PRACTICAL POLITICS.
In a cause as holy as ours, false modesty is as unwise as false
dignity. When we realize that money represents human effort, that it
gives multiplied power either in war or peace and that the possession
of money, with its accompanying power to an almost unlimited extent,
is enjoyed by our enemies, it is well for us to admit at the start
that we, every Volunteer of us, must make constant efforts wherever
speaking or working, to raise funds, on however small a scale, for the
great work before us. One humble but time-honored method, which has
proved useful in every popular movement, recorded in history, is that
of "taking up a collection." People may laugh at it and the collections
be small but we must not be deterred by ridicule nor discouraged by the
apparent insignificance of the returns. This is the only way to give
all the people systematically and persistently a chance to contribute
according to ability to the cause that means liberty and the opening
of opportunity to them. Therefore, let no speaker listen to advice from
the timid and over-modest, who shrink from the sneers and taunts of
the over-nice, but at every meeting let them pass around the hat after
the manner of our forefathers. We must also remember that in every
audience, however small, there may be some penitent Croesus awake to
existing evils but as yet with no clear vision of a remedy, with power
and will to help but lacking knowledge as to where such help should be
given. Sudden conversions are not unknown where the message of truth is
delivered with sincerity and simplicity. There are thousands of rich
men at this moment who, if properly appealed to, would give liberally
to the cause that to them seemed likely to promote the general welfare.
There are many human hearts now waiting, like the Pool of Bethesda, for
the angel's touch, which shall "trouble" their calm and transform them
into sources of healing for the woes of humanity. No speaker knows but
he may be the one destined to open up these closed fountains of power.
The heights and depths of human nature lie beyond our ordinary vision.
A man's power of response to an appeal in behalf of those who suffer is
not always graven on his forehead, so that "he that runneth may read."
In any audience there may be some listener, apparently indifferent, in
whom all the preliminary processes of conversion have already taken
place, and who needs only the warm breath of an atmosphere charged with
unselfish enthusiasm to complete the work of regeneration. Such cases
are on record. Within a few years, the gift of a million dollars was
received by the promoters of a reform movement in New York, not from an
habitual contributor to such enterprises, but from a sudden convert,
a man ordinarily cold and indifferent to humanitarian movements, and
before unresponsive to his brothers' needs. Perhaps it was not the need
that previously had failed to stir his heart, but only the methods of
helping that had not satisfied his mind. There are rich men and women
to-day, honestly desirous of bringing about better social conditions
and willing to make sacrifices to that end, but who, so far, have found
none of the methods suggested practicable. To such we may appeal with
certainty of response, thereby being furnished with the sinews of war
by those who owe their wealth to the very system we oppose.
And why not? Because a man has been thrown into a brutal and wasteful
contest and has come victorious from the struggle is no reason why
he should wish his children and humanity at large to be forced into
another of the same kind. Such a man well knows that he, too, in spite
of apparent success, is also a victim. He sees the possibilities of
life under a better social system--the order, the beauty, the harmony,
the possible development of higher faculties and extinction of those
that link him with the brutes. All this he sees, and even while
scrambling with the rest for possession of the booty, he would hail
with joy any change that promised to relieve his children from a like
sad necessity.
Starve fifty Sunday school teachers for a week, lock them in a cage
together, throw in a roast of beef, a plum pudding, a pitcher of soup,
a plate of pickles and a pot of beans, at the same time telling each
to get what he can, as no more will be furnished for a month; and a
swinish scramble will at once ensue, in which two thirds of the food
will be wasted, and in the end one man will have a pocket full of plum
pudding, another a handful of pickles, and the strongest the roast beef
to himself in a corner.
Let it be understood that he who gets the roast beef is no worse than
the others, nor will he, because of his success, NECESSARILY favor
an indefinite continuation of such brutal scrambling. The difference
between him and the least successful is a difference in strength, NOT
NECESSARILY A DIFFERENCE IN AIM. To-day, most men are actuated by the
same spirit. To desire success and a share of life's gifts is right
and normal. It is the political system under which we live that has
transformed this natural and healthy impulse into a devilish desire to
absorb not only all wealth but all opportunities.
To remedy this radical evil, it is not enough to change individuals;
we must change the system. It is, of course, to be expected that the
impulse to change our present barbarous monopolistic methods will
come from those who have failed in the scramble for riches. For the
possession of wealth naturally tends to promote in the minds of those
who possess it, a certain degree of satisfaction with the methods
by which it has been acquired and a tendency to oppose any change.
A spirit of toadyism and fear of social ostracism also induces many
to sacrifice their highest ideals. Great fortunes often destroy the
independence which it might be supposed they would secure to their
possessors; yet, in spite of the temptations of wealth and the
unwritten, but none the less rigidly enforced mandates of a heartless
society, not a few are ready to make the required sacrifices in order
to advance the interests of our common humanity.
To such partially awakened minds, it ought not to be difficult to show
that the times are ripe for a solution of existing problems other than
that offered by charitable associations. For eighteen centuries the
Good Samaritan has been the working model of the church and society,
yet the number of the wounded and robbed on the world's highway has so
increased that the gigantic systems of modern charity are inadequate
to meet the increasing demands upon them. Why? The answer is clear. No
very keen intelligence is required to see that one very important duty
has been neglected by the Good Samaritans of all times. Occupied with
caring for the wounded, they have neglected to hunt down the thieves,
who have accordingly increased in numbers and boldness. It is time for
us to leave effects and study causes, to organize at once to hunt down
the thieves, for, when these are routed, there will be fewer victims
on whom to exercise charity. Why plan educational and charitable
institutions in the slums when the causes that produce the slums are
left untouched? Why add another to the five hundred churches of a great
city, when the influence of the money power makes the preaching of
the real gospel well nigh impossible,[7] thus largely destroying the
usefulness of those already built? Instead of new homes of charity,
let us organize to end the need for charity. Instead of building one
new school, the true educator will ally himself with those forces that
seek, through public action, to place education within the reach of
all. Instead of building a new church, the devout Christian or Jew will
divide his substance with the party that aims to make possible the
application of the principles of religion to the everyday affairs of
life and to all social institutions.
[7] A letter lies before me now from a talented and earnest
young minister of the Episcopal church, in which the writer
despairingly declares that he dare not preach the social and
economic doctrines of Christ, lest he bring ruin upon his wife
and children. "The money-power," he declares, "has control of
the church and Christ's ministers must either trim their sails
to catch the wind of its favor or suffer temporal shipwreck.
It is easy to say that the Christian should be ready to meet
any martyrdom, but it is equally true that it is not from
within the bosom of the church that such trials should come."
Never was there a cause that appealed more strongly than ours to a
man's generous instincts. In the middle ages all Europe was fired by
the idea of wresting the Holy Sepulchre from infidel hands; to-day
Greek and Cuban patriots are laying everything upon their country's
altar for the sake of national honor and freedom. Our cause is nobler,
larger than any of these. Not Christ's tomb, but the race He died
to redeem; not an insignificant nation, but humanity is through us
pleading to be rescued and restored to liberty. Our appeal is not to a
class, a church or a nation; it is to MEN for MAN.
ONE DOLLAR GIVEN TO OUR CAUSE WILL ACCOMPLISH MORE FOR THE ALLEVIATION
OF HUMAN SUFFERING, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRUE CIVILIZATION, THAN
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS SPENT FOR ANY COLLEGE, CHARITY OR CHURCH. As
hundreds of poor men have sacrificed all they possessed, given up home
and the comforts of family life, to travel from town to town urging
the principles of the New Democracy; so will there be rich men, who,
feeling their RELATIONSHIP TO HUMANITY TO BE MORE BINDING than any ties
uniting them with a selfish class, will also give up the larger part of
what they have and lay it on the altar of their country.
Those who feel the divine impulse to give to this movement will give
double by giving promptly, and will have the added personal joy of
seeing some of the results of their generosity. Not all the results,
because each dollar given to this cause starts a train of consequences
for the happiness of men and for the peace of society that will
continue as long as this old earth is inhabited by mortals. The effect
of every penny, given by the smallest child or the poorest servant
girl, may produce results for good that will be felt by mankind through
all the generations to come.
It is not unreasonable for us to ask for constantly, and to expect
to receive a single donation of a million dollars sometime during
the coming four years. Such donations have many times been given to
causes less holy than ours, and in emergencies not to be compared to
it in importance. We can in reason hope for several gifts of not less
than twenty-five thousand dollars each, and many of not less than one
thousand dollars, and thousands of lesser gifts proportionate to the
purses of the poor who will regard it not as a duty, but as a privilege
to thus co-operate with God. Such amounts have been subscribed to a
single college and to a single religious denomination within the memory
of the youngest reader. Can we not rationally expect that even more
will be given to the movement which is to multiply many times the
usefulness of all colleges and churches?
But do not trim your sails nor adapt your arguments to the rich, in
order to secure donations, but speak bravely and fearlessly in behalf
of justice and the rights of the people, and, if special selfish
interests are thereby alienated, unselfish interests will be drawn to
us.
Although generous help may be expected from those who have been
enriched by the very system that we seek to destroy, nevertheless it
is a fact that, as a class, the rich are satisfied with the system
of injustice that has given them their riches, and, as a class, will
oppose now, as they have opposed during all history, every reform or
change that promises improvement to the masses. Therefore the bulk of
the money to be raised for the people's cause must probably be given by
the people themselves according to their means.
We should for this reason not only call for donations and pass around
the hat at meetings when the people are enthusiastic, but, in forming
clubs in every township throughout our country, we should try to induce
each to appoint its most active and popular man as Treasurer, and
especially to instruct him to collect every week or month, a regular
subscription, HOWEVER SMALL, from every friend of our movement in his
community. In this way, we can establish a system similar to "Peter's
Pence," and the missionary contributions of the Protestant churches,
and raise a fund during the coming four years that will be a wonder to
ourselves and a menace to our enemies.
It may be asked, if the Volunteer Speakers work without pay, many of
them living on heroic diet and traveling on foot, what need of money?
To this it may be replied that the legitimate and honest uses for money
in promoting any cause are too many to enumerate. The field is large
and workers of many kinds are needed. Though many of our speakers will
travel and work continuously without compensation and the vast majority
will give their time without any reward even for their expenses, still,
to utilize properly the Volunteer work of the thousands who are willing
to make such sacrifices, it is very desirable that we have at least one
paid organizer in each Congressional District, and, if possible, in
each county one who will receive a moderate salary and who will be held
responsible for all the routine work required in his territory. The
Volunteer workers and speakers in any locality can be made many times
as effective, if there is some one man responsible to the national
office for the methodical arrangement of the work and the systematic
utilization of their services. It is also highly desirable that every
Volunteer be given a bountiful supply of the very best literature on
economic subjects. Money is also needed for our central school for
Volunteer Speakers in St. Louis, where those with hearts afire to speak
for Democracy can come, and within one, two or three months, be trained
and equipped with a practical knowledge of the details of the work in
which they wish to engage.
But it is folly to enlarge further upon the need of money. Every person
who appreciates the nature of our struggle knows that everything we do
can be done more effectively with additional funds.