People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1896-09-03
WELLINGTON COUNTY, KANSAS THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1906

1uC hdll IL SlCh dG utdIU DeCduSe
Judge Ray and Ed. Hackney told the
people at Argyle that the railroads Of
Kansas are arrayed against the POpu-
lists and were trying TO coerce or in
timidate employees to vote the Repub-
liCan ticket. Ray and Hackney tell
Us that they made no assertion that
either the Rock Island or Santa Fe
had posted notices warning their men
how to vote. That was a creation Of
andy's fertile imagination. 1t comes
with bad grace from Republican
paper to be kicking at such things.
1t is notorious fact that the cOrpOr-
atiOns Of this country are straining
every nerve to sOlidify the vote Of
their employees for Mckinley and the
Republican state administrations.
We do not know thatit is any use to
particulariZe the Rock Island and
Santa Fe. The Rock Island showed
where its heart was when it passed
the Republican delegates to the state
convention. 1t no doubt did the
same in other counties as it did here.
But all the railroads and corporations
are against US, Mark Hanna was in
Chicago about three weeks ago. The
associated press dispatch of Aug. u
says that
AFTER looking through his mail he
took carriage and drove around to
see the big manufacturers, merchants
and employers of many men. He is
reported as saying that the best way
to reach the great armies Of voters
and wOrkingmen is to consult with
those who employ them"
Mark is an employer Of labOring
men himself, and the organized
unions Of Cleveland say that he has
done all he possibly could to break up
the unions. He looks upon labOring
men as mere machines, living only by
suffrance Of their employers; hence
his mission in Chicago. To such an
extent has this thing run that Har-
per's Weekly Of August 2S, very
rabid gold paper, has called a halt.
1t says:
"TheSe cOrpOr ltiOnS mean well; out
their plan to induce their men to
vote the right ticket is not to be
commended for several excellent
reasons. It's utility is doubtful, it
tends to the establishment OF a bad
precedent, and it looks very much
like an attempt at coercion, which is
not to be tolerated on any ground.
Working men naturally object even
to apparent dictation from their
employers in political matters.
Officers Of certain large corpora
tiOnS, such as the Boston and Maine
Railroad, and the Yerkes street rail-
way line in Chicago. have wisely re-
fused to follow the example of some
Of their impetuOus friends. and one
Of them has lately explained his
reasons frankly. He has learned by
experience that employees Of corpora.
tions are frequently inclined to vote
the other way when their employers
attempt to give them political ad-
vice.
'"The duty Of every American mer-
chant, manufacturer, aud investor is
none the less to do all he can for the
success Of the honest money ticket,
but he will be wiser, il he is an en-
plOyer OF labor, to give what money
he can for the distribution OF whole
some campaign literature through
the proper channels, rather than to
make Mckinley or third ticket voters
Of his employees by direct appeals,
which may be regarded with suspi-
cion, and thus do more harm than
good. 1t is a matter, Of education
but in this campaign the corporation
officer cannot safely pose as school
master. Ifhe does his own plain duty
as a citizen and a patriot, he need
not fear the result"
And we have reason to know that
reaction has set in among railroad
men already. They have overdone
the play, and laboring men are dis
gusted. They are jus: as much Amer
ican citizens as their employers and
will vote to suit their own ideas.