y
i
The Peoples Voice
VOLUME 9.
NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1901.
NUMBER 8(1
LABOR AND CAPITAL,
From an Address by Col, J, S. Felter at
Springfield, 111.
Life is likened to a battleship
where contending forces strive for
supremacy, with selfish greed, under
the claim of patriotism, shouting'
"traitor" to opposing forces. Or-
ganized greed, called monopoly, has
proved itself a pirate on the com-
merce of nations, a robber in trade, a
bigot in morals, a hypocrite in re-
ligion, and a tyrant in politics.
Charitable donations requires both
intelligence and money; but pious
bigotry requires neither brains nor
money. Cordial symathy for the poor
and practical sympathy for the rich
is the diet of the politicians, and to
such an extent has these pernicious
principles become interwoven in the
social life of the people that lately a
college president, who, depending' on
the rich for donations, was heard to
say: "It is all right to sympathize
with the poor, but we get our money
from the other fellows, and cannot
afford to offend them." And thus
from the college, press, pulpit and
legislature do we find a deplorable
surrender to monopolistic wealth and
organized plutocracy.
All republics have two ways of
changing' established wrong princi-
ples in government one by war and
one by ballot.. The latter being the
peaceful way comes through the
open channel of education, and there-
fore peaceful, and perpetuates na-
tional life. 11 ill become anyone to
cry "anarchy," while courts, and pul-
pit, and press foist an the public a
system of social slavery, that has
wrecked all the nations past. Or-
ganized wealth, holding the reins of
political power, may drive the chari-
ots of war over disorganized labor for
a time longer, but laboring men on
both sides of the globe are becoming
enlightened, and are studying their
rights to know them; and when they
learn their rights and powers to
redress them, I ain inclined to the
belief that our standing army will
hereafter wait the call of the gov-
ernor before invading a state to
shoot down American laborers to pro-
tect foreign capitalists.
It is doubtless unappreciative news
for a doomed man to be informed
who made the rope he is to be hanged
with. It is equally so to tell the lab-
orer wronged that the Lord will
punish his enemy, or history will tell
the story of his suffering. All such
talk is demagogy, cowardly and dis-
honest, and replete with rascality on
the one hand, or ignorance on the
other hand. That all men should
have an equal right to life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness is no new
thought; but by law, made bv greed,
it is not operating as a principle in
America. It matters not what any
particular man may  ay, the bald j
fact confronts every intelligent mind
and impresses this truth home to all: j
That the law stands favoring the rich j
Selfishness, like idolatry, is the same I
in every land. Fifty or more bank-
ers in congress, several millionaires
in the senate, these men speculating j
on the porducts of labor, subject to I
laws to be made bv themselves, must I
ever prove the fact that the laws are
for the rich, and by the rich, and
moreover may explain in part how
gorgeous temples are reared on the
sloping hills while the laborer on
foot hunts shelter in a tenement
house.
.lust how long the laborer will re-
fuse to stand by his brother laborer,
I can not tell. To my mind the poli-
tician is a great curse to the la' or
element. The 'politician who first
has an understanding with monopoly
and then turns up "a friend to the
laboring man," only to make a law
that the courts declare void, is truly
a curse. I have often wondered why
laboring men did not elect to office
men from their own ranks, instead of
some banker, or pot house politician.
It may be that the laborer has not
learned that bribe taking legislators,
and place-hunting judges, willing to
obey their masters, are breeders of
riots, mobs and "Anarchists," and
help to rivet the chains of their
slavery and if so it is high time to
wake up.
From the days that the plebeian
and patrician met in conflict on the
capitoline hills of Home down to the
present hour, organized wealth has
j shown a tyrannical disposition to-
| wards the laboring classes. Cupidi-
ty hears no sighs, it sees no tenrs, it
has tio charity, and obeys no law. It
sits down on the graves of its slain
and chats a hymn and offers a prayer
tocheckthe rising tide of outraged
public sentiments. It is the root of
all evil. It is labor that builds the
ships that transport the commerce of
worlds. Labor builds railroads and
the mighty bridges that span our
great rivers. It touches the earth
and produces a harvest to feed and
clothe and shelter the world. Labor
underlies all hnman greatness And.
strange to say, while labor has pro-
duced all. the laboring class repre-
sents only about one-tenth of the
nation's wealth. I am reminded of a
hive of bees. I see the busy bee toil-
ing late and early, collecting into the
storehouse. By and by the hive is
~w~w~~W ~W ~W
DlTTM&Hft
m>]
Of Your Time,
Please:
^''.TRADEMARK
Visit the store and
inspect our up-to-
the century Spring
stock. Our first
thought has been
of quality but we
have never lost
sight of the price question and feel confident
when we say that this season we are able
to supply you with Spring needfuls in bet-
ter qualities and at lower prices than has
ever before been our pleasure.
Yours for low prices,
LO M 0 0 . . #
full. Then comes the owner and robs
the hive. The bees swarm and re-1
solve to leave, all the time hanging !
to the hive by their heels. Then
comes the owner (the politician) and !
beats the political "Tom Tom" and i
gets all back into the hive, when J
they 'go to work again for their
owner—"monopoly."
The laborer must learn political en-1
slavement of the toiling class is the i
the safeguard of monopoly and the j
thorne of the money power. The'
laborer must learn that his vote is i
the best means to stay the monopo-
listic leech that is sucking the blood j
from honest toil. At the ballot box, j
labor is in the majority and can con-1
trol legislation in its own interest.
But while labor permits itself to be
owned by the blind god of political
idolatry, the rich monopoly will in-
crease and the rights of labor decrease
Wealth will be upon the throne and
labor upon its knees. Organization
is the first grand step toward the goal
of emancipation. Here all can study
underlying causes and remedies, and
their applications. No reform can be
organized and carried to success with-
out organized effort.
One great stumbling block in the
way of labor reform lies in the fact
that there are so many ready to take
the place of those who are willing to
face the enemy. Indeed, it may be
said that while three men wait for
one man's job, the field for labor re-
form is broad and the harvest ripe for
the sickle.
Within the halls of the union no
question affecting the rights of labor"
ing men should be suppressed. To sup-
press truth means death to all pro-
gress. Hence I am emboldened tosug-
gest a careful perusal of the eigth bi-
ennial report of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of Illinois on the subject of
taxation, now ready for distribution,
wherein you will find that the wealthy
classes are paying taxes on a valua-
tion of 7 per cent, while homes of the
poor pay a tax equal to 16 per cent.,
or double the amount of the rich mon-
opolist. Learn for yourselves that
while wealth escapes its just propor-
tion of taxes the deficit is made up by
overtaxing the laboring man's home
so that while the labor is taxed by a
system of laws which permits mono-
poly to rob labor of its wages, and by
taxation to steal away that which he
hath. In recommending the above, 1
hope it will prove an entering wedge
in the minds of many, and that many
will be brought face to face with the
fact that the labor problem is a deep
and broad one that cannot be solved
by periods of spasmodic enthusiasm,
but must come through intellectual
growth and intellectual freedom. As
civilization has climbed the rugged
heights of selfishness from naked
savagery to the sublime heights of
genius, so must the laboring man
throw off his political yoke, throw off
contending one against another, and
hand in hand march forth in union,
counting everything in the interest
and well being of labor; until emanci-
pated labor puts forth her morning
star of genius, walks as a plumed
knight in the legislative halls of the
nation, and surveys the wreckage
along deserted roads and proclaims
to all the world that government is
best, safest and strongest in the hands
of those who pay their taxes and
fight her battles.—The Home.
Justice to Populists,
The Populist party, ridiculed by the
Republicans and denounced by the
gold Democrats, has really been a
great educator. It is an historical
fact that many political organiza-
tions have been influential in mould-
ing public opinion, even though they '
have never secured control of the
federal government. The Populists
have never had at any time
more than a score of members of
congress, and yet they have given an
impetus to several reforms which
must ultimately be accomplished.
For years the Democrats preached,
tariff reform in states like Kansas,
Nebraska, Colorado and the Dakotas,
but they seemed to make little pro-
gress because Republican prejvdice
was a barrier to Democratic doctrines
The Populist did not denounce a
protective tariff in their platform,
but in attacking the Republican
party they weakened the protective
Snaps " Keel Hot "
Not Cold
Snaps. . .
Bargain
Seekers. .
WK OFFER UNTIL our new stock of Spring Carpets arrive a
few choice patterns, just enough for average sized room, remnants
15 to 23 yards each, at greatly reduced prices. They will not last
long at the prices we are offering them at.
REED & SHAFFER.
Leaders tip to-date Furniture, Carpets Etc.
Undertaking and Embalming.
sentiment among their tn embers
and today tariff reform is much
stronger in the west than it
would have been without the assist-
ance of Populism. The Wlison bill,
the only tariff reform measures en-
acted since the war, could not have
passed without the aid if Populist
votes in the senate.
The first national platform written
by the Populists demanded the elec-
tion of United States senators by a
direct vote of the people. That was
before the matter received serious
attentions in congress, but since ti.en
the house of represenatives has three
times adopted a resolution proposing'
the necessary amendment. In 1900
the Democratic platform endorsed
this platform and it is now receiving
support of many prominent papers
which until recently have been silent
upon the subject or opposed to the
change.
The Populist party is an advocate
of the system known as the initiative
and referendum, whereby the peo-
ple can compel the submission of im-
portant questions and pass upon tin-
acts of legislatures. This reform has
been endorsed by many democratic
state conventions and was last year
approved by the national convention
of the party. South Dakota, at the
1898 election, adopted an amendment
providing fur the initative and re-
ferendum in spite of the fact that
the republicans carried the state by
a considerable majority. Even more
recently, a republican legislature in
Oregon has given its endorsement to
direct legislation.
The Republican governor of Wis-
consin is urging the adoption of a
system abolishing political .conven-
tions and providing for party nomi-
nations by a direct vote of the peo-
ple—a system entirely in keeping
with the contentions of the Populist
party.
Prior to the organization of the
Populist party, comparatively few
men advocated the municipal owner-
ship" of public utilities, and yet today
business men in every part of the
United States are openly defending
this policy. Whenever the question
has been submitted to the voters a
large majority has generally been
polled in favor of this reform, once
denounced as populistic but now re-
garded as prudent business policy
for a community.
The Populists favor a postal tele-
graph system operated in connection
with the postoflice department: this
reform has already been recommend-
ed by one republican postmaster-gen-'
eral. Mr. Wanamaker, and the
matter is now being investigated bv
an industrial commission.
The Populists, while holding to
their belief in the government own-
ership of railroads, have given their
influence to all legislation which
tended toward the regulation of rail-1
roads or the securing of reasonable
rates.
On the money question th ■ Popu-
list party has done a great deal of I
educational work, it has steadfastly J
defended the greenback against the j
attacks of the national banking in-1
terests and has insisted that the right
to issue money is a sovereign func
tion of government which cannot
safely be delegated to private i idivx«
duals or corporations. The Demo-
cratic party has in two conventions)
supported this doctrine, although
differing from the Populist on the
subject of redeemabillty. The Demo-
crats advocate a legal tender green-
back, issued by the government, re-
deemable in coin, the government to
exercise the option as to which coin,
while the Populists believe in an
irredeemable greenback. [The irre-
deemable grtenbuck advocated by'
the Peoples party is only a limited
one. The party holds with the Mill,
,'evons and most of the standard
writers oil finance, that a limited
amouut of irredeemablee p ape f
money circulated in connection with
coin and redeemable paper is per-
fectly safe and affords a flexible cur-
rency which, under government coil'
trol, gives relief in times of financial
stringency and furnishes sufficient
money with which to do the business
of the country.] This difference how-
ever, has not prevented the Demo-
crats and Populists from acting to-
gether to save the greenback from
annihilation.
The Populists believe in thequanti'
tative theory of money and favor bi-
metalism because it would give mors
money than monometallism. While
the Democrats in the senate and
house of representatives had for
twenty years been voting for free
coinage at sixteen to one, the Popu-
lists were the first to name the ratio
in a national platform. The unex-
pected and unpromised increase itt
the simply of gold, while it has tend-
ed to lessen the immediate import-
ance of the money question, ha#
vindicated the quantitative theory
which is advocated by Democrats and
Populists but was until recently de*
nied by Republicans.
The Populists, as might be expect'
ed, oppose imperialism and trusts.
They also unite with the Democrat*
in favoring arbitration and condemn-
ing government by injunction and
the black list.
No one who understands the history
of the last ten years can doubt the1
influence which the Populist party
has exerted upon public affairs: It
has been a great educational factor
and the Democratic party has*
strengthened rather than weakened
itself by endorsing a number of pro-
positions which are called "populistic"'
To repudiate our Populists allies ano
surrender to the corporate influences'
which now dominates the Republlcart
party .would be as impolitic as if
would be unpatriotic. The Demo-*
cratic party has no reason for ex-
istence except to champion the cause:
of the people. It must stand ready
to co-operate with those who arc
fighting organized greed, for to re'
fuse such co-operation is to give aid
and comfort to the common enemy.
The Commoner.
Tor Sale,
A good young horse. D. <'. Fox, twt 
blocks west of Oil Mill.