W
. v sruit
1
I
J .
!,!
1 1 i
!M
x At
'4
more mill moro (ho completeness Willi wlilcli
CIu'ImI, HIIh tbo requirement of llio heart and,
grateful Tor ilio peaee which ho enjoys mid for
-flics strength wbleb ho Iihk received, lio roriunlM the
words of tin groat xeliolnr, Sir William Jones:
"Hoforo Ihy iii.vmIIc ullar, heavenly truth,
J knool in manhood, an knoll In youth.
ThiiH lol mo knool, 1111 this dull form decay,
And life's lat shade ho brightened by Ihy ray,
Then hIimII my hoiiI, now lo.st In clouds holow,
Soar without hound, without consuming glow."
oooo
WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
The Topoka Horn Id, fearful thai Senator La
Follotlo will ho credited with securing legislation
in the Interests of the people, denies that Senator
Lali'ollctlc Is the author of the hill limiting the
hours of labor thai an employe of a railroad may
put In. The Herald says the bill which passed re
cently was drawn by a representative of the labor
unions and Introduced by Senator Holliver. Surely
the author of such a beuelicent bill, and the sen
ator who Introduced it, should have full credit.
What a,ro the fails? In It not true that the only
protests against the sixteen hour maximum have
come from railroad employes? Is it not true tli'it,
Senator La toilette introduced (ho bill upon his
own initiative and with a view to lessening the,
risk of accidents by preventing the overworking
of railroad employes? Is it not true that the most
violent opposition to the bill came from the repub
lican side? Is. It not true that the senate emas
culated the bill with amendments calculated to
protect the railroad Interests? And is it not true
that when the matter came up for linal action Sen
ator Lal'lletto secured the elimination of all the
amendments and had the bill as it now stands in
sorted after the original enacting clause? The
Topoka Herald should quote from the records to
sustain Us contention, otherwise Senator LaFol
lelte will be given credit for securing tills beue
licent bit of legislation.
OOOO
NOW FOR THE SHIP SUBSIDY
Mr. Jtoosevolt, In a special message to congress,
advocates a ship subsidy to the extent of "encour
aging the building and running of lines of largo
and swift vessels to South America ami the
Orient." The president's message will be found
In another column of this issue, lie points out
Unit the bill pending before congress provides for
fourteen steamships, subsidized to the extent of
over 1,500,000 dollars, from the Atlantic coast, all
to run to South American ports; also for twenty
two steamers on the Pacific coast, subsidized to
tho extent of 2,22."i,()00 dollars: some of these 10
run to South America, most of them to Manila,
Australia and Asia.
Here Is a subsidy amounting to $3,725,000 per
year. The South American and oulentlal subsidy
is but an entering wedge, and with that subsidy
granted it will be but a short step to the larger
and more general subsidy, for which the ship sub
sidy promoters have so long contended. From
every state In the union protests against this sub
sidy should be sent to members of congress. Wo
have an object lesson in the exorbitant tariff rates
provided by the Dingley law. It Is well estab
lished that Mr. Dingley himself said that the rates
provided for in his bill were purposely placed high
in order that they might be used as a basis for
obtaining reciprocity treaties with other countries.
So far as concerns the well moaning men who had
to do with the Dingley tariff law, there was no
intention to permanently maintain the high tariff
rates concerning which republican leaders now sav
we must 'stand put." Hut once having en loved
these exorbitant rates, the subsidy grabbers' re
fuse to surrender them. Habitually these men
have taken advantage of one favor to secure an
other and, given the subsidy which Mr. Itooscvolt
In his message formally endorses, they will not
rest until they have made that subsidy general for
sea-going vessels controlled by powerful men
It Is strange that Air. Koosevolt, with all Ids
progress along democratic lines, should retrace his
steps and advocate a plan, which, if adopted, would
niake t all the more difficult for the people in
the r struggle with organized wealth. It is not so
difficult to understand why the subsidy grabbers
move for these privileges at this time. Schemes
like these are usually pushed forward at the short
session, and the very fact that at this mono, it
n vi, Zl7 ' A"U.U8.1 aSamst special As a remedv for vininr i .. .... .
the vcri braznnosTof the S and wm vo" ?mmorco Jaw Judge Gayno7sugges ed' tffiT ffi
man got his freiglarrTed more cheap y tSan his
competitor. This might require nn2Ilf S
the constitution. nS said' the affioTwnl
trained before we had railroads and the nem 2
should no longer fear to revise it. Judge Ga?
then spoke of how railroads came to be puX
highways, saying in part: PUDiic
'The Commoner.
Washington for that of the country at largo or
the clamor of a few ship-builders and owners and
their lobbyists lor the voice of the people. Lot
republican members go back to the platform of
1S1JH, which demanded the upbuilding of our mer
chant marine and carrying trade by other meth
ods than a ship subsidy."
In December, 1000, the Dubuque, Iowa, Times
said: "No inconsiderable part of President Mo
Kinley's support in tho recent election came from
those to whom the subsidy idea is extremely dis
tasteful." About the same time the Portland Oregonian
protested against, the subsidy, and said: "The
fact that building and sailing American ships in
competition with the lleets of the world has en
abled a few Americans to pile up colossal fortunes
shows that we can operate the ships as cheaply
as the foreigners can operate their craft."
In Its issue f December in, 1000, the Now
York Press said that senators and representatives
had been carried to Europe and back every sum
mer for tho past ten years in anticipation of a roll
call on tho ship subsidy scheme. The Press added:
"It may be (rue of our government, as Hamilton
said of (he Kngish, that it can not bo worked
without bribery, but there is no reason why the
measures and men which require bribery should
be mixed up aviUi Uiose which do not."
The Chicago Kecord-IIcrald, while declaring
that the west was "not affrigh toned by the word
'subsidy,' " said "it balks over a proposition to
take money from the national treasury to render
the conditions of a self-supporting merchant ma
rine more Unprofitable than ever." The Record
Herald denounced the ship subsidy as a "prepos
terous proposition."
In December, 1000, the Chicago Tribune, dis
cussing .lames J. Hill's prophecies of what the
merchant marine of the United States is approach
ing in development, said: 'It was not understood
when the spellbinders were urging the people of
the northwest to oto in favor of the re-election
of President MoKinloy that one of the first items
on the senatorial program when congress met
would be tho passage of a 'shipping subsidy' bill
which contemplates annually expenditure for thirty
years for tho special benefit of a number of rich
men residing in eastern cities. There is nothing
whatever in this adroit resolution (the shipping
plank of the republican national platform of 1000)
about 'subsidies.' The word 'subsidies' was care
fully omitted from the platform. Nor was anything
said during the campaign in regard to the exten
sion of our merchant marine by a scheme of public
expenditure continuing for a generation. Nobody
can recall an instance of a public meeting at wh'cii
the shipping subsidy bill was made the subject
of fair, candid argument or any argument at all;
nor were tho claims to public aid of tho persons in
terested is such legislation ever explicity set forth.
The republican party should not be in
favor of one sot of measures prior to November
(5 and in favor of an entirely different kind of
measures subsequent to November G."
OOOO
FOR A GUEST BOOK
A book of guests! May it include
The wise, the witty, and the shrewd,
And such as own the double art
That makes them friends of head and heart.
May those who stand recorded here
Grow dearer with each added year;
Acquaintance into friendship grow,
And friendship ever brighter glow.
Old friends are best, we lightly say,
But, as they fall upon the way
Keep full the ranks with newer friends
Till time the adjective amends, '
And if old friends still seem the best
The adage should he thus expressed
Friends are not best because they're old
But old because the years that rolled '
lho years that try and mar and mend
Have proved them worth the title friend
S. Weir Mitchell in the Century
OOOO
RAILWAYS NOT PRIVATE HIGHWAYS
Judgo William J. Gaynor of New Ym ,in,..
that this subsidy must be a righleous o 3
promoters would not iim t .? 71 r,,se lts
Is it possible that republican ne vsp ipera Sat
have in he past vigorously condemned itfils mo.
posed subsidy will now rush to its defense? K
i;;ost bitter condemnation of this scheme has been
uueii by republican editors. For Ins nee in Do
cembor. 1000, the Indianapolis Journal s id- "Con"
pressmen must have mistaken the atmosphere if
"With the lnvrmtlnn nt i, i ,,
engine came the matte of talWta? 'S "CSS
VOLUME 7, NUMBER 3
use of such engines. This was about 1825. From
the beginning of the world tho public highways
had been built by government, if wo except a few
canals and turnpike roads. In this state govern
ment built the Erie canal and smaller ones.
"It could have built our iron highways. That
is what government did in most countries, includ
ing tho colonies of the British empire. Toll roads
were built as public highways, open to all on the
same terms. That was the law. On the same
plan were the iron r6ads built, open to all on the
same terms.
"Government may take land against the will
of the owner by its eminent domain power for
public highways or any other public or govern
ment use. But land can not be taken for any
private use. Fasten that in your mind.
"In order that those iron roads could bo built
at all they had to be built as public highways, for
the government had not the power to acquire the
land for them except to build them as public high
ways, and the government had to confer on the
corporations the right to use its power of eminent
domain to take the land. You therefore perceive
that our iron roads are not priyate roads but pub
lic highways.- The corporations or the individuals
wlin vim linm onn unf in wtfli tlioin na flinv will
They are more trustees or agencies of the govern-
mnnf ri f Ml nnnnln r( fli ofnn ri vri-ffrm 111111
JllWlli, ui. VI. UlU jVV; VJL L11U OLUHJ VJl HilUlVll LV J. till
tliom as public highways for tho benefit of all on
the same rates and tolls to all. Every free pass .
issued, every favor in freight rates granted, is in
defiance of the law.
"Some persons are under the delusion that re
cent statutes made these things unlawful. Not at
all. They were unlawful from the beginning. Tho
fact that the iron roads wore public highways, like
the dirt roads, became so, far forgotten by some
that they thought it was meddlesome of us to in
terfere with the management of them. NO new
laws were needed to make free passes and freight
rate favoritism illegal."
Turning to the usurpation of the railroad high
ways the judge said:
"Just think for a minute of these public high
ways, open to all on absolutely equal terms by the
very law of their being, being used to enable a few
men to destroy their business rivals, drive them
out.of business and beggar them and their families
by means of favoritism in freight rates: It is the
basest, I do not hesitate to say, the most dastardly
crime of our day and generation.
"Transportation rates 'enter controlling into
the price of commodities to the consumer. If I give
an illustration it is not to hold any one man up to
reproach above others. About 1870 In the oil re
gion ot Pennsylvania I saw a wilderness of der
ricks and engines pumping oil. Hundreds of per
sons owned these wells. In about five years ali
ofnJeifAn11,? 1hG rerShip of se
Sii T1, AUrth0S0 othGrs hld faJU-'l. And whv
and how? Were those few men able to dig wdto
Not at all. They went to the few powerful in
dividuals who controlled' the railroads-Z TpubHc
highways and conspired with them to iuryPXie
0 1 to market for, say, ?i a barrel while7 every
one else was charged ,?2 or more a barrel
"More than that, they got these railroad auto-
pan or all of such extra rates charged to all 10.
tiiem1?! bG VmI tll0n !ere s a dMBloS among
them all Of course, this favoritism in freight
rjtoenable tHem to undersell and desTroyffir
use ?f0?ellnu0hnolnm f' aestvo by the unlawful
use ot the public highways open by law to all on
the same terms, destroyed by the ncScct of tlieS
government to enforce the laws of these highways'
Nothing was left to them but to quit SX
same thing has since been done in resnett ofiH
of our principal products. aspect of all
"Some have come to the conclusion that the
government should take the railroads and vunihfm
to end the abuses. It is very certain that If the
abuse can be ended in no other way tho neon e
will compel the government to take So Si
This country and government of ours are S
oinsgrt V oTul ThGre iS oai5riSEE
01 startling about the government ownlnir arid
running railroads, when one-half or more of &e
railroads of the world are owned and operated
by government. i.iuieu
"For my part I would rather not see govern
ment do it. Private enterprise is too valuable to
be eliminated from railroad building andS
nient if it can be avoided. My own view is Siat
it is only necessary for government to appo tat the
general freight agent of every railroad for hi
could stop all rate favoritism at once It wouW
bStoSlvo0!101' UP Stalea of
but only to see that every one paid the schedule
oraenWa0rSnV0SS' Hl8 mmw 65SSSS
?nM I agent who gave a false rate and erlm-
Bt?oyPSeee?U.''n gOYOrnment would soon -
' u'Ml
K
- &, jaMkk 1.
