The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1892-09-16
Government Control.

Three things which the government
should have sole control of are money, the
mails and transportation. AT present gov
ernment has partial control of the two for
mer. In the latter it exercises not vestige OF
authority. The reason government should
exercise supreme control Of these three de-
partments of our political economy is that
they are entirely public concerns, no person
or class of persons having interest or rights
in them that do not belong to all. The
genius of our government is a social COM
pact, acknowledging no political distinctions
or preferences above another person or class
of persons. The mails are entirely under
government control, and no one at this day
thinks OF turning the post Office department
over to private corporations, and had the
telegraph been kept in the hands of the gov
eminent as part Of the post office machin-
cry, no one to-day would agree 10 turn the
telegraph over to a private corporation.
Had not the postal service been made one
of the government institutions at the start,
and been allowed TO fall into the hands of
private citizens, it would he at this time as
great and oppressive a monopoly as the
railroads and would be in the hands of mo-
nopoly companies, and the same opposition
would haye to be met by any movement to
get it out of poration hands that confronts
the public in every movement TO rescue
from Jay Gould's monopoly clutch the
telegraph.
The telegraph is in its every feature a
mail system, an improved system for trans
hitting news, and in place of the people
having to place their messages in the hands
of corporation agent to transmit, they
should, like letters, be placed in charge of
an agent appointed by the government for
the handling of mails. This proposition is
SO PLAIN and sensible that none except Jay
Gould's agents dispute it, and but few of
them are fonnd 10 attempt to give reasons
against it.
The railroads have become the public
carriers of the country almost exclusively.
The people and their freight compose the
entire business ofrailroads. Other than this
there is nothing but lines of iron rails,
stations, engines and cars, which would
have no appreciable value without the peo-
pie and their property. And these consti-
tute The whole people, not part Of them.
Nothing could be more contrary to the letter
and spirit of popular government than that
the people-the whole people, not part Of
the people, with all of their movable prop
erty, should be turned over to the merciless
control of lot of corporations, largely con-
trolled by foreigners, who determine what
free American citizens shall pay for travel
ing through their own country, and ship
ping their goods from point TO point. The
people and the property are the railroad,
if The life and spirit of thing really con-
stitute that thing. Is there any sensible
reason that the whole people of republi-
can nation should deliberately turn them
selves over 70, and submit their property 10
the control and imperious will of a set Of
corporations? There certainly can be
fonnd no reason in common sense or sound
business principles for such condition.
The third and greatest of these corpora
tious whose influence reaches every man,
woman and child in the country, not liv-
ing soul of the GA 100000 persons constitut-
ing the present population escaping, is the
financial system of the country, The franz
ers of the constitution were careful to take
,l,o 10 not,, bot &c fba
nation, from individuals and the States and
vest it exclusively in congress or the Fed
eral government, but Notwithstanding this
positive provision, congress has trans ferred
this valuable prerogatiye, so carefully
guarded by the constitution, to corporations,
almost entirely. 1t exercises but a mere
vestige of this important constitutional
power, embraced in the coinage of such
quantities of gold as is offered for that pur-
pose, and very limited amount of silver,
such as will supply subsidiary coins. After
this the entire control Of the money is IN
the hands of corporations to manipulate and
gamble with at their will and pleasure. A
congress subservieut TO the money power
has deprived itself of the right 10 issue
paper money by delegaiing that right TO
national banks, which can at will contract
and destroy that peculiar currency placed
under their jurisdiction.
These three great elements ofour civiliza-
ton, on which society depends for anima-
ton, for social life, and without which
civilization would speedily fall back TO the
night and solitude Of barbarism, have been
shifted from the people, as organized in the
person Of government, and placed in the
hands and under the care of favored class
who are organized into corporations, which
are small personal governments within the
national government. With the preroga-
iives conferred on these three classes of
corporation, is taxing power that has no
limit except the inability of their victim.
the public, 10 bear.
This oullawery of common sense and
premium on greed and dishonesty, could not
be maintained were il not for the shackles
that custom and usage place on the large
element OF the public, called "conserva-
lives" This class, parrot. like, echo the
words placed on their lips by the class
interested in levying tolls on the public