The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 3, 1919, Page 11

- Markham said. Famous Poet Sees New Emancipation _ Author of “The Man With the Hoe”” Demands Sympathetic Understanding ' for Toilers in Europe—The Hoe Man W;ll Disappear Washington Bureau, Nonpartisan Leader DWIN MARKHAM, whose thun- 7| derous challenge to “masters, - lords and rulers in all lands” in his immortal poem, “The Man With the "Hoe,” aroused the whole world, a generation ago, to the menace of land ten- antry to civilization, is writing new songs. He hails the com- ing of industrial democracy. He sees the great emancipation of the mind and soul of the human race in the revolutions that now are sweeping over Europe. He sees the foundations being laid in America for the day when the Hoe Man shall no longer be a symbol of the exploitation of those who- till the soil by those who do no useful work. The poet came to Washington a few days ago to read a poem at the banquet which ended the recon- struction conference held by the National Popular Government league. Afterward your correspond- ent met him in the office of Judson King, secretary of the league. “What 'has the war done to the peasant of _ Europe?” the poet was asked. “It has given him a vision of the new day,” “He is' awaking to political and social consciousness. “If you have read Ward’s ‘Ancient Lowly’ you know the history of the struggle of man against his oppressors all down through the ages—and a long, terrible, tragic struggle it has been. It has been the eternal struggle of the peasant, to gain some little share, some hope, for a decent condition in life. y : BROAD SYMPATHY NOT CRITICISM NEEDED “But the peasants of Europe never had a political consciousness such as they have now. In Russia both of the great struggling parties of the people have a social vision, though they pursue different methods to attain it. - So it is in Germany—there are two great parties that have political and social progress as their goal, as they have thought out their programs for human betterment in the past 50 to 60 years. Many parts of their program have actually been put in practice in different parts of the world meanwhile, to a degree which has as- - sured them that their plans are practical and not a mere irridescent dream. : “Toward Russia we should take the attitude of sympathy, not of criticism, for all that are strug- gling toward-liberty. The same broad sympathy is due the idealists struggling in Germany. In this, I believe, I am in full accord with President of his features. ' - question of a few years until ; “The Man With the Hoe” is the title of a painting by the - French artist, Jean Francois Millet, depicting a peasant, in a - desolate autumn field, leaning heavily upon a rough hoe.. His shoulders are bowed, his knees sagged, his feet set in big wooden shoes, but the force of the picture is the dull, hope- less gaze in the eyes of the man, and the tragic, oxlike cast Edwin Markham saw the picture, and wrote his poem, “The Man With the Hoe,” in protest at the system of human labor which grinds men down to the condition of this peasant. | Here are the first and the last stanzas: o Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, The emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes, Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox? O masters, lords, and rulers in all lands, How will the future reckon with this Man? How answer his brute quéstion in that hour - When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world? - How will it be with kingdoms and with kings— With those who shaped him to the thing he is— .~ When this dumb Terror shall reply to God, | After the silence:of the centuries? Ll Wilson’s view, for several times he has said in his speeches that we who claim to be democrats should look with sympathy to- ward the struggles of those who are seeking to establish the new order, however radical they may appear. “The radicalism of Russia and of Germany may have-a tremendous influence upon the destiny of the world. The con- servative mind always is hold- ing back to see a new idea in operation before accepting it. The conservative is one who worships a radical who was martyred in the past. EXPERIMENTS WORTH WHILE “Now, if Russia and Ger- many can:organize a radical democracy and show that-a so- cialistic republic is ,workable, the great objection to radical- ism will break like a rope of sand. . There before our very eyes it will be in operation. And if ever this extreme de- mocracy takes a living and prac- ticable form; and is found to contribute to the happiness of - the people, it will-be only a all the world follows in the steps of these nations. It is the first steps that awaken the fears and doubts. “Conservatives are of two kinds—the people who _have selfish objections to any change, and the people who doubt the possibility of change. , “When the practicable world revolution comes, the Hoe Man will disappear, because the great first step in solving the social problem will have been taken. This social problem is the problem of how to so organize the world that every one who renders honest service will have- the material and social resources for living a complete life. Complete life consists in the pos- session of three things—Bread, Beauty and Brotherhood. . “Bread is the material need of man—food, cloth- ing, shelter. “Beauty is the poetry need of man—his es- thetic need. “Brotherhood is the spiritual need of man. “The new day must open the door to these two higher needs, quite as much as the ma- terial need.” The attitude of the poet Markham on what is going on in Europe may be of considerable surprise to many who get their news of Eu- rope only in the big press. 'The revolution- ists there have been painted in such black colors as to appear as the enemies rather than the forerunners of a new. civilization. The poet may be right or wrong in some cases but it--is important ‘to remember that the law and order of the auto- crats. - of Europe pro- duced the Hoe Man of ~whom he ' wrote, and that if the hoe men are to disappear this' so- ' PAGE ELEVEN “Home Portrait by Elfon A.Howard” Edwin Markham, the American poet, who sees in the present turmoil of Europe the beginnings of the new age and a greater civilization - because the status of the common man will be raised. The age- long efforts of the toilers to get those who toil not off: their backs appears to him to be nearing the end. must be considerably disturbed. He is more i terested in humanity than any law and order which reduces our human kind almost to the level * 5 of beasts. - - He sees as a possible result of the new experi- ments beneficial changes which we ourselves will want to copy. These experiments should be al- lowed to work themselves out freely without mili- tary intervention or starvation ‘blockades. If we can not help, we should at least let alone. As an- other poet asks: You that allowed the crumbling Tsardom room, Year after year that saw my exiles tread By tens of thousands to their living tomb In the Siberian waste, and no word said, What mighty need has brought your armies now? You that beheld my surging crowds lack food, My peasants’ dream of liberty turn gall And wormwood of another gervitude, Yet sate not in the judgment seat at all, What mighty need has brought your armies now? Ohio Farmers Waking Up At 'a meeting held ‘in Columbus, Ohio, on De- cember 26 a call was issued to the farmers of the state to get together for political -action, signed by these Ohio men: Harvey Watson, E. E. Cassel, A. N. McCombs, C, E. Wharton, Charles F. Ritter ; The call issued read as follows: and E. L. Roe. “The farmers in every county in Ohio are urged to attend a meeting to be held at the Southern hotel in Columbus on January 21 and 22 for the purpose of perfecting a state organization which -will deal with taxation and other questions which will guarantee the greatest degree of justice and assure the maximum degree of economy for the people as a whole. Be with us.” . The Leader has not received a report of this. meeting, but it is fairly certain that important steps were taken toward putting Ohio in the list of . states independent of gang rule.- Many Ohio farm- called “law and order” ers are subscribing for the Nonpartisan Leader. - aTh