THE NATIONAL WHEEL. 89 



sluggers. They denounced; they bought; they threatened; 

 they lied. They done everything in their power to fire 

 the mind of the public against the movement. But like 

 all other great reforms, the more they fought it the faster 

 it grew. The tearing up of a root here only served to 

 strengthen a branch in another place. It was like a 

 rubber ball, the harder they kicked it the higher it 

 bounced. The very nature of the contestants proved an 

 advantage to the organization. 



On one side were arrayed the parasites who lived off of 

 the labor of the producers, the professional politicians and 

 hordes of monopoly. On the other hand were the people, 

 the producers of wealth the swarthy sons of toil and 

 the pride of the Republic. It is true that the manipu- 

 lators of trusts and the managers of combines were well 

 equipped with money which they could well afford to 

 spend to retain their grip upon the public, and the contest 

 was unequal from a money standpoint. But the farmers 

 met the conflict bravely. In some places along the line 

 they were compelled to recede; the redoubts of the enemy 

 were too strong; and, strange as it may seem, it was too 

 frequently the case that they had treachery in their own 

 ranks. But on the. whole they have advanced. They 

 have met opposition with courage and overcome obstacles 

 with persistence. They have combatted and removed 

 almost insurmountable difficulties with a manly courage, 

 devotion and patriotism equal to the heroes of the Revolu- 

 tion. In the face of all these difficulties the Wheel 

 continued to spread with wonderful rapidity. 



The year 1886 rolled by. It will long be remembered 

 by labor organizations as one auspicious for their growth. 

 Not less encouraging, however, was the year 1887. It, too, 

 brought its trials and vicissitudes; but the organization 

 was now established on a firm footing and the fierce conflict 

 of the previous year had given way to local skirmishing. 



