'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' This voice cries to us
from four million mothers' mouths for deliverance from tyrants who
compel them to work for a living even in the hours of their pregnancy.
The child laborers of this land of freedom raise a piteous plea.

"Do you wait for an actual rain of hell-fire as a sign that God's will
is not being done?

"It is our duty to strike a blow at Plutocracy that shall destroy it for
all time. We will act as sovereigns of the land. In us resides the
supreme rights of mankind. Our edict cannot be enforced by the courts,
so we will act for ourselves.

"The names I read are not given in any fixed order; each man is equally
guilty."

Here Nevins takes a slip of paper from his pocket and begins to read:

"By reason of his treasonable act in furnishing the Nation's defenders
poisonous food while they were engaged in actual war, and for continued
vending of deleterious food to the citizens at large; for his
conspicuous participation in the formation of the monopoly of the meat
products of the country, for the purpose of extorting tribute from the
masses, I name Tingwell Fang as one of the transgressors. This man has a
fortune of $200,000,000; more than the life earnings of 2,000 men
engaged in ordinary pursuits for a period of thirty years each.

"Judge if God ordained that one man should be possessed of such fabulous
wealth when His Son gave as our prayer, 'Give us this day our daily
bread.'

"As the controller of the Wheat Trust, by which the grim hand of famine
is laid on the nation, and a tax levied on our subsistence, I name David
Leach as another of the transgressors. He has collected $100,000,000, in
sums of one and two cents from the millions of men, women and children
of this country. He stands between us and our daily bread.

"I need not portray the sufferings that are inflicted on the nation by
the presence of the Coal Trust. From the miners to the consumers the
tale is one of ever-increasing awfulness. Man to-day, who must live in
the northern and temperate regions of our country, cannot endure the
cold of winter without artificial heat. He cannot go to the virgin
forests, for the land is owned by private individuals; he cannot go to
the mines, for they are the property of the coal barons. He must
purchase the coal that is needed to heat his home.

"This makes coal not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.

"In the hands of the Trust the price is