The herald., 1896-07-17
DUTY OF DEMOCRATS
BY ABBOT KINNEY

The principles of finance have never
been the creators or destroyers OF
nation. A currency crisis is only tenn
porary, and the disturbance of business
and credit, however deep, is of short
duration in the life of a people. A few
years at most sees readjustment and re-
covery.
Not so with the fundamental prin-
ciples of free government. The destruc-
tion ofethese is the death Of the nation.
The crisis that we have been coming to
in the United States is one involving
free government. Equal justice to all
men and special privilege to none exists
neither in government nor action on
tax-delegation land grants, bounties,
ETC., nor in the action of the creatures of
the government, our great corporations.
When few men can come together,
as in the case of the Standard Oil COM
pany, and by secret rebates in freight
charges absorb or destroy all oil produc-
erS in the Atlantic states and monopo-
lie this enormous business, 1t is time to
look into things.
The doctrine once admitted that a
transportation company can grant spe-
cial freight rebates, that make or break
a business man, there is no logical out
come other than that transportation
companies can own and control the
whole country and all who are in it. A
transportation company. with such a
power, can say to this man. You shall
become rich, a millionaire, by monopo-
lizing this business" to another man 1t
can say: You shall do no business" To
this town or city 1t can grant growth
and wealth; to this other, decay and
poverty. These are powers that go to
the control of men. If our corporations
may do these things, as they have done
them, as they are doing them, then
they will exercise these powers more
from day to day until America will live
by their sufferance. The managers of
our transportation companies are now
bribed to use this enormous power by
business men, where first these COM
panies used it for the benefit of an in
side ring, or to kill competition, or bribe
other interests to be their supporters.
The pressure is now from both sides to
do these essentially unfair things.
The granting of public franchise is
by the power of the whole people. The
grant carries with it the duty to give
equal justice to all in the service to be
performed. This is absolute in the
higher law. A deviation from the ex-
act performance of this duty voids the
contract between the people and the
franchise holder. The written law
should so provide. Every intelligent cit
izen in America must know that special
rates, special privileges and preferred
services are given by the holders Of pub
lie franchises. This is unjust. The re-
suit of this injustice and of protective
taxation, bounties and export draw
backs is the unparalleled growth In this
country of trusts and monopolies These
abuses have created the grand for
tunes of our Goulds, Vanderbilts, Hun
tingtons. Carnegies, etc If this con-
tinues what Is the end? What can 1t
be but the ultimate control of every
thing and everybody by a combination
of manufacturing and transportation
trusts? Either the people viii control
the trusts or the trusts will control the
people-there is no longer hope for a
middle course. The aspirants, like
those who have achieved a competency
and a home, all stand together in the
great middle class in this country We
have no millionaire Of the Gould or Hun
tington type or power. We are all small
men together, just plain citizens-noth-
Ing more. We stand like the great mid
die section Of our citizens In all parts
of the country between the trusts and
transportation companies on the one side
and the anarchists they have created
and are creating on the other. Citizens
of Los Angeles are between the upper
and the neither millstone-between abuse
and wrong on the one hand and the just
resentment these create on the other.
We can gain nothing by letting these
abuses continue A few.merchants and
shippers doubtless have special secret
rates and rebates here, but even these
stand with the rest of us to lose their all,
even life In the revolution that must
come If these wrongs are not ended.
The Republican party is In the hands
of the great privileged class Of trusts