THE WEALTH MAKERS. August 1, 1895 THE WEALTH MAKERS. Raw Sari ot TUB ALUANCE-IXDEPESDEST. ' Coaaotldattoa of tb Tumen AIMdc and Neb. Independent. PUBLISH ID EVERY TH0RSDAT BI & health Maker Publiihing Ownpany, 11 II St, Uaeola. Xabraakai Otoaaa Bow abb Oimoi J. V, HiiTT Editor ..Bnala i Maaiuctr jv. z p. a- "If an naa noat Ml for mt to rl, Thn awk I not to climb. Another' pals 1 ehooa not for my good. A golden chain, A rob of honor. It too good a prla To tempt mj bast hand to do a wrong Unto a tallow maa. Thli lift bath wo RafflcUnt, wrought by roan'i aatanle to; And who that hath a hnart wonld dan prolong Or add a sorrow to a itrlcktn aoal That aaaka a baallog balm to mac It wholaT H boaom owaa tba brothwhood of man." Publishers' Announcement. Tb Bber!ptlon pries of Tbi Wiamw 1Ub IU la Sl.W par yai In ad ran. Agaata In aollcltlng aubacrlpttona ihoold ba vary earafut tbat all name art correctly applied and proper poatofflc jtlvao. Blanka for retnra abacrlptlona, ivtorn envotopaa, ate, can b bad on application to thti oltlca. Alwitc alga yonr nam. No matter how often yon write ne do not noKlact tbi Important mat ter. Krery week we recelr letter with Incom. pltte addreese or without algnatnrea and It la aomatlmea difficult to locate them. CaiRaa or addmcd. Bobacrlber wlehlng to ehanw their poetoffloe addreaa moat alwaya kItc their former a well as their preaent addreaa wbea change will be promptly made. Advertlalng Rate. fl.ll per Inch. I cent per Agate line, 14 llnea to the Inch. Liberal illaoonnt on large apace or long time contract. Addreaa all adrerttalng communication to WEALTH UAKEHS P0BX1HHIN0 CO., J. B. Hyatt, Bua. llgr. NOTICE. All delinquent subscribers to THE WEALTH MAKERS are fisked to pay their subscription Immediately. DON'T be negli gent about this matter, friends. We know that times are hard and it is not EASY to get money; but you must make SOME EFFORT to pay us. Re member the responsibility that rests upon you. It is the ONE DOLLAR that we get from each one of our subscribers that makes it possible for us ta keep up and make valuable this paper. We are wholly in your power, and we want you to realize it. Again we say, DON'T be thoughtless negli gent. If you care anything at all for the success of the Pop ulist party and this paper, RIGHT NOW is the time to "show your faith by your works." For the 'past two years we have battled against fearful odds. We have had to fight enemies without and foes with in. Designing men, selfish men, unprincipled men, in and out of the party, have done everything they could to destroy us; but we are here yet, and how well we have "kept the faith" the "middle of the road" you your self know. Is the paper worthy your support? Then let us have it NOW WHEN WE NEED IT. All through fhe pania of '93 and the crop failure of '94 we have fought a battle royal: but our hardest time is yet to come before this year's crop is har vested. Friends, we depend on you. Let every man who owes us a dollar on back subscrip tion pay up now and renew for another year. Let every man who Is able, pay for a few copies of THE WEALTH MAKERS tfl hfl cant tn rlniiMfnl vnfarc W WW VVI1. V UVUUIIUI IU(VI0 - during the campaign. There cught to be five hundred men .In Nebraska who would give C5.00 each to pay for cam paign subscriptions to this paper. How many will do this cr.d do it NOW? Address, THE HEALTH MAKERS, , J. S. HYATT, Bus. Mgr. LIICOLI, IEB. WORSE THAT! CHATTEL SLAVERY A few days ago the colamna of tba daily papers contained a telegram dated at Spring Valley, 111., which stated that several hundred miner of that town had offered to enter a state of slavery, by permanently signing away their liberty to the mine owners, if they wonld guarantee them the necessities of life. It was a startling revelation of what so called freedom amounts to for the land less, wage-earning . class, the class which now includes a majority of our popula tion. P-ople who rftd the telegram did not wish to believe it, and communicated with Mayor Delmngro of Spring Valley to see if it were true. His reply was: "I am unable toay whether or notour miners would accept such an offer as was described in the telegram. I firmly be lieve, however, that one-half would be willing to sign such an ironclad contract.' Now bear in mind that the conditions at Spring Valley are not worse than for the coal diggers in all other coal mining regions of the country; and that one in dustry does not offer workers better re wards than another: we are therefore forced to the conclusion tbat common laborers of all kinds in the United States are on or below the level of slaves, many of them being so much worse off tbat they are willing to contract away once for all their sinews and brains, their bodies and wills, their alleged priceless boon of liberty for a taskmaster's agree ment to keep them in the bare necessities of life, such as slaves must have to en able them to work. Here is another revelation of the con ditions of human life in the United States, taken from the columns of the San Francisco Examiner. It reads: State Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald went to the dumps yesterday for labor statistics. He got them. He found from 200 to 800 men who sleep on the dumps and eat of the refuse food thrown there by the scavengers. ' Bid you ever bear of slaves being re fused work and obliged to fight like dogs over the filthy stinking bones and rotten vegetable leavings of a city's garbage heap? Do you people in the country get any idea of the sort of place a city garb age dump is? Why, the scavengers who empty the garbage barrels and boxes of the alleys carry so much rotten vegetable and animal effluvia in their clothes that their presence within a few feet is scarcely endurable. Tho blacks before the war were as well cared for as a man's horses. They were provided healthful huts and whitewashed cabins to live in, and enough clothing and palatable nutritious food to keep them strong and well. If they were sick they were auxiously doctored, and nurs ed back to health. But now, as a result of so-called freedom, through the greed of the strong and cunning, we have a great class unemployed who must live upon garbage, beg or steal, and another class, vast in numbers, intermittently employed, whose poverty is so great and their condition so hopeless tbat thev beg for the old time chattel slavery and are worse off than chattels because they can not find a permanent piaster who will provide them a slave's necessities. Something over a year ago a young man twenty-five years of age, strong and healthy, put an advertisement in a New York paper to the effect that he would sell himself, soul and body, to any man to be his slave to do anything, if his master would provide him and hjs aged mother food, clothing and shelter. He could get no employment, could find no master, could not even sell himself into slavery, but must remain a beggar. Are not these facts enough to arouse the people of this country to a realiza tion that our laws do not prevent con ditions worse than chattel slavery? The concentration of capital, the control of machinery, of exchange, and largely that of production, and the reduction of the people to the proletariat (landless) class is in rapid process now. We ought to be alarmed even if we have not yet as individuals felt the pressure. The power of monopoly and greed must be broken, or all liberty will be lost and plutocracy, the meanest, cruelest despotism that ever cursed mankind, will shortly make renters, wage-slaves and beggars of us all, and our children after us. If we have not mauhood enough to defend the peo ple's inalienable right to land, and to demand equal benefits from government and law, the landlords and capitalists will go on sweating the life out of us, and at last nine-tenths of the workers will live below the chattel slave standard of animal existence. To reach that con dition quickly all we have got to do is to keep out of politics, keep voting old party tickets, be selfish with the rest and work hard to make other people rich. ORGANIZE, OK BE ENSLAVED Let us repeat it, the truth you do not like, the truth which must be accepted, that want, anxiety, dependence, virtual slavery to monopoly power, are condi tions that the great majority of indivi duals can no longer escape from single handed. They cannot be independent and stand alone. Combination gives advantage, increases power; and it is reaching out to grasp the earth and all the men, women and children on it who can be exploited. Combine or be slaves, is the decree of fate. The managers of the great corporations get together and decree what they will charge for carry ing freight and passengers and what wages they will give employers. The coal monopolists meet in the parlor of a New York hotel and agree as to how much coal shall be mined, what the price shall be to us all, and how much work and wages shall be" allowed the half starved miners. Rockefeller the Oil king has ao monopolized the oil business as to force ns to pay him in twenty-five years about $200,000,000 more than the oil cost him, and others associated with him have robbed labor of many additional scores of millions. The As ters and other great and lesser landlords are taking from a third to one-half of all the products of the labor of about seven million families, or 35,000,000 people. We are forced to raise or manufacture and sell each year labor products to meet an interest demand amounting to about 12,000,000,000, and if we fail to do our individual part as contracted, the interest is added to the principal for a short time, and all we have is then sold or taken to pay the debt. . Do not doubt it friends, with all free arable land taken, conditions are get ting worse in America. With manu facturing in the hands of capitalists who own the labor-saving machines, there is each decade coming to be less and less demand for labor and a corresponding reduction in the working time and earn ings of the people. The wealth produced is being concentrated into few hands. The people who once had homes are los ing tbem. The. landless, homeless ones are now in the majority, and the census reports of each decade prove that the per cent of landless people is steadily increasing. ' Organization must meet organization or the present organizations of capitalists will gradually gather up everything in sight. The farmer whose land is mortgaged would better sell a part of bis land and get from under the cancerous incumb rance. But he cannot escape large tri bute even when out of debt. Every trust in the country is preying upon him directly or indirectly. The railroads stand between him and his market and compel him to Bweat for them. The wage earners in the . city are in even worse fix. Few of them own their homes, and those who have to rent both land capital are as bad off as the mortgaged farmers. Organization at the ballot box would be the first, most sensible thing for the workers, but they do not know their common interest well enough to get together. Here in Nebraska every farmer and city worker should unite to send to the legislature and to congress honest representatives of their class. In stead, they vote in three or four parties, so neutralizing their political power, and send corporation lawyers to the halls of legislation who serve their clients at the expense of the liberties of the people. If the people will not unite at the ballot box there is still one way for them to uuitein helpfulness and defense. That way is business co-operation. If they will drop their selfishness they can organ ise Industry, economize expense and make their labor mneh more effective. They must unite at the ballot box, they must co-operate in business, in produc tion and distribution, or they will, the great mass of them, be forced lower and lower under the power of monopoly. There is no other alternative. Unite politically, unite industrially and com mercially, unite as equals; or be slaves and your children after you. Cease to be selfish, or beground to powder by the wheels of selfishness. Love your neigh bor as yourself, or be unloved and miser able, anxious and burdened, so long as you continue to exist. The law of God is the one practicable law of the universe So long as men throw themselves against it they will be broken. It must be obeyed, or we cannot be saved from the conse quences of transgression. THE GOVEBNOB'S APPEAL Governor Holcomb July 27th addressed a letter to Attorney-General Churchill and Land Commissioner Russell, calling their attention to the danger of a dual government being forced upon the people of Omaha under the law passed at the last legislature, the A. P. A. partisan measure which was carried over the governor's veto; and urged them to unite with hkn to secure an early decision from the Supreme court touching the validity of the law, known as House Holl No. 139. There is a contest pending as to the legality of the law, and eminent lawyers have declared the statute in question in valid. The court sooner or later must pronounce upon it, and the governor is anxious to avoid threatened conflict of authority, with possible riot and blood shed, by obtaining the decision speedily. But it can hardly be expected that Re publican officials will respond to his most reasonable and courteous appeal. The law in question was one of the most barefacedly partisan and contemp tibly mean measures that spoilshunters ever had brass to carry through. Other measures of the kind passed by the same body are tjheonly acts known with which to compare it. The law which it repealed was a Republican measure, a law of their own party's making. It was all right until the old Rep. machine was knocked out and the people elected a governor to do the selecting and appointing of the members of the fire and, police board of the metropolis. Then, to save the party the needed fat fryiugs aud the political pull and power of the police force of Omaha, a political power oh which party success would largely depend, the party, the gang known as the Republican legis lature, without demand from the people, without precedent, without reason, with out decency, dropped their own legal child and enacted as law a measure tak ing from the first Populist governor the power entrusted to him by the people. The passing of House Roll No. 139 ex posed the nakedness and shamelessness of the Republican party leaders. It made tbam visibly vile and destitute of any lingering sense of decency and self respect The Omaha fire and police board bill is known as the A. P. A. bill. Omaha is now in the grasp of that politico-religious secret organization, an organization whose secrecy invites corruption and may cover no end of selfish office bunting and deviltry. ' THE GOVERNOR DEHIES IT Governor Holcomb, in the following letter, flatly denies the statement of Land Commissioner Russell tbat the penitentiary appraisul was satisfactory to him, or tbat he bad so expressed him self. The whole matter is shown by the Governor's letter to be a Republican job, or a Republican and Mosher-Dorgan job. The Republican board of public lands and buildings named one of the ap praisers, Dorgan the other, and Gover nor Holcomb appointed Hon. J. N. Gaffin umpire to pass upon differences of judgment on the part of the appraisers. They agreed all too well, however. And now Russell, speaking for the board, is trying to involve the Governor in the game, or make him appear as sanction ing it, by declaring that he was satisfied with the appraisement. The following public letter addressed to Mr. Russell by the Governor gives flat contradiction to the Commissioner's published statement: Lincoln, July 25, 1895. Hon. H. C. Russell, Secretary Board of Public Lands and Buildings, Lincoln, Neb. Dear Sir: My attention has just geen called to a Eamphlet purporting to be issued by the oard of public lands and buildings, en titled: "Report of Appraisers for the Purchase Prison Contract, 1895," in which I notice that the statement is made that at a meeting of the board I expressed myself as "well pleased" as to the report and findings of the appraisers. I was present at the meeting of the board mentioned in this pamphlet upon the invitation of the members of the board and listened to the informal talk concerning the appraisement which was submitted. This meeting lasted for a period of about thirty minutes. I glanced hastily over the voluminous typewritten report of the appraisers and was asked by Treasurer Bartley, a mem ber of the board, for my opinion concern ing the findings. I replied to him, in substance, that it would require consid erable time to examine the report care fully and, as I was not at all conversant with the appraisement by information from any other source, I would be unable to give an intelligent opinion. I did not at that time nor have I at any time since expressed myself as being "well pleased" with the appraisement, but on the contrary, I declined to give an opinion at that time and having since personally examined into the matter more thoroughly, I am constrained to say that I do not approve of a nurber of items of appraisement as reported by the appraisers. I have at all times been strongly in fa vor of terminating the contract between the state and the prison contractor by which the convict labor was farmed out to an individual for personal gain and what I conceive to be against the welfare of the prison management, and approved the bill looking to this end, believing that this could be done with credit to the state and without doing an injustice to the contracter. I took no part in the appraisement of this property and, as I am informed, the umpire appointed by me was in no in stance called in to arbitrate any differ ferences as to values between the two ap praisers selected respectively by the board of public lands and buildings and the contractor. In this alleged report of the proceed ings of the board of public lands and buildings at the special meeting held June 8, 1895, and published in the pam phlet, the title of which is given above, I am done a great injustice by the board, and wo.uld respectfully request that the records of the board' be so altered as to conform to the facts in the case and that before these pamphlets are distributed that the correction be made. I am very truly yours, Silas A. Holcomb. COACHING THE PAR IT LEADEBS The Chicago Dispatch of July 27th, quotes in its "Politics of the Day" col umns, paragraph by paragraph, com menting on each, our editorial of two weeks agoon "TheComing Convention," and introducing the matter says: "The Populists of Nebraska are to meet in their state convention on Aug. 28, at Lincoln under very favorable conditions. The chief organ of the party, The Wealth Makers, published at Lincoln, points out tbat the rapid march of events has prepared the way for a national movement to command the attention and inspire the hope of the people." It then prints what we had to say about the 51 per cent of landless people, the evidence in the railroad strike a year ago that the railroads run the govern ment as well as rob the people, and by owning the courts of justice, so-called, a new use of injunctions gives them power to imprison strike leaders and destroy the power of labor organizations; also that the bankers' panic and hard times had awakened millions to realize that something must be done to deliver the industries of the nation from the money loaners' power. The following significant comment by the Dispatch follows the first paragraph quoted: 1 "Democratic managers will do well to make some notes from the above. The platform of 1896 must be equal to the wants of the people, or the Popnlists will take the place of the old parties en tirely, so far as the people are concerned. The comment on the Populist situation, which is printed here for the information and guidance of Democratic managers, and which they will do well to heed, con tinues" Here follows another paragraph from The Wealth Makers on the land, money and transportation monopolies and the lesser trusts and combines of corporate power. It then says, by way of Demo cratic comment: , "The Dispatch cannot too strongly urge upon the Democratic party the necessity of incorporating the doctrine of governmental control of the quasi- public service." Continuing it adopts the following language of The Wealth Makers as its own, not using quotation marks: "The Populist party has gained strength from the utterances of such men as Lyman Trumbull, Judge Gaynor and Justices Harlan and Brown of tbe Su preme court of the nation. The words of the latterespeciaiiyareof great weight in advertising the necessity of swift ac tion to secure public ownership and ope ration of public utilities, such as rail roads, telegraphs, telephones, express business, street railways, water works, city lighting, etc., etc." And the Dispatch after using these sen tences of ours as its own, winds up the paragraph with the following significant original remark: ''This public contral of natural mono" polies is a very important part of the true Democratic creed." We have taken the liberty to italicise this remarkable sentence, and call at tention of tbe National Watchman, Gen. Weaver, Mr. Taubeneck and other silver single plank advocates, to tbe force of it. its source being considered. Why, the whole country is fast coming to see the strength of the great Populist demands. The man who proposes to yield any one of them has either taken little note of the lessons of recent events, or he is not true to the cause of the people. We have but to hold firm to our party principles and demands to force the other parties to adopt them in self defense, and when they do we shall easily win. The Dis patch in closing said: "The great growth of the Populist party is proof that the Democratic party has departed from the people. Tbe Re publican party stands for monopoly and the money power. Democracy must get back into line with the masses and with Jeffersonian principles or it will perish itsplatrorm in 18'Jb must be broad enough to include all wholesome Populist doctrines. Upon this the Dispatch will insist." There are lots of preachers who fancy they "know nothing but to preach Christ and him crucified" who do not even know that. Christ is not dead but living, and to know Christ we must know the present forms under which he suffers. The preachers of forty and fifty years ago thought they were preaching "Christ and him crucified," while unmoved by and unmindful of the stripes he was re ceiving from the whips of brutal slave drivers. To preach Christ we must bring good tidings to the oppressed, not of love that shall promise to deliver and ift up after death, but love that shall throw off every yoke now, and save in a substantial, tangible, unmistakably real way. Christ was anointed "to preach the gospel to the poor," and he did not do it by telling them about heaven. He came to love and serve them now and here. He came to tell men in power, and tell them to their face, that they were extortioners, that' they were devouring the substance of the poor. He came to introduce brotherhood and industrial equality. He who preaches Christ today must preach these doctrines. The Democrats of Lancaster county would better drop their party if they must needs go outside of their ranks to find men to represent them in office. The Wealth Makers Is free to say that it is disgusted with the tactics of the Democratic leaders in Tuesday's conven tion. It was an effort to force fusion up on us. It puts us in the box of having to endorse men whom they seem to claim as Democrats, men who, if they do not refuse to run on the Democratic ticket, will be known as Democrats on the bal lots, we must endorse these Democratic candidates, I say, if one or more of them are men we desired to nominate as Popu lists, or we must refuse to run them be cause they permit themselves to be called Democrats. Before this reaches the pub lic the Lancaster county Populist con vention will have done its work, and we will not anticipate it. We are all born in debt to society. He who has received most of talent, strength capacity of mind or power or body, owes most to society. Each one owes all he has and is, and to pay the debt must give all. This doctrine is funda mental. A theory of social justice which disregards this foundation and builds on the false conception that a man has a right to himself and what he can compel society or other men to give him, is building on what cannot stand. There is a storm approaching which will sweep away what now seems the strongest thing on earth. Chauncey Depew is hobnobbing with the lords and ladies of London, the papers Bay that he "has renewed his annual social success in London. The lord mayor gave him a luncheon on Wednesday and he has taken part in all the great social functions of the week. But what is the real difference between an American lord (railroad or other monopoly ruler) and an English lord? Neither is better nor worse than the other, and there is is no reason why they should not associate as equals, as lords and masters of the common people. This issue of The Wealth Makers gives the closing part of Mr. Thomp son's speech before the recent state con vention of the Prohibitionists. It is a very remarkable address.crammed full of tact and truth, and makes the best kind of Populist literature. Mr. Thompson makes it very plain that tbe money question, the railroad question, and every other form of monopoly oppres sion are moral questions, aye, and ques tions of life and death to the masses. The Wealth Makers desires to hear from every county in the state regarding the corn crop situation and the crop of small grain harvested. Will our readers take pains to give ns a reliable, conser vative statement of the harvest gathered and the corn prospects, each in his lo cality? The Nebraska congressional delega tion sitting at Pender, has wired Secre tary Smith urging him to suspend further evictions of settlers on Winnebago lands, because it will result in tremen dous loss of crops to innocent settlers. Arthur Kitson of Philadelphia, author of a recent notable work on money, has challenged Mr. Horr to debate with him the question, "Can gold or silver, singly or conjointly, perform the function of a standard or measure of value?" If "the love of money is a root of all evil," would we get rid of the evil by abolishing money?' We might, if we organized to serve one anotherandmade all service free. So only could money be dispensed with. Send to The Kingdom, HOG Lumber Exchange, Minneapolis, Minn., for a copy of Prof. Herron's last book, "The Chris tian State." The price in cloth is 75 cents, in paper 40 cents. The farmers of the province of Ontario Canada, are in acondition of destitution. The ruin of the hay crop is forcing them to shoot their cows and appeal to the government for aid. The treatment that Editor Raker has received from the high and mighty Oma ha judge, is receiving severe condemna tion from the Nebraska press. The Ram's Horn says: "The man who believes better than he tries to do, is as mean a hypocrite as the man who tries to appear better than he is." We are indebted to Mr. White and others of Omaha for communications re ceived. ' Senator Allen will speak in O'Neill August 26th, the day of the judicial con vention. "He prayeth best who loveth best all things both great and small." Broken Bow has a Populist club. BOOKS AND MAGAZINES Psychology; Descriptive and Explana tory, by George Trumbull Ladd. This is the second in the series of psy chological works by Dr. Ladd and is a work of especial value. It is largely used as a text book in colleges and univer sities, having been adopted by the Neb raska State University. It will be found of especial value to advanced students and teachers and is highly recommended to them. Published by Scribner's, New York. Price $4.50. Sbow This to Yonr Minister Bearing in mind that what is meant by usury in the Bible is the taking of in crease for the loan of money, read the following texts and ask your pastor to preach on the Bible doctrine of usury: If thou lend money to any of my peo ple that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him a usurer,neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. Exodusxxii: 25-26. And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner.that he may live with thee Take thou no usury of him, or increase; bnt fear thy God; that tby brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. Leviticus xxv; 35-37. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victu als, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Deuteronomy xxiii: 19. And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said: we, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. Some also there were tbat said, we have mortgaged our land, vineyards and houses, that w might buy corn because of the dearth. There were also that said, we have bor rowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our breth ren, our children as their children: and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bond age already; neither is it in our power to redeem tbem; for other men have our lands and vineyards. And I was very angry when I learned their cry and thesp words. Then 1 consulted with myself and rebuked the rulers and the nobles and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. Aud I said unto tbem, we after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye sell even your brethren? or shall they be sold un to us? Then held they their peace and found nothing to answer. And I said, It is not good that ye do; ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies? I likewise, and my brethren and my ser vants, might exact of their money and corn. I pray you let us leave of this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their laud.their vineyards, their olivegroves and their houses, also the hundreth part of the money this looks as if the usury was only one per cent interest and of tbe corn, the wine, d the oil, that ye exact of them. Then iey said, We will restore them. 4 And the people did according to their promise. Nehemiah v: 1-13. .