Show Inerioll on LlbTty the Poily Colonol Robert G Ingersoll is such an interesting inter-esting personality in this country that people delight to read about him and whatever he bus to say either in some of tho great monthlies or from the lecture platform usually commands attention This factwill justify reference to a lecture recently delivered by the colonel in Chicago on the Liberty of the Body What I mean by the liberty of the body said the speaker is to giro to every man what he earns with his own hands And this great question of division has to be settled In the United States Capital takes too much labor gets too little Labor wilt not always live in a hut with capital in a palace Flesh and blood are more sacred than gold and the time will come when tho law will see that every man has the right to life liberty and the pursuit not only of happiness but the right to catch some of it before he dies I want to live until 1 tincl an aristocracy or Intelligence an aristocracy or heart and brain I am sick of the old kind I want liberty for every mau I do not believe In the law of supply and demand as applied to flesh and blood If they who toil cannot have some of the good things of this world then I do not want anybody to havo them All this is very protty on paper and even there it doubtless reflects the kindliness of the Colonels heart but now It Is all to be introduced intro-duced into practical life and actually mado a reality Theres the rub it is easy to say that in the division of profits arising from the investment of capital and the application of labor capital takes to much labor gets too little but how are we to adjust matters so that capital will bb satisfied wile less and labor secure more It doubtless took with the galleries to waioh the colonel talks frequently fre-quently when ho said Labor will not always live ina hut with capital in a palace A pleasant pleas-ant prophecy but how shall it be brought to pass Will capital build palaces for labor Labor unless it shall be given magic power can never bulimia pala o for Itself while anything any-thing like existing circumstances continue It would help labor none to destroy the palaces in which capital now lives Flesh and blood are more sacred than gold True 0 Colonel especially to u philanthropist ot a political tem perment and yet both flesh and blood in practical affairs of life are daily bought with gold and thero Is no just proportion propor-tion either between the gold and the flesh and blood it buys The time will come when tbe law will see that < every man has tho right to life liberty and tho pursuit not only of happiness happi-ness but the right to catoti some of it before he dies Oh wonderful law Blessed legislation legisla-tion 1 Where will your SOLON be then o Athens Whero your LYCUKGUS 0 Spata Turn green for envy all ye statesman of past generations the time < Is coming when legislators legis-lators will arise who will legislate the people into happiness Does the colonel squint at Socialism so-cialism in this I want to Hve until find an aristocracy of in telhgence an aristocracy of brain and heart Why colonel so do wo allall desire long lire but in this you bog amost for Immortality Sick of the old kind So are we all but how shall we rd the earth of It colonel I do not believe In the law of supply and demand as applied to flesh aud blood that is as applied to labor Yet colonel the cold fact confronts us disagreeable as it may seem cruel as it sounds when put in your peculiarly pe-culiarly taking phraseologythe old fact con frontsus that labor flesh and blood has to take its chances In the markets of this country and of the world upon the basis of supply and demand ard the wisdom of statesmen and philanthropists hare struggled In vain to place It on nnyother basis Have you anything practical prac-tical to offer on the subject colonel If they who toil cannot have some of the good things of the world then I do not want anybody to have them What shall we do then coionol If tho game dont go to suit us kick over the play house and walk away in disgust Since we cannot have the wealth distributed as our sense of justice would thnk right or our sympathies dictate shall we destroy de-stroy tho wealth so that nobody shall have it Ah no coloiiel you dont moan that buch conduct would be contrary to your own manly character The exuberance of your splendid oratory carried you into one of your fine poetio moods when you strung together these sentences sen-tences which reveal the tenderness of your heart your real and honest sympathy with tho unfortunate among mankind but alas colonel while all you have said here Is beautiful you fall to tell us how to attain it That being the case of what use are your well turned phrases lhey aro but empty sounds signifying signify-ing nothing The world is wide colonel no denying that Things seem not just right but human wisdom so far has proved itself incompetent to bring to pass tho changes necessary to produce even what wo can conceive human happiness ought to be und as you wish your spiendid talents have pursuaded hosts of people to believe there is no higher power than human intelligence to regulate these things you crush out the hopes that thero will be any material change for the better Its a world that has gone wrong colonel and it requires the wisdom and power of a God to set it right But you ridicule the idea of there being a God you scoff at religion and mock Its sanolty The very means that would best produce and in fact which only can produce tho conditions In society and government govern-ment you desire to see you cast aside Belief and reverence for GOD together with a belief in mans immortality moral responsibility re-sponsibility to GOD are the baslo principles upon which reforms can best be founded To this foundation uven Colonel INGEUSOCU must turn if he would see labor paid more and capital content with less capital in a more humble home labor In a better one flesh and blood more sacred than gold man not only in pursuit of happiness but actually catching some of it before he dies see an aristocracy based on intelligence heart and brain and they who toil get some of the good things of this life |