T
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT.
Sept. 28, 1899.
PINGREE ON TRUSTS.
- ' " t
HE CONDEMNS THEM A3 AN UNMITI
y GATED EVIL
Review of the Chtoaaro Trnsf Con
ference and the Defenee Made by
? the Eloquent Attorney of the
, TrustsFavors a Federal Law
The Chicago trust conference was ;f
great value because It separated the
chaff from the wheat It did muciijta
clarify the subject It was ot educa-
ronal value. -' ' ..
But Its principal benefit to my mind,
.was the revelation it gave us of the
position which the advocates of the
trust or, rather, the trusts themselves,
(would take. (
Even an ordinary observer could not
fail to' notice that the managers of
trusts and their agents, the ; newspa
pers, had carefully planned their line
of defense at the conference. '
f It was equally apparent that they
recognized that the trust was on trial
and that' all the arts of the pleader
jwere necessary to save It from, convic
tion and a verdict of capital punish
ment ,
So It was that at the conference the
trust was defended, and skillfully, too,
(by corporation lawyers, professors,
economists and theorists generally. On
the other hand, the antitrust side was
just as ably presented by "practical
business men, farmers and leaders of
labor interests.
While there were many and thought
ful papers presented, the public un
doubtedly looked upon the addresses
Df W. Bourke Cockran and William J.
Bryan as the keynotes respectively of
the Indictment and the defense of the
.trust. ... v
This is so not only 'because of the
(fame of both men as public men and
brators, but because they were given
sufficient time to develop a complete
Indictment' and defense. -These two
orations were on entirely .'. different
lines, although the two speakers agreed
on many things. Their views were
fundamentally opposed.
I Mr. Cockran considered the trust a
result of natural evolution of Indus
(trial conditions and forces that could
not be checked. Mr. Bryan regarded
It as a result of conditions which man
made and which man can change.
Mr. Cockran placed the dollar above
the man. That is. such Is the logical
outcome of his reasoning and his po
sition. Mr. Bryan placed the man
above the dollar. The former Is the
commercial view and therefore selfish
and narrow. The latter is the bumani
Itarian view.
Mr. Cockran Is undoubtedly an ora
tor. The trusts could hardly have
chosen a more effective champion. He
had his audience spellbound and
charmed by the beauty of his diction.
-None could have condemned bad cor
porate management In more scathing
terms than he did. He threw bou
quets at the laboring men. This was
. 'done with a purpose. It is evidently
the plan of the trusts, first to make
laboring men believe. that their own
salvation Is the fostering of the trust
and, second, to Intimidate them or
modify their zeal, by claiming that la
bor unions are. In fact trusts and that
warfare on trusts is warfare on labor
unions. I predict that labor will not
be deceived.
Mr. Cockran in his argument built
a splendid structure. He divided trusts
Into good and bad ones. He stated that
abundant production fairly distributed
made prosperity. He held that with
good trusts there would be abundant
production and fair distribution. There
fore trusts brought about prosperity,
He claimed that trusts could not con
trol prices. He failed, however, to cite
any Instance in which a trust had low
ered prices any more than enough to
preserve the monopoly.
He Insisted that all the trouble came
from restricted competition; that mo
nopolies, If they produced the best
article were beneficial and that mo
nopoly was the very product of free
competition. It should therefore be
encouraged as long as It continued to
give us the best products. Again the
commercial view.
Mr. Cockran's pollt!! economy may
perhaps be unanswerable. The struc
ture of his argument was unquestion
ably well built, but It will all fall into
shapeless ruins because its foundations
are built on sand.
He falls to take into account the
frailties of man. Philosophy Is all right
In itself, but it should be kept In the
schoolroom. Man's weaknesses, his
.pnssloo and his greed always upset its
beautiful reasoning. ' Mau Is not al
ways a reasoDing animal. I would
transcribe to everything Mr. Cockran
and the professors and other theorists
said if man were an angel. But the
trust is a. monstrous commercial de
formity. It overthrows all the laws of
political economy by the crushing force
of Immense resources. It has no con-
' V science. There are no good trusts.
i Human nature makes such a thing
Impossible. The trust will not reduce
prices until it is forced. It cannot be
forced if It Is a monopoly. It will not
raise wages until it Is compelled. It
cannot be compelled If It Is the only
employer.
These statements may violate the
laws of political economy to which Mr.
Cockran aud the professors appeal,
but human selfishnes and greed have
a disagreeable habit of setting at
naught all the beautiful rules and
axioms of political economy.
The complaint Is that the trust con
centrates weulth. Not being a philan
thropic Institution, it declines to dis
tribute that wealth among the people.
It destroys equality of opportunity.
Mr. Bryan's answer to Mr. Cockran
that It enthrones money and debases
- nanklDd Is complete and sufficient. In
" g with the trust therefore, let
Us face real conditions. Let us not
j gasarailM about some Industrial or-
ganizatkjn that Is ideal namely, the
good trust upon which all of Mr. Cock
ran's argument was based.
The evils of the trust are many. It
raises prices arbitrarily. The quality
of the product is poorer. It shuts up
factories and throws employees out of
work under the guise of economy. It
drive the small manufacturer and
merchant out of business. It compels
the grower or producer of raw material
the farmer to sell at its own arbi
trary prices. It puts "watered" securi
ties' on the market and prices 'go up
aaid 'wages go down in order to pay in
terest and dividends on excessive cap
italization. It treats man as an Industrial slave
and thus saps the strength of our de
mocracy and citizenship. It corrupts
politics, legislatures, municipal coun
cils, public officers, the press and even
the courts.
The remedy Is what we are now
seeking. The Chicago trust conference
did much to bring us nearer to a rem
edy.
The newspapers, the monopolists of
all knowledge and wisdom, have treat
ed the conference and Its members
with contempt and ridicule. They have
referred with sarcasm to the gathering
because the deliberations did not result
in a remedy so perfect and complete
that the whole country would rise up
and receive it with gratitude and
thanksgiving. Yet I hardly think they
would expect a physician to diagnose
and prescribe a remedy for a new and
complicated disease upon his first visit
to the patient I believe that the op
ponents of the trust will be wise to bo
prepared from the beginning to con
tend with a hostile press. This 1b so
for reasons which are obvious. You
may recall the statements of the attor
ney general of Ohio that he had In his
desk copies of a large number of con
tracts between the Standard Oil trust
and Ohio newspapers for the control of
their columns. The man of courage is
the man who proposes the best remedy
he can conceive. From all the contrlbu-
tlons perhaps an effective remedy will
be evolved. Many have already been
suggested.
I lean more strongly to the method
of a federal law supplemented by state
laws.
I have absolutely no sympathy with
those who say that the trust Is an in
dustrial evolution and cannot there
fore be suppressed or destroyed by
law.
It Is only the creature of man. The
professors and corporation attorneys
may manifest a holy horror as to any
remedy which proposes to check by
law what they choose to call a natural
and Irresistible industrial growth.
refuse to be cowed by rules of political
economy.
The trust can be abolished by law.
Public sentiment will compel It What
form, therefore, shall that law take?
It Is complained that if a state en
acts a prohibitive law the trust will
immediately flee to another state. Self
ishness, therefore, compels a state to
be good to the trust In order to secure
for its people the benefit of employ
ment by the trust
Therefore, In the absence of a uni
form state law, a federal law Is necessary.--
It should be a drastic law. 1
have no sympathy with the sentiment
for regulation. That Is the remedy of
the trusts. It would result In their
regulating themselves as they saw fit
Their attorneys and newspapers urge
It Therefore it Is open to suspicion
The people want no more farces like
the Interstate commerce commission.
No benefit will come from taming
wild snakes. Of course, If the people
had In their employ snake charmers
like Mr. Cockran, with his powerful
oratory, it might be different But the
trusts are the only ones able to retain
the services of such talent.
The only way to cure the evil Is to
stamp It out effectively. A federal law
will do It It is a disease, and tne sur
geon's knife is the only remedy.
Prevent the monopoly, and the
trust will die a natural death. Federal
law. if honestly framed, will do this,
To my mind the only question really
before us Is the machinery of such a
law. Its construction is largely a
matter for lawyers. It should make
monopoly and excessive centraliza
tion of capital Impossible. Whether It
should do that by confining a corpora
tlon to one kind of business or limit
ing the size of Its Investments or oth
erwlse is one of the problems to be
solved. There should be public ex
amination to prevent fraud. The ex
pense account should be open to in
spection to discover the bribery fund.
Inhuman methods of Cestroying com
petition like those used by the Oil
trust by lowering prices and raising
them when the competitor Is forced out
of business, should be made Impossi
ble. The further discussion, thought
and study of the question. I am satis
fied, will enable congressmen, If they
are honest and loyal to the people, to
frame a law to destroy the trust
Our first duty, I think. Is to direct
all our energies toward making such
a law possible and to accomplish Its
enactment H. 8. Plngreo In New
York Journal.
The Invariable Role.
A thick and thin administration or
ran rises to remark:
"Some of the gentlemen with ships
to offer for transporting troops to the
Philippines are not allowing their pa
triotism to get the better of their repu
tations as men of business."
Why, certainly. For this are they In
tmslness. The public Is like a fat, well
feathered goose, and bis "patriotism"
Joes not prevent the average business
man from plucking one or more of the
tail feathers whenever a favorable op
portunity occurs.
But let us see. The late lamented Al
ger bought a hundred or more ship,
during the war with Spain. What has
become of them? Have they all been
sold, given away or condemned as
worthless? Knights of Labor Journal.
THE BALANCE OF TRADE.
Vnn Vorhla Continue to Expose the
False Arsrnmeute of the GoZdbuaa.
Five or six months ago every morn
ing paper contained dispatches from
press agents calling attention to the
extraordinary (?) gold import. As the
end of the fiscal year came nearer less
and less has been said about It Now
It is rarely If ever mentioned. It Is
very certain those who were so Indus
trious In circulating, ignorantly, It may
be, a falsehood now do not appear to
have the slightest interest In giving
the public correct Information. Such
Bllence on the part of those who pre
tend to be public instructors Is calcu
lated to raise a doubt about their hon
esty of purpose. If they were mis
taken last spring, they know the truth
now after June 30, the end of the fiscal
year. They know that the gold Im
port during the last fiscal year Is less
than three-fourths what It was the
year before and that the gold export
has been two and one-half times great
er. . The excess of gold imports over
exports Is less than one-half what it
was during the year ending June 30,
1898. See monthly summary of finance
for June, page 3,081.
Between June 30, 1873, and June 30,
1899, we have exported more than we
have Imported:
Mn-chtndiae tS,720,84t,lM
Sllwt l,57i,s7
Total uo(4U,aa
During- tha auna time our excess of
import! over axporti of cold baa
been only tlO.S8l.848
Met excess of exports 4,180,138,284
I would like to have these gentlemen
who have been throwing up their hats
over our great gold import to tell the
country how they figure out of this
situation anything calculated to make
an American citizen exult In the last
28 years we have received In gold in
excesa of onr exports of It less than
one-fourth of 1 per cent of our excess
of exports of merchandise and silver.
What kind of head has a man who
can figure out of such a condition of
foreign trade an Increase of national
wealth and an era of prosperity? If
we have received anything of commer
cial value, anything that has added
to our material wealth, for this great
aggregate of over 54,140,000,000 of mer
chandise and sliver, except the little
over $10,283,000 of gold, I am hunting
for the man who can point It out
It Is not shown In the treasury re
ports, and the chief of the bureau of
statistics says there Is no legal way for
anything of commercial value to get in
or out of the country without being
shown In such reports. No man, ex
cept a "gold standard" advocate or the
Inmate of an Insane asylum, will at
tempt to show that $1 In gold Is worth
more to us than $400 In merchandise
and silver. ,t
To say nothing of the excess of mer
chandise exported, the gold we have
received amounts to less than 2 per
cent of the silver we have exported.
I would like to have somebody point
out the advantage the American people
have derived from foreign trade dur
ing the last 26 years. Flavius J. Van
Yorhis In Omaha Nonconformist
Trnata and Toons: Men.
Ex-TJnited States Senator William D.
Washburn of Minnesota talked on the
subject of trusts recently to a New
York Tribune reporter. In the course
of his remarks be said:
"When I was a young man I am
now 68 I had the world before me,
and there was an absolute fair field for
me. Take all of our most successful
business men of today, and their ex
periences were like mine. They enter
ed the race without a handicap, and
their grit and capacity won. Now
this building up of trusts puts a stop
to fair and equal opportunities for the
young men of today. The young man
just out of college has no opening, as
a rule. He cannot begin business on
his own account against organized cap
itaL He must join the procession. He
must content himself with being a
mere clerk, -and the chances are that
he will never get any further, because
there are so many In his class. This
makes the situation a serious one, and
I am sorry for the young man of to
day. He comes out of school bright
eager and enterprising and runs
against economic conditions that are
too much for him. I can't help feelln
that if he bad the same chance 1 had
when I was a young man It would be
a great thing for him. He hasn' got
it I've studied the situation, aud I'm
sure of what I am saying."
Sham Amerlcanlam.
Mr. Smalley, London correspondent
of the New York World, tries to ex
plain away Astor's recent act In re
nouncing American citizenship and
talks very much as though be would
like to join the Astorites. He says:
"We are sorry to lose Mr. Astor. We
pretend not to care. It is another step
in the Inevitable downward course of
the American nation."
No, brother Smalley, we are not
sorry to lose Willie. We are very
thankful Indeed. It Is not a step In
our downward course, not at all, un
less you mean that Astor Is an ex
pression of our degradation. We ac
knowledge that we have been pamper
ing a few Anglomaniacs, and Willie Is
an expression of our sin; that's all. He
Is only the excrescence of our national
carbuncle. Mr, Smalley says the
American people ft-ver showed their
appreciation of Astor's worth and gen
ius. Hoy could we? The American
nation is not disposed to slobber over a
heap of muck. ' If Astor ever showed
evidence of genius, will Mr. Smalley
kindly Inform a waiting nation In what
respect? We have never discovered It,
therefore could show no appreciation
of it. Mr. 8malley would better be
careful or the American people might
judge him by the specimen he seeks to
defendsOmaha Free Lance.
MUNICIPAL HOUSES.
CITY OWNERSHIP OF WORKINGMEN'S
DWELLINGS IN BIRMINGHAM.
What Municipal Ownerabln to Doing
In That Great Bng-Uah City In
proved Living For the Workere at
Leeeeaed Expense,
Attorney General Monnett of Ohio,
who has been investigating municipal
questions In several of Oie cities of
Great Britain, has written from Bir
mingham to the Cincinnati Post as
follows: , ' i
In London the British worship Lord
Nelson and honor him by their chief
monument in Trafalgar square. In
Birmingham the masses turn with
great pride to Hon. Joseph Chamber
lain, M. P., because he has given his
life work to preserving lives and
health, to advancing education, to In
creasing the comfort and adding to
the happiness of this, community
through municipal reforms.
Birmingham, with a population of
625,000, In a thickly populated portion
of the Midlands, seems to be an ap
propriate selection for municipal ex
periment. The new year of municipal
rule In Birmingham dates from 1874,
when, during Joseph Chamberlain's
mayoralty, the two great branches of
the common service, the water and
gas supplies, were municipalized.
The city council since has extended
Its control over almost every depart
ment of municipal life, having the
management of the markets, slaughter
houses, Btreet cars, baths and wash-
houses, cemeteries, libraries, museum
and art gallery, technical . school and
school of art, artisans' dwellings, sow
age farm, hospitals, Industrial schools
and asylums. -, ,
In 1899 the corporation agreed to
purchase the electric light plant at a
cost of $2,000,000.
The greatest enterprise undertaken
by the corporation was the acquisition
In 1876 of an overcrowded and un
healthy area In the heart of the town,
90 acres, with about, 4,000 dwellings
and 10,696 Inhabitants.. The estimated
cost was $8,500,000. , , .
The section was one of filthy hovels.
The blocks are new and beautiful In
architectural design.
The rents received last year from
this tract were $290,000 and $90,000
from the water and gas rates. The
capital expended upon this scheme by
the city has been summarized about as
follows: Seven million two hundred
and twenty-five thousand dollars for
artisans' dwellings, $90,000 Milk street
improvement housing. ., of working
classes $30,000; total capital expended
to March 81, 1898, $7,775,000. The
present value of this municipal estate
Is at least $10,225,000,,,.
The artisans' dwellings are built In
the form of double bouses, with entire
separate entrances, a ground floor,
having a living room 14 by 13 feet
and a front bedroom, joining the living
room, of 14 by 8 feet There are a rear
bedroom of 9 by 9 feet and a kitchen 6
by 9 feet stationary wash sinks, coal
bins, garbage or dust bins and water
and gas plumbing. The second story
is a substantial duplicate of the first,
With a balcony and two front windows.
Tenements are arranged in four ter
races and comprising 24 family apart
ments, of a living room 13 by 14, a bed
room 12 feet 2 Inches by 9 feet, and 28
family apartments comprising some
what larger living rooms, with two
bedrooms, while the ground floors are
arranged with a shop,, one living room
and two bedrooms, and another set
with shop, living room and one bed
room, and on the first floor two of the
dwellings contain a large living room
with three bedrooms.
Each tenement Is provided with a
water closet and a scullery, containing
a copper (or boiler), coal bunk and sink.
The smaller apartments, thus suit
able for newly married people without
families, rent at $1.50 a month; the
apartment with two bedrooms, at $3 a
month; the larger ones, $4.50 a month.
These rents, after paying Interest
and sinking fund on the outlay, are
estimated to leave a margin to pay a
ground rent on the land of 5 cents a
yard.
How far our American cities would
tolerate, under the guise of police pow
er, this socialistic tendency we can
only conjecture, but the masses argue
that If they must pay rent they want
the best equipped homes, the best san
itary regulations and the most con
veniences that can be had for the
money. These can be furnished them
through municipal ownership, because
the city's credit Is such that It can
borrow money to carry on these enter
prises at the very lowetrt rate.
The city has the power to obliterate
an entire district and treat It as an
open field. The compensation for the
compulsory purchase of the sanitary
houses Is subject to the ordinary rules
f condemnation, but the Insanitary
property that Is breeding or liable to
breed Infection or Is not suitable for
dwelling houses Is dealt with more
stringently. The bare value for the
property is paid, no special grant being
made by reason of the purchase being
a compulsory one. Even this bare
value Is subject to a number of strin
gent provisions. For exsmple, the in
come Is not always the test
1. Houses which are overcrowded.
In these cases the compensation for
the purpose of condemnation Is not
calculated upon the actual rental, but
upon the rental that would be obtained
If the number of Inhabitants were re
duced to comply with the reasonable
sanitary standard.
2. Houses which are In bad repair.
In these cases the cost of repairs Is
calculated and deducted from the com
pensation. 8. Houses which are unfit for human
habitation. In these cases the com
pensation is merely the value of the
laud and of the old material.
Landlords who refuse the compensa
tion thus offered by the municipality
may appeal to an arbitrary court, but
this appeal is costly and not often re
sorted to. As soon as the purchase of
the old bouses in the condemned dis
trict Is sufficiently advanced the munic
ipality ascertains whether those about
to be displaced desire to live In the
neighboring district or In the suburbs.
As soon as new accommodation can be
found the old tenants move, their re
moval being aided by a slight compen
sation, and the old houses are demol
ished. As soon as possible the new
streets are formed, and the site thus
obtained for the construction of new
dwellings Is sold, subject to the condi
tions that working class dwellings of
an Improved type, the plans for which
have been approved by the municipal
ity and the home secretary, are erected
upon the Bite. The difference between
the money expended on tha purchase
of the old property plus the cost of the
new streets and that obtained from the
sale of the new sites where the city
does not build thereon represents the
loss that the city has Incurred In the
execution of the entire scheme, tho
theory all the time being that It is for
the public health, convenience and wel
fare that these processes of condemna
tion be carried out
Many other English and Scottish
cities are following In the footsteps of
Birmingham In this respect Edin
burgh last year spent 450,000 under
the working classes act Douglas spent
400,000 on sanitary schemes and ar
tisans' dwellings. Liverpool expended
about 3,500 for .buildings In one
square, other parts of the city having
been improved In a similar way, Man
chester now owns two blocks of la
borers' dwellings. It holds a good many
unhealthy dwellings pending removal
or reconstruction. At Southampton
loans are being applied for, and the
corporation Is erecting municipal
dwelling bouses at a cost of $50,000
and artisans' flats at $25,000. .The
former will accommodate 187 people,
the latter about 116.
Municipal Waterworks.
Whatever may be thought of the
claims for municipal ownership of
lighting street railway and telephone
systems, It Is now almost universally
admitted, except by those directly in
terested In private plants, that water
works should be under public owner
ship. As is shown by the Manual of
American Waterworks for 1897, not
only Is It true that only nine of the
50 largest cities of the United States
are dependent upon private companies
for their water supply, but In addition
four of these nine have recently taken
steps to change to public ownership,
New Orleans having actually voted to
do so, while San Francisco, Denver
and Omaha have the matter under con
sideration. Of the remaining 41 cities,
about half were formerly under pri
vate ownership. We started the cen
tury with 16 private to one public
works and early In 1897 bad 1,500 pri
vate to 1,700 public works. Besides the
changes among the 50 largest cities,
there had been enough others to bring
the total changes from private to pub
lic ownership up to some 200 by 1897,
while since then many have been add
ed to the Hat and Oakland, Los An
geles, Burlington, Dubuque and Ottum
wa, la., together with a host of smaller
places, are actively striving to reach
the same goal. At present many of our
ablest engineers, Instead of being en
gaged In new construction, are spend
ing large portions of their time as ex
pert witnesses In arbitration and con
demnation proceedings where works
are being taken over by cities or In le
gal controversies over the Interpreta
tion and enforcement of water con
tracts. New York should take warning from
the unfortunate experiences which the
Quaker City has had with private wa
ter schemes "water snakes" they are
now called. For more than a dozen
years the city has been drinking a
grossly polluted water supply and seek1
Ing for a better one, but It has made no
progress because the officials have In
sisted on dealing with private compan
ies having something to unload on the
city, but they have never quite dared
to put through any of these schemes
conceived for the good of corporations
and city officials Instead of the public.
The nearest approach to a contract of
this sort was headed off and killed by
charges of wholesale bribery, which,
while not proved, were universally
credited. Engineering News.
The Voice of Webster.
Daniel Webster In bis great speech
In reply to Calhoun In 1S38 thus spoke
"But, sir, I have Insisted that govern
ment Is bound to protect and regulate
the means of commerce,' to see that
there Is a sound currency for the use
of the people. The honorable gentle
man asks, What then Is the limit?
Must congress also furnish all means
of commerce? Must It furnish weights
and scales and steelyards? Most un
doubtedly, sir, It must regulate weights
and measures, and It docs so. But the
answer to the general question Is very
obvious. Government must do all that
for Individuals which Individuals can
not do for tbemselvee. That Is the
very end of government Why else
save government? Can Individuals
make a currency? Can Individuals
regulate money? The distinction Is as
broad and plain as Pennsylvania av
enue. No man can mistake It or well
blunder out of It They cannot,
make a currency. They cannot Indi
vidually decide what shall be the
money of the country. That everybody'
knows Is one of the prerogatives and!
one of the duties of the government'
nnd a duty which I think we are most,
unwisely and Improperly neglecting.
We may as well leave the people to'
make war and to make peace, each one,
for himself.ii to lea veto Individuals the'
regulation of commerce and currency."!
6CGENTIFIC MONEY.
What U ta, the Serviee It Performs
and llow It Should Be Rea-ulate.
Money js merely evidence of debt
How then- should it become "leeal ten
der In payment of all debts, public or
private?" That's easy. Governments
do not as yet produce many material
things. They produce protection for
ach citizen as be produces material
things. ' This protection requires the
services of a vast number of men, espe
cially when citizens of the government
are scattered to the ends of the earth
and must be protected wherever tbey
may be. The men engaged In the serv
ice of tha government require ma
terial things with which to sustain life.
Each citizen protected must contribute
his share of the protection extended.
In primitive times he contributed his
share by service in person. As society
became more complex be contributed
by proxy. , What then? When a man
rendered service to the government he
received a certificate that the govern
ment owed blm for services performed.
Other citizens are notified that they
must contribute their share of service
that Is, tbey must pay taxes. So be
who has rendered service has the op
portunity to sell bis certificates of serv
ice performed to those taxpayers who
cannot or do not wish to render direct
service. In exchange for his certificate
he receives food, clothing and shelter
in due m-onortlon to bis labor. The
taxpayer, having received the certifl-
catee of labor performed, returns them
to the government In satisfaction of
its claims against him. Those certifi
cates of service performed thus become
money. '
From their foregoing history we con
elude that the primary function of
money is to enable governments to be
carried on without calling on each cit
izen for bis proper share of service to
be rendered In person; that the three
fundamental movements of money are;
First from the government to its serv
ants to enable them to receive satisfac
tion for services rendered, not In
payment for those services; second,
from the servants of tho government
to the necessary supporters of govern
ment In payment for satisfaction re
ceivedin payment because each par
ty has now received equivalent values,
the citizen his protection, the govern
ment service the material things he
needed, and be has now been paid;
third, from the citizen to the govern
ment to show that he has Indirectly
rendered bis share of service to the
community that Is, he pays his taxes,
When money has made this round, It
has been Issued and redeemed. When
it goes out again, it starts on an en
tirely new but exactly similar mission.
If paper money, so called, were made
the only legal tender In payment of
public debts, canceled and destroyed
whenever received by the government
and new bills constantly Issued In
payment of government debts, this
proposition would be moat easily under
stood, but we think with this lUnstra-
Ion It Is simple enough. What follows ?
Several most Important conclusions
first, the nnlversal existence and need
of government more universal the
need for money; second, the more gov
ernmental functions are Increased the
more will the need for money Increase
third, that value of money does not de
pend on Its material substance, but
upon the universal need which exists
for Its use; fourth, that It does not and
cannot measure values (as a matter of
fact value cannot be measured); fifth,
that the use of metallic substances for
money Is absolute and unnecessary
waste of all the human energy needed
to produce those substances; sixth,
that governments have no right to
make any certificate of private debt
legal tender, as they do when they au
thorize the use of bank bills. Omaha
Nonconformist
Government Should Own Them.
From Chicago comes the news that
the Hariiman syndicate has practically
completed plans for a transcontinental
railroad system from Chicago to the
north Pacific coast and south to the
gulf of Mexico. This system Is to era
brace seven other vast railroad sys
tems.
The Vanderbllts are also linking new
ly acquired lines In the west and south,
The Gould system already extends to
the gulf, aud the management Is plan
ning to acquire more roads.
When all these systems are rounded
out the sequel Is Inevitable. Tbey will
combine Into one vast pool nine-tenths
of the railroad franchises In this coun
try and will conduct business practl
cally under one management.
This will place In the hands of a few
men the power to ruin any business en
terprise related, however remotely, to
railroad traffic.
Many of these railroad systems al
ready discriminate In favor of com
binations and will continue to do so
until the government steps In and ac
quires ownership of all American rail
roads.
Such railway discrimination means
ruin to any enterprise that Is dlscrlm
Inated against It means monopoly
for any enterprise unjustly favored.
With absolute equality In railway
rates no combination or trust could
maintain a monopoly for 48 hours.
Discrimination could not exist with
public ownership of public franchises.
National ownership would enable the
merchant conducting a small business
to ship his produce to market upon
equal terms with any combination of
capital, howtver vast
In Germany, where the government
owns and c petrols the railways, the
poorest mer bant In the empire can
ship bis gods from one end of the
country to trie other as cheaply as any
merchant prince.
What boras are to the bull, what
claws are flhe tiger and' what ten
tacles are to. le devilfish railroads art
to the trusts I New York Journal
FARM FORESTRY.
Tree Planting In the Northeast, the
West and the Pine Belts.
Wherever the planter has chosen bis
trees with Intelligence and so succeed
ed In producing a useful plantation,
there has been the real spirit of for
estry. In the spruco lands of the northeast
for example, many lumbermen have
come to see that by leaving the small
trees standing they 'can return for a
second crop earlier than would other
wise be possible and that this plan
pays. ' In many cases they are leaving
the spruce which measures less than
10 inches In- diameter aud In others
that which measures less than 12
Inches, because the trees under these
sizes can be harvested with greater
profit if they are lert a rew years 10
gain a larger growth. Similar work
has been done In other sections of the
United States, as, for instance, In the
southern Dine belt where repeated
crops of long leaf pine bave been cut
from the same tract
By for the greater amount of such
work has, .however, .'. been done by
farmers and other owners of small
tracts of woodland. Very many farm
ers bave made a practice of thinning
their wood lots with care, first remov
ing the dead, dying or unpromising
trees and then letting the remainder
stand In order to utilize the growth of
the trees and to obtain continually
from the wood lot firewood and other
material for the farm and occasionally,
a crop of larger trees for the marttt.
Other farmers, again, devote a number
of acres to the production of hard
wood sprouts for fuel. They cut over
the land every 25 or 30 years ana cal
culate that from one-balf to one cord
of wood Is produced annually by this
system of forestry. . t.
Tree planting on waste places, on
the farm Is yet another kind of forest
ry which has been practiced. Work of
this character Is now widespread, and
much of It has been accomplished. In
New England there are numerous In
stances,, of . planting white pine on
waste places , with excellent results,
and In Massachusetts the planting of
larch has proved highly satisfactory.
Many farmers have found It profitable
to plant locust and red cedar for fence
posts, and, in more than one case the
cultivation , of black walnut has
brought large returns. In the central
west the fast trrowing catalpa and the
allanthus, have produced remarkable
results In short periods in tne nanas or
private growers.
A distinct branch of tree planting is
practiced In the treeless states of the
west. There, In addition toJe flses to
wmcn meir woou is put, r,,, cw
proved of great value In U
windbreaks. . In these cases':
results have generally been
from the osage orange, catalpa
elm, box elder, Norway spruce,
pine and others, according to df
local conditions.
There Is yet another use to w, .
tree planting has been put Along
hanks of streams trees have been
tn fli tha fast eroding soil and to pf
runt the increasing floods, and on ci.
tlvated hillsides which have begun tl.
gully from the washing of rain trees;-,
i - w- n.A n An crnswt service in '
.t. .,..... Ua arwiulvn anrfara drain-
iUDvftUlft W.W -v-"" - -
age and saving the fertile soil.
The protection or wooaianas ironi
lire forms one of the most Important
branches of forestry which have been
practiced In the United States. Indeed,
without such protection any efforts to
cut the timber with a view to repro
duction or to plant new forests are
useless. Various measures to guard
against forest fires have been adopted
In different localities. For example, la
the Atlantic pine belt many forest
owners burn off the upper layer of
leaves and needles In the early spring
In order to prevent the spread of fire
later in the season. 1
In Michigan, lumbermen have en
deavored to lessen the danger from firs
by lopping and burning the brush left
after lumbering. The cutting of flr
strips along railroads, and even withta
the forest itself, has been used as s
precaution against fires. But a com- ,'
mon and a very effective way to guard
against fire is careful watching. Many
large owners of forest land employ .
number of men as a fire patrol, an4
often an extra crew of watchers 'Is)
hired during the dangerously dry sear
sons. In the same way many lumber
companies which own logging rail
roads employ a man to follow the .
trains and put out any fires that may
be started. '
The foregoing Is extracted from s
tircular by Gilford Plnchot forester of
the United States department of agrt-'
tulture. The yearbook of 1890 will
consist of a resume of the achieve
ments of this country In every branch",
ef science relating to agriculture and
will be prepared with a view to Its'
special distribution at the Paris expo-
sitlon. The division of forei.-y will
contribute a short history of forestry
In the United States and also an ac
count of . the efforts of private land
owners to apply the principles of for
estry. An Impression widely prevails''
abroad that little or nothing has been '
done In the United States In the way
of forestry, xms impression, ai
Plnchot thinks, the yearbook ought
remove, and. In seeking Informatlo
regarding such forest work as has be
described, be earnestly Invites cor
spondence from those who bave doi
any work along the lines of forestry.
Salsify (uoy be left out all winter, tfl
freezing is not severe, bnt It Is coo-1
setter to dig and store
Iderad
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