People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-12-06
PEOPLE ARE ROBBED!
COMBINES A MENACE TO THE
COUNTRY.
The Managers Live Like Princes-Our
Only Remedy Is Complete Govern
ment Ownership of All the Of the
Country Railroads.

"N0 A"'Oi UhO COPlO party, DuG
am afraid of their railway policy"
When questioned closely they either
say, "If the government owned the
railways, and party once got in
power, it would be impossible to Dust
It," or, ut would bankrupt the gov
eminent to buy these roads, and place
such an enormous debt on their Shout
ders that they never could pay it."
Believing such people are honest, we
think we can remove their fears. In
the first place, taxation can not be toll
Grated without completely enslaving
the people. This is the case when cor
porations own and operate railways
for their own profit. A company of
men obtain charter to build, equip
and operate railroad from a state
state legislature, which charter grants
the rights and powers of eminent do
main, which no citizen can exercise.
Such corporation can condemn a
mans land, or right of way 100 feet
wide through mans land; by apply
ing to the proper court, have a board
OF appraisers appointed to value the
land The company pays the valua-
ton, the court DEGREES the company
the land, and thus they build the road.
This is exercising the right of eminent
domain, which is alone a government
prerogative.
All this is done under the plea of the
general welfare. The road is COM
pleted, meeting is called, not of the
people who are expected TO patronize
the road, but of the stockholders.
They elect a board of directors, who
elect each other officers, and fix their
salary. Upon examination, they find
that there are 100000 people tribu-
tary to their road, and they conclude
to tax them S11, 100000 annually. Per-
haps one of the officials will say: IF
you tax these people 81, 1000, 900 an
nually it will be such an enormous
profit on the money invested that the
people will see they are being robbed,
and rise in their Indignation and elect
men to the legislature who will revoke
our charter, condemn our railway and
demand that the state assume control
of it through ownership, to protect the
people"
At this juncture a man with wolfsh
eye and face rises and says: 81 will
explain how we can hoodwinll the pub
lie and collect the ST., 200, 900 tax all
the same. We will issue interest bear
ing bonds to each other for three or
four times as much as the property has
cost; place our salaries at very high
figure; set aside large 'sundries fund,
and when the fool people complain at
our salary, we will show them that we
are barely receiving a fair interest on
our money, when in fact we are re-
ceiving 400 per cent more interest than
the business shows"
The stock is watered till the annual
interest will cover what there is left
after paving our own and our friends
salaries, with the hope that the poor
fools never will see the cat, and their
slavery is complete and perpetual; for
just as fast as the receipts increase,
the stock or bonds are increased to alb
Sorb it. Some railroads in the east are
now stocking up to S115,OOO per mile
for this identical purpose. The only
way under heaven that people can
avoid paying these taxes is to live like
q prairie dog-neither buy nor sell,
nor produce anything for sale. Not
only this, but suppose Mr.. Huntington
takes notion to pension off his son
on to the state. Being president, he
calls a meeting of the board of direc-
tors, himself and two or three other
friends, by proxy or otherwise, vote
majority of the stock, his son is nomi-
mated for third or fourth vice-presi-
dent, and his salary fixed at $4,000
per annum. The order is entered on
the books of the concern, and the gen.
eral manager instructs the treasurer
of the company to honor the new-made
officers check for his salary, and the
young man HES off to Europe to have
a good time and to associate with his
brother lords and dukes who are like
wise public parasites.
AS result of this taxation without
representation, the farmers, who are
forced to pay these aristocrats these
princely salaries, take their boys and
girls out of the school house and drive
them into the cotton patch, there to
dig and sweat under a tropical sun
from sun up to sun down; wear the
pooest clothing, eat the plainest of
diet and drink tank water, all to pay
the princely salaries Of their new mas
ter, put over them without theirknowl-
edge ol consent. Every trunk railway
in the United States has a few such
lords and masters, and the people haze
no way to escape paying the utmost
farthing. No man worthy of the name
would submit to such infamies. All