THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF MEN.
For The Public.
All men are not born equal,
They are born with an equal right
To things by no man created —
The bounties of Nature's might:
A right to the earth and to labor,
A right to the sea and sod.
Given not by will or law of man,
But by the will and law of God.
A true man asks no favor,
No favor of God or man;
He demands but simple justice.
Which is God's eternal plan.
And whatever I am or shall be,
The right or wrong's my own;
I'll not answer for another
Before the Maker's throne.
I'll answer for my own soul,
For the things which I have done,
For the good and for the evil,
In the race that I have run.
And if I have wronged a brother
By juggled law or might,
I'll answer for the evil done.
For the trespass of others' right.
And what an answer it will be.
And what a price to pay
For turning the bounties of Nature
From their God-directed way;
For filching from man and brother
That which is his of right,
The fruit of his honest labor,
By juggled law or might.
R. E. CHADWICK.
This was published in The Public, in June, 1909. The Public was published by Louis Freeland Post, who would later be secretary of labor.
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