The advocate., 1890-07-23

fused 10 entertain the proposition, but the Single
Tax men sent ont petitions 10 all parts Oi the
country % Do signed and forwarded tO Con
gfraH calling upon that body tO compel the
slperlnlDndent 70 gather the required iniOmh-
ton. The petitions rolled Into Washington In
such numbers and from 80 many different direC-
tOns that The members Of Congress became
frightened, and Porter, seeing that the House
WIS likely tO act iayOraby ~ The petitioners, atr
tempted tO sluelch the proceedings by declaring
That The work would require very largo Increase
ln the cenrs appropriation. iui this trick
failed, ami Congress, alarmed no the decided
language I'm which the resolutions passed by the
Farmers Alliance and other Industrial OrghnlAl'
lions which hnd taken up The ight we're cOuched,
passed u bill apprOprlalIug the necessary money
and instruCtng the superintendent % gather the
desired statistics. liut the British Tory no the
head Of our census bureau was not tO De- thus
beaten. IN ihe Information In regard % farm
mortgages should be given TO the public u would
open the eyes NJ the people too Wide for the com.
fort and welfare Of his masters, the protected
mOnOpOllSS, S0a little scheme WAS put up, An
Innocent looking little thing Il was, and well cal
Culated tO hide the true purposes Oi lts authors.
Questions ln regard 10 the mental and physical
defects Of the citizen were set down 10 the cen
sns schedule, Immediately preceding the qucs-
tlOns In regard 10 mortgages
Then the finishing touches were put on the
little scheme, and II was ready 10 work Every
monopoly organ IN the country began 10 howl
In the census blanks They kept II mp day after
day, and the people, especially the more ignorant
classes, who had no means NJ knowing what the
questions were, were worked mp almost tO the
point Of refusing ~ answer any questions What'
ever.
Finally Just n few days before the census TAX
Ing was % commence, the questions about which
such q fuss had been made, were published, and
opposite each NJ The questions WAS printed, "ROu
need not answer this, what were these ques-
tiOns2
Those relating to mental and physical defects,
and those tGldtiHO % mOrigdDCSi
II we mistake not the three leading dallles Of
this city, and nearly all the Chicago and Kansas
CITY papers published the list In thls way. This
WAS especially surprising 10 the readers Oi the
Republic, which actively supported the Single
Tax League I'm its efforts 10 have the farm mort
gage statistics Included I'm the census reports
and even went so far as 10 claim that u originated
the Idea. What caused It's change VI heart?
Not only were the lists published with qnes-
tlOns marked aS stated above, but some Of the
papers, through their editorial columns, advised
people not tO answer thCml And yet these same
papers are unsparlng I'm their denunClatlOn NJ
"laW breakerS" And they hold up their hands
IN holy horror, NglratVely speaking, no the de-
praylty Of the western settlers who resist "thc
law when 10 lS used by land grabberS and
mOnOpOllsts tO dlsp0sseSs them OF their homes.
out upon such hypOcrisy
IL looks like a deliberate conspiracy OF the
tools Of monopoly ~ hide from the people the
true condition OF affairs, and the great news
papers which have assisted In carrying out the
scheme should receive the condemnation they
deserve. There Is no excuse for their action.
even though the matter was paid for nc the
regular advertising rates, The people have no
means Of knowing that.
Already the monopoly newspapers are bhrOw-
Ing out casual remarks 10 the effect that Mr..
Porter says the farm mortgages Of the country
will not foot mp near what the people have been
led tO pXOpCt That the farmers really make "A
much better showing than he anticipated, etc.