The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-05-13

hold the city franchises-th street-car
companies. the gas and electric lighting
companies, and the various other munich
pal corporations which hold public fran
chises. Not all Of these are anarchists,
for some Of them attempt to respect and
obey the laws; but many Of them defy the
taxation and assessment laws and nearly
all the other provisions which interfere with
their selfish interests, through their owner
ship and control of aldermen, mayors, as
SCISSORS, comptrollers, city attorneys, and
even judges-this ownership and control
enabling them to defy the laws with impu-
nifty. These anarchists do not believe in
the public ownership and control of public
franchises, but they do believe in the cor
fc.als.
The other class OF municipal anarchists
is numerous in nearly every city in Amer
lea. These are the liquor, gambling and
general dive interests which do business in
defiance of he ordinances of the city and
laws Of the state. There is not city in
the United States which does not by law
prohibit the sale of liquor on Sunday and
after midnight, and any infringement Of
these laws Is made violation of the license
to do business. But through the weakness
or corruption of mayors and chiefs of po-
lice there are very few cities in America
where these laws are enforced. Sometimes
the liquor and dive interests subscribe to
the campaign fund and thereby purchase
immunity from the law, and sometimes the,
saloons, gambling hells and houses of ill
fame pay for their immunity directly by
money blackmail either to the city officers
or to certain bosses which control the ad
ministration. In the recent city campaign
in Minneapolis, for example, the Minneapo-
lis Brewing Company, according even to the
public statement of the Republican city
committee, subscribed $500 to the cam
paign fund. and what the 260 saloons and
the gambling and ill-fame concerns contrib
uted in addition was not reported. They
are all anarchists, and of the most corrupt
ing order. The corruption herein engen-
dered by these defiant interests weakens the
whole city government.
Finally, we have those anarchists who be-
lieve that the people Of the United States
are subordinate to Wall street and Lon1-
bard, and that the government of the Unit
ed States should bend to the selfish inter-
ests of the banking and bondholding class
These interests already, through the ty-
rannical act of Grover Cleveland, have
seized the bond-issuing power which accord
ing to the constitution belongs only to con-
gress. They use the United States treasury
department as gold collection agency for
business. They demand that the govern
ment should give up it's constitutional func-
ton of issuing money and they do all in
their power to thwart the government in
the performance of its functions. They
now propose, If they can get the political
power, to destroy $500, 900 of govern
ment money and substitute their own bank
notes. They propose to usurp the govern
ment's function of issuing money, and sub
stitute the anarchy of private banking and
BODYBUILDING control, in place of govern
ment control Of the currency function.
These are among the great anarchists OF
America They are serious menace to
government by the people in the United
States. Democracy is in danger. Blind
subserviency to the party machine, and
the supremacy of the tariff howl to the sup
preston of all live issues Of the day, has
made the government of this country in no
slight degree subordinate to the
selfish and corrupt demands Of these great
anarchistic interests. Democracy is in
danger from anarchy-corporate anarchy,
dive anarchy, the anarchy Of the liquor
power and the money power. The watch
word of every patriotic American from
this time on should be, Down with the
anarchist, down with the anarchy of pluto
cracy, the enemy Of democracy in Ameri-
Ca" F. N. S.