The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-03-01
whose property we have thus taken. For

whose property we nave tnu3 taken. For
however foolish. wild or extravagant the
original scheme may have been. it was q
scheme created by the agent ofthe State,
the Legislature, and endorsed bv an over
whelming vote Of the people of the State.
and of which the people received the
benefits. No man who lived here in 1862
doubts for one moment that the gift OF
those road beds to new companies gave
US railroads many years sooner than we
would otherwise have obtained them.
And if we had been without railroads
during those years of immigration and
prosperity which followed immediately
after the war, r,our condition to-day would
be far inferior to what it is.
It being then conceded that the State
should compromise these old bonds, the
question arises, lis the pending PROPOSE
:iun fair and reasonable compromise?
This bill is practically proposition to
settle the debt for one-half the amount
due.
should have preferred settlement
on the basis OF one fourth or one -third
the amount due. But in compromise OF
conflicting claims something must be
Welded by both sides. TO wipe out these
bonds. now hawked through the markets
Of the world to our discredit, and every
year Haunted in our faces. here with the
great seal OF the State attached. we must
be content 70 concede something. If the
holders Of the bonds are willing to come
down from the whole amount due as
heretofore claimed to one half the amount
due can not we advance seventeen or
twenty five per cent. above whas we
think these road bonds were worth?
But suppose we refuse this proposition,
what then? Have we ended the mats
teip
"If the assassination
Could tFammel up the. consequence and catci
y lth its surceaSe Success; il but this blow
Might bu til e-ali aud the eud -ali Ilere,''
we might, some Of US, be tempted ia
say "no" to this and every similar prop.
ositiCn. But it is not SO. The state is
immortal, and this claim will con,nua
to live until It's paid. 1t will pass fron
generation to generation of claimants,
steadily rolling up its vast volume ofin>
terest. The bigger itgrows the more
powerful it will become. We who know
will have passed away; our objections
will be sienced in the grave But now
lobby lists will then haunt these halls and
our children will sit here prrplexcd and
ashamed, at ''having the pliyhted faith
OF their fathers thrust in their Iaces, and
their lathcr's shame proclaimed through
all the land. Who can doubt that soon
er or later they will pay the debt, dol~
lar for dollar, principal and Interest? Il
is not in the nature Ut things that they
should do otherwise.
While we have availed ourselves Of
our equitable defrnces and have leltered
ourselves behind the sovereignty OF the
State. our creditors. having no other re
source. have rushed into the newspapers
Of the world and have covere, our iair
| name with opprobium. The State is un-
able to defend itself in such i, contest will,
getty foes. ii is like Guliver, stuck
full of she singing arrows Of the I.il,i-
| pulians. Its wounds are not mortal but
they are painful and irritating. Aud il
the state attempts to reply, what can il
say? Can Il great common wealth plead
the baby acip' Can it shelter It's huge
proportions behind some fence post of /,
,ecbnicali:S? Can it say it fonled itself
into bad bargain, or was it cheated by
its agents? These things, while they may
constitute reasons why we should make
The best bargain In our power will be no
delence at the bar Of The world.
| However much. Mr.. Chairman. you OF
may regretit it, the iact is patent that cap
ital rules the public opinion of the world.
| We live in u commercial couutry aud a
material age. II has been the lite Labor
ot some OF us.-a labor in many respects
in yaia.-to protect the rights OF the in
dividuai against the aygrcssions of cap
itai. Man. in the aggregate. is slow,
| patient, short sighted, inca pable ot or
ganlzation.I Capital, on the contrary, i:
quick, sensitive. farsighted, energetic,
aud capable OF world embracing cu,nbi-
nations. 1T you touch the inte est of ca o
ital in ST. Paul the thrills of the lyit ,te,
system Will be telt in Paris and Ber in
| Shakespeare said ut tue actors of his da I
| that Ill were better to have bid mon,
ument when dead than thrir i'll opinior
| while living" Aud il is difficult to con.
ceive ull the evil results to state which
dow from the hostility OF ii po ver whi
| controls bourse, the iorum and the press
There can oe no question th 1t the hold
ers of those old b.'uds have covered GU
state with disgrace. 1t is now rinket
In The same category with Mississippi
| When we have asked Tor public loan
no response has come from the grea
money ceuiers. Oar merchants complair
that they are constantly iusulted; our
business men sly that money Is ke pt GU
ct thest;.te bythis unsettled claim. Will,
these things should not iurce US 10 in any
thing that is not right. they should. 4
least lDducc US 10 Yield something in ,
compromise which We all feel 10 b,
necessary. Certa My we Cannot cal
back into brutal stolidity and declar,
that we viii pay nothing and do nothin,
but let the storm of public indignation
howl aruund our ears in vain.
There ID something necessary to a suc
cessiul state besides beci aud whesf
There il soul in the body polite. LII