Kansas agitator. [volume], July 19, 1894, Image 7

About Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
KANSAS AGITATOR: GARNETT, KANSAS. JULY 91. 1304.
Government HoaIs.
Austria owns and operates neaily
2,000 miles of railway.
Baden owns 859 miles of railway.
Bavaria lias 2,S96 miles of rail
way owned by the government.
Belgium owns about 2,000 miles
of railway.
Some 181 miles of railway is own
ed by Ceylon.
Chili owns 670 miles of railway.
China owns and operates all her
railways.
The United States of Columbia
owned 218 miles of railway in 1890.
Denmark has about 1,000 miles of
railroad owned by the government.
France owns about 2,000 miles ol
railway, but most or quite all is
leased to cotm-anies. ,
The German Empire owns about
21 810 miles of railway.
England and Wales own 11,930
miles. .
Scotland has 3,118 miles belong
ing to the state.
- Ireland o vus 2,791 miles of rail
road. Ilesse owns 226 miles of her rail
way system.
A large per cent of the railways
of Italy belong to the government,
but. are leased to companies.
Japan owns 603 miles of railway.
The colony of Natal owns 305
miles ol railway.
The Netherlands has nearly 1,000
miles owned by the government.
New South Wales owns 2,182
miles of railway.
Nevv Zealand in 1890 owned 672
miles ol railway.
Norway has 920 miles of railway
all her own.
Portugal owns about one half of
the railways in that country.
Oldenburg owns 222 miles ol her
railroads.
Peru has 1,625 miles of railroads
owned by the state.
Roumania in 1880 owned 1,590
miles of railway.
Poland and Caucasia own 5,005 ,
miles of railway. !
Sweden owns 1,645 miles of rail-1
roads.
Victoria owns all her railroads
2,341 miles.
Some 1,137 miles of railway be
longs to Russia. About one-tenth
of the roads in that empire belong!
to the government.
Servia also has a few lines of
railway owned by the state.
Brazil owns and operates 2,091
miles of railway.
South Australia owns her railway
system. Coming Nation.
Men talk about shooting down
men by the drove in time of peace,
aud if any one objects to such pro
cedure they will brand the objector
aa an anarchist. Paola Times.
Strike at the ballot box.
THE PEOPLE'S PLATFORM.
' Adopted In National Convention ml
j Omaha, .July 4, 18U14.
i Assembled upon the 110th anniversary of the
: Declaration of Indupendenco, the People's
j party of America in tlivir first national cou
j vention, invoking upon eir action the bless
I lag of Almighty (rod. put forth in the name
and on bt-haif of the people jf this country the
following preamble and declaration of princi
ples: The conditions which Riirround us Justify
our action; we meet in the midst of a nation
brought to the verge of moral, political and
material ruin. Corruption dominates the bal
lot box, the legislatures, the congress, and
touches even the ermine of the bench. The
people are demoralized! most of the states
have been compelled to Isolate the voters at
the polling places in order to prevent universal
Intimidation or bribery. The newspapers are
largely subsidized or muzzled, public opinion
silenced, business prostrated, our homes cov
ered with mortgages, labor impoverished and
the land concentrating in the hands of the
capitalists. The urban workmen are denied
the right of organization for self protection;
imported pauperized labor beats down their
wages; a hireling standing army, unrecog
nized by our laws, Is established to fhoot them
down, aiid they are rapidly degenerating into
European conditions. The fruits of the toil of
millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal
fortunes for a few, unprecedented in the his
tory of mankind, and the possessors of these,
In turn, despise the republic and endanger
liberty. From the 6ame prolific womb of gov
ernmental injustice we breed the two great
classes tramps and millionaires.
The national power to create money is ap
propriated to enrich bondholders; a vast pub
lic debt, payable in legal tender currency, has
been funded into gold bearing bonds, thereby
adding millions to the burdens of the people.
Silver, which has been accepted as coin sir.ee
the dawn of history, has been demonetized to
add to the purchasing power of gold by de
creasing the price of all forms of property as
well as human labor. The supply of currency
Is purposely abridged to fatten usurers, bank
rupt enterprise and enslave industry.
A vast conspiracy against mankind has been
organized on two continents, and it is rapidly
taking possession of the world. If not met
and overthrown at once it forebodes terrible
social convulsions, the destruction of civilza
tlon or the establishment of an absolute des
potism. We have witnessed for more that a quarter
of a century the struggles of two treat politi
cal parties for power and plunder, while griev
ous wrongs have been inflicted upon a suffer
ing people. We charge that the controlling
Influences dominating both these parties have
permitted the existing dreadful conditions to
develop withoutexious efforts to prevent or
Editor Sunflower : Ever since
the bill paused our legislature which
will allow every voter in Kansas to
vote for or against the enfranchise
ment of Kansas women next Novem
ber, a few of us have wished that
the way might be opened for us 10
have a hand in this great movement.
We had not found the courage in
ourselves to take hold, but linally
our state campaign committee offer
ed to send us one of the state organ
izers, and Mrs. Belle Jones, one of
our most courageous, true-hearted
women, took charge of the meeting.
Mrs. Luella R. Kraybill, of Win
field, our organizer, made a very
logical and wholly unanswerable
argument in favor of our measure.
She is one of the most effective
speakers we have heard. She has a
marvelous voice and delivery, which
are hardly excelled by even those of
Mrs. Mary E. Lease.
Officers of campaign club : Pres
ident, Rev. McKinnery ; vice-president,
Miss Hattie Chapman ; secre
tary, Miss Nellie Crawford ; treas
urer, Miss Lizzie Brooks.
Success to our movement ana ail
the noble women who are making
such efforts in its behalf.
"Truth crushed to earth will rise
again," and so will the principles of
our measure, until they are recog
nized over all the world.
Burden, Kas. Secretary.
res&ani Client. XGIHTer do I icy noTP promise
us any substantial relief. They have agreed
together to Ignore in the coming camnaign
every issue but on. They propost Vo druTo
the outcries -t a plu.u-i-n. people with tLo
uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that
capitalists, corporal ions, national banks, rings,
trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of
silver and the oppression of the usurers may
all bo lost bight of. They propose to sacrifice
our homos, lives and children on the altar of
Mammon; to destroy the multitude in order
to secure corruption funds from the million
aire. Assembled on the anniversary of the birth,
dayof the nation, and filled with the spirit of
the grand generation who established our inde.
pendenco, we soek to restore the government
of the republic to the hands of "the plain peo
ple," with which class it originated.
We assert our purposes to be identical with
the purposes of the national constitution to
form a more perfect Union, establish justice,
Insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare
and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves
and our posterity."
We declare that : this republic can only en
dare as a free government while built upon the
'.ove of the whole people for each other and
for tho nation; that it cannot be pinned tA
gether by bayonets, -that the civil vxr i t over,
and that every passion and rc.-entiuciii uhicu
growout ol it must die with it, and thutws
must be in fact, as we are in name, a united
brotherhood of free men.
Our country finds itself confronted by con
ditions for which there is no precedent in the
history of the- world. Our annual agricultural
productions avtioiint to billions of dollars in
value, which must within a few weeks or
months be exchanged for billions of dollars of
commodities consumed la their production.
The existing currency supply is wholly i unde
rtint e to make this exchange. The results are
falling prices, tho formation of combines and
rings and the impoverishment of the producing
classes. We pledge ourselves that if given
power fe will labor to correct these evils by
wise and reasonable lrgh.latioii. in accordance
with the terms of our platform.
We believe that tho powers of government
In other words, of the people 6houhl be ex
panded (ns in the case of the postal service) as
rapidly and ns far as the good seuse of an in
telligent people and the teachings of experi
ence shall Justify, to the eud that oppression,
injustice aud poverty shall eventually cease in
the land.
While our sympathies as a party of reform
are naturally upon the side of every proposi
tion which will tend to make men intelligent,
virtuous and temperate, we nevertheless re
gard these questions important as they are
as secondary to the great issues now pressing
for .'olution, Htid upon which not only our in
dividual prosperity, but tho very existence of
fret iLilittlnsjbiivN, niul Vifi.ji'JuJ.U
WANTED ioo.ooo PEOPLE'S PART?
Speakers for the presidential campaign.
How to educate them in time is the problem.
The solution is found in -
The Coming
in the
Destinies of America
By Lester C. Hubbard. 480 pages of new
ammunition for the great reform movement.
The text-book for the Presidential cam
paign of 1892. Paper, 50 cents; cloth. $1.50.
Tho most remarhahlo contribution to the reform
literature of the day 13 " The Coinir.f! Climax," by
Lester C. Hubbard, editor now cs-editcr cf tha
Farmer' Vcice. It is a ccn'.rlotn liictcry and
analysis of the causes which have p reduced in
creasing poverty ai.tid i:-:rr-.in! wealth, and
proves beyond tho shadow cf a doubt that the
results ot tha continuation cf present social condt.
tions must bo a conflict, heckles which the French
Revolution w.-.j a f-cr-.tls rcphvr to a cyclone. To
a style and dictioa fully ci;u:.l to th;-t of Henry
Ceorge, Mr. Hubbard p.-ldj a force and earnestness
born ot a conviction cf the extreme gravity ot tba
situation. Dead-jood, S. D Independent.
If the People's Party should scatter a million
copies of Mr Hubbard's work throushout the land,
it would probably prove to bo as Rood campaign
ammunition ss tnry cculd manufacture. Henry
Frank in Tvt;i:cti Cer.iury.
Thb Cominq Clii!.i should bo in the hands of
every voter in the United States, and should be
read carefully r.nd prayrriully. No bock has evei
been published that will effect as much good at
this one will. Kc.-.d'nj its truthful prises will make
a good alliance man a better one, and will stir Dp
the luke-warm to active work. It enly costs 50
cents, and is worth more th.-.n its wright in gold.
Tht Ailianct Firmer, V, V.-.'i.'.V, Florida.
Thb Coming Cl!V" henrtily endorse!
by Ignatius Donnelly, Robert Schilling, R.
M. Humphrey, John McGovern, Mrs. Mar
ion Todd, the American Nonconformist,
the Farmer's Alliance of Lincoln, the Great
West of St. Taul, the Progressive Farmer
of Raleigh, the Kansas Commoner, the
Topeka Advocate, the Cincinnati Herald,
ana many other reform leaders and journals.
By special arrangement with Charles H.
Kerr & Co., of Chicago, Mr. Hubbard's
publishers, we are able to offer the book to
our subscribers, postpaid, at 50 cents is
paper or $1.50 in cloth.
to "belli UT'to determine vractner -we "are t
have a republic to administer before we dlnY:
as to the conditions upon which it is to be ad
ministered, believing that the forces of refori t
. thia day organized will never ceuse to miv
I forward until every wrong is remedied an t
1 equal rights an! equal privileges securely e
itablishcd for all tho men aud women of th;
country. ,
We declare, therefore
I That the union of the labor forces of tin
United .States this day consummated fchall k
permanent and perpetual may its spirit entc.
into nil hearts for the salvation of the repuhli
aud the uplifting of mankind.
Wealth belongs to nlm who creates It, auo
ever) dollar taken from industry w ithout ar
equivalent is robbery. "Ifnnywill not wui';.
neither shall he eat." The interests of run
and civic labor arc the same; their enemies
are identical.
We believe that the lime has come when tbir
railroad corporations must either own the peo
ple or tho people must own tlie railroads, and
should the povcrnmcnt enter upon the work or
owning and niunavng any or all railroads wt
should favor an amendment totheconstitutioi)
by which all persons engaged in thegovernnn-ni
service shall he placed under a civil servic
regulation of the most rigid character, so a
to prevent the increase of the power of tli--national
administration bv the use of sucl
additional government employees.
We demand a national currency, safe, sonnr)
and flexible, issued by the penernl government
only; a tun legal tenner tor all debts, public
and private, aud that without tho use of bank-
ing corporations; a just, equitable and efficient
j means of distribution, direct to the people, at
I a tax not to exceed 2 per cent, per annum, to
bo provided as set forth in tba subtreasury
phiu of the Farmers' Alliance, or some better
System; ' ' by payments in discharge of its
obligati for public improvements.
Wo di-i.i.-iiid the free and unlimited coinage
i of silver and gold at tho present legal ratio of
1J to 1.
I We demand that the amount of tho circulat-
I fug medium be speedily increased to not less
! than lifty dollars per capita.
j We demand a graduated income tax.
I We believe that tho moneys of the countr)
'should !; kept as much as possible in the
j hands of the people, and honco we demand
! that nil uational and state revenues shall be
I limited to the necessary expenses of the gov-
; eminent economically aud honestly udminis-
. tered.
We demand that postal savings hanks be es
I tnhlishcd by the government for tho safe do
! posit of the earnings of tho people and to facil
i hale exchanrc
I Transportation being a means of exchange
: anil a public necessity, the government should
own and operate the railroads in the interest
' of t he people..
I 'I he telegraph and telephone, like tho post
office system, being a necessity for the tratis
i mis-ion of news, should be owned andopcr
' a ed by the government in tho interest of the
people.
; The land, including all tho natural sources
of weal! b. i the heritage of all tho people, and
; Mioiil.l not bo monopolized lor speculative pur
' po.-c.-. aud an alien owner.-hip of land should
he prohibited. All lands now held by rail
roads and ol her corporations in excess of their
n'-iual held-., and all lands now owned .iv
alien should he ivdaimrd by thegoverunie.il
i .d bold fni Bctua! st ttlrrs oaly.
The Book of the Efioeht
OLUHH
Bt EDMUND BOISG1LBERT, M. D.
(IGNATIUS DONNELLY.)
The author of thin wonderful book takes aa hia
text the dangprons tendeneips of oarage, and girea
a picture of whnt. the world will be a hundred
years from now if the spirit of invention and ma
terial proirreHS remains tho Mime, and the moral
epiritof society iijiivps along in its present chan
nel. The Hun Francisco Cli ronicle says: "In a
8tartliiily oiiinal and wonderfully fascinating
novel he prot.enU a profound study of sociologi
cal conditions."
"A Gabriel's tramp." Frances E. Wil
lard. "A very extraordinary production." Bt. BY.
Ileury V. I'otter.
"The effect of an honest purpose ia felt in eyerj
line." I'loneer-l'ress.
"As an example of the highest literary form it
rWerves unstinted praiae. Cardinal lilb
bona. "It will hold the attention of the world as no
other book has held it for years." ltlade.
"I was nnablo to lny it down until I had fin
ished reading it. Itchould he read by every far
mer in the land." II. l. Luucktt, Pieeideat
National Farmers' Alliance.
"It ia exceedingly interesting ns a narrative,
and is written ly u in.m of tluuiht, learning and
imaeinatiou." Jultitn Ham home.
"The moet remarkahlo and tl.tik:lit-provokin
novel that the dixtnrled industrial and social
condition of tha present have produced."
Arena.
"It will thrill a careless reader of novels, or
profonndly imprnee a statesman. It is senile an
a child, and yet it is ragged as a giant. Opi -1.
Bead.
Twelve Editions sold in six months.
9 HATE TOU Q
BRAD IT 5
By a (rperial arranpement with the publishers o
Car' CoJn-iin,'' ( oan supply this ftreathook,
po-t-iifo paid, for 60c. in pap-f "u"w,la 91.2
In extra aiik oldflh binding