The advocate., 1891-07-08
ALL ARE IN THE SANE BOAT.
Continued from third pdGe.)

They work men, it is said, ten, twenty
thirty, forty or fifty hours at stretch, Of
suits their own sweet will and pleasure
until, in some cases, engineers and con-
ductors are too much exhausted 70 be
proper custodians Of a train. Many lives
and much property have been sacrificed
by the inability Of men to keep awake
The corporations do not drive men to
their tasks with whips, shOtguns and
blood hounds, but through hunger, dis
tress, lack of fair wages for fair work,
and threats of discharge. That Is the
millionaire treatment Of employees. On
the other hand, as described by Mr..
Garfield, in June, 1884, "These modern
barons, more powerful than their mill
tary prototypes, Of the middle ages, own
our greatest highways and levy tribute
at will on all our vast industries"
Senator Window, In an official report
to Congress in 1874, described our pres
ent masters and oppressors as follows:
In matters of taxation, there are to-day
four men representing the four great trunk
lines between Chicago and New York, who
possess and do not infrequently exercise
powers which the Congress Of the United
States would not venture to exert. They
may at any time, and for any reason salts
factory to themselves, by single stroke of
the pen, reduce the value Of property in this
country by hundreds Of millions Of dollars.
An additional charge of 8 cents per bushel
ON the transportation of cereals would have
been equivalent to q tax Of $45,OO0,O00 on
the crop of 1873. No Congress would dare
TO exercise so vast power except upon
necessity Of the most imperative nature,
and yet these gentlemen exercise it when-
ever il suits their supreme will and pleas
ure, without explanation or apology. With
the rapid and inevitable progress Of Consol-
idation and combination, those colossal or
ganizations are becoming daily stronger
and more imperious. The day is not distant,
il it has not already arrived, when it will be
the duty Of the statesman TO inquire
whether there is less danger in leaving the
property and industrial interests of the
people wholly at the mercy Of few men,
who recognize no responsibility but 20 their
stockholders, and no principal Of action but
personal and corporate Rgrandizement,
than adding somewhat to the power and
patronage of the government directly re-
sponsible TO the people and entirely under
their control.
In all cases they act on the robbers
rule when he sets out to get rich by his
calling. From the laboring men who
operate the roads, the corporations re-
quire all that flesh and blood can stand
(and more) at the lowest living or starv-
ing wages. OF the public they require
"all that the traffic can BEAR" regardless
as TO the financial embarrassment, the
loss Of homes or the means Of life, by the
individuals who compose the public.
Now, the question occurs about this
way: Suppose the farmers and the gen.
eral public, on one side, unite for mutual
self-protection against the corporate
barons who operate the roads for the
millions and billions they make at the
business. Suppose we require that
workingmen be paid better wages, and
have shorter hours as well, so that there
will be more men at work and more
money to spend In the channels of busl-
ness. That will mean better prices for
farm nroducts and mora activa trada for