JUNE 4, 1903.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
3
SHAMELESS ST. LOUIS
A City Bobbed of Fifty Million Dollars for
Lack of Majority KttU .
So long as the corporations and tha
political "boss," through the party
machine, rule, the cities will be plun
dered by the monopolies, and the peo
ple's representatives will degenerate
into bands of thieves who will wax
fat through bribery. We have had
many startling impressive illustra
tions of this character during the last
few years, notably in Philadelphia,
Minneapolis, and St Louis.
in the latter city, for example, ac
cording to a prominent St Loui
banker quoted by Mr. Lincoln Stef
feres in his excellent article in Mc
Clure's Magazine, on "The Shameless
ness of St. Louis," "fifty million dol
lars worth of franchises and munici
pal assets" have been given to corpor
ations by the people's representatives,
who individually received large bribes
in consideration of thus handing over
to a few individuals enormously val
uable franchises that, if operated by
the people or sold or leased at a
rpasnnahlfi Azure, would have re
duced the taxes to a minimum or havs
supplied the treasury of the city witu
enormous sums for scnoois, museums
libraries, and parks.
Hari the neoDle the right of initia
tive and referendum, this carnival of
corruption and robbery could not have
prevailed. We know oi no instance
where the people, when they have
had the opportunity to vote directly
on a question involving 'dispossessing
themselves of valuable property with
out compensation, have not over
whelmingly refused to entertain th?
corporations' plans.
u'e fifty million dollars lost to the
people of St. Louis through the brib
ery of city officials by the corpora
tions is typical of the vast sums that
our present system of legislation iJ
costing the public, while it also af
fords an equally impressive illustra
tion of the demoralization and cor
rupting effect bf corporation and ring
rule, or representative rule instead
of government" through direct legisla
tion. . " .
The corporations' tools and apolo
gists are in the habit of objecting to
giving the people the right to in
itiate and to veto legislation on the
pretext of the expense that the extra
elections would involve. As a matter
of fact, instead of direct legislation
proving a great additional expense to
the public, it is safe to say that -t
would result in saving the people
many millions of. dollars that are now
annually given away by legislators
and municipal authorities to corpora
tions and special class interests.
There are three reasons that make
. the campaign for majority rule su
premely important:
1. It is imperatively demanded n
order to preserve the fundamental
pnciples pf free government. With
out it the people are nt-the real
governors or rulers. The masters are
the corporations that rule the party
"bosses" and political machines and
that dictate the persons who shall
mnkfi and execute the laws.
2. On considerations of public
economy these strictly republican
measures are ureently demanded. The
ramival of loot that has made multi
millionaires of scores of persons, who
by bribery, direct or indirect, nave
trained and are earning for notmng in
Mtimahlv valuable special privileges,
must be stopped. The hope of relief
for the people from tne tyranny ana
of the trusts and monop-
olies lies in the prompt enactment of
majority rule legislation, which is
thoroughly feasible tnrougn tne win
tiPtira method of Drocedure.
2. The corruntion of the people's
representatives will rapidly spread
and the virus most deadly to national
integrity and perpetuity will quickly
etv. unless the peopl'J
promptly assert the fundamental de
mand underlying all true repuDiics or
free trnvernments that of the SOVer-
' eign right of the people to initiate
and to pass such legislation as chang
ing conditions and the. good of the
state demand. Freedom cannot live
in the midst of general official cor
ruption, and human rights will bo
brutally ignored unless, tne peopie
have the direct and ultimate vote on
measures of importance.
The amazing revelations of corrupt
, Hon In St Louis and other great Am
erican municipalities are typical anl
warn the friends of republican insti
tutions that they have slept overlong
And that onlv by resolute and wish
action can the splendid heritage of
our fathers be restored and mamtam
Ad. Through majority rule the citi
zens of the republic will become, a3
thev are in Switzerland, the real rul
ers, and the power of the corporations
will be destroyed.
Mr. Folkthe noble and incorrupti
ble state's attorney for St. Louis, who
lias not only unmasked the wholesale
bribery of the "boss," the city legis-
lators, and the corporations in thai
cit', but who has convicted a large
number of the guilty parties, gives it
as his conviction that "ninety-nine per
cent of the people are 'honest; only
one per cent are disnonest. Mr. aoiw
has convicted every man he has tried
before a jury. He is convinced that
the people as yet are sound, but they
lack leadership. They have been un
der the rule of the "boss" and the
party machine, and have no leaders,
organizers, or patriotic apostles of
justice and freedom to enthuse them
with the old-time spirit and arouse in
them .a passion for those great funda--mental
verities that made our revo
tionary era one of the most inspiring
moments in the world's history.
But it is a. noticeable fact that,
wherever the people have been al
lowed directly to vote on any issue
that has been clearly presented, thev
have evinced soundness tf judgment
A notable example of this Kind was
seen in the city of Boston, when the
street railway, corporation made one
of the most desperate fights it ha3
ever attempted in order to secure the
right to relay tracks or. certain streets.
All the press of the city, with one
exception and that exception a Jour
nal not enjoying a very great circu
lation became special pleaders for
the corporations. A small band of
patriotic citizens, with comparatively
small funds at their command. at-
tempted to enlighten the electorate by
sending to all voters a bocratic dis
cussion covering the main points in
volved. The result was that the elec
torate voted against the corporation's
program by almost a two-to-one vote.
Majority rule is the blade that will
strike down the upas tree of political
corruption and corporate domination.
It will avert from our republic the
greatest dangers that have menaced
free government since the foundation
of this nation, and will open the way
for continuous progress througn
peaceful education.
B. O. FLOWER,
Editor, The Arena.
This Beautiful
Colonial Davenport
FREIGHT
PREPAID
$21.00.
Populist Duly
Editor IndeDendent: Perhaps it may
be considered an intrusion for me to
butt in" regarding the future of the
neoDle's narty. since you requested
only the members of the national com
mittee to speak, and I am not honored
wun being such. But I must say that
I sn annreriate the tenor of the re
plies you have published from Elmer
Thomas, Gerry Brown and uovernor
Poynter and the rest, that I desire
only to express a thought here.
I believe that the people s party to
day occupies the only rational ground
between the outrages imposed by the
republican and gold democratic par
ties and the insanity of the socialist
party. When the people's party came
into existence it came as the cry ot
the farmer, and thousands of indus
trialists in the cities, recognizing the
important sympathies between tnem
selves and the farmers, joined wilt
the movement. Since that time?
things have somewhat changed. The
farmer today is comparatively more
prosperous than is the industrialist in
the city. The same Issues that for
merly appealed to the farmer and the
wage-earner, though still as import
ant as ever, cannot now be used to
rally either of these classes of pro
ducers. Because both of these classes
have advanced beyond that stage. We
need a platform of constructive is
sues.
The farmers of this country have
been systematically lied to by piutoc
racy regarding the issues involved in
the land question. They have been
told, for instance, that the single tax-
ers Dronosed to levy a tax upon land.
and as they had most of the land, they
would have to pay most of the taxes
Many of them believed this, notwith
standing that thev were already nay-
ing 68 Der cent of all the taxes raised
while only owning about 20 per cent
of the nation's wealth. They are now
beginning to see that, as the single
tax would exempt their implements,
stock and improvements from taxation
and levy all assessments against land
values (not land) which are mostly
in the centres of population, it is an
issue which thev can heartily sud-
port While, on the other hand, the
industrialist In the city, already be
reft of his home, sees in the single
tax a Dronosition that would force
idle speculative land into use, thereby
furnishing more employment at ad
vancing wages and decreasing rents
Now,, the industrialists in the city
are rapidly going to the socialist par
ty, not because they are socialists, but
because the other parties have not
presented to them any definite Dlan
for economic emancipation. They are
going to the socialists as a protest
against glittering generalities. We
DODullsts ourselves have been shame
lessly ambiguous upon this land ques
tion, it win not do to say tnat tne
land is "the heritage of all the peo
ple." The rankest plutocratic party
can say that just as honestly as wo
can, because it does not. mean any
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as
thing. We have got to tell the people
how they can , regain this natural
heritage, and if there is now or ever
has been any proposition presentel
by anybody that would as readily re
store to the DeoDle their natural herit
age in the land as would the proposi
tion of Henry George, i nave yet to
see it There are today conservative!
sDeaking at least three million single
taxers in the United States. These
will never remain with the reorganiz
ing democracy. They will not go t3
the socialists. Is not our duty plain;
The single tax is tne only common
ground for the people. We have got
to speak. Let it be in no ambiguous
terms. We will not only thereby re
tain the farmer vote, but we will se
cure and hold the municipal indus
trialists. L. J. QUINBY. .
Omaha, Neb.
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L at home. Farmers don't delay.
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Meridian, Mississippi.
Turn the Rascals Out
Editor IndeDendent: My subscrip
tion has about expired, and not car
ing to miss a number of Tne inde
pendent, I remit for renewal and offer
a few words as to the cause and the
remedy for monopoly and the trusts.
Doubtless class legislation in th3
granting of special privileges to the
banks and to the railroads; the work
ing of a robber tariff, which compels
the producer and consumer to bear
the burden of the rich and. privileged
classes, have been the great and en
during first causes of all present
economical disturbances. .
The fault inheres with the govern
ment itself as formulated and oper
ated by the republican party almost
incessantly for nearly fifty years. Un
til the people retake and possess the
government now in possession of the
combines, I fear government owner
ship would prove a delusion. Th
first thing to do and the only sure
shot to existing villainy is to form a
voters'; trust at the ballot box, by the
millions of fleeced voters for the pur
pose of creating a world power, not
for criminal aggression and the ma
rauding of, other people, but a power
that will protect the American people
from the encroachments of concen
trated greed, securing to them their
homes and their first share in produc
tive labor.
Once turn the rascals out, then hu man
rights may be restored. Can this
be done? Will it be done in 1904? If
not, the American people will have
proven themselves the most servile
of any people pretending to liberty
and popular government on the face
of the globe.
The railroad manipulators have be
come highway robbers - indeed. The
Independent is a host within itself.
Populism is all right Her demands
bear the imprint of truth, Justice and
righteousness, which the captains of
plutocracy have not been able to ef
face. . ' - W L. MORGAN.
Williamport, O.
The class struggle see Karl Marx
Edition, July 23, 1903.
320 Acre Farm In Antelope Count
No. 712. This farm is one mile and
a half from Clearwater and seven
miles from Nellgh, the county seat
200 acres is fenced in pasture; 6-room
house, well and wind mill; splendid
yards hog tight, made of woven wire.
Two new barns built last fall, one 30x v
40 and one 24x32. 160 acres of this
land lays in the Elkhorn Valley; as
good alfalfa land as there is in the
state; also suitable for corn and ren
eral farmine Durooses. 40 acres un
der cultivation; 10 acres in alfalfa.
This farm is in the heart of the al
falfa land of the Elkhorn Valley. A
farm nrtlninine this with 80 acres in
alfalfa sold last winter for $45 per
acre. Another farm adjoining this has
140 acres in alfalfa and the Huffman
Rowlings ranch four miles from this
farm ha3 1,300 acres in alfalfa. A
splendid corn Country, within the rain
belt, 125 from Sioux City, 150 miles
from Omaha and Lincoln. Clearwater
is a town, of 400 people, with good
stores, school and churches, popula
tion mostly American, Swede and
German. Price of the farm complete
$7,000. For sale by Weber & Farris, .
Lincoln, Neb. "
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No need to stay at' home THIS
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To Detroit and Boston, In July.
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Detailed information as to through
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f
