

THE PRESS. 687 



rattle-headed school-boy, and brand them as frauds 24 

 karats fine. ' ' 



An attempt to extract any logic from the above clip- 

 ping would be as futile as an effort to press the juice out 

 of a common XX soda cracker. All reform movements 

 have met with like opposition, but here in free America it 

 would seem that the voter is only free to do, peaceably, 

 what some self-appointed political boss tells him to do. 

 If he exercises his own free will and does something that 

 is not consistent with the political bosses' plan, he subjects 

 himself to be called anything which said political boss or 

 his satellites see fit to call him ; and every political boss 

 has his organ to aid him in this commendable work. We 

 merely mention these things to call attention to the fact 

 that if the reader ever expects to assume any independence 

 of his own and protest against the domination of pot- 

 house politicians and "potato lawyers," he may expect to 

 have to bear a vast amount of abuse and ridicule. 



The power of an epithet and ridicule to turn men 

 away from reform movements is very great, and none know 

 this better than the monopolist and his efficient servants, 

 the professional politicians. When Christ was being 

 scourged and mocked, the great and good Peter denied 

 him. It is still within the memory of old men how the 

 placards on Democratic parade wagons, * ( Fathers and 

 brothers, save us from negro husbands, ' ' and the epithets, 

 "Black Abolitionist" and "Northern Gorillas," retarded 

 the growth of the Republican party. All men who are 

 now pressing for industrial reform must expect nothing but 

 kicks, cuffs and hard words. The work of reform is 

 neither a pleasant or a profitable business, and the men 

 who want an easy, lucrative employment had better not 

 enter upon it it is better for themselves and for the party 

 of reform that they stay with the boodlers. In fact, timid 

 men had better confine themselves to their private busi- 



