St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-29
READ TO REFORMERS.
Judge Thomas Wilson Makes
Some Telling Democratic
Points,
And States the Position Of
the West Before the Re-
form Club.
Cheap Rates to the Seaboard
Necessary to the West
ern Farmer.
The Use of Money in Poll
The Use Of Money in Poll
tics Becomes an Issue Of
the Hour.

At the Reform club dinner given IN
New York last Tuesday, Judge Thomas
Wilson, of Minnesota, spoke 10 the
toast: tissues Change, and Parties
Must Change With Them" He said:
s.In free government of intelligent
people, and especially in such an age of
progress as ours, new political questions
must frequently arise. And as the
Americans are hard-pated, practical
people, no party can long retain their
favor by appealing to its traditions and
record. The Republican party could
not have suffered such reverSes last fall
had it before placed itself upon the
right side of living issues and spent less
time in extolIing its past deeds.
''There is certainly an epidemic of in
dependent political free thinking that
looks to the present and future. Many
Of our people are studying economic
questions and not heSitating TO revise
their political articles of faith in accord
ance with their changed views. And
though this spirit of political infidelity
may not have reached the East. like
John Browns soul it is marching on.
While the majority of the people appre-
ciate the fact that our section of the
ested i'll tariff reform, and while that was
doubtless the most important factor in
the problem of last fall, it was not the
whole problem. There were other ques-
tons that moved our people-new issues
and these new issues so vitality af
fected the interests of the people and OF
good government that the Democratic
party could not ignore them without il
self being ignored.
s'DO not misunderstood me. The
Democrats of the Northwest do not
abate title in their devotion to the
Democratic party. On the contrary,
they insist that these new issues that
arise shall be settled in accordance with
Democratic principles. To illustrate
the necessity that the party shall meet
those new issues, let me refer to one or
two that deeply interest us in the West,
and that had their influence i'll the last
election.
Though our Mississippi valley is no
longer the far West, being over 1000
miles from the seaboard and the great
markets, its prosperity depends upon
cheap, equal and honest transportation.
1t is so obvious that cheap transporta-
ton directly affects the interests and
the value of the products and property
of our people, L shall not treSpasS upon
your time to speak of that. But that
this service should be performed
equally and honestly is nearly as essen
tial to US as that it should be eheaply
done. AS to what l mean by equally
and honestly performed, l may be
pardoned few words. Before the in
terstate commerce law was enacted it
was fast becoming apparent that the
smaller towns and cities and the bust
ness men of small capital must, unless
relief soon came, cease to attempt COM
petition with their larger and more
wealthy rivals. If the man of large
business, or living i'll large city, got,
as he did, more favorable rates than his
rivals, it was simply a matter of time
when the latter must fold their tents,
like the Arabs, and silently steal away.
Competition under such circumstances
was simply impossible.
..Goaded by such injustice and threat
ened ruin the people demanded relief,
and the interstate commerce act was
the result. That was intended to, and
if honestly observed perhaps would,
prevent such conSequenceS.B But, though
that law was so recently enacted, it has
been for some time felt and known that
some. at least, of the railroad eompa-
MES are utterly disregarding its provis-
ions. In the presence of such al alarm
ing assault on the rights of the people
and the law of the land, the Democratic
party could not refuse to interfere. The
railroad companies are not to be treated
as private persons or private corpora
TONS. They are too powerful to be
COPIED with by any single person. The
majority of the people of the North
west, believe, intend to treat railroad
companies with absolute justice, and
capital invested IN such enterprises
with as much consideration as capital
invested i'll any other industry. But
they will insist, and the Democratic
party will insist, that the interstate
commerce law shall be so amended that
any company perSistIng in Intentionally
violating its provisions shall be pun
ished. if necessary, by the forfeiture of
its corporate franchises Or corporate eX-
istence. They will not permit the
creatures of the people to defile and de-
spoil their creators.
Another issue with us in the West
for l sneak particularly of the Vests
the use of money to influence elections
or legislation. This is the deadly enemy
of equal rights, and stands III the way
of all genuine reform. 1t is idle to
claim that the ballot of the poor man is
as potent in our government as the bal
lot OF the rich man, so long as the rich
man is permitted to neutralize the ex-
pressed will of hundreds of thousands
of patriotic electors by his money. This
whole system should be by law cut up
root and branch, and the violation of the
law forbidding it by any candidate held
to work forfeiture of his office. This
evil is already becoming, L am glad to
say, an issue in our politics, and the
party does not deserve the name of
Democrat that does not aid in the re-
form of the people on these issues"