Year: 1878

TUESDAY, JUNE 25. 1878.


rho Gsllfornia Election ssare.


The whole country apparently stands
aghast at the results Of the recent cleo
tion in California for members Of q
Constitutional Convention. We have
no doubt that the election has an omil-
Gus meaning to heartless land grab
ters and Incorporated monopo,ies that
are crushing and grinding the laboring
and producing classes to the dust
Artful newspaper organs in the pay Of
monopolies, are spreading distrust and
fear amongst the people by represent
ing this popular uprising as a commu-
nistic movement, when it is nothing of
the kind. 1t is simply an uprising Of
tha laboring masses who have year
after year been struggling to exc out .
scanty Subsistence, while crushed be
tween the land grabbers and railroad
monopolists, and while an unciyilized
heathsn people have landed upon the
shores Of California and took possession
Of every avenue of labor which had
been left open for the laborer. An in
ytell'gent gentleman from California, a
short time ago, informed ns that it was
no unusual thing for individual land
smonopolists to own in fee simple from
100000 to 250,000 acres Of land, and
the railroad inonopolists own large
portion Of the remainder, so that very
Little is left for the middle or producing
GLASSES. And then the worst phase of
this land monopoly question is, that it
is never assessed to pay its proportion
Of taxes, and if anything is wanted,
the land monopolists, who also own
the banks, can easily afford to give an
assessor a check for 100000. Under
these circumstances we need not won
, der at the present uprising Of the pee
pie, nor need we be alarmed before
hand at what this convention will do.


The members are men it is true, that
have been ground down to the earth
by worse than autocratic despotism,
but nevertheless they are men Of good
sense, and there will be no danger of
them going into the extremes Of COM
munism. They will,no doubt provide
for making these heartless land grab
;bers pay their equitable share of taxes,
and limit them from extending their
grabbing propensities, and who will
say that that is not right : They will
sno doubt limit the grasping power Of
railroad monopolies, and prevent them
from payinA-all their earnings away in
big salaries to Presidents and other OIL
GERS while the stockholders are defrau.
sded, and who will say that that is not
rightf They will be very apt to try to
prevent the State from being any lon
ger oyerrun by hordes of uncivilized,
-Asiatic Chinese, who like the locust
plague Of Egypt, but destroy the sub
stance of the land, and reduce its peo-
pie to beggary and want, and who will
say that that is not right? We must
not condemn these men beforehand,
but give them chance to show what
they will do, and we may well rest as
sured that if they inaugurate any leg
islation detrimental to the true interests
and prosperity Of the country, the con-
servative element Of the State will
soon unite to overthrow it. Instead of
flying into fury, let those on the east
ern side Of this great nation, look the
matter calmly in the face, and inquire
whether there is not some reason for
this uprising of the people. The labor
ing and productive classes form two
thirds of the population of this nation,
and their appeals cannot be turned
aside with impunity.