The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-01-08
CORPORATIONS.
Combinations, COrruptiOnS, and other Cusssd'
ness.

combinations and rings that prey upon !
their products and upon the things that i
are indispensable to the farmer and to his
business. He says:
Our legislators in their wisdom (2l-Or
because they ore not ike Caesars wife
above suspicion, place heavy duties upon
salt. iron. lumber, &c nc, regardless OF
the fact that millions use those things
and only hundreds make them. But those
industries combine together and secure ali
they want. Why discriminate for the few
against the many2 Why give 50 much OF
the public domain 10 corporations, thereby
enriching them NJ the expense OF those
more deserving, and enabling them to be
come oppressors 10 all and bar 70 those
who must own cheap lands or nonef .,
We elect men to office thay are mostly
lawyers, and II not railroad attorneys al
ready. become 80 ~ fast rs they may be
bought after election. Suppose II does
take much money ~ buy theu up. so long |
as che farmer or bis products can be made
~ pay all those bills, and ten times rs
much more with t. they will do it very
willingly indeed 49,.
tirelv-no escape in any direction but one /
and that one they are approaching slowly /
but surely The farmer can't ship his own
grain except certain amounts that are not
always convenient or possible Tor HIN
then the railroad won't receipt Tor the
amount YOU deliver ~ them Oh no. \ on
hll the car. let the railroad take all they
want first, they will carry IL for one hall
of H. IL YOU don't send IL too tar, then
the ware house men want to dip into it.
and they do IL too, they tell you It Is
pretty rough ON yOu, but ask You, How
are wa going to help YOURSELF Then
the iu thieves, known ~ the board ct
trade, take their turn at it-weu, they
build marble palaces ON the avenue some
how, and wonder why we are such fools rs
IN stand II and it's true about us, too
that's the worst Of t. Here we are, the
great farming interest nt the northwest,
with three -fOurths OF the population aud
the votes, owning four 6iths ct the entire
property in the country, paying nearly all
the taxes, and tamely submitting IN every.
thing that can he hcapcd upon us by
everybody.
A stock shipper here in Bureau county
buys your hogs, STIMULATING that you de
liver them to such a station TO be weighed
Hogs don shrink in woightmuch shipped
from there After a while il is whispered
in a saloon that there is a pine ioiSt undel
the scale fixed rs a lever, that can be mad,
to cheat four pounds or four hundred
pounds at the will of the operator WhC
knows how many months it was used rs !
means OF stealing from the men whose
property was weighed thereon before il
was discovered? What neXt2 Nothing
only the merit station west didn't want t,
be out-done so a mouse gHdiccd hole II
two of the weights and filed them witt
lead somebody painted them over black
BLACK is very appropriate color to
some things besides mourning Tha
lasted sometime we ignoramuses COuldn
tell why A. bushels only weighed abou
IS bushels until the paint got knocked of
then any fool could tell why. Go into an
little railroad town, inquire the price {
things, You hnd they all hit the same tit
ure pretty well. considering that then
is so much competition and oppOs
ton, that they couldn't confer togethC
and fix prices Oh, no. SO much for Il
tie things
Now whose interest was consulted whC
Congress presistently refused little pieC
Of canal around Niagara Falls2 Was
the hundreds of thousands Of produce
Of the millidME of dollars worth of prudu
that was seeking that outlet? Or W
it a few New York merchants and midd
men2
Iron and steel enter largely into almc
everything we use-our buildings, fence
plows, wagons, Nc, &c There was
little corner in iron some months ago,
that we who must use iron, must pay "
prices. 1t 'couldn't run long said the
We realize il is going yet, though
The petroleum fellows had convent
in October, made no secret OF their p
ceedngs so far as they propose 10 less
the production and combine with tral
pOrtati0n companies, and retineries,
as 10 put the prices up 10 a good rou
figure and say, lets see you help yo
selves
The plow- makers have their ASSOCIATE,
too, which they have an undoubted ril
10 have, and as a consequence, sell plO
costing ~ &c for S2s They only add c
20 the list Of combinations among MAJ
iacturers against the farmer
IL is needless To enumeratc all interC
are combined against the farming int
est, and expect to live off Of, or grow 7
out OF the product of farm labor, diret
or indirectly Because of their comb
tion they succeed. The only thing left
the farmer TO do is to protect his own
terests in Just the way that other ind
tries do-etfect a combination for NUT
improvement and common benefit
The third resolution adopted by
farmers, convention AT kewanec last mo
expressed this fact very concisely:
1.-THE success Of cooperative effort a. fllustr
IN the accumulation Of capital for carrying
ward immense enterprises In the cOmbnAtiO
working men for the Increase Of wages or tn
strictiOn Of the hours Of labor In the fOrma
Of rings Tor controlling the price Of agricult
he ma rkaf,
every kind iu the thorough and effective or.
i1ation Of political parties for partisan e
oral efficiency and IT, adaptation to it, partic
needs y applied with wisdom and iutelnge
II h a duty We owe to ourselves protect
selves by the only reliable means. by comb
cooperative association and an appreciation
protection Of our tine Interest," from fraud, dc
ton and combinations Of every kind 60 Il
possible"
The order Of The Patrons Of Husbi
~ offers the most expedient and az
able way out Of our present difficulties,
has already become useful in many 10,
ties beyond the expectation Of its found
Instituted in lS67-its growth is unpr
dented in the history Of all secret organ
tons and is already the most useful
becoming the most powerful, of them
and has less Objectionable features in
portion 10 its usefulness than any ms
ton in the land
Many OF the forces Of nature are arr;
against US, at any rate those may
avoided. The tendency of earth to bee
q desert floods and extended drou
myraids Of insects noxious weeds
diseases Of the domestic animals. an
endless variety, are enough to prey I
our products and profits without our b
the focus of all the combinations, r
and professional dead beats in the wol
Farming is being reduced by these
bined enemies below decent living
farmers can protect themselves and
not, they deserve the fate that awaits
and their vocation.
No greater misfortune can befall
country than the destruction that tn
ems its leading interest, for the pro,
of the soil comprise the basis of all we
individual happiness depends upon ge
prosperity, and the best wealth of
country depends upon the general il
geuce of its producing classes.