The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-20

ana the seekers after them is the in
SEPARATION of those who announce that
no new charter is needed. The expos
ure of their motive will but add zest
and earnestness to the advocates of
reform
"IT DOES THEM GOOD TO HOWL"
Just the minute the lumber wholesalers be-
gin to talk Of advancing prices from the
ruinousiy low notch wn-cn rrev Il.
resting for the past three or four years,
great howl at once goes up from the public
and the lumber barons are roundly u,-
nounced as thieves and robbers, stealing from
the people with the aid of tariff. pretty
general advance of so cents a thousand has
recently been made, on dimension especially.
and the people are now howiing. 1t does the
people good to howl once in awhile. 1t acts
as a safety valve and lets off the sur IL
steam. that otherwise might prove danger
oUs.--Mike ssi
All during the spring months the ex-
changes that came to our table from
this and the adjoining Western states
contained frequent mention of the sur
prising movement of lumber from the
yards to the farms. Never before did
farmers at this season or any other buy
so much lumber. Usually lumber pur-
chases are made in the fall and winter.
after the crop is disposed of and means
obtained to pay the bills, but here we
have had them rushing out lumber in
the spring when the press of farm work
is greatest. The reason is not far away
Congress was engaged in restoring
prosperity to, among a few others, the
makers of lumber by putting a tax of
81 thousand on competing imports.
Past experience had taught the farmer
what that meant, and he was merely
trying to conduce to his own prosper
1ty before the lumberman had his in
nings. If 81 a thousand feet of increase
was a good thing for the mill men, he
reasoned, in his absurdly selfish way.
that the saving of it would be good
for him. The result is that the organ
from which we quote notes that never
before has lumber been sold so close
to the saws as at present"
But all farmers could not get in on
the ground floor and must buy their
lumber later after manufacturers not
only begin to talk about advancing
prices" but after the advance has been
made with promises of more soon to
follow. Others who need lumber in
building homes and stores and shops
in town and country find prices marked
up, and meet assurance that they are
going higher to meet lumber notions of
itxr k,,1 Il Y.J-
know that the increase is not due to
any such natural conditions as fix the
price Of wheat or meats or wages. but
because the congress of the United
States has interposed the strong arm?
OF the law between them and those
who would let them have lumber a
prices fixed by open competition. in
order that a few men who own the
stumpage may be so much richer. So
as the Lumberman derisiveIy puts it
they howl
When Jay Gould was asked by a
legislative committee on what basis
freight schedules were a. anged. he re-
piled that it was all the traffic will
BEAR When William H. Vanderbilt
was asked how some action of his svs-
tenn would affect the public, he replied
THE public be ID" When lumber
users find the price fairfield and make
protest they are told by this organ of
the barons that cit does the people
good to howl once in a while 1t acts as q
safety-va1ve and lets off surplus steam
that otherwise might prove danger
GUS" When the miners in all tha cool
regions learn that congress has raised
the tax on imports 81 per cent in order
that their employers could raise wages
above starvation level, and demand the
increase and strike against it's denial
they are met with governmental in
junction and Pinkertons and sheriffs
and denial of freedom of the common
highway. The miners are 'showling"
and their employers doubtless agree
with the Lumberman that it will do
them good to howl because it lets dan
gerOus pressure Of steam escape.
We also, but in another spirit, say
let them howl and believe it will edo
them good" They should howl because
the present and future conditions are
solely of their own making They sent
the servile congressman to Washington
who have merely done their masters
bidding. These did no "howling." They
went down to Washington and told
their representatives what they want
ed. Then was the time for the con-
sumers to howl, but they were dumb.
Little use for them to howl now; it
serves no useful end, save as it may
teach them that the right time to howl
is when congressman are again nomi-
mated and elected. We are sorry for
them, but their punishment is deserved
for their past neglect Sc '1et them
howl"
BISHOP POTTER'S SCOTCH WHISKY.
There is grief among the Prohibit