The Grange advance., 1874-07-08

4mosphere and exhausts his energ,e
quarreling about the mismanagement o
some local railroad. He is 80. occupied
with matters Of secondary consideration
that his mind fails to reach the fountai,
source from whence issues the stream 0
national calamities. He strains exces.
sive]y over the gnat but readily swallow
the camel.
1.-THE name has been adopted for tenn
porary purpose, and to correct a single evil
We have no objection to it, but it neve
can have national signi6cancy. tits sim
ply another word for the reform Of a Ger
tain kind Of abuse, and when that sourc,
Of grievance is removed the word can hav,
no meaning in party nomenclature. Ou
principal objection thus Iar to this move
ment in Minnesota is, that no effort is mad,
to strike at the root Of the disease. It i!
at best hut 1imsy piece of patchwork
that talks only Of reform, when nothing
short Of a complete political revolution
will restore the country. The day 70,
patchwork Las gone by.
That, gentle physic tsiven in time hai
cured;
But now, tits past all redemption here"
In fact, the leaders appear too much like
Oppositionists tomen in power to gain theiz
places. than advocates for the develop
ment Of new order of things. No eAor,
is made to bring forward new class ol
men me- language used indicative of de-
sire for a sevolutiopthat shall overturn all
political combinations. and by thrustins
aside the speculative, bring forward the
industrial class. These leaders stand be-
ore the community much as the poor
players did before Hamlet. They would
"some~hat REFORM" "Oh,'' says Ham
let, "reforu4altogether..'' That is, .ban-
don your old tricks, stoa the cant phrases
Of reform, and let US have q, complete
change Of men and measures in. whose
hands the corr>etion of nonopolies will be
incidental to the great work Of reoonstYuc-
ton.
We are even apprehe7sive that these
anti-monopoly leaders may unintentionally
afaict serious and lasting injury upon the
country by preventing the people. from Or
ganizing an industrial party. for sell: pro
lection and defence, both state. and ma
tional. In what 6eld do the anti-monopo-
lists propose to labor? or course every
one replies, against the railroads. What
more can they hope to do in this dissection
than they have already done? The state
has an anti-monopoly governor. and this
governor has appointed three railroad
commissioners, of course in sympathy with
the party, and to them is committed the
settlement OF the whole affair. If the last
legislature could do no more.than create
this commission is there any hope that the
next will be any wisesa. So that we can
not help thinking that the Leaders are now
pursuing an intangible. phantom, Of local
concern, blinded to the real dangers which
threaten the country.
What has anti-moropoly to. do with a
dangerous and corrupt administration ?
With a mercenary and venal Congress
With horde Of fdesperatering contractors
With imitation or anti-indation? With
bribery in elections? With national degra-
dation2 With extravagant expenditures
in public institutions? From all these
maladies, and many more which are sap
ping the lite blood Of the nation, the anti
monopolist turns aside in pursuit of some
real or imaginary monopoly; and even
in his own limited field of action, volun-
tarily chosen, finds himself estopped by un-
expected Instructions. To his surprise,
after little investigation. he finds in sur
veying the field Of monopolies, that while
some are fraught with evil and danger to
the country, numerous class are of the
greatest advantage to the poor even to the
prejudice of the rich. For instance, man
who keeps a carriage in a city abomin.
ates street cars, when even now, those who
wish, may ride in St. Paul distance Of
three miles, for five cents; while livery
team would cost from $l.5o to $500. The
greatest Of all monopolies is the national
postal system, which could readily be
transferred to a private company, and
which will carry letter for thousands O
miles for the paltry sum Of three cents
There are many monopolies the peopl,
would not dispense with Oh any consider
alton. This shows how absurd it is, whe1
the people are acting unitedly to correct
the abuses Of distinct monopoly, to mak'
that issue the rallying cry for the forma
ton Of a new national political party. Hat
these leaders united with us in an effort I,