River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-03-27
(coNrlNUED From PAGE SIX
CHAPTER XIII
An Afternn ath-Confession.

protest against their wrongs ana paf.
ticularly 10 den0uncp the men who had
advanced the price OF bread ny Great.
Tug corner in wheat
On Ms way down town Stuart read
with aStouIshment that Dr WoOdman
would preside over this gathering tie
determined TO 20. AS he hurried through
the routine work Of his office. giving
his orders for the day. he received
telephone call from Nan. asking nm
TO accompany her to this meeting
Il don't think Won ought TO 90 be
answered emphaticaIly. There might
be riot
Pm not afraid"
And you might hear some very
plain talk about your husband
That's exactly why wish to 90!
I'll send one Of my cars to the office
for you immediately"
An hour later when Stuart. seated
nv Mans side. reached Onion square,
the automobile was stopped by the pO-
lice and turned into Seventeenth street
Every inch OF space in the square
seemed blocked by a solid mass of mo
tionless humanity Stuart left the car
in Seventeenth street and succeeded
finally Ia forcing a way through the
crowd to a position within a hundred
feet OF the rude platform that had
been erected for the orators. The
scene about the stand bristled with pO-
licemen.
BESIDES the special detail of picked
men who moved about the stand, oc-
casionaIly clubbing an inoffensive man,
q battalion OF 300 reserves was drawn
mp in serried lines about hundred
yards to the north on the edge OF
Fourth avenue Between these re.
serves and the crowd about the stand
an open space was kept clear for their
possible assault in case of any dis
turbance.
When the speaking began Stuart
pressed his way as close as possible,
dra wing Nan with him. He was as
tonished at the genuine eloquence and
power with which the first speaker,
evidently Of anarchistic leanings, de
veloped his thu me. q passionate plea
for freedom and the highest develop
ment of the individual man. His con-
Guiding sentences reused his crowd to
a pitch of wild enthusiasm.
''In the old world. from which your
fathers and mothers fed In search OF
freedom, men enslaved their fellow
men by becoming lords, dukes or
kings, numbering or poisoning their way
to a castle or a throne, The meth
DDS of your modern masters are more
subtle and successful. You vote to
make them your masters. and still
imagine that yOn are free"
A cheer like the roar of an angry sea
swept the crowd Again and again ii
rose and fell. increasing in volume as
fits contagious spirit set fire to the rest
less minds Of the thousands who had
packed the square, but could not hear
the man who was voicing their faith.
In the deep roar of their cheers there
was no sodden despair. AS Stuart
looked into the faces of the crowd he
saw no trace of the degeneracy and loss
of elemental manhood which make
the sight of a European mob loath-
some and hopeless. These men were
still men. the might of freemen in their
souls and good right arms.
When the last echoes of the cheers
had died away there was a stir near
the stand and Stuart saw the stalwart
figure OF DR.. Woodman suddenly rise.
He lifted his arm over the crowd, de
manding silence.
The doctor plunged at once into the
message with which his heart was
quivering:
let no man tell you, my friends.
that the God of our fathers is a myth
You can't lose faith in God because
you have not lost faith In eternal jus
tice. This faith is just coming into
conscious existence in the hearts OF
millions. By this sign we know that a
new age is born. Poets and artists no
longer gaze into heaven. Their eyes
are fixed on earth. Men have ceased
TO long for another world, therefore
their hope is now for this one. To bring
justice and beauty to pass on this
earth in wisdom and fearlessneSS OF
death-this is the new creed of the
people
My friends, the workingman of to-
day lives ,etter than the kings of the
middle ages. Have patience. my
friends. the work1ngman OF tomorrow
will be the heir of all the knowledge,
of all the pain and all the glory of the
centuries. We should not be so i'm
patient. we should not be discouraged
The progress of the world has really
Just begun. And so |. who watch the
darkness pass and see the eastern sky
begin to glow cry to you who may
still be below: BE of good cheer, the
day dawusr"
A feeble cheer rose from the hun
dred or more who knew the doctor
personally Ii was the only response
the suIlen crowd gave TO his burst OF
feeling. They were not in sympathy
with his optimism. The anguish OF
the present moment of bread hunger
and cold was too keen.
When the doctor sat down Stuart
saw Harriet suddenly lean over. draw
his big shaggy head down and kiss
him. He hadn't recognized her before
The next speaker made MS attack on
the u. upuun and grau ol our SYSTEM
OF government with brutal frankness.
He assailed the foundations OF the re-