in this world" So the laborers form
cd their guilds. so that the multiplication
by their numbers of their individual
strength would be strong enough TO with
stand the oppression of the conscience
less men who employed them. | do not
mean to say that even then, much less
now, all employers were conscienceless,
or hard task masters What do mean
10 say is that some of them were. and
some OF them are to-day. so the laborers,
that is, the artisans. followed in the foot
steps of their employers First. they got
together What they achieved since is
largely because of the fact that they did
get together. snd were able to stick to-
gether.
Stumbled at First.
They were an ignorant people. ignorant
so far az education went. illterate. un-
taught unchristianlsed. They were
rough people They were a coarse peo-
pie away back yonder Il was nothing
but natural that they should resort to
the implement at their hands to get what