they are going to do these things.  The man who is leading the third party has not changed his point of view since he was President of the United States.  I am not asking him to change it.  I am not saying that he has not a perfect right to retain it.  But I do say that it is not surprising that a man who had the point of view with regard to the government of this country which he had when he was President was not chosen as President again, and allowed to patent the present processes of industry and personally direct them how to treat the people of the United States.

There has been a history of the human race, you know, and a history of government; it is recorded; and the kind of thing proposed has been tried again and again and has always led to the same result.  History is strewn all along its course with the wrecks of governments that tried to be humane, tried to carry out humane programs through the instrumentality of those who controlled the material fortunes of the rest of their fellow-citizens.

I do not trust any promises of a change of temper on the part of monopoly.  Monopoly never was conceived in the temper of tolerance.  Monopoly never was conceived with the purpose of general development.  It was conceived with the purpose of special advantage.  Has monopoly been very benevolent to its employees?  Have the trusts had a soft heart for the working people of America?  Have you found trusts that cared whether women were sapped of their vitality or not?  Have you found trusts who are very scrupulous about using children in their tender years?  Have you found trusts that were keen to protect the lungs and the health and the freedom of their employees?  Have you found trusts that thought as much of their men as they did of their machinery?  Then who is going to convert these men into the chief instruments of justice and benevolence?

If you will point me to the least promise of disinterestedness on the part of the masters of our lives, then I will conceive you some ray of hope; but only upon this hypothesis, only upon this conjecture:  that the history of the world is going to be reversed, and that the men who have the power to oppress us will be kind to us, and will promote our interests, whether our interests jump with theirs or not.

After you have made the partnership between monopoly and your government permanent, then I invite all the philanthropists in the United States to come and sit on the stage and go through the motions of finding out how they are going to get philanthropy out of their masters.

I do not want to see the special interests of the United States take care of the workingmen, women, and children.  I want to see justice, righteousness, fairness and humanity displayed in all the laws of the United States, and I do not want any power to intervene between the people and their government.  Justice is what we want, not patronage and condescension and pitiful helpfulness.  The trusts are our masters now, but I for one do not care to live in a country called free even under kind masters.  I prefer to live under no masters at all.