_Question_. It is said, Colonel Ingersoll, that you are for Henry
George?
_Answer_. Of course; I think it the duty of the Republicans to
defeat the Democracy--a solemn duty--and I believe that they have
a chance to elect George; that is to say, an opportunity to take
New York from their old enemy. If the Republicans stand by George
he will succeed. All the Democratic factions are going to unite
to beat the workingmen. What a picture! Now is the time for the
Republicans to show that all their sympathies are not given to
bankers, corporations and millionaires. They were on the side of
the slave--they gave liberty to millions. Let them take another
step and extend their hands to the sons of toil.
My heart beats with those who bear the burdens of this poor world.
_Question_. Do you not think that capital is entitled to
protection?
_Answer_. I am in favor of accomplishing all reforms in a legal
and orderly way, and I want the laboring people of this country to
appeal to the ballot. All classes and all interests must be content
to abide the result.
I want the laboring people to show that they are intelligent enough
to stand by each other. Henry George is their natural leader.
Let them be true to themselves by being true to him. The great
questions between capital and labor must be settled peaceably.
There is no excuse for violence, and no excuse for contempt and
scorn. No country can be prosperous while the workers want and
the idlers waste. Those who do the most should have the most.
There is no civilized country, so far as I know, but I believe
there will be, and I want to hasten they day when the map of the
world will give the boundaries of that blessed land.
_Question_. Do you agree with George's principles? Do you believe
in socialism?
_Answer_. I do not understand that George is a Socialist. He is
on the side of those that work--so am I. He wants to help those
that need help--so do I. The rich can take care of themselves.
I shed no tears over the miseries of capital. I think of the men
in mines and factories, in huts, hovels and cellars; of the poor
sewing women; of the poor, the hungry and the despairing. The
world must be made better through intelligence. I do not go with
the destroyers, with those that hate the successful, that hate the
generous, simply because they are rich. Wealth is the surplus
produced by labor, and the wealth of the world should keep the
world from want.
--_New York Herald_, October 13, 1886.