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The Commoner.
FjUIiT 31, 1903.
3
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A MOMENTOUS PROBLEM
Governor LaFoIlettc' s Address on "Rep
resentative Government1'
WBSW?
Governor La Folletto of Wisconsin delivered
an address July 18 at Chautauqua, N. Y. His
eubject was "Representative Government"
That address should be read by cvory Ameri
can citizen. It shows that the evils of tho day
are recognized by a republican governor who has
the courage to speak plainly. It is true that no
well informed person denies the .correctness of
the charges made by the republican governor of
"Wisconsin; and yet it is significant that other re
publican leaders keep silent and that those who
speak candidly upon these subjects, as the! Wlscon
ein governor has done, are not regarded by party
leaders as "thoroughly sound republicans-"
In his speech at Chautauqua, Governor La Fol
letto pointed" out that tho basic principle of this
government Is the will of tho peoplo; that its
founders devised a system which seemed to assure
the means of ascertaining that will, of enacting it
into legislation and enforcing it through admin
istration of tho law. This will was to be accom
plished by electing men to make and men to
execute the law which represent in tho laws so
made and executed the will of the people. Gov
ernor La Folletto said that this was the estab
lishment of a representative government where
every man had equal voice, equal rights and equal
responsibility And then this republican gov
ernor askedTus auditors:
"Have we such a government today, or are
we rapidly coming to be dominated by force,
in making and enacting our laws, wnicn
thwart the will of the people and menace the
very life of representative government? No
man questioned it for a hundred years. Who
ever asserts it now is denounced as a 'menace
to industrial progress.'"
Governor La Follette quoted from Washing--ton,
Jefferson, Lincoln and others to show that
the fathers of the country regarded tho people aa
tho source of power and he said that it was re
served for Abraham Lincoln, on the field of Get
tysburg, to 'express at once the prpfoundest and
most philosophical, tho simplest and most pop-
ular definition of American democracy over ut-'
tered, when he declared:
" 'Wo here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died In Vain; that this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom,
and that the government of the people, by the
people and for the people shall not perish from
the earth.'"
Governor La Follette disclaimed any disposi
tion to excite the prejudices of his auditors or to
invoke an unfair judgment, but he declared that
deep conviction impelled him to appeal to their
patriotism to meet an impending crisis. He said:
"We owe It to the living as well as to the dead to
make honest answer to this question, 'Is our gov
ernment of city, state, and nation thoroughly rep
resentative of the will of the people?' "
Governor La Follette further said:
"One of the causes of revolution proclaimed
in the Declaration of Independence was: 'Im
posing taxes on us without our consent' To
day, great aggregations of corporate wealth
buy immunity from taxation in our legisla
4 tures, and throw the burden which they snould
bear onto the Individual taxpayer of every mu
nicipality and state. Betrayed by his repre- -sentative,
the Individual taxpayer Is overtaxed
for the benefit of the corporation. Taxation
without representation Is as much a crime
against just and equal government in 1903 aa
it was In 1776. Government by corporations is
. as destructive of the liberties of the people of
' this country as the exercise of the same power
by a foreign monarch. The arbitrary control
of the price of coal and iron, and corn, and
wheat, and beef whether by an extortionate
transportation rate, or by a monster combina
tion, is a more absolute tyranny of the Amerl- '
can people than quartering the army of King
George upon the American colonists without
their consent There can be no such thing aa
commercial slavery and individual freedom.
.We may have the privilege of the ballot, we
may have the semblance of democracy, but
industrial servitude means political servitude.
Monopoly in transportation and coal and.
iron and the food products, makes a pretense
and a mockery of political freedom.
"Let us see if the time be not ripe for a
new declaration of American independence.
We are building up colossal .fortunes, grant-
ing unlimited power to corporate organization,
and consolidating and massing together busi
ness interests as never before In tho commer
cial history of tho world, but tho peoplo are
losing control of their own government Ita
foundations are being sapped and its Integrity
destroyed. What shall It profit a man If
ho gain the whole world and loso his own
soul?' What shall it profit a nation if it gain
untold wealth, and ita peoplo I030 their lib
erty?" Governor La Follette pointed out that tho
New York legislative investigation of tho Erie
railway reported that more than $1,000,000 was
spent In one year for "extra legal services," and
that money paid to political bosses was charged
to tho "India rubber account" He also showed
that more recently the treasurer of tho Now York
Central Railway company testified that his com
pany had paid for legislation in ono year $C0,
000 and In another year $205,000. He also quoted
from the correspondence which passed between tho
late C. P. Huntington and General Colton In re
gard to tho payment of money for tho passage
of legislative measures and for the control of con
gressmen. In one of tho letters from Mr. Hunting
ton, that great railroad magnate used this lan
guage: "It is very Important that his friends in
Washington should bo with us, and if that
should be brought about by paying Carr, say
$10,000 to $20,000 a year, I think wo could af
ford to do it but of course not until he had
controlled his friends."
Having made this showing, Governor La Fol
lette said:
"If there were no further evidences of tho
power of tho railroads in legislation than that
which is afforded by tho statements from tho
record of tho Interstate commerce commission,
it ought to arouse the entire country to such
action as will br.ng congress to a sense of
itB, responsibility tc tho people for somo meas
ure 'of justice and fair play."
And tho governor added:
"Tho gravest danger menacing republican
institutions today is the overbalancing control
of city, state and national legislatures, by tho
wealth and power of public service corpora
tions." In ancther portion of his speech Governor
La Follett6 read a letter bearing upon tho action
of tho last congress. This letter was written to
him by a United States senator under date of
February 9, 1903. In this letter this senator wrote:
"It is expecting too much from human
nature that senators, whose every association
is with tho great railroad corporations, and
whose poUtlcal lives largely depend upon
them, should, In good faith, make the railroads
a servant of thj people and to be subject to the
decisiou of the commission when a question of
rates Is raised. The senate committee is by a
decided majority men who bear those rela
tions to tho railroads.' "
Coming to the question of combinations and
referring to the coal monopoly, Governor La Fol
lette said:
"This coal trust bears harder even upon
the unfortunate, helpless labor that mines
the product at a wage level of a generation
ago than upon the consumers who are just
beginning to feel the burden of its increas
ing oppression. Its utter indifference and con
tempt for tho constitutional and statutory
law, for public opinion, and wide-spread want
' and suffering should awaken In the people of
this free country tho spirit which framed the
Declaration of Independence and founded a
government in which tho will of the people
should be supreme."
The governor paid his respects to the "ele
vator combine," and related the history of the
meat trust, showing that It was also promoted by
the railroads. And then he said:
"The plan developed and consummated in
building up tho Standard Oil monopoly, the
anthracite coal trust, the elevator cqmbina-
-tlon and tho beef trust, are Indicative of the
power of tho railroads in combination. There
Is not an important trust In the United
States which doca not have the assistance of
tho rallroudo in destroying iU competitors In
business, lhc limitation and control of Uieuo
public service corporations In their legitlin&to
Meld as common carriers Is of primary im
portance In tno practical nolution of tho trust
problem which conlronts tno peoplo of this
country. It Is manifest that any trust legis
lation to bo cffcctlvo must go hand in hand
with a control over railway rates by tho fed
eral government on interstate commerce
through an enlargement of tho poweni of the
Interstate commerce commission, and a like
control of railroad rates on state commerce
by each of tho states through a stato mil way
commission. Added to this, tho railroad com
panies must be prohibited from using the ex
traordinary powers conferred upon them by
tho stato for any other purpose than in con
ducting tho transportation business for which
thoy were organized."
Governor La Follette declared that tho exist
ence of a wicked alliance Between the machine
and corporations and tho lust for monoy and pow
er out of which it was born was never more braz
enly confessed to the world than In a recent in
terview by Charles It Brayton, machine boas of
Rhode Island and principal lobbyist for Uio lead
ing public service corporations of that state. In
that Interview Mr. Brayton said:
"1 am an attorney for certain clients, and
I look out for their interests beforo the legisla
ture. I am retained annually by the Now
York, New Haven & Hartford Railway com
pany, as cveryono knows. I act for the
Rhode Island company (street car interest),
and I have been retained In certain cases by
tho tfrovldenco Tclcphono company. In addi
tion to this, I havo had connections, not per
naneat, with various companies desiring fran
chisee, charters, and things of that sort, from
the legislature. I never solicit any business.
It comes to me unsought You see, in manag
ing tho campaign year after year, I am in a
position to bo of service to men all over the
state. I help them to get elected, and, nat
urally, many warm friendships result; then
when thoy aro in a position to repay me,
thoy are glad to do it'"
Then the republican governor of Wisconsin
concluded his remarkable speech in these words:
"Tho problem presented Is a momentous
one. It calls for no appeal to passion or pre
judice or fear. It calls for courage and patriot
ism and self-sacrifice. It calls for solution.
Shall the American people become servants
instead of masters of their boasted material
progress and prosperity victim of ie col
ossal wealth this free land has fostered and
protected? Surely our great cities, our great
states, our great nation, will t ,t helplessly
surrender to this most Insidious enemy which
is everywhere undermining official Integrity
and American institutions. Surely, we shall
not permit this government to abandon its
traditions, ita memories, its hopes, and be
come the instrument of injustice and oppres
sion. Surely, the American people will do
their plain duty now as they did In the great-
est epoch of this country's history. Surely,
we shall meet tho Issues presented with recti
tude and unfaltering devotion, strong in the
faith of ultimate triumph."
JJJ
The Asset Currency.
The asset currency is coming. Notwithstaad
ing the denials of the republican papers tho asset
currency seems likely to come. Secretary Shaw
Is advocating it and the financiers are using tha
president's vague indorsement to- back up their
proposition. As Is usual in such matters, the Wall
street crowd did" not ask for a specific indorsement
of their plans because guch an indorsement wouM
have called public attention to the matter, but
they secure an ambiguous and general indorsement
and then use that to force their schemes through.
Here is what the president saH:
."Our currency laws have recently improved
by specific declarations intended o secure per
manency of. values, but this does not imply
that these laws may not be still further tm
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