St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-01
OCCUPATION AT HOME.

From what the news report tells
us Of the operations Of the anthracite
coal powers. and the railroad COM
panies that carry their product to mar
ket, there Is excellent occupation for
all the activity Of our government at
the present moment in doing justice to
its people without going several thou
sand miles away to find one. Next
after light, air. and earth to stand
upon, as a common necessity Of life,
supply Of the form Of this commodity
known as hard coal has been estab-
Gshed; and, to make it the more COM
pletely irresistible, there have been
taken in, as partners in the transaction,
the common carriers without whose aid
this coal cannot be marketed. They
have now been holding solemn con-
clave to decide for the next year upon
what terms they will permit those peo-
pie to live who inhabit climes where
fuel is a necessity, and those industries
to be pursued which cannot be carried
on without the use Of anthracite coal
They have settled this trif1ng mat
ter among themselves, regulated the
output and the freight charges, d.
vided the business on a percentage
basis, and disbanded with as little re-
gard for the popular interest in the
transaction as any monarch ever had
"a Of hi
serf.
The most curious thing about this
business Is not the grasping greed Of
the corporation or the subservience of
its victims, but the fact that the whole
transaction from beginning to end is
as contrary to actual law as it is to
abstract morality. There is not an
Item Of it that is not in fragrant de-
fianoe of local or general statute. or
both. 1t is Illegal for the coal-carry-
ing roads to have a share in the coal
mining business. It is illegal for any
combination representing either rail-
road traffic or coal mining to enter
into an agreement of the kind referred
to, which is obviously for the establish
ment Of monopoly and in restraint of
trade. This is against one of the most
fundamental principles of the common
law. 1t is against the law of the states
In which these companies operate 1t
is against the law of the United States.
so, as we have said, every act in this
great conspiracy by which the daily
life and expenditure of millions of
the people are to be governed arbi-
trarily from without and the cost of
life, to certain extent, fixed for them,
has no other or greater sanction than
the act of the man who stops Won on
lonely highway and, with leveled re-
volver, demands your money or your
life.
1t Is the most scathing satire on
both our alleged system of free gov
eminent and our imagined advance
In civilization that cabinets should be
busy working out Monroe doctrines,
and members of congress should be
pouring out their sympathy with Cuba
until the house of representatives needs
an extra sewer to carry off their tears.
and white-haired senator's are declaim-
ing about a hypothetical injury that
was done to somebody by an act passed
twenty years ago, at the same moment
that fearless monopoly lays it's hand
upon the home life Of almost every
man in this country, and in defiance of
the moral law and the common law and
the statute law, and without fear Of
any state or federal official before it's
eyes, levies the tribute of the free
booter.
That is the kind of government under
which we are living, and it is a burn
ing shame and disgrace to the Amer
lean people that such a thing could
happen or be tolerated for a day. We
do not care whether it is a Repub-
lican or Democratic or a Populist adj
ministration, local or national, that is
accountable for this outrage It is one
Of those final burdens which, when laid
upon the backs Of the people, cause them
at last to rise In mutiny against un-