The examiner., 1886-02-13
TIRE CURSE OF MONOPOLY,

Perhaps the most hateful word in the English language is monopoly. That one word embodies more of the bottom causes of social slavery than all others. It is the synonym of inequality.
 This wo.l1 was not made for any one man, or any set of men. The right to oc- cupy 1t, to transport ones self and one's products freely over it, and to enjoy it's prime sources of we'll being, is the common heritage of all. Monopoly is an attempt to interdict these natural privileges. It is the laying of violent hands, by one Set of men, upon others who have commsn and equal rights Whether those violent hands are moved by brute force, as of old, or by cor rupt legislation and the interruptions use of capital, as ill these days, matters not to the principle Monopoly is an arbitrary assault upon liberty and enterpIise-the unnatural mother of slavery.
 In the despotic times of the Stuarts it was the custom of the English monarchs to sell certain patents of monopoly to individ uals and corporations; and the money paid for these "royalties" went into the private slatsGi7a af the ifllisasala, be pended in pomp, luxury and vice by the royal family. But, in the reign of Elizabeth, a general revolt had so far spread against this prac- tice that it almost threatened revolution. Reluctantly the queen was obliged to give up practice, which she styled, ''the choicest jewel of her crown" and this di- rect form of arbitrary monopoly came to an end.
 The patent of monopoly, once vested in social despots by royal tyrAnts, are now secured by more subtle and plausible, but not less despicable class legislation; and, once secured are made grinding engines of appropriation and of exclusiveness, through the formidable might of vast aggregations of concentrated capital Step by step the monopolized creature of legislation becomes master of it's creator, the government, till 1t Is now conceded that we are virtually governed by the giant monopolies of the land-the nominal government being only such by courtesy; Our real masters in this country are the great monopolles that stand between us and the right to attend to our business wants in our own way. Welding vast ar nories of capital, and being masters of the means of transportation and exchange these monopoly crowned dictators arrogant ly deny to the public the choice of their own agents, methods, ways and means in commerce, and exercise despotic preroga- tives, which, if attempted to be exercised by the government, would provoke civil revolution. .--. ..-.sH.
 The consciousness of who our real mas ters are and how they exercise their power, has already provoked spirit of indigna- tion and revolt among all classes of the American people. Socialism-which is an effort to unseat these monopoly giants, by putting the leading concerns of commerce and exchange under the control of the general government-was secuted at, fif- teen years ago, as utterly opposed to the American idea. But the aggressions of the great railroad, telegraph, petroleum and food monopolies have since become so scandalous, that large portions of the American people have been driven to favor socialistic views, and the scheme of dethron ing our great commercial monarchs-by taking their macniuery under government tai control-is now openly advocated by several of the leading statesmen, jounal ists and clergymen Of the land.-HENRy APPLETON.