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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1900)
rs The lament of David over Aosalom is one o the most pathetic passages of the Old Testament The tact that the son J civil as well as was In rebellion against parental authority did not snane w - rhers affection and the anxious query Is the young man Absalom sate lingers In the memory of all who study the life of the great Hebrew yet the interest which David felt in his son Absalom has Its parallel in the more than 10000000 families which make up the American people mnthr No language can describe a mothef s love or overstate the abiding e of which the father feels in the welfare his child From the time when the moth ers llfeliangs in the balance at the toy birth until the death of the Parents there is scarcely a waking hour when the -son is -not present in their thoughts and Plans It is to this parental devotion so unl versally recognized that I aesire to ap peal on this occasion Appeal to Parental Devotion I would call the -attention J and ther and mother to present POtteal Industrial conditions I would ask em to analyze these conditions investigate I their causes and their tendencies would press upon them this Question Is safer Are the young man Absalom you saified with the PlUUtl probabilities which now open before your B0ls he safe when foreign r domestic financiers are allowed to determine the monetary system under which he lives Is he safe when national banks control the volume of money with which he does business Is he safe when the bond holding class j i a cIto nf th national debt upon which he must help to pay lnter d t i t rr vian hv Tnpnns of taxes laid almost entirely upon consumption he is compelled to contribute accoruuiB wants rather than according to his pos sessions Is he safe when corporate interests in fluence as they do today the select on of those who ar to represent him in tne Senate of the United States If he is a wage earner and you do not he be even If he is know how sbon may not now Is he safe when he is liable to be deprived of trial by jury through the system known as government by In junction Is he safe If a laboring man when he Is denied the protection of arbitration and cqmpelled to submit to such hours and terms as a corporate employer ma pro posed The Helgn of Monopoly But I desire to call special attention to the growth of the trusts and to ask you whether your son Is safe under the reign if private monopoly If you cannot leave him a fortune you can leave him some thing more valuable than money viz the freedom to employ his own brain anjl his own hands for the advancement of his own welfare When there is In dustrial independence each citizen Is stimulated to earnest endeavor by the hope of being able to profit by his own genius his own energy his own Industry and his own v virtue But when private monopoly reaches its full development each branch of industry will be controlled by one or a few men and the fruits of monopoly like the divine right of rule will be keRt within the possession of a few from generation to generation while the real producers of wealth will be con demned to perpetual clerkship or servi tude When private monopoly reaches its full development your son will buy the finshed product at the price which mon opoly fixes he will sell raw material at the price which monopoly fixes and if he works for wages he will work for such compensation and upon such con ditions as monopoly may -determine Charles R Flint of the Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co in a speech delivered In Boston on the 25th of May 1899 out lined the trust program with great frank ness In speaking ofc the advantages to be derived from the trust system he said Outlinefof Trust Program Raw material bought in large quan tities is secured at lower prices When for instance one man buys all the wool the pricVot wool will be lowered and all who produce wool will sell at the price fixed by the trust A large proportion of ourpeople are engaged in the produc tion of various kinds of raw material and they are thu placed at the mercy of the combinations The second advantage is that those plants which are best equipped and most advantageously situated are run continu ously and in preference to those less fa vored This means that factories can be closed In the smaller towns and business con centrated in the large centers It means also that whenever there is a surplus on hand part of the factories can be closed j and the burden of maintaining prices thrown upon the wage workers There are already scattered throughout the land idle plants which istand as silent monuments to the evils of the trust The next advantage mentioned is that In case of local strikes and fires the work goes on elsewhere thus preventing serious loss This means that a monopoly can abso lutely control its workingmen for if a strike occurs in a factory in one state the factory can be closed down Indefinite ly while the employes are starved into submission and as the trUst can do the work in some other factory without seri ousj loss it is quite independent of the employes and can absolutely prescribe the terms and conditions upon which they shall live The more complete the mon opoly the more opposed the managers will be to arbitration because in case of any contest between the trust and its employes the trust will have every ad vantage and the employes will be per fectly powerless Another advantage cited by Mr Flint is that There is no multiplication of the means of distribution and a better force of salesmen will take the place of a large number N Drummers Dispensed With This is an intimation that under the trust system the traveling salesman will not be needed When every retail mer chant must buy all goods of one class from a single company the workman be done by samples and no traveling men will be needed There will be no com petition between different factories be cause all are under one management The first man to feel this will be the salesman who will lose his occupation The next man to feel it will be the hotel man who will miss the trade of the traveling salesman The railroad will lose the mileage paid by the traveling man the liverymen will lose their best pat rons and the newspapers will lose the advertising because it will not be neces sary to advertise when there is no com petition All this might be tolerable if the Baving thus made went to the con sumer but as a matter of fact It goes to the mononoply My attention has been called to a prospectus Issued by the In ternational Steam Pump Company or ganized March 1899 under the laws of New Jersey and capitalized at 27500000 of which nearly half is preferred stock and the remainder common stock I call attention to this prospectus because it sets forth the plans of the trusts and show who are to be the beneficiaries The International Steam Pump Com pany was organized for the purpose of manufacturing steam pumps and ac cruing to the prospectus acquired con trol of the business of the following cor porations either through the conveyance of the title to the properties -V sit nesses of such companies or by the own ership of not less than two thirds of their stock as may be found practicable Then follow the names of fiver pump com panies accompanied by the statement that these companies are estimated to transact ninety per cent of the steam pump business of the United States ex clusive of high duty engines The ma jority of the companies also manufacture such engines Sample Case of Trusts One of the companies taken Into the combination had assets estimated at a little more than six million dollars an other company had assets estimated at a little more than three millions the third company had assets estimated at a little more than one million The fourth com pany had assets estimated at eight hun dred thousand dollars and the fifth com pany had assets estimated at seven hun dred thousand dollars The good will was not estimated in the above figures The Atn1 nacata tliaafnia rf th flVTft fiOm panies not including the good will were less than twelve million dollars ana tne prospectus states that the combined net profits of the five concerns for the year 1898 estimated on the business of ten months of the year would amount to twelve hundred thousand dollars Under the head of Estimated additional earn ings from consolidation I find the fol lowing Each of the five companies now main tains agencies In the principal cities of the United States The Worthington and Blake companies have stores and cairy stock in London Hamburg Vienna and other cities Some of them have expen sive salaried managers All these agencies- in this and other countries will be consolidated The stores and agencies maintained in the cities of this country and the forces of clerks salesmen etc necessary to conduct them will be united and decreased involving an estimated saving of at least 500000 a year The expenses of each company for its draught ing department incident to the elaborate drawings and specifications for estimat ing of work will bring about a further reduction The standardizing of the pat terns for farm and domestic work which Js now under way in the Worthington fac tory when applied to the entire business of the new company will result in an estimated saving of at least 200000 per year And then follows In black type this sig nificant statement Advantages of Consolidation A conservative estimate of the ad vantaged derived from consolidation is believed to be 1300000 over the present earnings which would make a total of future net earnings with the estimated earnings based on ten months of the years business of 2500000 of 6 per cent on the preferred stock and over eleven per cent on the common- stock of the new company i It will thus be seen from the prospectus that the advantages secured by the cut ting down of expenses will double the in come and not a word is said about giv ing the advantages of this reduction to the consumer The money taken from the traveling men from the hotel keep ers from the railroads from the livery men from the newspapers and from others who suffer by the discharge of traveling salesmen clerks etc will all be added to the profits of the monopoly The stock was to be watered and prices maintained to pay dividends upon fipti tidus capital To give a further guarantee that the monopoly the prospectus says that the principal men connected with the various companies would become identified with the comDany and would contract not to engage in a- like business for ten years But what about the public What guar antee has the public that this monopoly will not raise prices Is it not human nature to make all the profit possible out of a monopoly Is it not reasonable to expect that thr monopoly after elimin ating the salesmen and adding their sal aries and expenses to the profit account will seek a further profit by raising prices and lowering wages Is it not reason able also to expect that there will be de terioration in quality when the spur of competition no longer compels the manu facturer to furnish the best goods for the lowest possible price In a little book described as an In vestment Guide and issued in 1900 by Henry Clews Co bankers I find a list of large corporations together with a brief description of the business done and advantages secured by consolidation In some instances an estimate is given of the output of the company as compared with the total product in the United States Let me call your attention to a few of the corporations organized since the last Presidential election Trusts Formed Under McKlnley The American Agricultural Chemical Company incorporated under the laws of Connecticut in May 1S99 has an author ized capital of 40000000 half common stock and half preferred It acquired tweny two of the largest fertilizing con cerns in the countrv The American Bicycle Company incor porated in May 1S99 in New Jersey with 20000000 of common stock and 10000000 preferred consolidated forty four of the largest bicycle concerns in the United States The American Hide and Leather Corn pay Incorporated in New Jersey in May 1899 with an authorized capital of 25 000000 half common stock and half pre ferred controls about seveny five per cent of the upper leatheroutput of the coun try The American Linseed Oil Company in corporated in New Jersey in December 1J 9S with a capital stock of 33500000 half common stock and half preferred consolidated eleven large linseed oil com panies4 and controls over eighty five per cont of the linseed oil properties in the United Slates The American Steel Hoop Company in corporated in New Jersey in April 1S99 consolidated nine large steel and iron companies in Ohio and Pennsylvania capital stock 19000000 common and 14 000000 preferred The American Ship Building Company incorporated in New Jersey in March 1S99 with an authorized capital of 30 000000 half common stock and half pre ferred consolidated all ship building and kindred interests on the great lakes American Steel and Wire Company In corporated in New Jersey In January 1899 with 50000000 common stock and 40 000000preferred controls about eighty per cent of the nail and wire product of the United States The American Thread Company incor porated in New Jersey in March 1898 with a capital stock of 12000000 half com mon and half preferred consolidated fourteen large thread companies in New York and New England American Tin Plate Company incor porated in New Jersey in December 1898 with 30000000 common stock and 20 000000 preferred consolidated about ninty five per cent of the tin plate mills in the United States The American Window Glass Company Incorporated in Pennsylvania September 1S99 with 13000000 common stock and 4 000000 preferred consolidated window glass plants in New York Pennsylvania New Jersey and Indiana controlling about eighty five per cent of the output of the United States American Woolen Company incorpor ated in New Jersey in March 1899 with nearly 30000000 common stock and 20 000000 preferred consolidated a number of mills in Rhode Island Massachusetts and other places The American Writing Paper Company - - - i - - - - t i - i wugg 3 ljr2 9MS yw t ft 1 XL WUSmSuSmmt rTBRYflNl ANTI TRUST SPEE6A incorporated in New Jersey June 1SD9 traveler the hotel keeper the railroad with 25000000 capital half common stock the liveryman and the newspaper consolidated numer and half preferred ous mills producing over seventy six per cent of the output of the United States The Continental Tobacco ComDany In- XTrttroTMhor - corporatea in JNew jersey m iwi n - Mjuftn efe nftfl VmK iJtm - t a jw z i vf L JjsAJS W v b tr V rri rt Trim til The Inwverss are finamjr that with the growth of trusts the business is ing toward the offices of the big corpora tion attorneys while Jes fortunate usi wnn a capital or wm - - tiHnnpr hnmine law clerks mon stock and half preferred Acqu The actors suffer from the theatrical all th nine tnhaoeo companies in the United States and also purchased the plug tobacco business of the Ameri can Tobacco Company in whose interest it was formed Giant Federal Steel Truts x The Federal Steel Company incorpor ated In New Jersey in September 1898 with an authorized capital of 200000000 capital half common stock and half pre ferred consolidated the Illinois Steel Company the Minnesota Iron Company the Duluth Iron Range Ry the Elgin Jollet Eastern Ry and several other companies It owns five docks on the great lakes and a majority of the steam ers and barges used for- transporting ores The International Paper Company in corporated in January 1898 state not given with an authorized capital of 20 000000 common and 25000000 preferred stock consolidated twenty five pulp and paper mills manufacturing about eighty per cent newspaper Every newspaper has suffered from the paper trust the magazine for instance published by the Locomotive Firemen s organization and supported by a fixed appropriation has been compelled to les sen Its reading space because of the rise in the price of paper The National Biscuit Company Incor porated In New Jersey In February 1898 with 30000000 common stock and 25000 000 preferred consolidated the leading cracker companies and controls in all one hundred and sixteen plants The National Salt Company incorpor ated In New Jersey in March 1899 with 7000000 of common stock authorized and 5000000 preferred produces about ninety five per cent of the total output of the country The National Tube Company Incorpor ated In New Jersey in June 1899 has a Hal stock of S0000000 half common and half preferred and controls about ninety per cent of the output of the United States The Rubber Goods Manufacturing Com pany incorporated in New Jersey in Jan uary 1899 owns practically all the capi tal stock of the Mechanical Rubber Com pany the Peerless Rubber Company and the India Rubber Company as well as seventy five per cent of the stock of Mor gan Wright It also acquired the tire makins plants of the concern known as the American Bicycle Company ind the American Dunlop Tire Company Author ized capital stock 50000000 half common and half preferred The Standard Rope Twine Company Incorporated in New Jersey November 8 1896 with a capital stock of J12000 000 consolidated twenfcy two large cordage mills The Union Bag and Paper Company in corporated in New Jersey in February 1899 with 16000000 common stock and 11000000 preferred consolidated various plants doing ninety per cent of the paper bag business of the United States United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foun dry Company incorporated in New Jersey in March 1899 with an authorized capital of 30000000 half common sock 5nd half preferred consolidated the principal cast iron pipe companies of the United States United States Envelope Company In corporated in Maine in 1S9S with an au thorized capital of 1000000 and 4000000 preferred consolidated ten companies and controls ninety per cent of the output of commercial envelopes in the United States The book mentioned also gives statistics in regard to several trusts organized prior to 1896 among which are the American Cotton Oil Co the American Sugar Re fining Companv the American Tobacco Company the Diamond Match Company the National Lead Company and the Standard OH Company No Hope from Republicans During thp present administration no honest effort has been made to protect the people from these monopolies The Republican partr controls the executive and the legislative departments of the federal government It can enforce the laws which now exist it can propose and enact hew laws but it does neither No persons can watch the conduct of the Re publican party and read the speeches of Republican leaders and still believe the Republican party sincere in its declara tions against the trusts The Republican platform on this ques tion and the Presidents letter of accept ance taken in connection with the partys record prove conclusively that no re lief can be hoped for from that party Instead of pointing out the evils of trusts the Republican leaders spend their time in exulting over present conditions The trust is a part of present conditions and Mr Flint from which I have already quoted declared that the formation of large corporations was one of the im portant features of what he described as the present business activity If Re publican x leaders really regarded private monopoly as an evil if they really In tended to apply an effective remedy tney would not hesitate to denounce trusts and suggest means for their extermination but they express far more solicitude for the corporation than for the people at large One is reminded of the picture which a mother once showed to her boy to impress upon his youthful mind the sufferings of the Christian Martyrs who were being thrown Into the arena and torn to piecEi by the lions The boy looked at the picture for a moment and then his face brightened up as he thought he caught the idea Pointing down into one point of the picture he said Why mamma there is one poor little lion that isnt getting a bit It is even s6 with the Republican leaders Their sympathy goesout freely to any corporation which In their opinion is not getting its share but they are not moved by the hardships imposed by monopolies upon nil who are outside of th charmed circle Three sessions of Congress have convened and adjourned since the Presidents inaugu ration arid yet he has never recommend ed a specific measure looking toward the overthrow of monopolies Paper Money Trust At the opening of the last session of Congress the Republican leaders pressed through the House and Senae a bill creating a paper money trust and sur rendered into the hands of the national banks complete control of th national currency Just as Congress was closing a farcical and hypocritical attempt was made to deceive the public by the Intro duction of an anti trust amendment and an anti trust bill The amendment was not necessary and was intended to de prive the states of the power which they now possess rather than to confer upon Congress new authority This vicious amendment was defeated in the House by the Democrats The Republican lead ers then confessed the amendment un necessary by introducing an anti trust bill which was supported by the Demo crats but which died in the Senate just as it was expecled to die The Republic an majority in the Senate referred the bill to the judiciary committee against the protests of the Democrats who urged lis immediate passage The Republican party draws ts contributions from the trusts diirlng the campaign and pays back its obligations by leaving the peo ple it the mercy of the trusts between campaigns Let us note briefly the effect of the trusts upon various classes Reference has already been made to the commercial trust The small manufacturer is constantly menaced by the trusts He does not know at what moment some large corporation will attempt to mon opolize the business in which he is en gaged and give him his choice between bankruptcy and particulatlon in an In dustrial conspiracy against the rest of the country Many have been driven into tho trust organization by the larger cor porations engaged in the same business or by trusts formed to control iron steel tin plate or some other product used as a basis for further manufacture In what business can your son safely Invest a small amount of capital today If he starts into any independent business he will find it difficult if not impossible to compete with a large organization if it attempts to undersell him in his ter ritory because it can sustain Itself by collecting high prices in other parts of flie country If he suppresses his moral objections and takes stock in a mon opoly he does not know how soon those in charge- may attempt to freeze out the smaller stockholders The merchant is losing his independ ence The trust fixes the terms upon which he shall sell and often binds him by contract not to sell a competing arti cle When the monopoly Is complete credit will be shortened and the mer chant will be compelled to bear all the risks of trade When the trust raises prices the merchant usually has to divide the advance with his customers so far as stock on hand is concerned but when the trust overstocks the market and then lets the price fall the merchant must bear the loss on accumulated stock When for instance the American Steel Wire Company closed several of its factories a few months ago and threw some six thousand employes out of work it drooped the price of nails and barbed wire in order to work off a surplus stock i which had accumulated because the high prices had lessened the demand Every merchant lost money on the nails and wire on hand There is already overproduction In many lines The supply of common chairs is now considerably In excess of the de mand but lest the Republicans may try to explain this upon the theory that the people are too busy to sit down I may add that there is also dullness Hn the shoe trade The Iron Age in a recent issue pointed out that the production of Iron was falling off the decrease then amounting to more than 50000 tons per month Duns report of July 21st stated that the woolen mills were running at less than half their capacity and even recently the cotton manufacturers have been threatening to either reduce wages or shut down temporarily According to Duns report the business failures have been greater during each month of 1900 than they were during the same months of last year and this occurs in the midst of good crops and when two wars are in progress Trusts and Arbitrary Fluctuations The contractor can figure with some ac curacy so long as natural laws control but he cannot protect himself against the arbitrary fluctuations which are not only possible but probable when a monopoly controls the market The farmer Is one of the most import ant factors in our national life Some one has said to him The hand that guides the plowshare feeds the world He Is not a stockholder in any of the trusts but he feels the extortion prac ticed by them all I am not farming on a large scale but the misleading reports which have been circulated concerning my oat crop justify me in making ref erence to my own experience The New York Tribune recently printed a dispatch from Nebraska to the effect that I had just sold forty eight hundred bushels of oats at 30 cents per bushel supposed to be the yield of 120 acres and that the amount received for the oats was more than double the price paid for the land The Tribune article then proceeded to di late upon the prosperity of the farmer using my experience aa an illustration and assertedthat the farmers of Nebras ka were becoming so opulent that they were joining the Republican party The facts are first That I had five acres of oats Instead of one hundred and twenty acres second That the oats have not yet been threshed so that the yield is not known third That oats are selling for less than 22 cents in Chicago instead -of 30 cents in Nebraska and fourth That the land vpon which the oats were raised cost me over M00 an acre instead of 6 If when threshed my oats yield 40 bushels to the acre and I sell them n Nebraska for 20 cents per bushel the total income from the five acres will be 40 or less than eight per cent on the ihvestment After taking out the cost of plowing sowing harvesting and threshing the net income from that five acre tract will not exceed four per cent on the money invested I do not mean to judge others by my own experi ence but I mention the facts in this case to show how the Republican papers ex aggerate the farmers prosperity and credit a Republican administration with good crops making no allowance for the crop failures which occur from time to time v Decliao of Farm Products But while on the oat question let me call attention to the statistics given in the Investment guide already referred to According to Henry Clews Co the average prices received by farmers for oats during the seven yeais beginning with 1S93 and ending with IS99 were as follows 1S9 294 1894 324 1S95 19s6 1896 187 1897 212 1S9SV255 1S99 249 Ac cording to these figures oats averaged 25 cents a bushel during the four years of Mr Clevelands administration and only 24 cents per bushel during the three years of Mr McKinleys administration the present year is not yet complete but oats are at the present time below the average According to the same authority the average prices received by the farmers for corn were as follows 1893 365 1894 457 189o 264 1896 215 1S97 263 1S9S 287 1899 303 making an average of about 305 during the four years of Mr Cleve lands administration and 281 during the three years of Mr McKinlejs adminis tration the fourth year is not yet com plete but corn Is at this time above the average Wheat according to the same author ity brought to the farmers the following prices 1893 538 1894 491 1895 509 1896 V26 1897 80S 1898 5S2 1899 584 showing a higher average during the last three years than during the four preceding the fourth year is not compleit but wheal is now above the average According to the same authority cotton planters received the following prices 1893 609 1S94 46 15 759 1896 66 1897 5 0 1898 475 1S99 75 showing a higher average during the four years of Mr Clevelands administration than during the three years of Mr McKinleys admln stration the fourth year is not yet com plete but cotton is now above the aver age price Taking these four staples of u will he seen that three out of four have not on the average brought as muclr return to the farmer under the present administration as under the previous ad v ministration and the fourtlr product V DELIVERED AT ST LOUIS SEPTEMBER 15 1900 wheat is more influenced than any other farm product by foreign conditions Advance In Merchandise When however the iarmer attempts to use his income in the purchase of the ne cessaries of life he finds that the trusts have raised prices He must pay more for lumber nails wire harness hardware stoves and agricultural implements More also for oil sugar clothing furniture etc and in addition to these drains upon his income he must meet an Increase in federal taxation Let the parent calculate how long it will take a farmer to become independent under present conditions let him con trast the lot of the farmer with the lot of the man who profits by governmental favoritism and grows rich by the exploit ation of his countrymen through the in strumentality of monopoly and then let him answer the question Is the young man Absalom safe Has the farmers son or the farmer himself any reason for giving support to the Re publican party Next to the farmer in point of num bers and importance come the wage-earners What is the trust doing to Increase the wages shorten the hours Improve the condition or protect the rights of the laboring man is his present prospect an Inviting one Is he receiving a fair share of the proceeds of his toll And if not why not Republicans assert that the working man has a Full Dinner pail I ask in the first place whether a full dinner pall is all that a laboring man needs It is an insult to the wage earner to say that his thoughts are en tirely centered upon his physical wants Republican speakers and editors assume that the laboring man Is all stomach They act upon the theory that he com plains only when he is hungry and is happy whenever his hunger is appeased The Full Dinner Pall If a full dinner pall were the only thing desired and If every laboring man had plenty to eat it would still be necessary for the Republican party to showxsome connection between Republican policies and the laboring mans food supply If bountiful crops come to the farmer he does not thank a Republican administra tion If a famine abroad raises the price of farm products here the farmer does not thank the Republican party for bring ing the famine if an unexpected and an unpromised Increase In the gold supply gives any respite from financial string ency can the Republican party claim credit The question is not whether the laboring man is able to exist under present conditions but whether he Is en joying his share of the blessings of the country and of the protection of the gov ernment Compare the laboring man with the trust magnate and see which fares the best at the hands of the Re publican party Enquire also whether the laboring mans income has increased as rapidly as his living expenses But even if every laboring man was prosperous and even if that prosperity could be traced to Republican legislation still the laboring man is a citizen and must look at political questions from the citizens standpoint He cannot afford to barter away future security he can not afford to sleep while his industrial independence is being destroyed Neither can he be enticed into an imperialistic trap no matter how well the trap may be bated with food During the last campaign laboring men were threatened with idleness by em ployers who desired to coerce them into the support of the Republican ticket Many of them were told not to return to work unless the Republicans were suc cessful at the polls After the election some of these employers closed down their shops and others reduced wages If ad vances have been made in any branch of industry since 1896 remember that some advance was necessary to compensate for the reductions which occurred after the last election Coercion In 1896 A firm In the City of Washington an nounced shortly before the election In 1896 that It would not be able to continue in business if I was elected It went into bankruptcy immediately after elec tion notwithstanding the fact that its candidate was successful at the polls There are indications that this attempt at intimidation may be resorted to again this fall If a business man feels justi fied in holding out the prospect of his own bapkruptcy in order to influence voters he cannot complain if his credit ors lake steps to collect their accounts before the election in order to avoid a posslDle loss The Chicago Times Herald of Septem ber 8 contained a special dispatch from Indianapolis setting forth the complaint made by the anthracite coal miners In the dispatch I read the following state ment made by one of the miners It is merely a question whether the men would starve to death at work or starve in idle ness The dispatch also contains the following figures in regard to wages said to have been furnished by a member of the national beard of the United Mine Workers of America viz Average dally wages received by miners 135 average wage of day men at mines 90 cents And in the statement to the public giving his reasons for calling out the miners Presi dent Mitchell of the United Mine Work ers says -The average wages of the anthracite miners for many years has been Jess than 250 annually Let the paient calculate the annual income of a miner and figure out if he can how the miner is going to keep himself and support his family under present con ditions and then let the parent ask him self whether he is willing to have his son take his chances with the miners Is it due to natural or to human laws that the producer of wealth fares so poorly while the man at the head of a monopoly secures so much AH Monopolies Are Bail Those who attempt to divide private monopolies into good monopolies and bad monopolies will never make any progress toward the overthrow of the trusts There is no good monopoly in private hands there never was and never will be With aH the advancement in civilization man Is still too selfish to be trusted with the absolute control with that which his fellows must have The Republican party has no remedy for the trusts Publicity is good but publicity alone is not suffi cient The practices of the trusts must not only be made known they must be prevented The Democratic platform contains a demand for legislation which will place trust made articles on the free list There Is no doubt that such a law would protect the people from much of the extortion which is practiced under cover of high tariff laws If a tariff duty excludes the foreign product while domestic manufacturers combine to raise the price of home product the American citizen may be plundered here while the trust sells abroad in competition with the world It may not be out of place to suggest that I Introduced a bill eight years ago providing for this remedy but we are not willing to stop at one remedy we -desire to apply every remedy within the power of the state and federal gov ernments Congressional action ss not necessary to destroy a trust which con--fines its operations to asingle city or a single state Such a trust can be exter minated by state legislation It is with- in the power of the state to prescribe the conditions upon which corporations- shall I be organized and these conditions should be such as to make a private monopoly jilace limitations upon outside corpora tions doing business within the state This however is not sufficient Con gress must co operate with the state in preventing the organization of any Inter- rc i i state monopoly Without impairing tho present authority of the state Congress can provide that corporations organized In any state shall not do business outsit of the state until certain necessary con ditions are complied with If the peopl of any state are willing to create anfi continue a monopoly the people of othe states need feel no concern so long aa the monopoly Is confined to the state Iw which the corporation originates But the moment a monopoly crosses the state line and invades other states Congress has a right to and must interfere for the protection of the public at large IC i a corporation organized In New Jersey or any otner state were prohibited from en gaging in inter state commerce until tt produced evidence to show that there was no water in Its stock and that It ha not attempted and was not attempting to monopolize any branch of industry its power to do harm would at once be de stroyed An honest corporation engaged in legitimate business ought to JoJa In the enactment of laws which will pro tect them and the public from the Indus- trial highwaymen who commit larcenr upon a grand scale Those who deslr the annihilation of the trusts are not hostile to property rights but they pro test against allowing the fictitious per son created by law and called a cor poration to trample upon the rights aZ the natural man of flesh and blood IC the man made corporation supports tho Republican party we ought to be able to appeal for support to the God mada man Aa to Railroad Discriminations The railroads have by discriminations and rebates materially aided In build ing up monopolies At one time th Standard Oil vCompany had a contract witli a railroad whereby It not only en Joyed lower rates than Its competitors but received a part of the freight paid -by its competitors The inter state com merce commission has repeatedly asked for legislation which would empower tho commission to protect the public but tho Republican party has turned a deaf ear to these appeals It Is generally assumed that the bank ers will co operate with the trusts in preventing remedial legislation but tho banker himself Is apt to fall a victim oE this policy of concentration Some an already urging the establishment oC branch banks and when the branch bank is established it will be able to run all the other banks out of business Evea now the association of several great finan cial institutions in New York under the influence of one group of financiers is embarrassing other and smaller banks But why muultiply illustrations of th evil of monopoly No matter how tempt ing the present advantage no mat ter how alluring the immediate prospect every citizen will find it to his perma nent advantage to aid in the overhtrow of the monopolistic principle and in tho re establishment of the industrial system upon a basis of justice Give the boy a chance and let success be the reward of merit The attempt of the Republican party to largely increase our military establish ment suggestr another inquiry Is your son safe when new ideals are substitut ed for the ideals cherished during the past century and when the doctrine of force is accepted as an American doe trine Up to this time we have en couraged science and the arts we have proclaimed the advantages of peace and have preached the gospel of love What will be the effect upon the character of future generations if we encourage tha professional soldier at the expense of tha civilian and teach the creed that might can create right fc Diiugarrf at Militarism Is your son safe when a large milltary establishment is being built up to pro tect syndicates organized to deveildp t tant lands When Mr McKinley was in- augurated there were only 55000 soklirro in the regular army In December I8s5 the President recommended that tha standing army be Increased to 100000 men A Republican House of Representatives prompt to do his bidding passed a bill and this was done after the treaty of peace was signed and before hostiiits broke out in Manila Why did we need such an army Possibly the prospectus Issued by the Philippine Lumber and De velopment Company will explain Tho company has an office in the Merchants Loan Trust building 133 Adams street Chicago The prospectus says Negoti ations are pending for timber rights and some valuable timber rights have already been secured and negotiations for others are rapidly approaching completion No other company can compete with this oms in getting a first foothold in the iiilajads and for several years at least thi3 cora pany will be ahead of all competitors It also quotes from an article in iha America Lumberman In which appeara the following Unlike most tropical countries the labor problem Is easily solved by the Chinese labor which la plentiful and fairly good The capital ist may see an advantage In militarism and imperialism but where is the labor ing mans share He will furnish sons for the army and will help to pay tho expenses of war but he has no part on the profits As some one has expressed It his lot is to Die for the dividends c Dives Is your son safe when the doctrine of equality before the law is repudiated and when the arguments which have ever been used in support of kingcraft are called into justify taxation without representa tion and government without the con sent of the governed Many have given their support to an imperialistic policy without fully realizing what imperialism means Mr Gompers President of tho Federation of Labor in his report made to the organization last December warns the laboring man to beware of the dan gers of imperialism and S3ys But be neath it all there is the purpose of thoso who have lost faith in the principles of our republic those who have no confidence in or reliance upon the honor honesty and stability of our people and our form of government and who aim to erect a throne of despotism upon the tomb of freedom whose initiatory step is a larga standing army and who with militarisTs rampant hope to crush out the memory of and the aspiration for true liberty and freedom for all our people Appeal to Freemen Whether this nation shall be looked up on as a Lafayette aiding others to obtain their freedom and enjoying their grati tude or as a Lord Clive fastening a hateful sovereignty upon a weaker peo ple and receiving hatred in return Is a question which you must help to decide Let me borrow a story which has already been applied to the present situation A man passed along a street of a great city unmindful of the merchandise piled oa either side he sought out a bird store and purchasing a number of birds opened their cages and allowed them to fly away When asked why he thus wasted his money he replied I was once a captive myself and it gives me Joy to be tho means of setting any captive free This nation has been a liberator It first secured the freedom of Its own peo ple and from that day on has furnished the example which has lead to the over throw of monachical rule In many na tions Let it not falter now It is prob able that the 20000000 paid to Spain can be secured from the Filipinos but evenif it cannot it Is better to consider that sum as a contribution to be spread on the doctrine of self government than to regard it as part payment upon the pur chase price of people or their lands Citi zens countrymen you stand by the sido of the cage you cannot avoid responsi bility will you open the door or shut ILZ - -- Sli V i