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tfuct was hoisted another ZS cents 'a ton. Tho
anthracite coal trust has moroly taken advantago
of the people's necessities, knowing full well that
thero Is nothing to hinder It from so doing. It
has a monopoly of the market and experience has
taught it that it has nothing to fear from tho
attorney general's department at Washington. The
administration regards tho election as an endorsement-
of tho policy of non-interference and non
enforcement of tho anti-trust laws already upon
the statute books.
Tho situation is this. Tho coal trust knows
that It can got tho additional 25 cents a ton for its
product, so It increases the price. Tho people
have to have the coal. The trust adds nothing
to tho wages of its miners, and tho increase of 25
cents per ton means an additional profit to tho
trust. Thero is no competition in the anthracite
coal business. The trust controls most of tho
mines and all of tho avenues of distribution. If
tho miners strike for a living wage the trust
magnates merely starve the miners into submis
sion and then make the public pay the loss. If
It decides to meet tho demands of the miners
It merely adds the increased wages to the prico
tho consumer must pay. "When it is not engaged
in robbing tho miners it is robbing the public, and
most of the time It Is deliberately robbing both.
It defies national and state laws, knowing full
well that it has nothing to fear at Washington,
and nothing to fear from the authorities of the
most corrupt state government in the Union
Pennsylvania. Its insolence is collossal, its greed
unbounded and its opportunities immense,
William R. Hearst has already presented to
tho legal department of the government evidence
to convict tho anthracite mine owners of crim
inal conspiracy under the Sherman anti-trust law,
but while the people, either freeze or submit to
the trust's rextortlons, the legal department of tho
government moves leisurely along without making
any apparent effort to be . of service to its em
ployersthe people.
JJJ
The World's "Lesson" ...
The New York World In a recent editorial
fives the presidential vote from 1864 up to and
including the year I9d4. Then, it proceeds tokdraw
m iS01l from thG returns- The entire editorial
wiJi be found upon another page of this issue.
The World says that the republican party
may have lost one election by refusing to yield to
its populistic" elements, but that the democratic
party "by yielding to these elements has lost
three successive elections." The World after
having claimed credit for Judge Parker's nomina
tion, after having urged him upon tho party
as just the man for the place, now doubts the
wisdom of his nomination and is not sure "just
how far Judge Parker was responsible for this
disaster,'' (that is, the recent defeat), and toL
.follows the statement that in the World's opinion
it is apparent that Mr Cleveland would have
made a better run." it asserts that "the slump
really began in 1890 when the democratic party
openly surrendered to tue silver republicans the
populists and the advocates of wild-cat monev in
general." .
The fact that Mr. Bryan, whom the World on
posed, polled in 1896 946,000 votes more than Mr
Cleveland polled in 1892 or 1888 and l,4t)0,000 more
than Mr. Cleveland pol'ed in 1884 does not disturb
the World at all. Even the fact that Mr. Parker
polled something like a million and a quarter
less than Mr. Bryan polled in 1900 does not jar
toe World's composure. It puts it aside with the
statement that "the tragical rout of 1904 followed
as a matter of course." If the World knew the
tragical rout" was to follow as a matter of
course, why was it so insistent upon dictating the
. course of the party? In order to make its con
demnation of the democratic party complete 'it
assorts that Judge Parker only polled 200,000 more
votes than Cleveland polled twenty years before
and says that this Increase "marks twenty year
of- democratic progress." -
The World thus ignores the progress the party
r made before that newspaper "became the partv's
confidential adviser. It condemns- the democratic
convention for refusing to endorse unequivocally
the. gold-standard, and declares that '"'the economic
sins of a whole generation of greenbackers and
free silverites have been visited upon Judge Par
, kor." The World demanded that Judge Parker sohd
the gold telegram which figured so conspicuously
in the campaign, and after it was sent the Wo?ld
assumed that the party would receive the sunnort
of those whom It described during the campaigns
, independents and "sane democrats." Durinc hi
. camnaign the World lost no opportunity to Insult
The Commoner.
tho men who were willing to rapport tho ticket
in splto of Judge Parker's views on the money
question. And on the Sunday before the election
It published for pay a republican cartoon which
covered almost an entiro page.
Of all the papers that figured in the last cam
paign no paper played so contemptible, so de
spicablo and so mercenary a part as tho New York
World. It first picked out thd candidate, then it
instructed him from day to day In a boisterous
tone as to what he ought to do. It claimed credit
for dictating his policy an,d then sold its columns
to tho republican committee to criticise the man
whom it claimed to be supporting, and now when
the election is over it calmly informs its readers
that the "tragical rout cf 1904 followed as a mat
ter oi course."
After this record the World has the impu
dence to pose as an adviser of the democratic
party and to abuse those as "demagogic" Who in
sist that tho democratic party shall be demo
cratic. Before the democratic party takes any more
advice from the New York World it ought to re
quire the owner to give bond that the proprietor
will not sell the paper to the opposition. Tho
sooner the World announces itself a republican
paper the sooner will the democratic party be re
lieved of a heavy 'load. It ought to follow the
example of the Chicago Chronicle.
JJJ
A New Life of Jackson
Colonel A. S Colyar of Nashville, Tenn., has
just issued through Marshall & Bruce, Publishers,
of his homo city, a two-volume edition of "The
Life and Times of Andrew Jackson." The work is
a really valuable addition to biographical literature
and corrects, many of the errors that have crept
into print in regard to the first of the western
presidents.
Colonel Colyar- ls a lawyer vOf great learning
and high repute and he is also a-student of the
science of government. Having in addition a
knowledge of military affairs and being an ardent
admirer of Jackson he is in an excellent position
to present an accurate review of the principal
events in the life of his hero, who is described, in
the book as ''Soldier Statesman -and President."
Colonel Colyar presents a detailed account of
Jackson's conduct upon th field, and in the realm
of statesmanship. The account which he gives of
the battle of New Orelans Is especially interesting.
It shows that instead of being a one-day engage
ment it really covered some two weeks. The won
derful victory of January 8, is really explained by
the long drawn out battle that preceded it. The
British landed just below New Orleans after dark
on the evening of the 23rd of December, and Jack
son as soon as he heard of it exclaimed: "By the
Eternal, they shall not sleep on our soil," and went
immediately to attack them with such force as he
had. He did prevent their sleeping, and the sicir
mishes that followed each night so interrupted
their repose that they entered the final battle al
ready worn out from fatigue and loss of sleep.
Colonel Colyar quotes English descriptions of the
continuous engagement in support of his narra
tive. Speaking from the standpoint of a friend Coi
onel Colyar refutes many of the slanderous stories
that have been put in circulation oy prejudiced
biographers. All democrats who are preparing for
active political work should secure a copy of Col
yar's "Life and Times of Jackson."
JJJ
Washington on Large Armies
Washington, in his farewell address, said:
Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity
of those overgrown military establishments which
under any form of government, are inauspicious to
liberty, and which are tofbe regarded as particu
larly inauspicious to republican liberty."
The wgrds of Washington may well be re
called at this time, when our army Is much large
than we need, rt looks as if the republicans must
either cut down expenses or increase taxes. Tho
army would be a good place to begin,
JJJ
One "Concrete" Instance
The Wall Street Journal is one- of the repub
lican papers that is pleading for "a revision of th
tariff that not only aids in the extension of com!
nierce but also .removes some of those inequalities
which now bear, heavily upon American consumers
ana afford an over-measure of protection to ceS
tain American , industries."
' - In reply to one ot its editorials on this line
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 43
tho Journal received a letter dAm,u.,
particulars. The writer otthT5 1 b111
Journal to give some specif InstanLf led th
of example, pointing out tariff duties whLWay
be reduced. As "one specific, concJc t?hm
the Journal points to steel rAil an? L rV
are so interesting that liberal quotations ar!3
inafter made. The Journal says- here'
"Tho production of steel rail's, has tw0f
ncreased from 996 983 in 1884 to 2,873 22 i? Sft
In the Bametimo the price has declined from ir
per ton to $28.00 per ton, while the duty il h7
reduced from $17 to $7.84 per ton. The hav
however, been a number of fluctuations d2
these twenty years. For instance, :he prlc ?
vanced to $37.08 in 1887, declined to $17.62 in 1 5"
advanced to $32.29 in 1900, fell to $27.33 in Si
and then advanced to $28.00 which is the prS
price. It is of interest to note that with ev "
reduction in the duty there has been an increa Z
.in the home production. For instance, the C
was ret ced from $28 to $17 in 1883 and, while th
. Immediate effect of this was to reduce the produr.
tion from 1,148,000 to 959,000 tons, this falltne
off occurred in the lean years of 1884-5, and under
the reduced rate of duty there was an increase n
production to 2,101,000 tons in 1887. The present
rate of duty of $7.84 per ton has existed since 1891
and in that time the production has more thaa
doubled. It is apparent from this that a reduction
of duty will not necessarily cause a reduction in
the domestic output It is also clear that at least
a part of the reduced duty will be reflected in lower
prices to consumers.
"The price, of steel' rails at present is $28 at tho
point of production. That is the price to domestic
consumers. Mr. Schwab, lately president of the
United States Steel' corporation, and considered one
of the greatest living experts on steel, has said
that it cost $12 per' ton to manufacture steel rails.
This statement of voBt is reasonable. Assume that
GO per cent ore is used, the following may be taken
as the items of cdpt per ton of ore: Royalty, CO
cents; mining, 40 vcents; rail freight, 80 cents; lake
freight, 76 cents; dock: charge, 15 cents; rail freight
to furnace, 90 cents; furnacing including coke,
$1,50; total, $5.10. .
"It takes five tons of 60 per cent ore to make
three tons of iron. Consequently we get an indi
cated cost of $8.60 per ton for the iron thus pro
duced. Add to this $3.50 per ton for conversion
into rail and we get the $12 that Mr. Schwab spoko
of.
"There it, therefore, a profit of $16 per ton or
133 per cent at the present price. It ;s clear that
the rate of duty on foreign made steels in an over
measure of protection. For even if the duty were
abolished altogether, and $7.85 per ton taken from
the present market price, there would still he a
large margin of profit.
"Moreover, it is quite notorious that American
made steel rails are sold abroad at a prico much
less than that at which they are marketed in tho
United States. Some tine ago American steel
rails, which sold at Pittsburg, in the United States,
at $28 per ton, were sold in Beirut, Syria, at ?22
per ton. Sneaking broadly, the foreign price of
American steel rails is about 25 per cent less than
the price to the American consumer.
"Here is a specific, concrete Instance, and as
the iron and steel trat-e is a basic trade, and as
the price of Won and steel affects In large meas
ure the prices of. all other commodities, it would
appear that here was an opportunity for a reduc
tion in the tariff that would operate to the advant
age both of the foreign and the home market, with
gain to the consumer, without material loss io
the producer and without danger to the policy of
protection."
Evidently the Journal would be content with
a comparatively slight reduction in the steel rail
duty. But what reason has the Journal or any
other republican newspaper to expect any tariff
revision is the face 6f protests against such re
vision made by concerns whose special privileges
will be taken from thtm and concerns which, in
the effort to maintain those special privileges,
have provided the republican party with its cam
paign funds? ,"'
v - -. JJJ
.Burning Questions
The Chicago Tribune speaks of the tariff ques
tion as a burning question and says that "the peo
ple will not be content with a stand-pat policy.
As the republican party went Into the campaign
with a platform that promised no tariff reform
and won a great victory it seems a little incousis-
tent for a republican paper' to say that "the people
will not be content with a stand-pat policy." The
republicans generally consider the election as an
',
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