The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-04-01
THE CONFERENCE.
The Preamble to the Platform and the
Declaration OF Independence.

| me rreambIe to the Platform and the
| Declaration OF Independence.
The Industrial conference which
convened in St Louis on February 22nd
| IS part OF history. and we may say
| 1t has frightened up the pages of the
present In no wise were we deceived
as to the result OF that conference, I'M
less 1t was our hopes were notsanguine
enough OF perfect harmony. The pro-
ceedlngs tell a wonderful tale. The
quill OF the opposition press has grown
nervous and politicians stand dumb
founded that so many industrial organ
izations representing the interest of
every class of producers, including the
city mechanics and farm laborers,
should come together with such fra
ternal greetings and sing of their dis
tress in such harmonious tones. Plu-
tocracy prayed for the seeds of discord.
which, If sown at all, fell by the way
side Or upon stony ground
AS to the platform. the preamble is
a most powerful indictment of present
injustices. equaled only by the declar-
alton OF independence of 1776. The
finance plank was somewhat modified
for the better. we think. says the
Ioller. The transportation plank was
changed in obedience to the demand
OF the inevitable; it now takes an adj
vanced step, soon to be follow ed by
the clamoring masses 1t has been
the correct theory, but forced to await
It's opportunity as presented bv educa-
ton. Thomas Jefferson is the best
authority that all institutions intended
to serve the public should be owned
by the government The government
SHOULD obtain. by judicious method.
the railroads and telegraph lines of
the country and operate them as sys-
tematically as it does the postal sys-
tenn. Let the employees be disfran-
as are the members of the army
and navy, and it will not form a com
blne behind an administration. 1t will
prove much better system than the
present, by which the giant monopo-
les have vast hoard of employees |
armed with ballot to form combine |
1t their backs. The advantage is very
apparent and nothing short of owner
ship Will cure the abuses of discrimi-
lation in freights
The cause of reform in the South
Won quite a victory through the gen
'rous concessions of the Northwest on
he points of woman's suffrage
md prohibition. Many Jealous advo-
ates of these ideas were willing to
Omit that finance, land and transport
alton had the right of way, and that
he chances of these great reforms
hould not be retarded by side issues.
ome who were over Jealous in the
ause pushed the fight into the coun-
H. where the overwhelming majority
aid keep in the middle of the road"
Some thought it wise for the confer
nee to declare for the Peoples party,
ut abandoned their plan when the in
was shown. The mass I
leeting. which convened upon the ad-
)urnment of the conference, while it {
ound no organization nor Individual
Ill have wonderful effect upon the s
ountry. F.,
Upon the whole the conference I
romises to prove the beginning of a t
nlted and determined effort to rid our '
'untry of all blood-thirsty monopo-
es 1t points its finger backward to t
lie abandoned precedents of our faith I
IS and forward to the gaping abyss
cross our country's pathway. The t
atform makes its own appeal to un- c
ased intelligence, and for this reason t
g may hope to see a mighty uprising n
I'd a wonderful protest registered at o
e ballot box in 1892.