St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-06

boldly defy the laws. Try to imagine the
distress and lingering misery, ending only
in death, brought about by the insatiate greed
of the coal combine in this country. Think
for one moment of it's honest competitors who
have been crushed to the earth by it, the ruin
ed fortunes, the blasted hopes, the long years
OF poverty through which they must drag
themselves and their families before death
comes to their relief But this is by no
means the most narrowing side Of this sad
picture. Think of. the&thousands of .misera-
bly, poor. destitute, half-clothed, half-starved
and utterly wretched human beings, huddled
together in novels and tumbledown tene-
monts in our great cities, who are literally
dying from day for lack of means to buy even
the little coal necessary to produce warmth
sufficient to keep animal heat in their poor,
emaciated bodies, which the greed of the
"coal barons," or sultans, has placed at
price entirely beyond their reach.
This is no fancy sketch, but is simply true
picture of real life, suffering and death, for
which our own sultans are largely respons-
ible. So pitiable is the condition of these
poor people and so extortionate have become
the demands of the coal men in dealing with
them, that in some of our large cities, notably
In New York and Philadelphia, citizens of
means have opened coal yards, in some parts
of the cities most densely populated by these
impoverished people, in which they retail
COAL in any small quantities desired, at the
same rate at which it is sold by the ton. For
instance when coal is worth $4 per ton net,
five cents will buy twenty-five pounds. While
this alleviates the situation of a comparatively
small number of the distressed poor and is
most praiseworthy, 1t is an alleviatton only,
and does not strike at the root Of the evil.
Now, unlike the Turkish sultans, the Amer
ican sultans are smart, and, being fully
aware that, while they are rapidly rolling up
their fortunes high in the millions, they are,
at the same time, bringing misery and death
to hundreds and thousands Of their fellow
beings, and, knowing that 1t will not do, in
Christian country, to allow Christian pastors
and professional educators to hold them up
to the deserved eXecration of their fellow
citizens they have hit upon a very effective
method of closing the eyes and sealing the
lips of the great mass of these worthy gentle
men. The shrewd method adopted by them
is to become the patrons and benefactors of
various churches and educational institutions,
and out of the abundance of their millions,
which they have wrung from the blood of their
victims, to donate some comparatively small
portion to these institutions. This mode of
procedure is most effectual, for it not only
prevents all censure of the sultans, but turns
what should be execration into commendatton,
for these favored pastors and educators hold
them up for the admiration of the youth or
the country as men whose examples are wor-
thy of emulation. The writer can readily
imagine that the sultan of Turkey entertains
the most profound Indifference for the execra-
ton which has been heaped upon him, by the
so-called Christian world, for some months
past but supposing him to have cared for and
foreseen 1t, he could readily have warded 1t
off by adopting the effectual methods Of the
American sultans. 1t is in omitting to do this
wherein he shows that he is not smart,
cd fhaf hn least
what Christians think or say of him. When
the Armenians or other Christians become so
numerous, in certain districts In turkey, as
to overshadow the Turks, and, by being in
the majority enabled to secure some positions
of petty authority In districts inhabited by
both Turks and Christians, the sultan has
'short sharp and decisive" way of reducing
these majorities to minorities. When the
councillors of our own sultans become an
moving to them, and by their activity and
energy encroach upon the profits OF the com
bines" the sutans simply issue their edlcts
to crush them out, which, when carried out,
result in their bankruptcy and ruin, and In
numberless instances, in years OF poverty and
suffering for themselves and their families
Doubtless many of the victims and others be-
fore mentioned would prefer If they had the
choice, the Turkish rather than, God save the
mark! the Christian method. These thoughts
were "evolved in the inner consciousness OF
the writer some months ago, but so modest
have we become about any exhibition Oh the
nude" that the recital Of the naked truth,
especially about the devious methods of any
rich and powerful corporation, is now almost
unknown. A plain statement of the facts is
the following published in one of our city
papers on March 2, 1895:
New York, March Rev Thomas Dixon
Jr. preached today in the Academy of Mu-
sic and in a prelude to his regular sermon
mi combine.
attorney general he said has announced
that he has no power to Interfere with the
combine because the laws as they are now now
framed did not give him the authority. This
was true and the attorney general could
not very well be accused of favoritism. I'm
der the laws it was impossible to prevent
the price of coal. The result will be that
people will starve for want of heat, coal be-
ing as essential as water. Factories will
stop that cannot afford to pay the proposed
increase of 40 cents a ton, people will be
thrown out of employment and the people
will freeze
The members of the coal combine are guilty
of murder he said, just as much as If they
had driven daggers into the hearts Of their
victims. The men who have gone into this
combine, he added, have gone into 1t for the
sake of the dividends. for the money there
is in it, regardless of the necessities Of the
people.
The moral Of all this is, that it is un-
doubtedly true that protection" is sadly
needed In this country, but not the Repub-
lican high tariff sort, which would result in
such legislation as would practically ex
emplify what seems to be the Republican
ruling idea, namely: "to make the rich
richer and the poor poorer" The rich cor
porations are amply able to take care of
themselves, and do not need special legisla-
tion to help them roll up their millions, but
the mass of the people, whose great anxiety
and struggle is for "the human necessity of
daily bread" do want protection against the
growing encroachments Of powerful combines
and trusts, whose aim seems to be to increase
the burdens under which they are already
staggering. Their only hope is in the Demo-
cratic party, which aims at such legislation
as would result In a practical exemplication
of its ruling idea, namely: "for the greatest
good of the greatest number Memo.
st. Paul. April 8, 1896