Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-07-04
DENIS KEARNEY.
The Sand Lot Orator Stops In Chi
Cage and Welcomes the
interviewer.
BY Agitation He Would Educate the
People to Break Down
Monopoliss.

Is VT. hHtEutN III dohCu lCpiS-
sentative OF the Inter ocean, as the door
of a little on the south side OF the
Fifth Avenue Hotel opened in response
to his knock.
ayes, sir; that's my name. Walk
in. Reporter, eh? Well, be seated.
Allow me to introduce you to my trav-
cling companion, the Hon. Stephen
Maybell. These other gentlemen are
Mr.. j. VI. Foley, Mr.. John Clifford, and
this tai, young man is q reporter. A
gentleman from the Inter ocean had
an interview with me last night. What
would you know?'
al would know what new from the
Golden State? | understand you are
opposed To railroads end monopolies?
Is il sO:"
well, sir, there are $4,000 people
in our State, out of which $4,000 are
engaged in industrial occupations. OF
these, 10000 pursue agriculture, and
$4,000 of the agriculturists are farm
labOrers. We have $1,000 bona tide
farmers in California. Now, a reduc-
ton in freights will benefit the large
land ~monOpOlists in the State who en-
ploy Only blanket men. Freights from
here to California are S2.25 q hundred,
or q cents per pound. If / send u suit
Of clothes weighing five pounds it will
cost ne Ill cents. Suppose now that
ireights should be reduced 20 per cent,
will the selling price of the goods be re-
duced % per cent? No; a low rate of
ireights simply perpetuates the old, des-
picable system of land monopolists."
Government Raiiroads.
"Rut how would you manage these
powerful corporations, Mr.. kearney"
''The ultimate object is for the Gov
eminent to own the railroads. l would
like to see the workirgmen educated up
to owning the railroads themselves. L
would have them elect Congressman
and State legislators, or Railroad Com
missionerS, whatever the case may be,
pledged to base the income of the cor
poration upon the wages it pays its m
plOyes, taking into consideration the
interest on the investments, etc. Conn
mencing with section hands, allow
them S3 per day aud eight hours work,
brakemen 500 a month, and other emf
plOyes i'm proportion. My object is to
prevent the middlemen from using the
workingmen to pull the chestnuts out
of the fire. The NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
and gamblers in the necessities of life
remind me of a pack of wolves begging
for an opportunity to take care of the
lambs. For example, the Board o fTrade
| i'm your city | suppose would like to have
cheap fares and freights. Let us see
why. They send their agents into the
country to buy the productions of the
farmer at his own home. They will
paw him, say, 90 cents for q bushel of
| his wheat. BY the time the Board of
Trade gets that wheat to the mill they
will ask and receive SLIGO a bushel for
il. Now the freight on a bushel of
wheat will not exceed 10 cents. What
ever the freight is, it comes out OF the
SPECTATOR, no. out Of the farmer. So it
is plain these gamblers are selling the
wheat for a profit of 80 cents. In this
case, like all others, it is not the freight
upon the articles that increases the
price. but the screeching pretended
auti-monopolist who has a corner on
the article"
GLOW do you propose to educate the
people, as you say, up to your stand
ard??"
"Simply by agitation and Organizs.
ton. This is the first time, /. believe,
the question has been presented in this
liyht, and the moment that the work
ingmen will see it in the manner that |
propose to present it they will without
doubt organize by the million upon
this basis, | have no fear of their
apathy now that they have seen that it
was by agitation and organization the
government put its bars down against
the further importation of slave labor.
They will naturally say to themselves,
We have removed from labor a great
stumbling block. Why cannot We in
like manner raise our OWL wages by
controlling the corporations in our W
/ intelest% Surely the men who work
for railroad corporations have interests
i'm common with ~wage-workers in all
other departments of labor. Elevate
the one, and the elevation of the other
is bound to follow. / am a. Of organ
ling the entire workingmen of the
country as | am that l am here in Chi
cago. / have no faith in the sincerity
of the leaders of either the Democratic
or the Republican party in their cry of
anti.monOpoly."
"But how possibly" asked the re-
porter, show would you carry out any
great project without the aid of mon
eyed corporations? The Brooklyn
bridge for example?"
1.-The people Of New York might have
issued ten or fifteen millions of dollars
in New York State notes, received them
back for tolls ON the bridge, and when
they got them all in burn them"
Mr.. Kesrney will speak in Chicago
after the Fourth of July, and will then
90 to New York and Boston and speak
in both cities. He said he might also
speak in Ohio on his way back. Mr..
Kearney's partner, the Hon. S. Maybell,
agrees with him ''in all things He
said: "The price of an article is not
the cost of its production or transporta-
ton. It is simply the degree Of the
money corner that shows the market
value of everything to-day. Ii freight
ON flour was reduced 20 per cent, the
price of flour in the market would
likely as not be raised SO per cent. next
day, showing that the price Of trans
portation has nothing to do with the
value of the article. The reduction in
freights is no benefit to the consumer,
and only results in lowering the rail-
road employees pay"