The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-02-03

chance to % thar In many parts ot shss
country. Waye Becscse the railroads
absorb what should 20 TO tho farmer.
That Is. they make extorsienats charges
for fycsghs. New. dor't mean that the
railroads are causing al the misery. Bst
they are causing good share Of 1t. Out
West there are whole states that do moth
inS but work hard day ard night % pro
vide dividends FOR the railroads And
then, think OF the way they treat their
people Do you call IL justice for = man
70 werk fifteen hours for - week. and
he with = family 10 support. Take the
case OF these Brooklyn strikers say.
let them obey the Law, No violence. Rut
what about the ccmpaniess Must they
do nothing. Can they refuse to pay de-
cent wages. and BY their refusal plunge
the community into debt, and then. when
the soldiers 80 home. nothing be done
about Il? They say the law Of supply and
demand keeps down wages ! think the
militia have been helping to Keep down
wages In the last few years"
Is il not = very easy matter 70 report
Hetty Green's words she IL very IN
teresting sslker and very rapid one.
and she Is never afraid to say what she
thinks. She thinks Huntington and the
Onion Pacific people generally are .
pretty bad lot she. alone and unaiied.
has successfully defied the Western
railroad ring. She is fighting them now.
and proposes to make trouble tor them
even Il she has to appeal to congress.
She - very popular in San Francisco.
where mass meetings have broken oet
into deafening cheers ~ tho mention OF
her name. And she Is the richest wonsan
In America
Mrs Green was asked how she sup
posed present social tendencies would
work themselves out.
II think che said. ''that our railroad
power Is tho greatest menace We are
threatened with. II you doubt 1t. con-
slider the changes that have come with
the development Of the great railroads.
Before this development we had no multi
millIonaires. 1t 10 true. but We had no
grinding poverty. People worked hard
for . living. but then they got . living.
We did not have these terrible strikes
We did not have brakemen and railroad
hands living on S week. We did not
have railroad nagnates living In luxury
and controlling politics. We did not have
cities at the mercy Of corporations Now
Is this tho fault OF the locomotives and
tho cars? Are railroads . curses or
course not. but the railroads have not
used their power for the public good The
magnates have got control OF tina rail-
roads and are using Thorn ~ a means to
extort money. Now, NgHould change all
that II could am sure that II sorne-
body does not change 1t times will get
harder ana harder. People cannot long
go on shaving tor money to give tho ran
roads. So It will get harder and harder
Cor mon to make living. Their stand
ard Of life must be lowered Just - tho
standard OF life tor tho working classes
has been lowered by the policy Of the
railroads
Mrs. Green was very earnest In her
utterances and seemed TO speak from sin
cere conviction. There was = complete
pause when she had DONE
Then you think we are going to tia
dogs?" said one at last.
We will be going there until the de-
cent. honest people get their eyas
opened she replied. "And the peoples