The advocate and Topeka tribune. [volume], December 28, 1892, Page 11, Image 11

About The advocate and Topeka tribune. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1892-1894

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

                
THE OOMIIIG HGHT.
A pacer read by J. i. SaVrT, of MarysvMA
lWorethe Kansas Reform Press Association
at Topeka, December 20.
It must be a fight for liberty. We
must clearly comprehend by patient
effort the great fact embodied in the
well-known statement that "eternal
vigilance is the price of liberty." Are
we fully consoious of the fact that true
political and social liberty was never in
such perilous straights before? I am
not a pessimist. Were I not an optimist
I should declare that liberty has been
destroyed or driven from our land. In
its place we have plutocracy and poverty.
Consider this truthful portrayal of con
ditions as we find it in "The Coming
Climax:"
"Of late years a new and malign entity
forcibly intruded itself into the complex
life of our nation. A hitherto unknown
but altogether formidable power slowly
and surely assumed absolute dominion
over our industrial, commercial and polit
ical systems. When this end finally
came the people perforce gave their oli
garchic master a name and they called
the all potential hydra-head the plu
tocracy. "Loosely but sufficiently defined, the
plutocracy is the aggregated wealth of
the nation's rich men and corporations
thoroughly organized and massed under
talented, energetio and unscrupulous
generals. These leaders advance the
column along the whole line against the
wealth creators of the country for the
purpose of taking the fruits of their toil
to the utmost The prosperity of the
producer is trampled under foot by the
invading host, and now the liberties of
the citizen vanish amid the general
spoliation.
" The triumphant plutocracy has de
stroyed the nice balance between the
rights of property and the rights of men
as they once existed, and now when issue
is joined beVwoen money and man, the
man is forced to the wall. It has changed
the people's courts of justice into the
plutocracy's courts of law. It has made
the legislative function of the govern
ment its humble servitor. While under
its subtile necromacy the forms of our
popular institutions remain, their spirit
has gone and these United States are no
longer a government of the people, by
the people and for the people.
"The old-time theory that the only
valid reason of being a democracy is
to do the greatest good to the greatest
number of citizens has been put away,
and now its sole mission is held to be
that of an umpire. If the strong and
crafty compel the weak and simple to
fight them on their own ground with
their own weapons, the government must
take no consideration of mercy, justice
and eternal moralities, but keep its eyes
fixed on the rules of the combat as laid
down by the plutocracy and let the duel
to death go on. It is as if the shepherd
sat on a stump and impartially allowed
the wolves and sheep to fight it out,
and if the sheep happened to be lacking
in the matter of jawa and teeth, it was
merely their misfortune and the wolves'
' legitimate advantage.
"The idea that the republic was under
any righteous obligation to do the best
it could for the Well being of the mass
of its citizens is voted by the plutocrats
to be rank heresy. It is next door to
that dreadful thing paternalism, which
positively inculcates that it is the duty
of a republican government to have a
kindly concern for the prosperity and
happiness of all its people.
"In the opinion of the plutocrats only
one circumstance more horrible than;
this could possibly happen, and that
would be for Jesus Christ to appear on
earth and inaugurate the millennium.
"To sum up the case of 10,000,000
American producers, they charge the
triumphant plutocracy with subverting
popular government and eo prostituting
the judioiary and debauching the law
making power that the people can obtain
neither judicial nor legislative protection
from its boundless rapacity and op
pression." ,
Now upon the Kansas Reform Press
Association devolves the duty of awaken
ing the people to these awful facts in
such manner as to enlist the co opera
tion of the great masses. It must be a
fight, too; a battle of ideas, a battle for
light and truth the revelation of the
truth concerning our own condition and
the tendency of the forces of civilization.
I fully believe that we, that is, the
American republic, shall survive, but not
by resting supmelv at ease and saying
"all is well," but because there are many
good and true men who see clearly that
liberty must be fought for and that her
foes are at hand and powerful, and
these men are at work. This I
hope is the reason we are here. There
are yet in our land, yea in our own grand
state, many people who are not aware of
the fact that plutocracy "has craftily
and with criminal interest taken posses
sion of the slowly organized party ma
chinery which was built up in purer
times for the convenience of the people
in governing themselves," and that this
machinery, while retaining the original
names, no longer obeys the hand of the
masses of either party for whose good it
was created, "but has come to be a
malign engine that sprves the privileged
few at the expense of the despoiled
many. ' We must fight for their libera
tion from the thralldom of partisan
preju i ce by using every argument and
every Leans to show them their slavery.
We must fight not only for the en
largemjut of the ranks of reformers, but
also ferthe preservation of the principles
of true reform within our ranks. As the
reform party increases in numbers and
power, the tendency will be toward party
spoils and partisan conquest and the
neglect of fundamental principles. We
shall need to guard well against such
tendencies. Let us survey briefly some
of the forces against us in this contest.
The plutocratic press, sustained by the
corporations, constitutes the most actie
force against us. This is sustained by
the advantage of having the field and by
its skillful use of the prejudices of its
readers, thus keeping their eyes closed
to the truth. The hearts of the people
are intent upon right, and we must gain
access to them by persistently though
patiently and kindly bombarding this
fortress now held by base means. To
paralyze the efforts of the secular pluto
cratio press we must strive for accuracy
and truthfulness in the presentation of
news, and by fairness in presentation of
argument, ana freedom from personal in
vective. To neutralize the vicious influences of
the religious press and to win them to
our cause we must present a higher code
of morals than that " business is busi
ness," and show the people that the
business of men as distinguished from
that of mere money getters, is to live and
let live. To say "live and let live," is
beneath the moral standard of true man
liness. I do not mean to say, nor to be
understood as intimating, that the whole
influence of the religious press is vicious,
but that there is a vicious influence in
it; for while it may denounce usury, it
has no moral standard for determining
what usury is. In New York and several
other states, it is usury to charge more
than 6 per cent, interest. In other states
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the limit is 7, 8, 10, 12, or any rate agreed
upon, and the churches and the religious
press are content to let this rest upon
legal grounds, doing nothing whatever
to learn and teach the moral elements in
volved. It i8 one of the elements of the
fight before us to stand for the moral
quality called equity and against the im
meal and unjust extortion practiced
under hiarh legal interest either by stat
ute or contract or both.
Centuries ago this was a question of
morals. It was allowable to charge a
"stranger" interest or hire for the use
of money, bu not a neighbor or brother.
A "stranger" was an alien, an enemy.
Now, all men are brethren, neighbors,
and under the same law morally that was
then prescribed for those not "strangers."
This coming fight must be made with
the weapons of peace skillful presenta
tion of truth in the interests of human
ity, not in a combative spirit as against
an man or set of men, but only as com
bating error, and that by pointing out the
more excellent way. When reviled, re
vile not again, but turn on the modern
electric search-light of fuller orbed truth
till our enemies slink away in darkness or
confess the error of their way and join
our ranks.
Perhaps you want me to indicate some
particular contests to be undertaken at
once. Well, we must besiege the citadel
of public indifference in regard to certain
reforms in legislation and create a de
mand for certain work to be done by the
next legislature. We ought to be prac
tically and actually a unit in insisting
that our legislature shall follow out the
plan of brushing aside some useless and
expensive time-honored customs, as did
our valiant leaders in deciding that the
inauguration of our governor shall be a
plain business affair rather than a scene
of revelry for the display cf butterflies of
fashion. Let us fight the useless and
ruinous formalism and do-nothingness of
legislative bodies, and demand that from
this time on the legislature shall be a
body of workers who shall transact busi
ness for the people, rather than use the
people's time and money to do business
for the corporations.
Let ua demand a mortgage relief law;
the Australian ballot law, or a better
system; a law makiog any one who pur
chases a vote in any way or even spends
enough for a cigar for the purpose of
electioneering, ineligible for office
thereby; an equitable school tax law that
will prevent the present inequalities of
this burden; the introduction of the in
itiative and referendum and corpora
tional representation; a thorough
revision of our insurance laws; a law that
will fully enfranchise the better half of
our citizens; railroad laws that will re
lieve the people from extortion; a law
making the railway commissioners elec
tive by the people; laws providing high
ways; a law providing that July 4,
election day, Thanksgiving and Christ
mas days shall be holidays; and a law
fixing the election of township officers
upon the same date as that of municipal
elections.
But I need not specify further. We
ought to agree before this session close'
upon a plan of action for the comir
year. Let ns always fight for trr
as God gives us light to see it, for thf
terests of humanity, and for a brc
( deeper and more universal applicat
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the principles of equity and justice in all
business and political action. '
Brothers of the reform press, have we
put on the armor for action in our
noble calling? If so, we shall be amply
rewarded. If not, we shall fail as we da
serve to. But we shall not fail. In the
future I sea a nation of freemen rejoic
ing in a freedom and a manhood thattha
world has not yet seen, and with rever
ence they look upon the forces that have
contributed to the production of environ
ments that make their freedom possible,
and one of the factors which they recog
nize as being most patent therein is tha
publio press, and especially that part of
it born of human oppression and tyranni
cal plutooratio rule for the destruction
of the conditions which make million
aires and paupers the principal products
of this portion of the earth most bounti
fully endowed and designed for better
purposes, and they shall raise up and
say, "Blessed are they who taught th
busy political world the better way,"
Have we enlisted for the war?
All genuine Spoonor
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ladies"
Do not endanger your health by
taking poisonous drugs. Writ
to Dr. Patee, 834 Kaunas Ave..
Topeka, Kaa. Enclose CO cents and get a
sure preventive for all troubla. Perrecily
harmlesa.
WE WANT YOUR Ql ITTCP
Will furnish vessels to fcJU I I C.H.
hip It In, take It regularfyTaud Pay the beat Kao
as City prices. We have hundreds of reguUr
customers, and will convince you that we can
handle your butter satisfactorily. Refer to Grand
1 venue Bank and Bradttrect's Mercantile Agcy.
Chaadlsr & Son, 543 Wilniit, In. City, L
CUREKAHCHICLGC
ARC SOLO TO I 0P """J -fSi
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