CHAPTER VII MEMORIAL TO THE PRESIDENTS "Let all the ends thou aimst at be Inscription on Union Depot, Washington, D. C. "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; "Where knowledge is free; "Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; "Where words come out from the depths of truth; "Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection; "Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; 66 Where the mind is led forward by thee into everwidening thought and action "Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.” To the United States Presidents: The first of you have passed and gone; three still live; one is President, and many will be. Who the latter no one knows, but all eligible should qualify, for we, the people now address memorials to the presidents officially and not personally. 57 Mr. Presidents, it is not wars alone that trouble us; there are other troubles even more dangerous. We are not represented. The organized government acts independent of us. We have petitioned our Senators and Representatives to secure redress from certain evils. We petitioned them as our respective local Representatives and also as the Congress. We find them unwilling, and we may add with certain reserve, unable to act upon matters that are most vital to protect and promote our best interests. They have made rules and adopted practices to prevent themselves from governing themselves except through leaders. These rules form the excuse given by our local Senators and Representatives for their failure to successfully initiate legislation in our favor when it is opposed by wealth. But there is a way the leaders have of "riding over" their regular rules when they wish. They have a "special privilege utility committee," which is called the Committee on Rules. This committee sets aside the regular rules whenever it wishes to bring any matter before the legislative body, the regular rules notwithstanding. Congress has tied itself up, so that it is not a representative body as it should be, and we seem never to get enough independent Senators and Representatives in Congress at any one time to cut the knot and make Congress free. Therefore, it fails to act for us. So now, Mr. Presidents, we petition you. - Mr. Presidents, somewhere, sometime, somehow, a nation will have to take a step towards civilization or the world will go down in ruin. We believe that now shows the how, that this is the time, that ours is the Nation, and that the civilization process must begin with the nation that is to lead-we have been wroth to action. Lowell said: "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side; Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight, Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; And the choice goes by forever, 'twixt the darkness and the light." Mr. Presidents, you are the only representatives of the people, officially free from the influence of local conditions. Every other representative elected by popular vote, is a part of and elected from a section less in extent than all of the United States. Therefore, we place our cause before you as our servants, calling on you to give executive expression to our demands. You are of us-selected by us and have our consent to lead us. But we are not blind followers, for should you attempt to lead us the wrong way we will not follow. We are the Sovereigns-Represent The Republic-in Fact, Constitute The Republic, and do not intend that the Republic shall be a hollow mockery by leaving to its Presidents the whole responsibility. Please, therefore, take notice of what we demand of our Presidents: Mr. Presidents, we know that what you say must be carried in the press. We know that no others that can speak for us will be given space in the full press if they speak in our interest. Therefore, what you will say of what we wish, affords us the only means of communicating our desires so as to make them common knowledge and sufficiently understood to secure concerted action among us. That is the only way at present to secure our best interests. We desire you to know from us our common needs-what our reasonable demands are. We do not need you to tell us, for we are up against them every day. But we do need you to give expression to them. We will stand by you when you speak and act for us. Wealth and Advantages Mr. Presidents, comparatively few have wealth and advantages now. Still who among us would not leap at a chance to double his income and increase his advantages? Do you not know that it would be easy for the rank and file of us to do it—if the conditions were made right, and that they can be made right? You know very well that every industrious toiler who depends upon his industry to provide the means that make life worth while can even quadruple his advantages under proper conditions. Certainly you know that we placed the means in your hands to bring that about. The isolated individual "self centered interest which has hitherto dominated the world in favor of a few-prevails because the masses have been kept in ignorance of certain false practices-and, therefore, could not act in support of their own interests. This, Mr. Presidents, you can overcome in the manner we have indicated. Ninety odd per cent of us are shackeled by industrial slavery. All that we ask of you is to communicate to us through your messages the details of the main things to be done so that we may all have a common understanding, for we possess the power to liberate ourselves once we secure a leader who will call our attention directly to the necessities-so that we may simultaneously co-ordinate our work. Special Privilege Mr. Presidents, no law names specific persons who may have "special privilege." We would not stand for such laws. But what could not be done directly— has been done indirectly. The laws and the practices that we follow-enable some persons to secure special privileges by getting themselves into positions to force burdens upon the rest of us. The laws do not prohibit any of us getting into a position to secure special privilege if we can. In fact it actually enables some of us to do so. All have equal right to bring themselves within the law-but the very fact that some are able to-makes it certain that the masses can not even secure all that actually belong to them. Our system is so arranged that it robs the masses of most of their rights-material as well as social. Our objection is to the system that makes special privilege possible and not to the persons who are the beneficiaries of it for they, or others occupying like relations, are the inevitable result of the existing system. "Special privilege" controls three distinctively important advantages in trade: (a) finance; (b) transportation; (c) telegraph and telephone. To these we may add "publicity"-for it controls the agencies for the distribution of news-and owns or controls the most extensive publications—which to a great extent mold public opinion in conflict with truth. The "special interests" are in deadly conflict with true economic principles which are on the side of the masses -but the latter have had no practical means thus far of enforcing them-and have known little about them. We have not only been deceived, but we have been charged and made to pay the whole cost of maintaining the system with which they have done the deceiving. The High Cost of Living Mr. Presidents, the existing prices are higher than usual-higher than they would be except for the warbut so far as America is concerned-up to the time we |