St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-07-04
CURE THE EVIL.
4 minneapolis Correspondent OF TIN
Street Car Strike.


Street Car Strike.
To the Editor of the Globe:
One of our leading citizens, speaking of the
late car drivers strike, said: Il think it is all
right to strike, but striker has no right to
interfere with the right of others to take his
place at lower wage if they wish" 1t seems
very much as though the speaker had no con.
ception of what the word liberty means. We
have been taught since our youth that the
Revolution of '76 was fought for no other
purpose than to give liberty to the people OF
the United States. If this is the fact, and we
can prove that strikes are inaugurated for
liberty on just as broad grounds as our ven
Grated revolutionary fathers fought for their
freedom, then We hope to hear less in the fu-
ture of the injustice of the strike; nay,
ii Is the Onl weapon to organize
labor and save modern civilization from ex-
treme riches, and poverty and decay. No
case can be cited in any country where there
has been any successful organized effort to
relieve the oppression of accumulated wealth
without the strike-the last person benefited
in England was the farm laborer and he was
the last to organize and strike. The principle
for which our fathers fought was not on ac-
count of excessive taxation, but that there
should be no taxation without representation
Now is there no taxation without representa-
ton in the case CT the car driver? The street
cars are owned and run under q Charter. an
the pockets of the laborers OF nation
flor no one but producer can nav
taxes, and yet we who boast of liberty and
education are blind and docile enough to be
bled by the ancient Gaping machine of
kings We hear every now and then about
the value of O charter of some street railroad
and in some cases, as IN New York, people
are willing to bribe an alderman to the tune
of 5000 to obtain one. If the charter is
such valuable property why do we not own
and run the street cars and get the profits to
apply on taxes and relieve the city taxation
to that extent, instead Of allowing these So
called railroad kings TO Cypress portion Of
the people from whom they obtain the right
to run ours through the streets? Every car
driver, by his right of citizenship, has as much
rights as any other citizen and by what right
those owners of q charter that can be an
uulled at any time by vote of the people
dictate in a manner that was not equaled by
the shareholders of the Southern states, that
q man shall not st down when it does not in
terfeT5 with his work. is something sublime
in its cheek. There IS but one remedy for
those continuous strikes against the street
car companies and their abuse of portion
of the people who grant them the charter and
that is to stop the taxation of the people by
the corporations without allowing the people
q representation. Let us examine the matter
and see how the people are robbed by the
charter, the ancient weapon Of kings
a few men Get their heads togetaer and con-
coct a scheuoe~t bleed the people. They
FIRST get money enough to bride eou neil. and
get charter generally year or tive before
the roau Il pay, so as to hold the right and
because 1t takes less to buy majority.