The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-01-28
monitowof 11ilot.
THURSDAY, JANUARY %, 1886.
HE Milwaukee Journal publishes a

=
very interesting interview with Col.
Knight OF Ash5 nd, an intimate friend
Ano business. associate of Col. Villas,
III winch tina contest between the Pacific
steamship companies and the Post
MASTER ep eral receives some atten-
tion. Col. Knight, it is announced,
speaks TIE sentiments of Mr.. Villas and
ne sneds some light upon this subject.
ihoug'I any one who was capable of tax
ing az nnpre JUDGED view of the matter
coliifi easily see that the 100000 which
WIS refused 10 turn over to the corpor-
al' ons was simply so much prey which
If'o greedy oGes thought they would en-
counter no difficulty in securing. The
central, Union andSouth,arnP Pacific West
est Union Telegraph Co., Bell Telephone
20. and the Pacific Steamship Co. are
largely owned oy the same parties and
work together. The combination owns
the n. I. Tribune and has subsidized a
number OF other pa pers to mislead the
public III regard to the action of Mr..
Villas. Any newspaper man in the Unit
"a States aud particularly in Wisconsin
dld not need to be told this by Col.
Knight as copies of those papers attack
ing MIR. Villas and dwelling at length up
on the great disadvantages resulting to
business because of the action of the
PostmSster-General, have been sent to
every newspaper Office. The Pilot has
mentioned this repeatedly as very
suspicious circumstance and one which
should make the people pause before
condemnlnG public officer who had
the courage to invite the enmity of these
corporations.
Every one knows what the Pacific rail-
ways are, how they have bled the gov
eminent and purchased legislation favor
able to themselves and opposed to the
interests of the people. How they re-
fused to lay money advanced them by
the government, and had government
claims which were prior liens, made sec
ond to subsequent ones so that oblga-
tions might be escaped. Thurman and
Edmund fought them in the senate, but
the former was retired to private life
through the instrumentality of these
companies and like effort is being made
to drive E ,munds from public life. The
Western Union is one of the most soul
less, grasping corporations ever formed
and TIE most bIcc>ssful monopoly ever
established IL il tIGse corporations
which are running the country, drinking
its life blood and growing fat at the ex-
penso Of the public. They can subsidize
large papers which they do uot own out
right, to push their claims in plausible
way and make their evil appear good.
And everything is done apparently in be-
half of the people. The refusal of Mr..
Villas to give them $4,000 is made to
appear as an injury to the people and he
is denounced as an enemy to the public
because he keeps the fingers of these gil
ant corporations out of the public treas
ury. When corporations descend to
demrgoguery they are particularly dan
gerous.
The people should stand by Mr.. Villas
in tlis matter. Ordinarily The Pilot
would much prefer to SEQ General Bragg
in The U. S. Senate, but on this issue, if
it be made one, it is for Villas against
any man, as he who dares fight a copper
alton should never be deserted by the
people.
Col. Knight says Mr.. Villas is 10; q
candidate for the U. s. senate and that
he has never been au Office seeker. He
weakens the force of his whole interview
by this statement as it will not receive
belief. No democrat could be seeker
for Office worth the taking in Wisconsin
since Col. Villas was eligible. Every
democrat "who went on the ticket sac
rificed himself for the benefit of the party
and knew he was doing SO. This Col.
Villas studieusly avoided and it was this
nnwiliingness on his part to make any
personal sacrifice which to-day consti-
tutes his chief element of weakness in
this state. When the party was in a
position to offer something worth the
acceptance, the Colonel's reluctance in
stantly vanished. 1t was pleasure to
Col. Villas to deliver political speeches
and these in political campaigns. for this
reason. can hardly be looked upon as
party service, imposing hardships willing
ly endured for the party's good. 1t is
not Mr. Was nature to welcome a po-
litical contest the issue of which is I'M
certain, but the people of Wisconsin may
rest assured he will cheerfully accept the
work of his friends and not decline the
u. S. senatorship if it is in the power Of
his party to offer it to him. If the cor
porations continue TO fight him and he
shows no disposition to yield to their
dictation, he will have made ample
amends for his former selfish inertness
and be Justly entitled to any gift in the
hands of the people. The more such
papers as The n. Y. Tribune, srraigning
him for his action in this matter, are
gratuitously distributed among the peo-
pie the clearer the duty the people owe
him, and it should be paid as reward
for good service to the people and
warning to monopolies which consider
no interests but their own.
A MAN named Cowles shot his mistress