The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1913-07-10

history of the country it is apparent
that the organized labor vote holds
the balance of power. The agricul-
tural element is going to stand firm
against monopoly, and in the last
election these two were unit. 1t is
an axiom of politise that with two
forces nearly evenly divided, small
er force holding the balance of pow
er can dictate terms.
Samuel Gompers and John Mitch
ell are very able men but will prob
ably go to their graves unrewarded,
because it will take at least a half
century to understand what they have
done to add to the dignity and i'm
portance of labor. They completely
exploded the theory that you can
treat labor as inseparable from the
personality of the laborer. Under
the doctrine of equal justice to all
they contend that it is the duty of
the government to protect labor in
it's employment, as capital is protect
ed in it's employment.
The interest of the laborer and
his employer, they contend are reclp-
rocal. Both are interested to bring
about one result, the profitable en-
ployment of labor to the good of both
capital and labor At any rate, for
the first time, chiefly through the
efforts of these great leaders of men,
labor hasa adirectrepresentative in the
that the time is near at hand when
legal arbitration will determine all
questions arising between capital and
labor, on a basis that is fair to both.
This is the practical beginning of a
system of government which will
make man moral as we'll as intel
lectual unit; securing freedom and
Justice by giving to each individual
exactly what his brains, energies, and
resources entitle him to; making
him ashamed to ask for more or give
less.
The Farmer.
What l have said about labor ap-
plies with even greater force to the
farmer. A nation ever draws its
truest wisdom from the deep wells
of a contented agriculture. Like the
laborer, the farmer is delving into
the root of things, asking himself
the question; what is the advan-
tage of government guaranteeing
me the possession of my property,
when combinations of capital can de-
prive me of the just profits arising
from the use of that property" The
government permits trust to exist,
and in the fall curtail all credit by
refusing extensions in order to force
my cotton on the market to draw
gold from Europe Is this not confer
ing upon one class the power, by in
creasing or decreasing the volume of
credit and gold, to fix the price OF
the product of my labor without re-
gard to the law of supply and de-
mand? This question is pressing for
solution in every agricultural state
in this Union. The first bill on the
subject was from the wheat growers
of Minnesota, then our cotton ware
house bill in South Carolina, and
bill more comprehensive and far
reaching in Wisconsin, creating a
commission to handle all farm pro-
ducts. When such men as Clarence
Poe, of the Progressive Farmer, is
devoting his mastery mind and en-
ergies of a vigorous manhood to this
work something is bound to happen.
Next to God, the farmer stands
the only Creator. He takes the ele-
ments and makes something Where
before was nothing. Others grow
rich and live in luxury by merely
changing the form of what is created
by these hard handed sons of toll.
Our cotton crop constitutes
national asset that has been used to
make the United States the mistress
of the financial world, and yet we
who grow it remain comparatively
poor. Food prducts are distributed
over the entire world, but the South
has practical monopoly in clothing
material. Once we make intelligent
use of this power, We will become
the richest and most cultured people
in the world. 1t is lying right there
awaiting us. l for one do not believe
that we can ever secure the unity of
action demanded by so large an un-
dertaking except by invoking the
powers and functions of government.
The Grange, Alliance and Farm
er's Union are movements telling the
story of wasted effort in individual
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