The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-04-17

Single Ieellug III common WlUl Cle
honest people of the State. Wishing
you all prosperity, / am truly your
friend. IGNATIUs DONNELLY.
New Nation:
Conspiracies to Rob tho Public.
T 1t is about time for the people of
this country to look the future full in
the face. Ninety-nine per cent of the
people own only so per cent of the
wealth of the United States. The
reason that the remaining one per
cent own the remaining so per cent
of property is because the ninety
and nine persist in voting and leg
islating wealth into the laps of the
remaining one.
We can neither look back nor go
back. Our business methods have
become so imbedded in our CONNER
cial life that return to the virgin
methods of individual competition.
undisturbed by corporation or CO.
operation, would be revolutionary
indeed.
There are those who still look to
Congress and the courts for relief.
Congress legislates and the courts
decree, but the trusts carry on bust
ness without interruption. Congress
assumes that an artificial raising of
prices by which one class of citizens
is benefited at the expense of another
is immoral and vicious, and the
courts rule that such conspiracies
are illegal. And yet the great
trusts continue to rob the people.
We now have it that the independ-
ent oil producers and refners of
New York have applied to Attorney
General Tabor to have him bring an
action against the Standard Oil
company of New York to forfeit it's
charter. This company belongs to
the Standard Oil Trust, but 1T is the
history of these antitrust crusades
that the victories over the ANAL
gamated interests are barren of re-
suits.
The trust during the last nine
years has exported $4,000, 900 in
oil, of which one-third is profit. It
has also sold for domestic consump-
tion 100000 900 in oil, at profit
of say so per cent. 1t can command
it's own price, because it controls nine
tenths of the oil industry of the
country. How can the courts Of law
disturb this ownership? The STAN
dard Oil has also arranged with the
Rothchilds who own the naptha mines
of Baku, to divide the markets of the
world.
But more than that. the combina-
tlons in the field of railroads, which
have OF late been progressing at a
tremendous rate, show more and
more the trust element. The various
traffic associations are irresponsible
bureaus to do the bidding of rail
road kings. Then, it will be noticed
that companies are multiplying
whose only function is to hold the &C.
curities OF other roads. This was so
with the Oregon Transcontinental
company, organized by q Northern
Pacific syndicate. 1t will be noticed
that the Pennsylvania railroad COM
pany controls what is known as the
Pennsylvania cmpany. The lat
ter buys stock in roads, which
the Pennsylvania railroad wants. to
control. If the purchase is financial
" q success, the railroad enjoys the
fruits thereof. If it is failure, the
Pennsylvania company, and not the
railroad, suffers. In other words, it
is q device to avoid paying debts in
case OF a losing speculation. Could
gambling go much beyond that? In
the regular, everyday gambling
games, the loser pays his losses; with
these railroad operators the public
pays, whichever way the wheel Of for
tune turns.
We may talk about the elevating
influences of manly. noble compete
ton until we are blue in the face, but
we cannot cry down the facts. A
few men, taking advantage OF the
liberal laws of the land, are swindling