404 INTRODUCTION. 



the Continent of America was not discovered by Columbus, 

 and civil liberty established by the Fathers of the Repub- 

 lic, to the end that fifty millions of people might be made 

 tributary to a band of railroad magnates, or that farmers, 

 artisans and merchants might, by hard work and keen 

 competition, raise up a dozen Vanderbilts, with each 

 several hundreds of millions of dollars. 



" Those who entertain this feeling have become per- 

 suaded that the time has arrived for the industrious masses 

 of this country to protect themselves, if they ever intend 

 to do so. It will certainly not be easier after the adver- 

 sary has grown stronger. In this contest every delay is to 

 the disadvantage of the people. Let the issue be deferred 

 for a few years, and nothing but a miracle or a revolution 

 as violent as that of France will overthrow the oppression. 

 Of all misleading delusions, there is none more mischiev- 

 ous than the notion that popular suffrage and popular 

 power are synonymous. Given the means of bribing 

 multitudes, of intimidating others, of wrecking opponents, 

 coupled with actual possession of the government, and 

 adverse sentiment must be paralyzed. In the face of such 

 influences the right to vote is the veriest snare. Will the 

 workman vote himself into the poor-house? Will the 

 favored merchant vote against the capitalist to whom he 

 owes his fortune? Does anyone expect the average politi- 

 cian to be so fired with patriotism as to oppose that which 

 gives him office? 



4 * The ballot is like a sword, utterly useless to the arm 

 that cannot wield it. If the suffrage is to be our salvation, 

 it must be applied sharply while there are still odds on the 

 side of unbought and unterrorized manhood. * * * 

 Into the general bearing and legal philosophy of all this, 

 it is not necessary to go further at present. The subject is 

 now fairly before the American people, and there is every 

 reason for believing that they will not lose sight of it 



