ntry are to-day ready to make any sacrifice."

A storm of applause momentarily checks the speaker.

"When a man devotes his energy to honest toil it is for the purpose of
securing to himself and to his family the blessings of thrift; the
safeguard for honorable old age. In his effort he should be protected by
every means that a strong government can devise. The 'millstone' should
not be pledged or pillaged; the struggle of life should not be made
hopeless by compelling a man to slave for mere subsistence."

"Hear, hear!" come shouts from the galleries.

"Our people have seen the Republic dragged from the line of righteous
progress and diverted into the unnatural path of Plutocracy. Insidious
methods have been resorted to by those who have wrought this
transformation. Sophists have told the plain, credulous workers that
industrial combination in the form of Corporations and Trusts is the
result of a natural law of evolution. But what is the truth? The great
consolidations that have been effected during the past few years have
resulted from the enactment of statutory laws. These laws have emanated
from the brains of men, paid by the Trust magnates to undermine the
republic. No more treasonable acts were ever committed than by the men
who have sold the rights of a free people to a band of unscrupulous
money worshipers.

"The continuance of this country as a Republic depends upon the
restoration of the independent citizen. To-day there are fewer men
engaged in independent work, as manufacturers and merchants, than there
were ten years ago; to-day the great bulk of the wealth of the country
is concentrated in the hands of a few thousand men. These men have
become the masters of the Nation; on their payrolls are to be found
three-fourths of all the working inhabitants of the land, men, women,
and children.

"Men, women and children, I repeat, for where is the man who can earn a
sufficient wage to provide proper food and raiment for his family by his
single effort?

"As the hope of the people rests on the recovery of the independence of
the individual, the platform of this party must declare unequivocally
for the abolition of all forms of private monopoly. This must be the
main plank in our platform."

These words, uttered in a voice that reaches the remotest corners of the
auditorium, call forth a tumultuous shout.

"With private Monopolies destroyed and the channels they control opened
to the people, the billions