,freedom6 ,equality66 ,justice666       
,these three2 but the greatest of these 
is ,justice4                            
,a ,,speech                             
,,on ,,the                              
,impending ,revolution1                 
,,delivered ,,in                ,music  
,hall1 ,boston1 ,thursday1 ,feb1 #a1    
#ahgb1                                  
,,and ,,the                 ,academy of 
,music1 ,new ,york1 ,feb4 #bj1 #ahgb1   
,,by                                    
,,victoria ,c4 ,,woodhull4              
,illustration                           
,,new ,,york3                           
,,woodhull1 ,,claflin  ,,co41           
,,publishers1                           
,no4 #dd ,broad ,street4                
#ahgb4                                  
,,the                                   
,,impending ,,revolution4      ,standing
 upon the apex of the nineteenth        
century1 we look backward  through the  
historic era1 and in the distant1 dim   
past catch sight of  the feeble         

outreachings of the roots of humanity1  
which during thousands  of years have   
evolved into the magnificent            
civilization by which we are            
surrounded4 ,mighty nations have risen  
and fallen2 empires have gathered  and  
wasted2 races and peoples have evolved  
and decayed2 but the mystic  ebb and    
flow of the ,gigantic ,spirit concealed 
within the universe has  continued upon 
its course1 ever increasing in strength 
and in variety of  sequence4    ,it is  
true that the results which have flown  
from this progressive  course have very 
materially changed4 ,early in its       
history every  achievement was          
considered great or small1 as its       
conquests by military  prowess were     
great or small4 ,but who in this era    
would think of placing  a ,sesostris1 or
 a ,semiramis1 or even an ,alexander1 or
 ,csar1 in  comparison as conquerors1   
with the steamship1 the locomotive      
engine1 the  electric telegraph1 and    
last and greatest1 collecting the       

efforts of all  men1 and spreading them 
world-wide--the printing-press4 ,where  
kings and  emperors once used the sword 
to hew their way into the centers of    
barbarism1 the people now make use of   
their subtle powers of intellect  to    
pierce the heart of ignorance4 ,the     
conquerors of the present1 armed  with  
these keen weapons1 are so intertwining 
the material interests of  humanity     
that1 where exclusion was once the rule 
among nations1  intercommunication has  
made it the exception4 ,every year some 
new tie  has been added to those which  
already bound the nations together1     
until  even the continents clasp hands  
across the oceans1 and salute each other
  in fraternal unity1 and the islands   
stand anxiously waiting for their       
deliverance4    ,the grand results of   
all these magnificent changes have      
accrued to the  benefit of nations as   
such4 ,all the revolutions of the past  
have  resulted in the building of       
empires and the dethroning of kings4    

,the  grandeur of the ,roman ,empire    
consisted in its power1 centered in and 
expressed by its rulers4 ,the glory of  
,france under the great ,napoleon  was  
the result of his capacity to use the   
people4 ,we have no histories  making   
nations famous by the greatness of their
 peoples4 ,centralization  of power at  
the head of the government has been the 
source of all  national honor4 ,under   
this system grades and castes of people 
have built  themselves1 the stronger    
upon the weaker1 and the people as      
individuals  have never appeared upon   
the surface4    ,government has gone    
through various and important evolutions
 and  changes4 ,first we learn of it as 
residing in the head of the family1     
there being no other organization4      
,next1 families aggregated into  tribes1
 with an acknowledged head4 ,again1     
tribes united into nations1  occupying  
specified limits1 and having an absolute
 ruler4 ,then began a  double process1  
which is even now unfinished--the       

consolidation of  nations into races1   
and the redistribution of power to the  
people4 ,that  which was once absolute  
in the head of the family1 the tribe and
 the  nation1 is now shared by the head 
with the most powerful among the        
people4 ,these two processes will       
continue until both are complete--until 
all nations are merged into races1 and  
all races into one government2  and     
until the power is completely and       
equally returned to all the  people1 who
 will no longer be denominated as       
belonging to this or that  country or   
government1 but as citizens of the      
world--as members of a  common humanity4
    8,god loves from whole to parts3 but
 human soul ,must rise from individual  
to the whole40    ,it is at once one of 
the most interesting as well as         
instructive of  studies1 to trace the   
march which civilization has described4 
,beginning  in ,asia1 it traversed      
westward by and through the rise and    
decay of the  ,assyrian1 ,egyptian1     

,persian1 ,grecian and ,roman ,empires1 
each one of  which built successively   
upon the ruins of the preceding1 and all
  culminating in the downfall of the    
last1 whose civilization was            
disseminated to impregnate that portion 
of the world then unknown4  ,modern     
,europe rose1 and when at its height of 
power1 civilization still  undeviatingly
 marching westward1 crossed the stormy  
,atlantic1 and  implanted itself in the 
virgin soil of ,america4    ,here1      
however1 an entirely new process was    
begun4 ,representatives from  all       
nations1 races and tongues here do      
congregate4 ,not only do the  nations of
 ,europe and ,africa pour their restless
 sons and daughters  westward1 but the  
nations of ,asia1 setting at defiance   
the previous law  of empire1 send their 
children against its tide to meet it and
 to  coalesce4 ,to those who can view   
humanity as one1 this is a fact of great
  significance1 since it proves ,america
 to be the center to which the  nations 

naturally tend4 ,but this is only a part
 of its significance4 ,the  more        
prophetic portion is1 that here a new   
race is being developed1 into  which    
will be gathered all the distinctive    
characteristics of all the  various     
races4 ,each race is the distinct       
representative of some special  and     
predominant characteristic1 being weak  
in all others4 ,the new race  will      
combine all these different qualities in
 one grand character1 and  shall        
ultimately gather in all people of all  
races4 ,observe the merging  of the     
black and white races4 ,the white does  
not descend to the black1  but the black
 gradually approaches the white4 ,and   
this is the prophecy  of what shall be3 
8,for mankind are one in spirit1 and an 
instinct bears along1   ,round the      
earth's electric circle1 the swift flash
 of right and wrong2   ,whether         
conscious or unconscious1 yet           
,humanity's vast frame1   ,through its  
ocean-sundered fibres1 feels the gush of

 joy or shame3   ,in the gain or loss of
 one race1 all the rest have equal      
claim40    ,as in this country the      
future race of the world is being       
developed1 so  also will the foundation 
of the future government be developed1  
which  shall become universal4 ,it was  
no mere child's play or idle fancy of   
the  old prophets1 whose prophecies of a
 ,christ who should rule the world1     
come trooping down the corridors of     
time1 and from all eras converge  upon  
this4 ,neither were the ,jews entirely  
at fault when they looked for  a        
,messiah who should reign over the world
 in temporal as well as in  spiritual   
things1 since it is beginning to be     
comprehended that a reign  of justice in
 temporal things can only follow from   
the baptism of them  by spirituality4   
,and it is the approach of these        
heretofore  widely-separated principles 
which is to produce the impending       
revolution4 ,and that revolution will be
 the final and the ultimate  contest    

between justice and authority1 in which 
the latter will be  crushed1 never again
 to raise its despotic head among and to
 divide the  members of a common        
humanity4    ,st4 ,paul said3 8,faith1  
,hope and ,charity4 ,these three1 but   
the greatest  of these is charity40     
,beautiful as this triplet may appear to
 be to the  casualist1 it cannot bear   
the test of analysis4 ,it will be       
replaced in  the vocabulary of the      
future by the more perfect              
one--,knowledge1 ,wisdom  and ,justice4 
,these three1 but the greatest of these 
is ,justice4 ,charity1  with its long   
cloak of justice escaped1 has long      
enough covered a  multitude of sins4    
,justice will in the future demand      
perfect  compensation in all things1    
whether material1 mental or spiritual4  
,heretofore justice has only been       
considered as having relation to        
matters covered by enacted law1 and its 
demands have been considered as         
satisfied when the law has had its full 

course4 ,with ,freedom and  ,equality it
 has been a mere abstract term with but 
little significance4  ,there has never  
been such a thing as freedom for the    
people4 ,it has  always been concession 
by the government4 ,there has never been
 an  equality for the people4 ,it has   
always been the stronger1 in some sense1
  preying upon the weaker2 and the      
people have never had justice4 ,when    
there is authority1 whether it be of    
law1 of custom1 or of individuals1      
neither of these can exist except in    
name4 ,neither do these principles      
apply to the people in their collective 
capacity1 but when the people's  time   
shall come they will belong to every    
individual separately4  ,equality will  
exist in freedom and be regulated by    
justice4    ,but what does freedom mean8
 8,as free as the winds0 is a common    
expression4 ,but if we stop to inquire  
what that freedom is1 we find that  air 
in motion is under the most complete    
subjection to different  temperatures in

 different localities1 and that these   
differences arise  from conditions      
entirely independent of the air simply  
as such4 ,that is  to say1 the air of   
itself never changes its temperature4   
,therefore the  freedom of the wind is  
the freedom to obey commands imposed by 
conditions to which it is by nature     
related4 ,so also is water always  free 
to seek its own level4 ,but neither the 
air or the water of one  locality obeys 
the commands which come from the        
conditions surrounding  another         
locality4 ,that is to say1 that while   
air and water as a whole  are subject to
 general laws1 when individualized1 each
 separate body  must be subject to its  
peculiar relations1 and to the law of   
its  conditions4 ,water in one locality 
may be pure--hydrogen1 nitrogen and     
oxygen2 while in others it may contain  
various additional elements1 as  sodium1
 calcium or ammonium1 and yet each is   
free4 ,air in one locality  may be      
twenty degrees above1 and in another    

twenty degrees below1 zero2  and yet    
each is free in its own sphere4    ,now1
 individual freedom in its true sense   
means just the same thing for  the      
people that freedom for the air and     
water means to them4 ,it means  freedom 
to obey the natural condition of the    
individual1 modified only  by the       
various external forces which are       
brought to bear upon1 and which  induce 
action in1 the individual4 ,what that   
action will be1 must be  determined     
solely by the individual and the        
operating causes1 and in no  two cases  
can they be precisely alike2 since no   
two human beings are  precisely alike4  
,now1 is it not plain that freedom means
 that  individuals having the right to  
it1 are subject only to the laws of     
their own being1 and to the relations   
they sustain to the laws of other       
things by which they are surrounded8    
,if1 then1 freedom mean anything1 it    
means that no individual is subject  to 
any rule or law to be arbitrarily       

imposed by other individuals4 ,but      
several individuals may agree among     
themselves to be governed by certain    
rules1 since that is their freedom to do
 so4 ,and here is the primal  foundation
 and the only authoritative source of   
government4 ,no  individual can be said 
to be free and be held accountable to a 
law to  which he or she did not consent4
    ,in the light of that analysis1 have
 the people of this country got         
freedom8 ,but should it be objected that
 such freedom would be liable to  abuse1
 we reply that that is impossible4      
,since the moment one individual  abuses
 his or her freedom1 that moment he or  
she is encroaching upon the  freedom of 
some one else who is equally entitled to
 the same right4 ,and  the law of the   
association must protect against such   
encroachment4 ,and1  so far as restraint
 is concerned1 this is the province--the
 sole  province--of law1 to protect the 
rights of individual freedom4    ,but   
what is equality1 which must be         

maintained in freedom8 ,a good          
illustration of what equality among the 
people means1 may be drawn from  the    
equality among the children of a family 
in the case of an equal  division of the
 property of the deceased father4 ,if   
the property is  divided among them     
according to their respective merits1   
that would not  be equality4    ,now1   
equality for the people means the       
equality of the family1 extended  to all
 families4 ,it means that no personal   
merit or demerit can  interfere between 
individuals1 so that one may1 by        
arbitration or laws1  be placed         
unequally with another4 ,it means that  
every individual is  entitled to all the
 natural wealth that he or she requires 
to minister  to the various wants of the
 body1 and to an equal share of all     
accumulated1 artificial wealth--which   
will appear self-evident when we  shall 
have analyzed wealth4 ,it also means    
that every person is entitled  to equal 
opportunity for intellectual            

acquirements1 recreation and rest1      
since the first is necessary to make the
 performance of the individual's  share 
of duty possible2 while the second and  
third are the natural  requirements of  
the body1 independent of the            
individuality of the  person1 and which 
was not self-created but inherited4     
,under this analysis have we any such   
thing as equality in this country8  ,and
 yet it should be the duty of           
government1 since it is a fundamental   
portion of its theory1 to maintain      
equality among the people2 otherwise    
the word is but a mere catch1 without   
the slightest signification in  fact4   
,what1 then1 should be the sphere of    
justice in maintaining equality in      
freedom8 ,clearly to maintain equal     
conditions among free individuals4  ,but
 this will appear the more evident as we
 proceed4 ,the impending  revolution1   
then1 will be the strife for the mastery
 between the  authority1 despotism1     
inequalities and injustices of the      

present1 and  freedom1 equality and     
justice in their broad and perfect      
sense1 based on  the proposition that   
humanity is one1 having a common origin1
 common  interests and purposes1 and    
inheriting a common destiny1 which is   
the  complete statement of the religion 
of ,jesus ,christ1 unadulterated by his 
professed followers4    ,but does the   
impending revolution imply a peaceful   
change or a bloody  struggle8    ,no    
person who will take the trouble to     
carefully observe the conditions  of the
 various departments of society can fail
 to discern the terrible  earthquakes   
just ready to burst out upon every side1
 and which are only  now restrained by  
the thick incrustations with which      
customs1 prejudices  and authorities    
have incased humanity4 ,indeed1 the     
whole surface of  humanity is surging   
like the billows of the stormy ocean1   
and it only  escapes general and        
destructive rupture because its         
composition1 like  the consciences of   

its constituent members1 is so elastic4 
,but1 anon1  the restrained furies will 
overcome the temper of their fastenings1
 and1  rending them asunder1 will sweep 
over the people1 submerging them or     
cleansing them of their gathered debris1
 as they shall have located  themselves1
 with regard to its coming4    ,all the 
struggles of humanity in the centuries  
which have come and gone  have been for 
freedom--for freedom to think and for   
freedom to act1 as  against authority   
and despotic law1 without regard to what
 should come  of that thought and       
action4 ,but we are now entering upon a 
struggle for  something quite different 
from this4 ,having obtained freedom from
 the  despotism of rulers and           
governments1 the rule and despotism of  
individuals began to usurp the places   
made vacant by them4 ,where once  the   
king or the emperor reigned1 capital1   
reinforced by the power of  public      
opinion and religious authorities1 now  
sits and forges chains  with which to   

fetter and bind the people4 ,where1 by  
divine right1 men  once demanded the    
results of the labors of their people1  
the privileged  few1 by the means of an 
ingenious system1 facetiously called    
popular  laws1 now make the same demand1
 and with equally decisive results4 ,the
  demand is answered by the return of   
the entire proceeds of each year's      
surplus productions into their coffers4 
,and this is no more true of the  pauper
 laborers of ,europe and the slave      
laborers of ,asia than it is of  the    
free labor of ,america4 ,six hundred    
millions people constantly toil  all    
their lives long1 while about ten       
millions sit quietly by gathering  and  
luxuriating in their results4    ,simple
 freedom1 then1 is not enough4 ,it has  
not accomplished the  redemption of the 
people4 ,it has only relieved them from 
one form of  slavery to leave them at   
the mercy of another still more         
insidious in  its character1 because    
more plausible2 since1 if penury and    

want exist1  accompanied by suffering   
and privation1 under the rule of a      
monarch1 he  may justly be held         
responsible4 ,but when it exists under  
the reign of  freedom1 there is no      
responsibility anywhere1 unless it may  
be said to  be in the people themselves1
 which is equivalent to saying          
responsibility without application4     
,to illustrate this distinction without 
a difference1 take the island of  ,cuba1
 with its half million inhabitants1 and 
suppose it to be ruled by  an absolute  
monarch1 who administers his commands   
through the usual  attachs of the court 
and the noblemen of the island4         
,virtually owning  the people1 he       
commands them to labor1 taking from them
 all their  products1 and merely        
feeding1 clothing and sheltering them4  
,in this case  it would be the          
non-laborers who1 without any           
circumlocution1 directly  obtain all the
 produced wealth1 they simply expending 
their time and  talent in its securing1 

while the lives of the people who       
produce it  would be simply maintained4 
,now advance one step toward popular    
government--to a constitutional         
monarchy4 ,in this the same results to  
the producing people will be            
maintained1 while the noblemen will     
share the wealth among themselves1      
allotting a certain share to the        
monarch4    ,coming down to a           
representative government1 of which     
personal liberty is  the basis1 the     
despotism of laws enacted in the        
interest of privileged  classes are     
substituted for the personal despotism  
of monarchs and  nobles4 ,what the      
absolute monarch possesses himself of by
 the right of  might1 the privileged    
class in the popular government possess 
themselves  of by the right of law1     
everything legal being held to be just4 
,now is not that precisely the case in  
this country8 ,do not all the  results  
of labor accrue to the privileged few8  
and are not the producing  classes just 

as much enslaved to them as the subjects
 of an absolute  monarch are to him8    
,with this mortification1 however4 ,in  
the last instance1 they suffer from     
conditions over which they have no      
control2 whilst in the former case  the 
conditions by which they are enslaved   
are of their own formation4  ,and ,i    
say1 ,i would rather be the unwilling   
subject of an absolute  monarch than the
 willing slave of my own ignorance1 of  
which advantage  is taken by those who  
spend their time in endeavoring to prove
 to me  that ,i am free and in singing  
the glories of my condition1 to hoodwink
  my reason and to blind my perception4 
,and ,i further say1 that that system of
 government by which it is  possible for
 a class of people to practice upon my  
credulity1 and1 under  false pretenses1 
first entice me to acquiesce in laws by 
which immense  corporations and         
monopolies are established1 and then to 
induce me to  submit to their extortions
 because they exist according to law1   

pursuing  none but lawful means1 is an  
infernal despotism1 compared to which   
the  ,russian ,czar is a thousand times 
to be preferred4    ,this may at first  
seem a sweeping indictment of our form  
of government1  but ,i say it is just4  
,suppose we take our railroad system1   
now amounting  to fifty-five thousand   
miles4 ,at an average cost of eighty    
thousand  dollars per mile for          
construction and equipment1 its total   
cost would be  four billions four       
hundred millions dollars4 ,to pay the   
shareholders an  eight per cent4        
dividend for doing nothing1 the         
industries of the  country would have to
 be taxed three hundred and fifty       
millions dollars  over and above the    
cost of maintenance and operation4 ,did 
this enormous  drain from the products  
of the people stop here1 the fertility  
of the  country1 made use of by the     
ingenuity of the people1 might possibly 
keep  pace with the demand4 ,but it does
 not stop there4 ,the net earning of the

  railroads enables their directors to  
make larger dividends than eight  per   
cent4 ,do their managers relinquish this
 increase in favor of the  people8      
,never a bit of it4 ,but they increase  
their stock either by  selling new      
shares1 or by making stock or scrip     
dividends1 and to  neither process has  
there been found any legal bar or cure4 
,now1 what may the result of such a     
system be8 ,why1 this4 ,if the stock of 
all these railroads be increased in the 
same proportion that some of  them have 
already been increased1 it may be raised
 to a thousand  billions of dollars1 and
 the people1 instead of being compelled 
to pay  three hundred and fifty millions
 dollars to provide an eight per cent4  
dividend on their cost1 will have to    
submit to the extortion of eight        
hundred million dollars annually to     
satisfy the demands of these legal      
despots for an eight per cent4 dividend 
upon stock1 a large part of  which      
represent absolutely nothing but the    

people's stolen money4    ,a person who 
would double the size of another's note 
simply because the  profits of his      
business would permit the payment of    
twelve per cent4  interest1 so that     
instead of paying twelve per cent4 upon 
one hundred  dollars1 which would be an 
illegal charge1 it would be six per     
cent4  upon two hundred dollars1 would  
be deemed and adjudged guilty of        
forgery4 ,but these railroad magnates   
sit in their palatial offices and  raise
 their notes at pleasure1 and they are  
considered public  benefactors4 ,it is a
 crime for a single person to steal a   
dollar1 but a  corporation may steal a  
million dollars1 and be canonized as    
saints4    ,oh1 the stupid blindness of 
this people6 ,swindled every day before 
their  very eyes1 and yet they don't    
seem to know that there is anything     
wrong1  simply because no law has been  
violated4 ,in their eyes everything that
  is lawful is right1 and this has      
become the curse of the nation4 ,but the

  opposite--that everything which is    
right is lawful--don't follow as a part 
of their philosophy4    ,no matter what 
a person does if it is not actionable   
under the law2 he  is an honest man and 
a good church member4 ,but ,heaven      
defend us from  being truthful1 natural 
beings1 unless the law says we          
may--since that is  to be an infamous   
scoundrel4    ,a ,vanderbilt may sit in 
his office and manipulate stocks1 or    
make  dividends1 by which1 in a few     
years1 he amasses fifty millions dollars
  from the industries of the country1   
and he is one of the remarkable men  of 
the age4 ,but if a poor1 half-starved   
child were to take a loaf of  bread from
 his cupboard1 to prevent starvation1   
she would be sent first  to the ,tombs1 
and thence to ,blackwell's ,island4     
,an ,astor may sit in his sumptuous     
apartments1 and watch the property      
bequeathed him by his father1 rise in   
value from one to fifty millions1  and  
everybody bows before his immense power1

 and worships his business  capacity4   
,but if a tenant of his1 whose employer 
had discharged him  because he did not  
vote the ,republican ticket1 and thereby
 fails to pay  his month's rent to ,mr4 
,astor1 the law sets him and his family 
into the  street in midwinter2 and1     
whether he dies of cold or starvation1  
neither  ,mr4 ,astor or anybody else    
stops to ask1 since that is nobody's    
business  but the man's4 ,this is a free
 country1 you know1 and why should ,i   
trouble myself about that person1       
because he happens to be so  unfortunate
 as not to be able to pay ,mr4 ,astor   
his rent8    ,mr4 ,stewart1 by business 
tact1 and the various practices known to
 trade1  succeeds1 in twenty years1 in  
obtaining from customers whom he has    
entrapped into purchasing from him fifty
 millions dollars1 and with his  gains  
he builds costly public beneficiaries1  
and straightway the world  makes him a  
philanthropist4 ,but a poor devil who   
should come along with  a bolt of cloth1

 which he had succeeded in smuggling    
into the country1  and which1           
consequently1 he could sell at a lower  
price than ,mr4  ,stewart1 who paid the 
tariff1 and is thereby authorized by law
 to add  that sum to the piece1 would be
 cast into prison4    ,now these        
individuals represent three of the      
principal methods that the  privileged  
classes have invented by which to       
monopolize the accumulated  wealth of   
the country4 ,but let us analyze the    
processes1 and see if it  is wholly by  
their personal efforts that they gain   
this end4    ,nobody pretends that ,mr4 
,stewart ever produced a single dollar  
of his  vast fortune4 ,he accumulated it
 by dealing in the productions of       
others1  which he first obtained at low 
rates1 and then sold at a sufficient    
advance over the cost of handling to    
make in the aggregate a sum  amounting  
to millions4    ,now1 ,i want to ask if 
all this is not arriving at the same    
result1 by  another method1 at which the

 slaveholders of the ,south arrived1 by 
owning negroes8 ,in the case of the     
latter1 the slaveholder reaped all  the 
benefits of the labors of the negroes4  
,in the former case the  merchant       
princes1 together with the various other
 privileged classes1  reap the benefit  
of the labors of all the working-classes
 of the  country4 ,every year the excess
 of the produced wealth of the country  
finds final lodgment in the pockets of  
these classes1 and they grow  richer at 
each succeeding harvest1 while the      
laborers toil their lives  away2 and    
when all their strength and vigor have  
been transformed into  wealth1 which has
 been legally transferred to the        
capitalists1 they are  heavy with age1  
and as destitute as when they began     
their life of  servitude4 ,did ever     
,southern slave have meaner end than    
this8    ,in all seriousness1 is there  
any common justice in such a state of   
things8 ,is it right that the millions  
should toil all their lives long1       

scarcely having comfortable food and    
clothes1 while the few manage to        
control all the benefits8 ,people may   
pretend that it is justice1 and  good   
,christians may excuse it upon that     
ground1 but ,christ would never  have   
called it by that name4 ,he would even  
give him that labored but an  hour as   
much as he that had labored all the day1
 but to him who labored  not at all he  
would take away even that which he hath4
 ,and yet we hear  loud professions of  
,christianity ascending from the pulpit 
throughout  the length and breadth of   
the land4 ,and when ,i listen1 ,i cannot
 help  exclaiming1 8,o1 ye hypocrites1  
how can ye hope to escape the damnation 
of hell80    ,am ,i asked1 ,how are     
these things to be amended8 ,i will tell
 you in the  first place1 that they must
 be remedied2 and this particular case  
of  dealing in the labor of the people  
is to be remedied by abolishing         
huckstering1 or the system of           
middle-men1 and substituting therefor a 

general system of public markets1       
conducted by the people through their   
paid agents1 as all other public        
business is performed4 ,in these markets
  the products of the country should be 
received1 in first hands1 direct  from  
the producers1 who should realize their 
entire proceeds4 ,in this  manner the   
immense fortunes realized by middle-men1
 and the profits made  by the half-dozen
 different hands through which          
merchandise travels on  its way to      
consumers1 would be saved to the        
producer4 ,a bushel of  apples1         
purchased in the orchard at twenty-five 
cents1 is finally sold  to the consumer 
at a dollar4 ,now1 either the consumer  
has paid at least  a half dollar too    
much1 or the producer has received a    
half dollar too  little1 for the apples2
 since1 under a perfect system1 the     
apples would  go direct from the orchard
 to the market1 and thence direct to the
  consumer4    ,we are forever talking  
of political economy1 but it appears to 

me that  the most vital points--one of  
which is our system of huckstery--is    
entirely overlooked4    ,suppose ,mr4   
,stewart1 instead of having labored all 
these years for his  own selfish        
interests1 had labored in the interests 
of the people8 ,is it  not clear that   
the half-a-hundred million dollars he   
has accumulated  would have remained    
with the people who have consumed his   
goods8 ,place  all other kinds of       
traffic upon the same proposed basis1   
and do you not  see that the system     
which makes merchant-princes would be   
abolished8  ,neither would it require   
one-half the people to conduct a general
 system  of markets who are now employed
 speculating in the results of labor4   
,in short1 every person should either be
 a producer or a paid agent or  officer 
of consumers and producers1 and our     
entire system of shopkeeping  reduced to
 a magnificent system of immense public 
markets4 ,in this way  there could also 
be a perfect control exercised over the 

quality of  perishable goods1 the want  
of which is now felt so severely in     
summer in  all large cities1 and a      
thousand unthought of remedies would    
necessarily  suggest themselves as the  
system should develop4    ,but let us   
pass to one of the other branches of    
this same system4 ,we  have in our midst
 thousands of people of immense wealth  
who have never  even done so much to    
justify its possession as the           
merchant-princes have  done to justify  
themselves4 ,i refer to our land        
monopolists1 and to ,mr4  ,astor as     
their representative4 ,mr4 ,astor       
inherited a large landed  estate1 which 
has risen in value to be worth millions 
of dollars1 to  which advance ,mr4      
,astor never contributed even a day's   
labor4 ,he has  done nothing except to  
watch the rise and gather in the rents1 
while the  whole laboring country has   
been constantly engaged in promoting    
that  advance4 ,what would ,mr4 ,astor  
have been without the ,city of ,new     

,york8  ,and what would the ,city of    
,new ,york have been without the ,united
 ,states8  ,you see1 my friends1 it will
 not do to view this matter             
superficially4  ,we live in too analytic
 an age to permit these things to go on 
in the  way they have been going4 ,there
 is too much poverty1 too much          
suffering1  too much hard work1 too many
 hours of labor for individuals1 too    
many  sleepless nights1 too many        
starving poor1 too many hungry children1
 too  many in helpless old age1 to      
permit these villanous abuses to        
continue  sheltered under the name of   
respectability and public order4    ,but
 again1 and upon a still worse swindle  
of the people4 ,a person having  money  
goes out into the public domain and     
acquires an immense tract of  land4     
,shortly a railroad is projected and    
built1 which runs through that  tract4  
,it offers a fine location for a        
station4 ,a city springs up1 and  that  
which cost in some instances as little  

as a shilling per acre1 is  divided into
 town lots1 and these are reluctantly   
parted with at five  hundred dollars    
each4    ,again1 ,i wish to inquire1 in 
the name of ,justice1 to whom does that 
advance belong8 ,to the person who      
nominally holds the land8 ,what has he  
done to entitle him to receive dollars  
for what he only paid cents8 ,is  there 
any equality--is there any justice--in  
such a condition8 ,he profits  by the   
action of others2 in fact at the public 
expense1 since in its  last analysis it 
is the common public who are the basis  
of all advance  in the value of         
property4    ,now1 ,i say1 that that    
common public is entitled to all the    
benefits  accruing from common efforts2 
and it is an infamous wrong that makes  
it  accrue to the benefit of a special  
few4 ,and a system of society which     
permits such arbitrary distributions of 
wealth is a disgrace to  ,christian     
civilization1 whose ,author and his     
,disciples had all things in  common4   

,let professing ,christians who1 for a  
pretense1 make long  prayers1 think of  
that1 and then denounce ,communism1 if  
they can2 and  denounce me as a         
,revolutionist for advocating it1 if    
they dare4    ,but1 is it asked1 how is 
this to be remedied8 ,i answer1 very    
easily6  ,since those who possess the   
accumulated wealth of the country have  
filched it by legal means from those to 
whom it justly belongs--the  people--it 
must be returned to them1 by legal means
 if possible1 but it  must be returned  
to them in any event4 ,when a person    
worth millions1  dies1 instead of       
leaving it to his children1 who have no 
more title to  it than anybody else's   
children have1 it must revert to the    
people1 who  really produced it4 ,do you
 say that is injustice to the children8 
,i say1  ,no6 ,and if you ask me how the
 rich man's children are going to live  
after his death1 ,i answer1 by the same 
means as the poor man's children  live4 
,let it be remembered that we have had  

simple freedom quite long  enough4 ,by  
setting all our hopes on freedom we have
 been robbed of our  rights4 ,what we   
want now is more than freedom--we want  
equality6 ,and by  the ,heaven above us1
 earth's growing children are going to  
have it6 ,what  right have the children 
of the rich to be born to luxurious     
idleness1  while the children of the    
poor are born to1 all their lives long1 
further contribute to their ease8 ,do   
they not in common belong to ,god's     
human family8 ,if ,i mistake not1       
,christ told us so4 ,you will not       
dispute  his authority1 ,i am sure4 ,if1
 instead of preaching ,christ and him   
crucified quite so much1 we should      
practice his teaching a little more1  my
 word for it1 we should all be better   
,christians4    ,and when by this       
process all the land shall have been    
returned to the  people1 there will be  
just as much of it1 and it will be      
equally as  productive1 and just as much
 room on it as there is now4 ,but       

instead of  a few people owning the     
whole of it1 and farming it out to all  
the rest  at the best possible prices1  
the people will possess it themselves in
  their own right1 through just laws1   
paying for its possession to the        
government such moderate rates of taxes 
as shall be necessary to  maintain the  
government4    ,but ,i may as well      
conclude what ,i have to say regarding  
railroads1 which  must also revert back 
to the people1 and be conducted by them 
for the  public benefit1 as our common  
highways are now conducted4 ,vanderbilt1
  ,scott  ,co4 are demonstrating it     
better and better every day that all    
the railroads of the country can be much
 more economically and  advantageously  
conducted under one management than     
under a thousand  different managements4
 ,they imagine that very soon they will 
have  accomplished a complete           
consolidation of the entire system1 and 
that by  the power of that consolidation
 they will be able to control the       

government of this country4    ,but they
 will not be the first people who have  
made slight  miscalculations as to      
ultimate results4 ,thomas ,scott might  
make a  splendid ,secretary of the      
,department of ,internal ,improvements1 
for which  the new ,constitution1 which 
this country is going to adopt1 makes   
provision2 but he will never realize his
 ambition to preside over the  railroad 
system of the country in any other      
manner4    ,and ,i will tell you another
 benefit that will follow the           
nationalization  of our railroads4 ,you 
have all heard of the dealing in stocks1
 of the  8bulls0 and the 8bears10 and   
the 8longs0 and the 8shorts10 and the   
8lame  ducks0 of ,wall street4 ,well1   
they will all be abolished4 ,there will 
be  no stocks in which to deal4 ,that   
sort of speculation1 by which gigantic  
swindlers corner a stock and take it in 
at their own figures1 will1 to  use a   
vulgar phrase1 be 8played out40 ,and if 
you were to see their  customers1 as ,i 

have seen them1 rushing about ,broad    
street to catch  sight of the last per  
cent4 of their margins as they disappear
 in the  hungry maw of the complacent   
brokers1 you would agree with me that it
  ought to be 8played out40    ,under   
the system which ,i propose1 not only   
will stock gambling be  abolished1 but  
also all other gambling1 and the        
hundreds of thousands of  able-bodied   
people who are now engaged in it1 living
 from the products  of others1 will be  
compelled to go to producing themselves4
    ,but1 says the objector1 take riches
 away from people and there will be  no 
incentive to accumulate4 ,but1 my dear  
sir1 we don't propose to do  anything of
 the kind1 nor to destroy any wealth4   
,there will never be any  less wealth   
than now1 but a constant increase upon  
it4 ,we only propose  that the people   
shall hold it in their own right1       
instead of its being  held in trust for 
them by a self-appointed few4 ,instead  
of having a few  millionaires1 and      

millions on the verge of starvation1 we 
propose that  all shall possess a       
comfortable competence--that is1 shall  
possess the  results of their own       
labors4    ,i can't see where there is a
 chance for a lack of motive to come in4
 ,it  seems to me that everybody will   
have a better and a more certain chance1
  as well as a better incentive to      
accumulate4 ,will the certainty of      
accumulation destroy the desire to      
accumulate8 ,nobody but the most  stupid
 would attempt to maintain that4 ,it is 
not great wealth in a few  individuals  
that proves a country prosperous1 but   
great general wealth  evenly distributed
 among the people4 ,that country must be
 the most  prosperous and happy where   
the people are most generally           
comfortably and  happily circumstanced4 
,and in this country1 instead of a      
hundredth part  of the people living in 
palaces and riding in coaches1 while the
 balance  live in huts and travel on    
foot1 every person may live in a palace 

and  ride in a coach4 ,i leave it to you
 to decide which is the preferable      
condition and which the more ,christian4
    ,and why should the rich object to  
this8 ,if everybody has enough and to   
spare1 should that be a subject of      
complaint8 ,what more do people want1   
except it be for the purpose of         
tyrannizing over others dependent upon  
them8 ,but no objections that may be    
raised will be potent enough to  crush  
out the demand for equality now rising  
from an oppressed people4  ,this demand 
the possessors of wealth cannot afford  
to ignore4 ,it comes  from a            
patiently-enduring people1 who have     
waited already too long for  the        
realization of the beautiful pictures of
 freedom which have been  painted for   
them to admire2 for the realization of  
the songs which poets  have sung to its 
praise4 ,let me warn1 nay1 let me       
implore them not to be  deaf to this    
demand1 since they do not know so well  
as ,i know what  temper there is behind 

it4 ,i have tested it1 and ,i know it is
 one that  will not much longer brook   
the denial of justice4    ,but there is 
another monopoly of which ,i must       
speak--,i mean the monopoly  of money   
itself4 ,we have seen how great a       
tyranny that is which arises  from      
monopolizing the land4 ,but that        
occurring from the monopoly of  money1  
is a still more insidious and dangerous 
form of despotism1 since  its           
ramifications are more extensive and    
minute4 ,it may be exercised by  the    
person possessing a hundred1 or by the  
person possessing a million  dollars4   
,but what is the process8 ,a person     
inherits a half million  dollars for    
which he never expended a single day's  
labor4 ,he sits in his  office loaning  
that sum of money say1 in sums of one   
thousand dollars to  one thousand       
different persons1 each of whom conducts
 a little business  which yields just   
enough to support a family and to pay   
the interest4  ,these people live for   

forty years in this manner1 and die no  
better off  than when they began life4  
,but during that time they have paid all
 their  extra production to the amount  
of four thousand dollars1 each1 to the  
capitalist2 and1 finally1 the business  
itself is sold out to pay the           
principal4 ,and thus it turns out that  
the capitalist obtains everything  those
 thousand persons earned during their   
whole lives1 they leaving  nothing to   
their families4 ,now1 what better is    
that result than it would  have been had
 these people been slaves8 ,could their 
owners have obtained  any more from     
them8 ,i say they would have obtained   
less2 since1 had they  been slaves in   
name1 as in fact they were1 there would 
have been times  during the forty years 
that they would not have earned interest
 over  cost of their support4 ,now1 look
 at the capitalist4 ,for one million    
dollars1 and without the straining of a 
muscle1 he receives five million        
dollars direct1 which1 reinvested from  

time to time as it increases1  amounts  
at the end of the forty years to not    
less than fifteen millions  dollars4    
,but try another example of a somewhat  
different kind4 ,a person having  four  
grown children1 whom he has reared in   
luxury1 and given all the  facilities of
 education1 dies1 leaving each of them a
 farm worth  twenty-five thousand       
dollars4 ,these children having never   
learned the  art of farming are         
incapable of conducting these farms2 but
 they lease  them to four different     
people for a thousand dollars a year    
each1 and  live at ease all their lives1
 therefrom1 never so much as lifting    
their  hands to do an hour's labor4     
,now1 who is it that supports those four
  people8 ,is it not clear that it is   
the people who work the farms8 ,and  how
 did it happen that they had the farms  
to lease8 ,simply by an  incident for   
which there was no legitimate general   
cause1 else why do  not all children    
have farms and live without work8       

,nor can you1 my friends1 discover      
anything approaching equality1 or  aught
 that looks like justice in that        
operation4 ,i tell you nay6 ,it is  the 
most insidious despotism1 with a single 
exception1 that is possible  among a    
people4 ,it is a despotism which was    
condemned in all former  times1 even by 
barbarians1 and which the ,jews were    
only permitted to  enforce upon people  
of other nations4 ,it is the hideous    
vampire fastened  upon the vitals of our
 people1 sucking--sucking--sucking their
 very life's  blood1 leaving just enough
 to keep up their vitality1 that they   
may  manufacture more4 ,it is the       
heartless monster that will have the    
exact  pound of flesh1 even if there be 
loss of blood to obtain it1 and there   
is no just judge near to prevent the    
taking1 or to hold him to account  if he
 take it4 ,it paralyzes our industries2 
shuts the gates in the way  that leads  
to our inexhaustible treasures within   
the bosom of mother  earth2 strips the  

stars and stripes from the masts of     
merchantmen2  compels our immense cotton
 lands to luxuriate in weeds2 robs our  
spindles of the power to turn them2 and 
lays an embargo upon every  productive  
enterprise4 ,whoever makes a movement to
 compel the earth to  yield her wealth1 
or to transform that wealth into useful 
form1 must  first obtain the consent of 
this despot1 and pay his demands for a  
license4    ,thirteen millions of       
laborers in this country produce        
annually four  thousand millions dollars
 of wealth1 every dollar of which over  
and  above the cost of living is paid   
over to appease the demands of this     
insatiate monster--this horrid demon1   
whose name is ,interest4    ,we are told
 that we cannot manufacture railroad    
iron in this country as  cheap as it can
 be manufactured in ,england4 ,yes6 ,and
 why8 ,is it because  we have no ore or 
no coal2 or that1 which is not as good  
as ,england has8  ,no6 ,we have on the  
surface what in ,england is hundreds of 

feet in the  bowels of the earth1 and   
coal the same2 and both of better       
quality4 ,but  money can be put at      
interest in this country so as to double
 itself  every four years1 and be amply 
secured4 ,what reason have capitalists  
to  construct iron works1 or to have    
their care1 when twenty-five per cent4  
per year is returned them1 without care 
or risk8 ,and what is true of  iron is  
also true of every other natural        
production4 ,is it any wonder  that our 
manufacturers are obliged to demand that
 the people pay an  additional per cent4
 upon everything they eat1 drink or     
wear1 that they  may be protected in    
their various productive enterprises1   
when such  exactions are laid upon them 
by this more than absolute monarch8 ,no6
 ,it  would indeed be a wonder if it    
were not so4    ,now1 do you suppose our
 markets would be flooded with ,british 
goods if  our producing and             
manufacturing interests had all the     
money they require  without interest8   

,if there are any borrowers at ten per  
cent4 who hear  my voice1 let them      
answer4 ,no2 it is the tribute that     
industry is  compelled to pay to capital
 that forces our government to exact    
ten1  twenty1 fifty1 aye1 even a hundred
 per cent4 for the privilege of         
bringing merchandise into this country4 
,but they tell us if we go to free trade
 that our country would be  flooded with
 foreign products1 so there would be    
absolutely no  production of            
manufactured goods in the country4 ,now 
that would be true1  if we should       
attempt free trade and leave the monster
 ,interest with his  grip upon our      
vitals4 ,and here is the                
short-sightedness of ,free-,traders4    
,if we want free trade1 we must1 in the 
first place1 attack1 throttle and  kill 
this demon1 after which we may          
manufacture at prices that will not     
only absolutely forbid the importation  
of almost everything that is now        
imported1 but which will also enable us 

to play the same game with  ,europe that
 ,europe has played so long upon us4    
,free money in this  country would      
abolish every ,european throne within   
ten years4 ,and yet  people cannot be   
made to see that this country is their  
support4 ,with  free money what need    
would we have for a protective tariff8  
,can any  ,protectionist answer that8   
,you see1 my friends1 that it is the    
people who catch sight of an idea  and  
pursue it to the death1 regardless of   
relative ideas1 who make  reform so     
ridiculous4 ,one reform cannot advance  
alone4 ,all kinds of  reform must go on 
together4 ,interest and free trade must 
go hand in  hand2 interest1 if either1 a
 little ahead4    ,and in this regard ,i
 am free to confess that the ,national  
,labor ,union's  demand for a decrease  
of interest is the most reasonable      
single reform  now being advocated4 ,we 
want free trade2 but we want free money 
first1  so that not a spindle or forge  
in this country shall stop at the       

command  of those across the ocean4     
,but how are we going to get free money8
 ,why1 in the very easiest way          
possible4 ,it is the simplest problem of
 them all4 ,i am not going into  this   
discussion to prove to you that gold is 
not money1 since everybody  ought to    
know that it has no more the properties 
of money than cotton1  corn and pork    
have the properties of money4 ,now1     
money is that thing  which1 if every    
dollar in circulation should be         
destroyed1 there would  be no loss of   
wealth4 ,gold1 cotton1 corn and wheat   
are wealth4 ,destroy  these and there is
 a loss4 ,but when money is destroyed1  
there is no more  loss than when a      
promissory note is destroyed4 ,a note is
 an evidence of  debt4 ,it is not       
wealth1 but its representative4 ,so also
 is money not  wealth1 but its          
representative4 ,and if we had a        
thousand million dollars  in circulation
 to-day1 there would be no more wealth  
in the country than  there now is1 and  

we would have quite as much wealth if   
there were two  thousand millions       
dollars1 since money and wealth are two 
entirely  distinct things4    ,but they 
tell us that unless money is made       
redeemable in gold1 it is not  of any   
account1 and that1 too1 in the face of  
our miserable greenback  system1 which  
was so much better even than gold that  
it saved the nation  when1 had we stuck 
to gold1 we should have been destroyed4 
,oh1 but it  was a depreciated currency1
 says some one4 ,yes1 it was a          
depreciated  currency1 and we should    
have ample reason to be thankful if when
 we come  to pay our bonds1 we have a   
depreciated currency with which to      
liquidate  them1 instead of being       
obliged1 as we shall1 to pay a thousand 
dollars  in cotton for what we realized 
less than five hundred in gold4    ,it  
is not the gold only of a country that  
constitutes its wealth4 ,what  should we
 care if we had not a single ounce of   
gold1 if we had a  thousand million     

bales of cotton1 ten thousand millions  
bushels of corn  and wheat1 and a       
billion dollars' worth of manufactured  
goods to send to  other countries8 ,so  
you see it is not the gold after all    
that makes a  circulation good1 but the 
sum total of all kinds of wealth4 ,now1 
that is  what we propose to substitute  
for gold as the basis for a money issue4
  ,and instead of permitting            
corporations to issue it and remain at  
liberty  to dispose of their property   
and let the people who hold their       
circulation whistle for its redemption1 
we propose that government1  which can  
neither sell our property nor abscond   
with it1 shall issue it  for the people 
and lend it to them at cost2 or if you  
will insist on  paying interest for     
money1 why1 then1 pay it to the         
government and  lessen your taxes that  
much1 instead of paying interest to     
bankers and  supporting government      
besides4    ,now1 don't you think that  
would be rather a good sort of a money  

system8  ,i know that every manufacturer
 in the country would like it4 ,but ,i  
can  tell you who will not like it2 and 
whom we may be compelled to fight       
before they will permit us to have it2  
and these are the money-lenders  and    
money-changers1 such as it is related   
the ,head of the ,christian             
,church--one ,jesus ,christ1 of whom we 
hear a great deal said1 but whose       
teachings and doctrines are wofully     
perverted--scourged out of the ,temple  
at a place known as ,jerusalem4    ,i   
have not been guilty of frequenting the 
temples of the country much of  late1   
but if ,i am not misinformed upon the   
subject1 and unless they have  changed  
since ,i did frequent them1 if ,christ  
should pass through this  land of a     
,sunday1 scourge in hand1 he would find 
plenty of work to do in  the same line  
in which he labored so faithfully among 
the ,jews4    ,but the ,national ,labor 
,union say they won't be so hard upon   
these  money-lenders as we would be4    

,they are willing that they shall be    
eased  down from the vast height to     
which they have attained4 ,they say they
  shall have three per cent4 interest   
instead of six1 seven1 eight and  ten1  
or as much more as they can steal out of
 the necessities of the  case1 by the   
circumstances and discounts4 ,but they  
shall be limited to  three per cent41   
and in a way that they cannot evade1 as 
they now evade1  lawful interest4 ,it is
 proposed that government shall issue   
this money1  but that it shall be       
convertible into a three per cent4      
interest-bearing  bond2 so that when    
money shall be so plenty that it will be
 worth less  than three per cent4 in    
business1 it can be invested in bonds   
drawing  three per cent42 and the bonds 
to also be reconvertible into money1 so 
that the moment business shall demand   
more money than there should be in      
circulation--which would increase the   
value of money to more than three  per  
cent4--the bonds would be converted into

 money again2 and when there  should be 
no more bonds to convert1 and money     
still worth more than  three per cent41 
then the ,government shall issue more   
money to restore  the equilibrium4 ,in  
this way money would always be worth    
just three per  cent4 ,no more nor less1
 and there would always be just enough2 
or1 in  other words1 money would be     
measured1 as it never has been1 and     
which  has been the cause of all our    
financial troubles4 ,what would you say 
to  a person who should talk to you     
about measuring your corn in a bushel   
that had itself never been measured8    
,but you complacently talk of money     
being a measure of values1 and money has
 never had a measure regulating  its own
 value4    ,but this consideration is   
only a stepping-stone to what shall be4 
,money  must be made free from interest4
 ,in fact1 ,i do not know but people who
  have money should pay something to    
have it securely loaned1 the same as    
you must pay your ,safe ,deposit        

,companies for safely keeping bonds1    
jewels and other valuables4 ,i think    
people ought to be made to pay for  the 
safe keeping of money upon the same     
principle4 ,money under our  present    
system is the only thing which we       
possess that does not  depreciate in    
value by use4 ,the more money is used1  
the more it  increases2 a proof complete
 of the fallacy and its despotism4      
,the ,government now pay the banks      
thirty millions dollars per year for    
the privilege of loaning them about     
three hundred millions national         
currency1 which the banks reloan to the 
people at an average of ten per  cent4  
,it seems to me that is almost too good 
a thing to last long4 ,if  the          
,government can afford to do this thing1
 why can't they better afford  to loan  
directly to the people for nothing1 and 
save thirty millions  dollars annually8 
,do you think the people would object8  
,oh1 no2 but the  bankers would4 ,but   
for all that the cry of 8,down with the 

tyrant0 is  raised1 and it will never   
cease until interest shall be among the 
things  that were4    ,i also desire to 
call attention to the reduction of the  
,public ,debt1 and  to the means by     
which this reduction has been           
accomplished4 ,the  ,administration     
hangs almost all of its hopes upon this 
fact1 while if it  were thoroughly      
understood it would prove its           
condemnation4 ,it has paid  three       
hundred millions of the debt1 they say4 
,who has paid it8 we  inquire4 ,it fails
 to answer4 ,we say that that entire    
payment has been  made by the producing 
classes of the country1 while the       
capitalists have  not reduced their cash
 balances in the least4 ,in other words1
 the  producers have got no more money  
now than they had before the debt was   
paid1 while the capitalists have had    
their bonds changed into money4  ,now1  
who have paid that three hundred        
millions dollars8 ,i repeat the         
laboring people have done it1 just as   

they pay all public debts and all       
public expenses1 besides constantly     
adding to the wealth of the  capitalists
 themselves4 ,can such a state of things
 continue8 ,again ,i  tell you nay4     
,this wrong must be remedied by a system
 of progressive taxation4 ,if  persons  
having a hundred thousand dollars pay   
one-half per cent4 tax1  let those      
having a million pay ten per cent41 or  
two millions  twenty-five per cent4 ,let
 there be a penalty placed upon         
monopolizing  the common property1 and  
it will soon cease and equality come in 
its  place4 ,now1 the poorest woman who 
buys the cheapest calico pays a tax to  
the ,government1 while the rich         
appropriate her labor to pay their dues4
  ,truly said ,jesus1 8,the poor ye have
 with you always40    ,another mode of  
remedying the existing ills in industry 
and the  distribution of wealth1 must be
 in giving employees an actual interest 
in the products of their labors1 so that
 ultimately co-operation will be  the   

source of all production1 its results   
being justly distributed among  all     
those who assist in the production4     
,first1 pay the employer the same  rate 
of interest for his capital that        
,government shall charge for loans  made
 to the people2 next1 the general       
expenses1 including salaries to  himself
 and all employees1 the remainder to be 
equitably divided among  all who have an
 interest in it4 ,do you not see what a 
revolution in  industrial production    
such a constitutional provision would   
effect8 ,and  do you not suppose if the 
workingmen and women of this country    
understood the justice of it1 that they 
would have it8 ,i intend that  they     
shall have the required information4    
,already there have been half a  million
 tracts upon these subjects sent        
broadcast over this land1 and  the      
present year shall see double as many   
more1 until every laborer1  male and    
female1 shall hold in his or her own    
hands the method of  deliverance from   

this great oppression4    ,but there is 
another consideration1 which1 more      
forcibly than any other1  shows the     
suicidal policy which we pursue4 ,if the
 present rates of  interest are         
continued to be paid upon only the      
present banking capital  and bonds of   
the country1 for twenty-five years to   
come1 the interest1  with the principal 
added1 will have absorbed the total     
present wealth1  as well as its         
perspective increase4 ,and such a       
consummation as this are  the ,european 
capitalists now preparing for this      
country4 ,europe holds  not less than   
three thousand millions of bonded       
indebtedness of this  country1 which is 
being augmented every month by          
additional railroad  bonds1 or some     
syndicate operation4 ,so do you not see 
that ,european  capital is gradually1   
but nevertheless inevitably1 absorbing  
not only  all of our annually produced  
wealth1 but also acquiring an increased 
mortgage every year upon our accumulated

 wealth8 ,there is no escaping  these   
facts4 ,figures don't lie4 ,mathematics 
is an absolute science from  whose      
edicts there is no escape4 ,and         
mathematics inform us that we are  year 
by year mortgaging ourselves to         
,european capitalists1 who will         
ultimately step in and foreclose their  
mortgages1 and possess themselves  of   
our all1 just as we foreclose our       
smaller mortgages1 when there is no     
hope of a further increase from         
interest4    ,besides the monopoly of   
land1 money and public conveniences1    
there is  another kind of monopoly      
still1 which may appear rather strange  
and new  to be thus classed1 but it is  
nevertheless a terrible tyrant4 ,i refer
 to  the monopoly of education4 ,i hold 
that a just government is in duty  bound
 to see to it that all its children of  
both sexes have the same and  equal     
opportunities for acquiring education1  
and that every person of  adult age     
shall have graduated in the highest     

departments of learning1  as well as in 
the arts1 sciences and practical        
mechanics4 ,every person  should be     
compelled to acquire a practical        
knowledge of some productive  branch of 
labor1 because the time will come when  
all people will be  obliged to produce  
at least as much as they consume1 or    
earn what they  consume1 as the paid    
agents of producers4 ,what a revolution 
would that  accomplish8 ,if every person
 in the world was to work at production 
two  hours a day there would be a larger
 aggregate produced than there is  now4 
,therefore every person must learn the  
art of production1 and thus  be equal in
 resources to any other person1 and     
,government must undertake  the         
compulsory industrial education of all  
its children4    ,thus ,i could continue
 analysis upon analysis1 until not a    
stone in the  foundations of our social 
structure would be left unturned1 and   
all  would be found unworthy of our     
civilization--our boasted ,christian    

civilization4 ,i think ,christianity has
 been preached at1 long enough4 ,i  go  
for making a practical application of it
 at the very foundations of  society4 ,i
 believe in recognizing the broad       
principle of all  religion--that we are 
all children of one great common parent1
 ,god1  which1 since it disproves the   
propositions of the ,church1 that at    
least  a large portion of us are the    
children of the devil1 and renders the  
services of the clergy to save us from  
that inheritance unnecessary1  will     
abolish our present system of a licensed
 and paid ministry4  ,thirty-five       
thousand ministers are paid twenty-five 
millions dollars  annually for preaching
 the gospel in cathedrals costing two   
hundred and  fifty millions dollars2 and
 how many of them ever teach any fact   
other  than that ,jesus was crucified1  
just as though that would save us from  
the sloughs of ignorance in which we are
 sunk8 ,which one of them dare  tell his
 congregation the truth1 as he1 if he be

 not a blockhead1 knows  it8 ,i here and
 now impeach the clergy of the ,united  
,states as dishonest  and hypocritical1 
since the best of them acknowledge that 
they do not  dare to preach the whole   
truth1 for1 if they should1 they would  
have to  preach to empty seats--an      
admission sufficiently damnable to      
consign them  to the contempt of the    
world and to the hell of which they     
prate so  knowingly1 but whose location 
they have not been able to determine1   
and  to light the torch which shall fire
 the last one of these palatial         
mockeries of true religion4    ,why1    
should ,christ appear among these godly 
,christians as he did among  the ,jews1 
he would be arrested as a vagrant1 or   
sent to jail for  stealing corn2 and in 
,connecticut1 perhaps1 for              
,sabbath-breaking1 or for  telling the  
maid at the well 8all she had ever      
done10 which is now  called             
fortune-telling1 or for healing the sick
 by laying on of hands1  which they     

denominate charlatanry4 ,christ and his 
,disciples and the  multitude which he  
gathered together had all things in     
common4 ,but every  pulpit and every    
paper in this ,christian country launch 
the thunders of  their denunciations    
when that damnable doctrine is now      
advanced4 ,now1  ,christ was a          
,communist of the strictest sort1 and so
 am ,i1 and of the  most extreme kind4  
,i believe that ,god is the ,father of  
all humanity and  that we are brothers  
and sisters2 and that it is not merely a
  theoretical or hypothetical nothing   
but a stern reality1 to be reduced  to a
 practical recognition4 ,and they who   
cannot accept and practice this         
doctrine of ,christ1 and who still      
profess to be his followers1 are  simply
 stealing the livery of ,christ in which
 to serve the devil in  their own souls4
    ,i do not care to what length       
,christians may stretch their faces of a
  ,sunday1 nor how much they pay to     
support their ministers2 nor do ,i care 

how long prayers they may make1 nor what
 sermons preach1 when they  denounce the
 fundamental principles of the teachings
 of ,christ1 ,i will  turn upon and1 in 
his language1 utter their own           
condemnation3 8,inasmuch  as ye have not
 done it unto the least of these1 ye    
have not done it  unto0 ,christ4 ,and   
they may make all the fuss1 call me all 
the hard  names1 they please2 but they  
can't escape the judgment4 ,and ,i don't
  intend they shall have a chance to    
escape it4 ,i am going to strip the     
masks of hypocrisy from their faces1 and
 let the world see them as they  are4   
,they have had preaching without        
practice long enough4 ,the people  want 
practice now1 and when they get it1 they
 can even afford to do  without the     
preaching4    ,these privileged classes 
of the people have an enduring hatred   
for me1  and ,i am glad they have4 ,i am
 the friend not only of freedom in all  
things1 and in every form1 but also for 
equality and justice as well4  ,these   

cannot be inaugurated except through    
revolution4 ,i am denounced as  desiring
 to precipitate revolution4 ,i          
acknowledge it4 ,i am for  revolution1  
if to get equality and justice it is    
required4 ,i only want  the people to   
have what it is their right to          
have--what the religion of  humanity1   
what ,christ1 were he the arbiter1 would
 give them4 ,if1 in  getting that1 the  
people find bayonets opposing them1 it  
will not be  their fault if they make   
their way through them by the aid of    
bayonets4  ,and these persons who       
possess the monopolies and who guard    
them by  bayonets1 need not comfort     
themselves with the idea that the people
  won't fight for their rights4 ,did    
they not spring to arms from every      
quarter to fight for the negro8 ,and    
will you say they will not do the  same 
against this other slavery1 compared to 
which the former is as a  gentle shower 
to a raging tempest8    ,don't flatter  
yourselves1 gentlemen despots1 that you 

are going to  escape under that         
assumption4 ,you will have to yield1 and
 it will be  best for you to do it      
gracefully4 ,you are but as one to seven
 against  them4 ,numbers will win4 ,it  
will be your own obduracy if they are   
goaded  on to madness4 ,do not rely upon
 their ignorance of the true condition4 
,upon that you have anchored your hopes 
as long as it is safe4 ,there are  too  
many reform newspapers in circulation4  
,and though the columns of all  our     
great dailies are shut to their truths1 
still there are channels  through which 
they flow to the people--aye1 even to   
those who delve in  the coal mines of   
,pennsylvania1 seldom seeing the joyous 
sunshine4 ,and  this education shall    
continue until every person who         
contributes to the  maintenance of      
another in luxurious idleness shall know
 how such a  result is rendered         
possible4    ,hence1 ,i say1 it lies in 
the hands of those who have maintained  
this  despotism over the common people  

to yield it up to them and recognize    
their just relations4    ,and remember  
what ,i say to you to-night3 ,if this   
that is claimed is not  granted--if1    
beside freedom1 equality is not made    
possible by your giving  up this power1 
by which the laborer is robbed of the   
results of his  labor1 before our next  
centennial birthday1 ,july #dth1 #ahgf1 
you will  have precipitated the most    
terrible war that the earth has yet     
known4    ,for three years before the   
breaking out of the slavery rebellion ,i
 saw  and heard with my spiritual senses
 the marching of armies1 the rattle of  
musketry1 and the roar of cannon2 and ,i
 already hear and see the  approach of  
this more terrible contest4 ,i know it  
is coming4 ,there is  but one way in    
which it can be averted4 ,there was one 
way by which the  slave war could have  
been avoided--the abolition of slavery4 
,but the  slave oligarchy would not     
listen to our ,garrisons1 ,sumners1     
,tiltons and  ,douglases4 ,they tried   

the arbitration of war1 but they lost   
their slaves  at last4 ,now1 will not   
these later oligarchies--the land1 the  
railroad1  the money                    
aristocracies--learn a lesson from their
 terrible fate8 ,will  they not listen  
to the abolitionists--to the ,garrisons1
 the ,sumners1 the  ,tiltons and the    
,douglases--of to-day8 ,will they try   
the arbitration of  war1 which will     
result as did the last1 in the loss of  
that for which  they fight8 ,i would    
that they should learn wisdom by        
experience4 ,the  slaveholders could    
have obtained compensation for their    
negroes4 ,they  refused it and lost all4
 ,ponder that lesson well1 and do not   
neglect to  give it its true            
application4 ,you can compromise now1   
and the same  general end be arrived at 
without the baptism of blood4 ,it shall 
not be  my fault if that baptism comes4 
,nevertheless1 equality and justice are 
on the march1 and they cannot be        
hindered4 ,they must and will attain    

their journey's end4 ,the people shall  
be delivered4    ,i have several times  
referred to the methods by which these  
things may  be accomplished4 ,they are  
impossible under our present            
,constitution4 ,it  is too restricted1  
too narrow1 to admit even an idea of a  
common  humanity4 ,true1 its text is    
complete1 but its framework does not    
carry  out the original design4 ,even   
,george ,washington1 himself1 was       
accused of  treachery for countenancing 
so great a departure as was made2 and   
the  late war justified the grounds upon
 which that accusation was founded4     
,the text of the ,constitution held     
these truths to be self-evident1 8,that 
all men 7and women7 are born equal and  
entitled to certain inalienable  rights1
 among which are life1 liberty1 and the 
pursuit of happiness40  ,the            
,constitution should have been erected  
in harmony with those  declarations4 ,it
 was not4 ,there is no such thing as    
equality provided  for4 ,life and       

liberty have not been held inalienable  
under it2 the  pursuit of happiness has 
been outrageously interfered with1 and  
the  government has been made to exist  
without the consent of the governed2    
and exists to-day against the protests  
of a large number of its  subjects4     
,is it to be expected that anything so  
false as that is to its basic           
propositions can be made enduring8 ,it  
is against the constitution of  nature  
itself that it should be so4 ,nature is 
always true to itself1 and  will always 
vindicate itself4 ,if hedged in and     
obstructed1 it will burst  through or   
find its way around4 ,the needle is not 
truer to the pole than  is ,nature to   
the truth4 ,and ,nature is always just4 
,those propositions  were deduced from  
human rights1 regardless of any         
authority or  despotism4 ,had they been 
elucidated--had their principles guided 
the  construction of the ,constitution  
itself1 all would have been well4 ,what 
our fathers failed to do is left for    

this generation to perform2 and it  must
 not shirk the duty4 ,it must look the  
condition squarely in the  face1 and    
meet the issue as squarely4    ,what    
issues must be met and provided for in  
order that human rights may  be         
respected and protected8 ,i have already
 referred to the monopolies  that must  
be abolished4 ,but there are also many  
other things4 ,i will  call attention   
first to minority representation1 which 
lies at the base  of a representative   
government4 ,the ,state of              
,massachusetts has eleven               
representatives in ,congress1 and they  
are all ,republicans4 ,justice would    
infer that there are no ,democrats in   
the ,state4 ,but such is not the  fact4 
,there are a large body of ,democrats4  
,they are not represented4  ,that is the
 fault of the system of arriving at     
representation4 ,while it  is true that 
majorities must rule1 that is not equal 
to saying that  minorities shall have no
 voice4 ,but the practice in            

,massachusetts does  say just that4 ,i  
suspect if it were possible for all the 
real  differences1 politically1 to be   
represented1 that the ,congressmen would
  stand something as follows3 ,the      
,democrats would have1 say1 four out of 
the eleven1 the ,republicans1 say1      
three1 while the remainder would be     
divided between the ,labor and          
,temperance ,reformers and ,woman       
,suffragists4 ,indeed1 ,i am not certain
 if the door were to be opened that     
there would be any straight ,republicans
 left1 since all reformers are1  under  
the present system1 compelled to        
congregate together in this  party1 so  
as not to entirely throw away their     
votes4 ,the ,democrats are  always      
,democrats4 ,like the hard-shell        
,baptists1 you always know where to     
find them4    ,they are always on hand  
to vote early1 and often also1 if       
opportunity  permit4 ,admit minority    
representation1 and the ,republican     
party in  ,massachusetts would be       

abolished1 except that part who carry   
the loaves  and eat the fishes4 ,they   
are as certain to be found 8right there0
 as the  ,democrats are4 ,i think the   
,woman ,suffragists cover about one-half
 the  ,republican party4 ,but a large   
body of them are ,spiritualists and     
,temperance men1 while as many more are 
,labor ,reformers4 ,but those who  are  
more ,labor ,reformers than anything    
else1 are perhaps two-sevenths2  who are
 more ,woman ,suffragists than anything 
else1 are perhaps  two-sevenths2 who are
 more ,spiritualists than anything else1
 perhaps  two-sevenths2 and who are more
 ,temperance men than anything else1    
one-seventh2 therefore1 if the          
delegation were elected by the          
representation of minorities1 it would  
stand four ,democrats1 two              
,spiritualists1 two ,labor ,reformers1  
two ,woman ,suffragists1 and one        
,temperance man4 ,but all of these1     
however1 would be again swallowed up    
whenever a ,human ,rights party should  

be evolved1 and that will be the  party 
of the near future1 in whose all        
embracing arms the people1 long         
suffering and long waiting1 will at last
 find repose1 while the ,goddess  of    
,liberty1 with her scales of equality1  
shall find no more of her  subjects to  
whom justice is not measured out4 ,then 
will partisan  politics have received   
its death warrant2 then will the people 
become  one in heart1 one in soul and   
one in common purpose--the general good 
of  the general whole4 ,the 8greatest   
good of the greatest number0 will be    
supplanted by3 8the general welfare1 is 
best maintained when individual         
interests are best protected40 ,the new 
government1 then1 must be the  result of
 minority representation1 and all       
legislative bodies1 and1  where         
possible1 all executive officers1 be so 
elected1 while the people  shall retain 
the appointing as well as the veto      
power4 ,our lawmakers  must be made law 
proposers1 who shall construct law to be

 submitted to  the people for their     
approval1 in the same manner as our     
public  conventions appoint committees  
to draft resolutions1 which are         
afterward  adopted or rejected by the   
convention itself4 ,this will make every
  person a legislator1 having a direct  
interest in every law4 ,the people  will
 then no longer elect representatives to
 make laws by which they  must be bound 
whether they approve or disapprove4 ,the
 referendum is the  desired end4 ,the   
referendum is what the people require1  
and it is what  the new ,constitution   
must provide4 ,so that in all future    
time the people  themselves will be     
their own lawmakers--will be the        
government4    ,the people must appoint 
all their officers1 heads of departments
 and  bureaus at regular intervals1 and 
all under assistants1 during faithful   
performance of duty4 ,we want no ,civil 
,service ,commissions4 ,every person    
who shall be eligible to office under   
the new government will be  competent2  

and when once familiar with the duties1 
will not be removed  to give room for   
the friend of some politician belonging 
to the party in  power1 since it would  
be the people in power at all times4    
,another matter which must have         
attention is the sweeping away of that  
jeu d'esprit1 our courts of justice1 by 
making all kinds of contracts  stand    
upon the honor and capacity of the      
contracting parties4 ,all  individual   
matters must be settled by the          
individuals themselves without  appeal  
to the public4 ,our present system of   
enforced collection of debts  costs     
every year more than is realized1 and   
besides maintains a vast  army of       
lawyers1 constables and court officers  
in unproductive employ4  ,all this is   
wrong1 entailing almost untold exactions
 upon the producing  community1 who in  
the end are made to pay all these       
things4    ,further1 our system of oaths
 and bonds must be abolished4 ,this     
swearing  people to tell the truth1 and 

binding them to perform their duty1     
presupposes that they will lie and      
neglect their duty4 ,people are always  
placed upon the side of force and       
compulsion--never upon that of personal 
rectitude and honor4 ,the results are   
what might be expected4 ,it plunges  us 
into the very things we would avoid4    
,there is a philosophy1 too1 in  all    
these things2 since in freedom only can 
purity exist4 ,anything that  is not    
free is not pure4 ,anything that is     
accompanied by compulsion is  no proof  
of individual honesty4    ,the new      
government must also take immediate     
steps for the abolition of  pauperism   
and beggary4 ,it is an infamous reproach
 upon this country that  there are      
hundreds of thousands of people who     
subsist themselves upon  individual     
charity4 ,i do not care whether this is 
from choice or  necessity4 ,i say it is 
a burning shame1 requiring immediate    
curative  steps4 ,the indigent and      
helpless classes are just as much a part

 of our  social body as the protected   
and the rich are1 and they are entitled 
to  its recognition4 ,society must no   
longer punish and compel suffering and  
death for its own wrongs4 ,it must      
evolve such a social system as shall    
leave no single member of the common    
body to suffer4 ,when one member of  the
 body suffers1 the whole body           
sympathizes4 ,so1 also1 when a member of
  the social body suffers1 does the     
whole body suffer4 ,and yet we have     
pretended philanthropists and           
,christians who have never grasped that 
truth4    ,our civilization and our     
,christianity have been made too much a 
matter  of faith in1 and devotion to1   
the unknowable1 divorced from all human 
relations4 ,we must first recognize and 
practice the brotherhood of man  before 
we can be made to realize the ,paternity
 of ,god1 since 8if we love  not our    
brothers whom we have seen1 how can we  
love ,god whom we have not  seen80 ,our 
religious teaching has been too much of 

punishment1 and too  little of love2 too
 much of faith1 too little of works2 too
 much of  sectarianism1 too little of   
humanitarianism2 too much of hell-fire  
arbitration1 too little of inevitable   
law2 and too much of                    
self-righteousness1 and too little of   
innate goodness4    ,and here ,i cannot 
forbear to depart from the strict line  
of my subject  to say a word regarding a
 doctrine1 from the effects of which    
even this  country is but slowly        
recovering--that of eternal damnation6  
,i say1 that  a people who really       
believe in a ,god who could burn his own
 children in  a lake of literal fire and
 brimstone1 8where the worm dieth not   
and the  fire is not quenched10 and from
 which there is no present escape nor   
future hope1 for a single unrepented    
misdeed1 and still profess to  honor1   
love and worship a fiend so infernal as 
that would make ,him1  cannot be honest 
and conscientious1 since they must      
mistake fear for  love1 and confound    

sycophancy with worship4 ,it was such a 
belief that  kindled the fires by which 
the early martyrs perished1 by which the
  ,quakers of ,massachusetts were burned
 and the witches hanged1 and which      
invented the terrible ,inquisition1 with
 its horrid racks and tortures4  ,these 
are the legitimate results of such a    
belief2 and if the people of  to-day    
really believed what they profess in    
their creeds1 they would do  precisely  
the same things4 ,and they would be     
justified1 since it would  be merciful  
in them to subject a person to a few    
moments' torture1 to  induce him or her 
to escape the eternal tortures of ,hell1
 the horrors of  which all the ingenuity
 men can command could not invent a     
torture  one-hundredth part as inhuman2 
and yet they say our ,heavenly ,father  
has  prepared this for                  
nineteen-twentieths of humanity4        
,thank ,heaven1 however1 the day has    
come when such libels upon the name  of 
,god are rapidly merging into the gray  

twilight1 to soon sink in  blank1       
unfathomable oblivion4 ,thank ,heaven1  
for its own approach  earthward1 to     
strike off the chains of superstition   
from humanity1 and  for the first faint 
glimmering of light shed upon us by its 
angels'  faces1 proving to us that      
humanity1 whether of earth or heaven1   
is3                8,one life for those 
who live and those who die--            
,for those whom sight knows and whom    
memory40    ,the ,jews would not accept 
,christ since he came not with temporal 
power4  ,but ,christ will come in the   
power of the spirit1 and shall baptise  
all  humanity4 ,already ,his messengers 
begin to herald the 8glad tidings of    
great joy which shall be unto all       
people40 ,already the music of the      
approaching harmonies are heard from the
 hill-tops of spirituality  singing the 
approaching millennium4 ,already its    
divine notes have  pierced some of the  
dark places of earth1 making glad the   
hearts of  their oppressed children1    

shedding light and truth and joy into   
their  souls4 ,the prophecies of all    
ages converge upon this1 and for their  
fulfillment1 ,christ1 with all his holy 
angels1 will come to judge the  world1  
and to erect upon it that government    
already inaugurated in  ,heaven and long
 promised ,earth1 for                   
8,decrees are sealed in ,heaven's own   
chancery1             ,proclaiming      
universal liberty4             ,rulers  
and kings who will not hear the call1   
,in one dread hour shall                
thunder-stricken fall4                  
8,so moves the growing world with march 
sublime1             ,setting new music 
to the beats of time4             ,old  
things decay1 and new things ceaseless  
spring1             ,and ,god's own face
 is seen in everything40    ,therefore  
it is that there shall soon come a time 
in which the people  will ask for       
universal liberty1 universal equality1  
and universal  justice4 ,heretofore all 
branches of reform have been separated  

each from  the other--have been         
diffusive1 working in single and        
straight lines from  a principle        
outward1 utterly regardless of all other
 movements4 ,reform  has never yet been 
constructive1 but destructive to        
existing things4  ,nevertheless1 all    
reform originates primarily from a      
common cause--the  effort of humanity to
 attain to the full exercise of human   
right1 only  attainable through the     
possession of freedom1 equality and     
justice4 ,any  reform which does not    
embrace these three principles must     
necessarily be  diffusive1 instructive  
or educational4 ,each different branch  
is the  squaring of a separate stone1   
all of which must be brought together   
and  adjusted before even the           
corner-stone of the perfect and         
permanent  structure can be laid4       
,republicanism even was not integral in 
its  propositions4 ,it looked simply to 
personal freedom4 ,neither equality in  
its high1 or justice in its broad1 sense

 was a portion of its creed4  ,hence    
republicanism as represented by the     
party in power has done its  work1 and  
those who prefer to stick to it rather  
than to come out and  rally around a    
platform perfect in humanitarian        
principles1 will thus  show themselves  
to be more republican than humanitarian4
    ,as a nation we are nearing our     
first centennial birthday4 ,a hundred   
years have come and gone since political
 freedom was evolved from the  womb of  
civilization4 ,great as its mission was1
 great as its results  have been1 shall 
the car of progress stop there8 ,is     
there nothing more  for humanity to     
accomplish8 ,i tell you there are still 
mightier and more  glorious things to   
come than human tongue hath spoken or   
heart  conceived4 ,little did our noble 
sires imagine what a century would do   
with what they set in motion4 ,from     
three to forty millions is a grand1 ,i  
may almost say a terrible1 stride4 ,but 
with this step we cannot stop4 ,we  must

 open new channels for the expansion of 
the human soul4    ,up to this time we  
have expanded almost wholly in a        
material and  intellectual sense4 ,there
 is a grander expansion than either of  
these4  ,wealth and knowledge have      
brought us power1 but we lack wisdom4   
,to  material prosperity and            
intellectual acquirements there must be 
added  moral purity1 and then we shall  
get wisdom4 ,everybody appears to live  
as  though this life were all there is  
of life1 and that to get from it the    
most physical enjoyment were the grand  
thing to be attained4 ,wealth has  been 
made almost the sole aim of living1     
whereas it should only be  regarded as  
the means to a better end2 as the means 
by which to  accumulate an immense      
capital with which to begin life in the 
next and  higher stage of existence2 and
 he or she lives best on earth who does 
the most for humanity4    ,in this view1
 what are professing ,christians--the   
churches--doing for the  general good   

to-day8 ,what good can come from        
preaching without practice1  since1     
though people may be able to say1 8,all 
of these have ,i kept from  my youth    
up10 ,christ1 when he shall come1 will  
reply to them3 8,go sell  all thou hath 
and give to the poor1 and come and      
follow me40 ,what  clergyman in this    
city dare stand in his pulpit ,sunday   
after ,sunday and  insist upon such     
practice8 or what one dare to insist    
that his church  should have all things 
in common8 or what one dare to eat with 
publicans  and sinners1 or say to the   
woman1 8,neither do ,i condemn thee40   
,or which  one of the people dare go to 
her poor1 enslaved and suffering sisters
  and take them to her heart and home8  
or be the good ,samaritan8 ,i tell  you1
 my friends1 beware lest those whom you 
scorn to know be before you  with       
,christ1 who knows the heart4 ,it is not
 what you pretend that shall  make you  
,christian1 but what you do1 and if you 
do right1 though the  world curse you1  

yet shall you lay up treasures in       
,heaven thereby4  ,therefore1 ,i say    
that the ,christianity of to-day is a   
failure4 ,it is not  the following of   
,christ1 nor the practice of his        
precepts4 ,true religion  will not shut 
itself up in any church away from       
humanity2 it will not  stand idly by and
 see the people suffer from any misery  
whatever4 ,it is  its sphere to cure all
 ills1 whether moral1 social or         
political4 ,there  are no distinctions  
in humanity4 ,everything to be truly    
good and grand1  whether it be in       
politics1 society or religion1 must be  
truly moral1 and  to be truly moral is  
to live the ,golden ,rule4              
,therefore1 it is foolish for the       
,christian to say1 8,i have nothing to  
do  with politics1 as a ,christian40 ,it
 is the bounden duty of every           
,christian to support that political    
party which bases itself upon ,human    
,rights2 and if there is no such party  
existing1 then to go about to  construct

 one4 ,it is too late in the century for
 a ,justice of the  ,supreme ,court of  
the ,united ,states to be a political   
thief and trickster  as a politician1   
while he issues a call asking that the  
people inject  ,god into the            
,constitution4 ,such consummate         
hypocrisy is an outrage upon  the       
intelligence of the nineteenth century2 
and it will meet its just  reward4      
,if they would take the precepts of     
,christ and build a new ,constitution   
upon them1 nobody would object2 but to  
be asked to recognize a ,god whom  these
 people have themselves fashioned and   
set up1 who hath not even  human sense  
of justice1 is quite a different thing1 
and one to which  this people will not  
submit4 ,i could point out to you why   
this attempt  is made just at this time1
 but ,i rather prefer to point out how  
this and  all other attempts to put     
fetters upon the people must be avoided1
 and  how to break the fetters by which 
they are already galled4    ,permit me  

to ask what practical good arises from  
the people's coming  together and merely
 passing a set of resolutions4 ,you may 
pass  resolutions with whereases and    
therefores a mile long1 and what will be
  the result unless they are made       
practical use of4 ,what would you say to
  a person who should come before you   
with a resolution setting forth that    
whereas1 thus and thus1 are so and so1  
therefore some new invention  ought to  
be made to meet the conditions4 ,why you
 would at once say to  him1 8,give us   
the invention2 then we shall be able to 
judge whether your  therefore bears any 
relation to your whereas40 ,now         
precisely in that way  should you judge 
of resolutions for political reform4 ,we
 have had  resolutions long enough4 ,we 
now need a working model which will     
secure  freedom1 equality and justice to
 the smallest of our brothers and       
sisters4 ,anything less than this is no 
longer worthy to be considered          
political reform2 and that is not only  

political reform1 but it is also  the   
best application possible of the        
precepts of ,jesus ,christ1 and         
therefore the best ,christianity1 the   
best religion1 since to its creed  every
 human being who is not supremely       
selfish can subscribe4    ,in           
conclusion1 therefore1 let me urge every
 soul who desires to be truly           
,christian to no longer separate        
,christianity from politics1 but to make
  it the base upon which to build the   
future political structure4 ,instead  of
 an amendment to the ,constitution1     
which these hypocrites desire1          
recognizing a ,god who is simply the    
,father of themselves1 and a ,christ  of
 whom they are the self-appointed       
representatives1 give us a new          
,constitution1 recognizing the human    
rights of the people to govern          
themselves1 of which they cannot be     
robbed under any pretext whatever1  and 
my word for it1 humanity will not be    
slow to render due homage to  their     

,god4 ,let that ,constitution give a    
place to every branch of reform1  while 
it shall not so much as militate against
 the rights of a single  individual in  
the whole world--and we are large enough
 to begin to say  the whole world--and  
to think of and prepare the way for the 
time when  all nations1 kindred and     
tongues shall be united in a universal  
government1 and the ,constitution of the
 ,united ,states of the ,world be  the  
,,supreme ,,law4    ,around this as a   
,new ,departure let all reformers rally1
 and1 with a  grand impulse and a       
generous enthusiasm1 join in a common   
effort for the  great political         
revolution1 after the accomplishment of 
which the  nations shall have cause to  
learn war no more4                      
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,,transcriber',s ,,notes       #a4 ,p4  
#d1 corrected 8,god loves from whole to 
part4 ,but human soul must        from  
individual to the whole40 to 8,god loves

 from whole to parts3        but human  
soul ,must rise from individual to the  
whole40 ,this is to        match the    
original quote by ,alexander ,pope4     
#b4 ,p4 #bj1 changed 8ought that looks  
like justice0 to 8aught that looks      
like justice04   #c4 ,silently corrected
 typographical errors and variations in 
spelling4   #d4 ,archaic1 non-standard1 
and uncertain spellings retained as     
printed4   #e4 ,enclosed italics font in
 underscores4