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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1901)
fife V .llh - - ' If VOL. XIIL LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, NOVEMBER 14, 1901. NO. 26. A CHEAT DRAW GAME Neither f arty Slede Aay Caiu-BMT1I aiar ie MMkls-CMt sad We tVasMngton. D. C, Nor. 9. 1&01. There is co great ground for rejoicing ca any tide about the outcome of re cent state aad inuaicJpai elections. The defeat of Tammany la New York city is partly a local matter. If ft bad oc It wot: 13 hare Lad no bear leg on tie general coaditioa of the Cernocracy. JlGrJc!p?J politics are growing more ar.i rior to be ia a class by thea tres, cot taring any relation to na tional issue. It the republicans re cwr what they please to term a "r'farta victory ia New York city, what Lre they to say about tte re tentioa la Philadelphia of one cf tee Kxit corrupt rings ecr known in cuniclpal Listory. In j&sslsg It may be said that tte reformers tare yet to prore that they win roreru New York city better than Ta-amary Cid. There vas crying need of reform, Lat Tammany usually maa ar to reach the arerage level of New York citizen iip and it remains to be ea whether the rainbow tinted re formers can combine the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the date. la f-thr words, whether they cs make the minority element of good ci turbos the competent and satisfac tory rclers cf the vast mass cf motley ttfi.edsra.te4 voters which make that city unlike any other oa the face of the arth- Two f the ssct significant tappen Izz of the fall elections Lave been Vt little fi' ticd is the daily rewspa Zr. Tier wrre p rfcaps six lines stztlne that the Independent usioa la lor candidate for mayor was elected ia Esta Fmncico aal jioat two Uses intfasated thit the organized wage wrkr cf IVrty nnecticnt had rrtt-i their candidate. It is too far from Eaa Frarcjs-o to say jest whi eirrrrstances induced the elec tlcfi il aa in impendent candidate, bat is Derby it was the protest of the Aro::i clock works em pi eyes against the aVus of the iajtmctioa power dar-;-r the recast labor trouts by which crder;y and respected citizens were et4s-d frsrs ezereislng the most or dirary rights of citizenship and the rsusitipal authorities gave fall cona tnnre to the atrajrts la the shape of injections which the employers forced cpoa me a who were only ask ing for I.Ting wages ia the piping tim of rro?perity. By the way the aestSens of Jadlcial csurpatioa cf leg liifre ssthority ia the matter of !n 'incti&ns is lcomlsg a burning ;ae tioa amosg the wage workers of ei ry iniunriai cester ia the count ly sad it miy well be cse of the coIlatenJ irss wbich will demand attention I the seat rational cam pal ga agaimt the trusts. Ia Ohio the expected happened- The repahUcaas di3 &ot hesitate to use the death of late iTesident ilcKinley for all it was worth ia a sympathetic way. And there were the csaal re sdsrees for making corrcptioa aad la timidatloa do their share cf tae work la Maryland the resnlt seems to as mre the retsrai of Senator Gorman to the United ' States fceaaiA. He is a maa cf rreat power aad trfElaaey aad In the zrv alignment of Usaes that is be: ia Lar he has beea for the past few years- Altogether democracy has no rea ssa to complaia aal the republicans are the first to reaiite this. If they tara held their own la their old strongholds, they hare made no ad Tasce try here aad their rote has not beea heary eaoagli to make the ca joritJes a matter for boa-fires aad torch-light parade. The republicans are la a oVr ini chastened raood, realirlnt thst they hare a president ia the V.hite Loose "ahc Is rimrooely smashing their machine to fLiaders: that they LaTe a mort radical diTisioa of c-plnioa ia their own ranks between tb eaxtera and western tectioas of the conn try oa trusts, the tariff aad s bellies swat to mention a half d(32en minor points. The irCcatial daily papers do not Le&tiate to ei press their sarprise at the Tigor which the democracy shows ia this o5 year aad after a crushing Ve v going th roach a healthy pro crs of readjertment and not only have we not beea diehearteaed. bat we ar actaaily growing and getting riioer to the people a the really sreat and Tital issea hieh ar goias to farm the basis cf the next national campaign- The stats and city elections ia the year following a presidential campaign tare no special significance, for either party. Pt:t when we look deeper at the probme which face the coming re jvahiitaa cenrrrrs and the erratic ex K3titf head at the White house, it is poait to forHe the adraacing tidal VTf of coaidence and unity la oar ranks A POSSIBLE YAB Wnm mm Trky mrm m tmmr Tmtmf -7rtTk TarkUfc Tmrt m& Cul Hmwm Lr-ng accounts LaTe been printed d iring the iart few days about the wsthreak be-.weea France and Turkey. Tfeere has been a natal raadroa mnt to take poassesMEtoa of Tarkish ports and hold thm until certaia claims wed to Frrze are paid. Three prin cipal poris ( the Island of Mityleae hr ea m-izd and the French will ecli-ct the cuirtoia daties cctil the . claim 4 the French is paid. This ae ticn brings the old "eera jaestioa fTOtriaently to the frtnt- In any ac tkss of a i'crcpyaa nation agasast Tsrkey there is always the possibility of war. If Prase is merely enforcing tf h-r frets the ptytnest of a fast tizim sxd ail iisropeaa. naUons hare similar oaes aad then retires with out aay attempt to take permanent possession of the island, or any other Turkish territory, the Incident wilK pass peacefully. But there are many unforeseen and unexpected contingen cies that may arise. If the sultan should feel himself strong, enough to retaliate on France's seizure of a por tion of his domain, if an uprising ?hould occur in the Balkan states, u. massacres in Armenia should be re newed, or any similar ocurrences add fue to the flames, a gigantic war might follow. The chances are that France will collect her cash and sail back to Toulon. ting made may find himself more massy with the rank aad file than BRITISH BARBARITIES Tb lHg-fetr mt thm Iaeat nrrora . GrUrTK la iratnlt, rirnln 1 Imdi mr VFmjlmr'm Campi The Lorrible barbarities inflicted up on Boer women and children are at tracting more and more attention. The craths ia the famine camps es tablished by the British are at a high er rate than in India daring the fam ?n. or la Wcy'er'a camps in Cuba ct which the people of this country re Iuh1 and went to war to stop. The facts ar net even denied for promin ent English journals publish them and the most eminent men of the kingdom are protesting; in public speeches and la other ways. The London Daily News exhaustively surreys the con centration camps in South Africa with the following conclusions: The truth Is that the death rate In the camps Is Incomparably worse than anything Africa or Asia can show. There is nothing to match It evea la the mortality figures of the Indian famines, where cholera and other epidemics LaTe to be contended with." Statistics are produced In proof of this assertloa. The News urges all humane men not to wait for official reports, but to Insist "on the camps being broken up and the people distributed among their friends or remored to districts where a fresh attempt can be made, under competent organization and with some regard to the preservation of life. The committee appointed by the consular corps representing foreign nations In the Transvaal reported: First. That the death percentage in the camps surpasses all hitherto known proportions. Second. That the death rate amounts to fourteen times that of Pretoria, which Las, according to Dr. Stroud, aa average of 25 per 1.000 a year. Third. That the death rate among the children confined to - the . camps has . increased to an alarming ex tent. Since the above figures were com piled the death rate has continued to increase to aa "alarmiag extent." The number of children that died in the camps daring August placed at 1.SC4. If continued for one year at that rate scarcely a Boer child under eight years of age will be left alive In the camps. Gloss over such a state of affairs as one wiUJt Is simply wholesale mur der. It excels the horrors of Weyler's camps In Cuba, which spurred this nation to war with Spain. The ac quiescence of a majority of the British public In the policy of exter mination is the most amazing part of it. There seems to be a gradual rising of Indignation in England against the inhumane policy of Chamberlain and Salisbury. Men are getting courage to speak, the epithet of "little English man" has lost its terrors. The warn ing of the Chancellor that taxes must be greatly increased and the story that the cabinet has hunted up some old laws under which conscription can be enforced. Is causing consternation among those who are not. troubled with humanitarian sympathies. IT IS SURE TO COME A OcBocralic Victory As the smoke of battle clears away after the fight In New York City it Is found that the bulk of the success ac cruing from the fusion rictory does not go to the repuublicans, but to the new democratic organization led by John C Sheehaa, which intends to smash and replace Tammany hall. The intention is to wipe out the name of Tammany and form a new society along somewhat similar general lines under another name. While Seth Low, a republican, has been elected mayor, practically all tha other important offices are in the hands of the democrats who fought Tammany, and without whom the fu sion ticket could net have won. Here are some of the principal democrats elected: Controller of greater New York, Edward M. Grout. President of Board of Aldermen, Charles V. Fornes. ' President Manhattan Borough, Jac ob A. Cantor. President Brooklyn Borough, J. E. Swanstrom. Surogate of Brooklyn, James C. Church. Coroner of Manhattan, Nicholas T. Brown. Magistrate-at-Large of Brooklyn, W. Lw Durack. The president of Bronx Borough Is a Tammany democrat but Is classed as an anti-Croker man. With his as sistance the fusion democrats will have absolute control of the board of estimate and apportionment, which controls the finances. One cut each of the different breeds of bull and boars answers the pur pose of any farm journal. The first page illustrations in all of them Is given ever to the. exhibition of that cut. no matter what firm cf breeders pays for the advertisement. Tk Worst Collap of Inflated Credits Tht the World Krmr Saw Sine the ; Day of Joha. Law Editor Independent: I -will say briefly in answer to numerous let ters, I have received (some of com-, mendatlon and some of criticism), that while I have no especial lauda tions to bestow upon bankers, I do not assume that, as a class, they are either better or worse than men en gaged in other classes of business. They are neither more intelligent, better informed nor less honest than other people. I am sure I know bankers whose purposes are honest and intentions good. I think it would not be diffi cult to find some who are ignorant, or extremely selfish or ; thoroughly dishonest. This has nothing to do with the present condition of the na tional banks as shown by the ab stracts of the comptroller of the cur rency. It will be found that the intel ligent, well informed and honest bank er Is not guided In his conduce by the permissions of the national bank laws. I object to be interpreted as condemning indiscriminately men who are engaged in the banking busi ness. Banks have their legitimate place in the social and business or ganizations. I condemn the laws, un der which national banks are organ ized and operated, as a system of special privileges, that Is full of dan ger and that is encouraging a dis honest disregard of the rights of others; of concentrated or combined wealth.to undermine the foundations of political and social liberty. The influences that are controlling the financial interests centered about the central reserve cities, particularly New York, are. not only detrimental to the interests of business and com merce, but are dangerous to the bank ing . Interests of . the west and south and to the banks In the smaller cities and towns all over the country. It may be impossible now to con vince bankers that the 62 central re serve banks are elements of danger to the 274 reserve banks and that all these are elements of danger to the 3S29 country banks, but the time will come when they will feel it, whether they are ever wise enough to under stand it or not. A careful study of the abstracts in dicates that some bankers learned some things by the panic of 1893; a panic that was Intentionally started by the leading banks of New York Citr. The time will come when tie 'country banks" will find that they cannot do business except by the suf ferance of the larger banks of the reserve and central reserve cities; when they will find that to send any con siderable part of their lawful reserve to be deposited with so-called reserve agents will be putting, not only their bands, but their heads in the lion's mouth. The 4165 national banks have depos its in the aggregate of $3,609,316,353.69 on which reserves are calculated. Of this amount, 62 central reserve banks hold in the aggregate $1.0S0,661,02S.S3; the 274 reserve city banks hold in the aggregate $1,005,687,94300; and the 3S29 country banks hold in the aggre gate $1,522,967,381.86. Such deposits do not represent money but bank cred its. Out of the deposits said to be held by the reserve city banks, $157, 655,847 Is in the deposits of the 62 central reserve banks and out of the deposits said to be held by the coun try banks, $296,421,440 is in the re serve city banks. One dollar must be counted many times to. produce the results that are shown by the comptroller's abstracts. Any one so fortunate as to have received abstract 24 should examine the first page. It will be found that the actual Investment the capital stock of the 4165 national banks In existence on July 15th last. Is $645, 719,099. The liabilities of these banks amount In the aggregate to $5,675, 910,042.64. They have in their con trol $5,020,190,943.63 that does not -belong to them. This represnts credits Investments of various kinds upon which they are receiving interest but every dollar of which is a liability. With this tremendous liability twice as large as the whole amount of money in existence in and out of the treasury the national banks hold in cash a sum equal to only ten per cent of it. What does it avail to point to "re sources. when cash only constitutes i en per cent of them. Liabilities must be paid in cash. This cannot be done until loans and discounts, overdrafts, bonds, stocks, mortgages, money due from national and state banks, money due from reserve agents, etc., etc. Is converted into cash.. - THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT THIS CAN EVER BE DONE. OUR WHOLE FINANCIAL SYSTEM IS BASED UPON A CONDITION OF PERMANENT INDEBTEDNESS. We can neither go back or stand still. We must go expanding credits, increasing indebtedness, individual and national to prevent immediate disaster. At the present rate of increase our aggre gate Indebtedness will soon be equal to the aggregate Talue of all tangible property. Any attempt to . contract credits to decrease the amount of our debt would bring disaster and ruin to thousands as it did in 1893. when a few New York bankers deliberately planned a contraction of credits. - We cannot even stand still without business depression. To prevent this there must be a continued increase in the volume of credits. This has been going on with unusual rapidity during the last four years. An increase of bank credits requires an. increase of bank deposits. An in crease of deposits necessitates, if the law is compiled with, an increase of cash reserves, and this requires an increase of money to prevent a finan cial stringency. The increase by pro duction of precious metals, unusual as It has been during5 the last four, years. Is too slow,, so the; national banks have sought and obtained the power to issue ;money. Even this money, is only a credit of the government loan ed to the banks at one half of one per cent per annum.- Everything possible has been - done and ' is being . done to enable banks to expand credits to create debts. ' ' i I ' . ; f The necessity for Increase of money in circulation- is relieved somewhat by the organization ill over the coun try of trust companies. The law does not require them to carry a reserve or to pay on demand. (Almost every bank in cities of any size, has its companion trust company. 'What jwill be the end? It is not possible that this credit ex pansion can go on indefinitely. When it stops, what then? I FLAYITJS J. VAN VORHIS. Indianapolis, Nor. 9," 1901. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES They He.Te.Beea Wonderfully Sneeessfal la Bag-lead aad Cetiaae eu Crow la , Wealth aad Membership Mr. Alonzrf WardeH, whom t many Nebraska populists, know,' has recent ly paid a visit to England to study these societies. His account in the Farmer's Advocate o the Rochdale so ciety with which we are all more or less familiar, is as follows: "The history of this pioneer In the great cooperative more meat reads like a romance, and stands a magnificent monument to its founders and a liv ing Inspiration to practical coopera tors everywhere. . , "Founded in 1844, at Rochdale, a modest town In Lancashire, England, by twenty-eight poor weavers, hardly one of whom could read or write, with no previous mercantile , experience and barely able to raise the money for one $5 share each. With, this they began buying goods at wholesale rates (rather small wholesaling) and dis tributing to the members, no credit being allowed. After paying expenses the profits were divided between the members in proportion to their pur chases. From this humble and most obscure beginning it has grown great and world famous. Millions of people are gladly following the broad and safe trail blazed a half century ago by these grand old pioneers, - Their two hundred and twenty-third quar terly report for December, 1900, shows a membership of 12,764, owning in fee simple, all paid for, magniSceat cen tral stores and offices, and thirty-eight branch - stores in. various parts of Rochdale (now grown to a busy city of some 80,000). Extensive bakery, slaughter -bouse, several xmanufactur tng industries, three hundred cottages, rented to or being sold to their mem bers. A penny savings bank for the wives and children, "with large depos its, drawing 3 1-3 per cent interest. U "A fine circulating and reference li brary with 18,695 volumes in it, twenty-one news rooms, well supplied with daily weekly and monthly papers, kept open every day, free to -.an. Globes, atlases, maps, and scientific instruments - are also supplied. Lec tures on a variety of subjects are giv en during the winter months in their large assembly hall over the. central store. "The original cost of their land and buildings was $7S3.0X)and must now be worth over a million from the appre ciation in values, due to the rapid growth of the city, but as their rule is. to write off 2 per cent, per an num on the value of business houses, 1 per cent on cottag?s and 10 er cent on fixtures they have decreased the valuation as quoted on the books $312, 000, leaving the present nominal value at $467,000. Twelve of the older branch stores, have been . entirely written off and are not acounted of any value in the company's : assets, though they are actually increasing in real value yearly. "Their sales for the last quarter of 1900 amounted to $355,000. Profits for quarter, $54,000, which gave about 14 per cent dfvidend on purchases, after Interest on share stock and education appropriation (2 per cent on net profits) were deducted. Their-growth from 1844 has been a steady, upward climb through good years and bad. Here are some figures from their hand some calendar for 1901: Members. Funds. Sales Profits 1844 28 $ 140 $ $ 1850 600 11,400 65.000 4.400 I860 3.450 18S,(XK) . 760,000 79,000 1870 5.560 400,000 1,115.000 125.000 1880 10,613 1,460,000 1,415,000 242.000 1830 11,352 1,810,000 1,352,000 238,000 1900 12,749 1,600,000 1,460,000 232,009 "In the fifty-six years of business they have rturned to their members some $10,000,000 as dividends ( the ex act totals are not at hand) and have assets at the present time of over $1,600,000. Doesn't ? that read, like a lairy tale? And tho best of it is that It is true. Armed with, a cordial letter of introduction and recommendation from the general secretary of the Co operative Union, J. JC Gray of Long Milgate, Manchester, . who was - most kind and helpful, and whose letter was an open sesame to every co-operative establishment 5 In Europe, the writer visited Rochdale one day last March and was heartily welcomed. William Pate, the veteran cashier, and and Benjamin Wolf enden, of the board of management showed me over their extensive f and admirable - premises. Their buildings are "among the best in the city and everything bore the marks of prosperity. Thy employ a large number of people and give shorter hours than other lines of business, and the wages are good, pay sure and positions permanent.- They are open ing up new places of business as re quired and build l ag many cottages for members, or loaning them money themselves. They have practically unlimited money for this purpose and encourage home building. . Their - reading; rooms, smoking rooms, committeee rooms and lecture rooms are well furnished and home like, and better still are well patron ized. . The standard of intelligence and independence that makes so much for good citizenship is steadily rising. It is a safe statement to make that the co-operators of Great Britian are as a whole the best class of citizens in the kingdom and steadily coming up high er.; --. .-.'.:v', ' V" '......- ."The society carries on a variety of manufacturing and are constantly ad ding new lines. - Their butchering es tablishment and cold storage plant is very complete. A stable of Percher on and - Shire draft horses, valued at $250 to $300 was shown me. They run an excellent- restaurant in connection with their central store, for the bene fit of the employes, officers and visit ors. .An excellent dinner with friend Wolf enden still further increased my admiration of the society and its ways. A glance through their visitor's book kept for fifty years was most interest ing. Visitors from all parts of ti e world have come to learn their me thods. John, William and Thomas Bright, three of England's great and good men,, were Rochdale people and staunch, friends of the society. K. Kuwato, T NaguchI and S. S. Matsury of Japan, Ed T. Devine of Philadel phia, John Toynbee of Kansas, E. Pomeroy of New Jersey, John Wanna maker, N. O. Nelson, Prof. L. N. Fow ler, C. Osborne Ward, A. B. Mason and many, other prominent American names were recorded there, "Rochdale Is pretty well committed to co-operation. With 17,000 houses, in which live some 80,000 people they have. three societies of co-operation, one with 12,764 members, another with 7,000 and the third with over 1,000. As but one member of a family as a rule belongs' to a society, it follows that most of the Rochdale people must be co-operators," . While these societies have been a success In England, that is not conclu sive evidence that they would under present conditions, succeed in the United - States. The inductries of the United States are almost completely in the control of trusts that fix the price the consumer has to pay. These are new conditions that must be taken into consideration. A cooperative so ciety can no more escape a tribute to the trusts than a private individual can. Our merchants constantly com plain that they are forced to sell many classes of goods at a price fixed by a trust. If they sell at a lower price, the trust will furnish them.no more goods and they cannot be obtained elsewhere as the combination controls the supply. The energies of the Amer ican people must be directed to the restraining power and robberies of tae great corporations if they expect relief. A co-operative society selling goods would have to charge the trust price or they would get no goods to sell. An attempt to manufacture the various - lines of goods sold in the Rochdale stores would be too big an undertaking and require too much cap ital for any body that could be organ ized in this country. It appears to The Independent that the way of escape made use of by the pioneer co-operators of Rochdale has been effectually barricaded by the trusts In this coun try and there is nothing left for the consumer but to pay the tribute de manded until the truts are overthrown. After ;het vo-vperation could oe r-v.ie successful. . 1 " i.I POPULISM AT YALE The Old Iastltatlea .Wakes mp, Sound a Warning- and the TewaGoee - teTalfcla Yale would seem, to be the last place for populism to secure a hold, if one were to judge of the denunciations of populists that have emenated from that: town,- Some ol the professors there have seen a new light, and like all new converts are more radical than most of those who have been fighting in the ranks, of reform for many years. . From the beginning the populists have called attention to the enormous power of corporation a trust Is noth ing; but a big corporation and. have waged unremitting war upon their tyranlcal and oppressive methods. The war began away back in the days, of Wendell Phillips," when he called at tention to these combinations of cap ital "with no souls to be damned and no bodies to be kicked." Now Dr. Rog ers of Yale declares that a restriction of the power of corporations is "vital to the life of the nation. That is to say that this government is in danger of being overthrown by the corpora tions. The wildest eyed and longest haired pop never talked la a more anarchistic way than that. - The other day Henry Wade Rodgers. A. M. LL. D., was inaugurated as - a professor at Yale and took advantage of the occasion to make, some remarks, which the papers say, sat the whole city to talking and was a theme of hot discussion for many -days afterward. What he said was pure populism, but it being the first time that the citi zens of the place as well as the large student bodv had ever, heard anything like It, they were as much interested as the farmers were in Nebraska when they, used to gather in some sod school house and listen to a speech from one of their members who had been look ing "these things up. V The" following extracts , are -made from the speech of Professor Rodgers, not 1 that " they contain anything new to the populists who read the Inde pendent but to show them how pop ulism is making its way in the uni versities of the country. Among other things. Dr. Rodgers said were the fol lowing: "We cannot ignore the fact that the the civilisation which the corporations have done so much to develop, they are also doing much to imperil. We know that at Rome their effect on the social and economic life came at length to be evil. Gibbon tells us that the Romans came to regard private corporations with the utmost jealousy and distress. 'Down with corpora tions!" became a familiar cry, and year 64 B. C. a statute was enacted which dissolved most of them. They were afterwards revived, but in the time of Julius Caesar a restriction policy was again adopted respecting them! The restrictions against the growth of corporations in England was dis cussed and Professor Rogers contin ued: "In the United States the voices of not a few thoughtful men have spoken if not words of alarm, certainly words of caution, as to the possible dangers which threaten us from corporate or ganization. Justice Brown of the Su preme Court of the United States, be fore the graduating class of this school in 1895 named three perils, which, in his opinion, menaced the immediate future of this country, andeven threat ened the stability of its isntitutions. Two of these were municipal misgov ernment and corporate greed. "The subject of corporations, both public and private, is today command ing the profund attention of the law yer and statesman alike. The power which private corporations possess is so great and their capacity for mis chief is so boundless that serious men have realized the absolute necessity which exists In this country of devis ing restraints for the protection of so ciety. TSake by way of example, the railroad corporations. It is within their power to reconstruct the indus trial map of the United States. They can practically decree at what places any industry shall be conducted. "The railroads, by the rates they make, can decide whether the butter consumed In New York City shall be produced inNew York State or In Michigan or Ohio; whether western merchants who buy their goods in New York City shall have advantage over those who buy them in Boston or Philadelphia. The time was, If it is not still, when the railroads could dic tate not merely where Inductries could be caried on but by whom they could be carried on. "Take the case of the Standard Oil Company. It certainly is no secret that the great monopoly that great company possesses was built up by the crimination in freight rates by the railroad companies upon demand of the Standard Oil Company in order to crush out independent refineries. In the course of a year and a half the company received, or was said to have received from the railroads $10,000, 000 in rebates. Congress in 1SS7 cre ated an Interstate Commerce commis- si with the view to regulating the roads but gave the commission no power to enforce its findings. - "The formation of the United States Steel corporation and other industrial combinations of a like character lat ely effected have given great promin ence to the question which relate to the trusts. That trusts may result in a saving in the wastes, of competition is no doubt good. Against that good, however, are possible evils of great magnitude the evil of stock watering, of high prices to consumers because of monopolistic power, of low prices to producers of raw materials which the combination, as being the largest buy er, can compel the producer to accept; lower wages to the laborer, and above all the powerful if not corrupt In fluence which may be -exerted over political organizations and our every, department of government, j. "It is within the recollection of some here that it was openly charged in the public press that the influence of a great corporation secured the appoint ment of a man now dead as Associate Justice of the, Supreme Court of the United States. ' ...... "My only purpose now is to direct attention to certain problems about which the people are thinking and which concerns us 'not alone as cit izens . but as lawyers. Twenty-seven states and territories have passed laws to destroy - existing industrial , com binations and to prevent the .further organization of them. - Fifteen states have adopted constitutional provis ions for a like purpose. In 1890 con gress passed an anti-trust law which was known as the Sherman act. "So far as industrial development is concerned I think It Is quite generally agreed that the laws already enacted have had little practical effect. We are not only concerned as lawyers with what has been enacted, but the opinions of lawyers will doubtless be potential in . determining perhaps not what should be done but what can constitutionally be done, and what Is within the scope of federal legislation as compared with that of the states. The American statesman and the Am erican lawyer are no less concerned over the problems which relate to public corporations. , "City government in the United States is extravagant, inefficient and corrupt. How to -remedy their con ditions is a problem that perplexes. In this connection it becomes neces sary to consider whether the control of municipal government shall rest or with the legislature. VThe question of municipal owner ship is one of great concern to people who live in sities. The corporations which control transportation, gas and electricity, and the telephone in our municipalities have so gained In power as to overshadow the government of the American cities." . - A; census bulletin, recently' Issued shows that not quite -two-thirds of the male ' population of voting age ' cast their votes at v the last presidential election, notwithstanding the hot time that we had all over the United Stat es. Those of voting age were 21,329, S19. The number who voted was 13, 970,401. When In a campaign like that so many refused to vote, it shows that laws ought to be passed that would force men to vote as well as force them to pay taxes. FLOUR III HOKGKOliO America has the Trade hut the Price hat Jallea Trem $4.92 aer Barrel to $3.92-WhyT Editor Independent: The American farmers are by far the most intelligent and progressive farmers in ths world. The Independent Is taken largely by farmers who would average up along the line of Intelligence with any far mers in the world. The papers through out the country should discuss all kind " of farm economics. As there has been for the last thirty years so much pol itical prejudice injected into the dis cussions of farm economics it is al- most a waste of time to write on or discuss in a general way any of the phases of economics that affect the tillers of the soil. In all the articles that I write In your paper wherein I touch upon farm economics I shall confine myself to specific, tangible ob ject lessons, giving a true history of some real transaction. In this article I will place before the readers of The Independent as an object lesson the true history of our export of flour to Hong Kong for the last twenty-eight years. The table which you will find below which shows some of the years from 1873 to 1901 is the object lessou and every reader of The Independent should study It carefully. No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 4 1873 133.267 4.92 4.92 4.92 1874 89,445 5.69 5. 77 5.86 1879 242,366 5.00 5.76 6.66 1SS0 210,174 5.06 5.74 6.51 1SS5 ' 411.649 3.9S 4.85 5.95 1890 497,697 4.0S 5.56 6.80 1895 787.318 2.66 5.3 10.64 1897 922,312 3.60 7.95 17.10 1901 1.322,527 2.92 6.50 14.33 The table runs as follows: No. 1, year; No. 2,barrels exported during the year named; No. 3, price per barrel which the farmers on the Pacific coast received.' for their flour at the sea board; No. 4, price per barrel paid by the people at Hong Kong in their money at our ports; No. 5. price the people of Hong Kong would have had to pay If the farmers of the Pacific v coast states had received a fair price. - As the subjects which I have been writing about are so similar I have to repeat considerable of my argu ments. In the future I shall try to make my articles . short and confined to certain facts that should be of great interest to the American farmers. The-readers of -The Independent who have examined the table above coma directly to the conclusion that what he wants to know Is just what caused the decline In the export price of the barrel of flour to Hong Kong from $4.92 In 1S73 to $2.92 In 1901 If it were not for the political pre judice that has apparently taken pos session of the whole country I could tell thei readers of The Independent in a very few, words what caused the fall in the export price of the barrel of Aour-froEi $4,92 to $2.92. In order to make a new argument or fact stand . out so bold as to make all the readers of The -Independent fully understand and agree with me as to what did cause The fall in the price of the barrel of flour, as shown in the table above I have to show first what did not cause the decline from $4.92 to $2.92. This may look a little peculiar to many of those who read this article but it is absolutely necessary to clear away the rubbish called arguments and theories which have accumulated around th question of falling prices for the last thirty years before I can commence to show just what caused the falling prices. . Wherever there is a rise or fall in the price of any product or com modity : a " little Investigation would show that some specific force or cause produced it. There is no mystery about the rise and fall of prices. The American far mers have been punished more than any other people In the world because of the great fall in the price of their products In the last thirty years and they should especially make a study of jail the forces that produce a rise or fall In the price of their products. . The f olio-ring are about all the natural forces that should produce a rise or a fall in export or domestic prices. First, over-production; second, quan tity of money In the country for do mestic prices or in the world for ex port prices; third, cost of production; fourth, wars and famines abroad; fifth, ocean freights; sixth competition In foreign markets. The American far mer should understand just when thA six forces above named are controlling prices and when they are not controll ing prices. This article 13 written for the purpose and the only purpose to show that none of the six above nam ed forces controlled or forced down the export price of the barrel of flour to Hong-Kong from $4.92 in 1873 to $2.92 in 1901 as well as to show just , what did cause the fall in the price of the barrel of flour from $4.92 to $2.92. By lining up with the table the six forces I can show that none of them caused the fall from $4.92 to $2.92. If there had been over-production of flour In the world during 1901 as compared with 1873 the people of Hong Kong would have bought this flour for less of their money In 1901 than they did in 1873, but the table shows that they paid $4.92 in 1873 and $6.50 In 1901. It is nonsense to talk about over-production of flour In the world with these facts before us. There was about $17 per capita of money In circulation in this country In 1873 and In 1901 about 26 per capita, an increase of about $9 per capita. This would in dlcate that the price of the nour should have advanced a good deal above $4.92 Instead of falling to $2.92. Ocean freights were lower In 1901 than In 1873, therefor the export price should have advanced 'instead of falling. As to cost of production It would be non sense to say that the older the farm got the easier or cheaper it would be to produce a barrel of flour. So th price of flour should have advanced as far as the cost of production is con-
