The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-04-29
FREE PRESS MENACED
The Infamous Loud Bill AnaIyzed
and the Nefarious Purpose of
Its Author Exposed.
A GOLD-BUG SCHEME TO KEEP
PEOPLE IN IGNORANCE.

Should it come to the knowledge of a
respectable citizen that another man
were planning to rob an individual, it is
that citizens duty to expose the plot and
Illustrate the scheme. Much more so is
it his duty to utter a cry of warning if
he learns that body of men have con-
spired to rob the nation. This granted
and none save the henchmen of Roths-
child would deny it, deem it my duty
to sound an alarm which will arouse the
people to concerted action against an
insidious attempt to curtail their liber-
ties and forge another link in the chain
which is fast being wound about their
independence. When Lucrece, ravished
by Tarquin, told her husband Collatenus
of her despoiler's crime and her enforced
shame, and stabbed herself to the heart,
the dagger was drawn from her bleeding
corpse by Brutus who so electrified the
Roman lords with his appeal for venge-
ance that they hastened back to the
Roman camp and would have slain that
lustful fiend Tarquin if he had not fled
for his life. Until that day Brutus was
known simply as jester.
Similarly, as a rule, jest in my writ
ings God knows the people need
some literature which will occasionally
bring back to their saddened faces the
smiles which monopolistic oppression
and financial fraud have almost Danish
ed. The subject-matter Of this article,
however is no theme on which to found
a joke, unless it be some such grim jest
as that which the people of France per-
petrated upon the aristocrat who upon
hearing that the people were starving)
jocularly inquired why they did not eat
grass. They caught that scornful, idle
scoffer and cut off his head; in. the
mouth of which they placed tuft of
grass, and then paraded it through the
streets of Paris on the point of pike.
The infamous thing to which | refer
is House Bill No. 1855, which was intro
duced by Mr.. Loud representative from
the Fifth district of California, on jan
uary %, 1896.
Before going into the provisions of
this bill, it is we'll to state that by act OF
March 3, 1885, all periodicals, including
newspapers, magazines and serials were
admitted to the mails as what is called
second-class matter, at uniform rate of
one cent a pound. This was done avow-
edly with the purpose of enabling the
people at large to enjoy cheap literature.
The outcry against the gold conspiracy
had not then arisen, nor was it fOreseen.
Now for the Loud bill.
First. 1t excludes from second-class
matter all serials, and raises the rate of
postage on them to 8 cents pound.
This clause is prompted by the fact
that several patriotic publishers are is
suing series of books exposing the ma
chinations of the gold conspirators; SUBJ
scriptions of which, either by the
volume or the yearly series, are taken by
reform papers, and the books of the
series mailed at one cent pound. Thus
the farmer and mechanic can get his
reform literature, fact abhorrent to the
hirelings of Rothschild and the Wall
street conspirators. Here it is we'll to
mention that these books can only be
sent by mail, as the news companies
owned by national bankers refuses to
sell such books, and book stores controll-
ed by or in debt to bankers are afraid to
handle them.
Second. That newspapers shall send