Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1912-03-21

The following article taken from tn
Inland Echo, while it does not NEE
with this papers views in it, entirety
contains some undeniable truths ant
is worth the time of any man would
use in reading. 1t is from the pen o
DR.. H. V. Riggs Of this city and care
full reading of the same will convinc'
one that the writer is more than fairly
well versed on his subject.
"If you vote the republican or dem
ocratic ticket you are not christian.
A broad statement did you say
Well, ! shall endeavor to prove it.
contend that to vote the republican OF
democratic ticket is anti Christian, and
to vote the socialist ticket is Christian
As a preclude to what have to say,
will give you historical synopsis Of
industrial and social conditions as they
existed in America during the first
fifty or sixty years Of the last century.
We find the people without capitalists
or tramps. Previous to this these two
words had not been coined. Poverty
and extreme riches were unknown.
Lands and homes were practically free
to all. Every family produced and
manufactured their own necessities.
Every man owned his own tools that
was necessary for production, every
thing that man sold was created from
the raw material by individual effort
and was sold practically at the cost Of
production.
Conditions at that time was nearly
an even exchange of commodities. We
End the people Christian people.
Old and young worshipped God in the
fullest Of their being not hampered by
an environment of the Goth century
convention, and the incentive for per-
sonal gain, but their daily lives indivi-
dually and collectively conforming to
the teachings of the Nazerene, enabl.
ing one and all to live the Golden Rule.
This condition prevailed until the great
modern machinery Of production began
to evolve. With the evolution ef ma
chinery came the capitalist and unfor-
tpnately the tramp. Schrewd, schem-
ing men manipulated the ballots Of the
common people to their own advan-
tage. They gained control Of the
press. The means Of enlightening the
people was therefore used for misrepre-
sentation and oppression. And who
can deny that our great newspapers at
the present time are not d conglomera-
ton Of political rot2
Thanks to the Socialist press, we
have through this medium the priv
ilege Of proclaiming the truth. With
the incentive of human emancipation
and the abolition from the face Of the
earth Of all human slavery and pow
erty surely our efforts are worth while.
The great statesman, Abraham
Lincoln, foresaw the coming of pres
ent conditions when he made this
statement; II see an era in the future
that unnerves me. see the concen.
tration Of wealth of the nation into
the hands Of a few men. l implore
you beware how you use your only
weapon, your ballot" He also made
this statement: 1--WE will never have
a good and just government until the
laborer gets as nearly as possible the
full product of his labor" This state
ment undoubtedly describes conditions
at that time, and Lincoln intuitively
prophesied the situation at the present
time. At present we have millions Of
little children, working long hours,
(many in q starving condition, sub
jected to disease and exposure, the
great majority not living to see their
2lst birthday in the factories, mines
and sweatshops, the means Of forcing
able-bodied men into idleness, increas-
ing the ranks Of the already number
less unemployed throng. In addition
to this we have thousands of mothers
that are forced to abandon their homes
from dire necessity, to become bread
winners because Of the insufficiency Of
the earnings Of father and children to
keep privation from the door. Men
no longer own the tools Of production,
all they have to depend on at the pre-
sent is the sale of their labor power,
and buyers are at premium. Chill
dren and woman can be COTTON so
much cheaper than men, that he is
further denied the privilege of the
tools Of production. Is it to be mar.
veled at that the "hobo brigade" is
growing in numbers? There are mil
lions Of women driven into immoral
lives, because of no other means of
gaining livelihood. One half of the
five million female wage earners get
only about sixty per cent of a sufficient
wage to live on, how do they get the
Poverty is responsible for