The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-07-16
NOTES BY A POPULIsr.

Every man ought to be provided
with opportunity to "a a comfortable
living; and no mar should enjoy a bet
ter living than he honestly earns, re-
CARELESS Of whether his father was a
bob or nabob, says the Hamburg Nll.)
Popocrat. Wrong; he should not be
provided with an opportunity" pa
ture has already done that; but he
should be permitted to avail himself
OF that opportunity, which the law now
prevents him from doing.-San Fran,
cisco Star.
"A hundred years ago u ancestors
mace a living for their families-and
they were not afraid of raising big
FAMILIES, either-by working ten hours
or so a day. Since that time their chill
dren have invented new appliances
that create, on an average, twelve
line as much wealth per day. There
fore If labor is twelve times as produc-
tive, and it is, why can not a laboring
man make as good a living in n hour
a day as his ancestors did in twelve?
Quite a nut for you to crack.-Appeal
to Reason.
The people feel under special obliga-
tons to Mr.. Benjamin Harrison for ap-
pearlng before the federal Judiciary in
the capacity Of attorney for a Wall st.
corporation to battle against three-cent
car fares. Mr.. Harrison has solved an
important problem and the spectacle he
affords of a retired chief magistrate
earning hic 1ivinc IN ~ o;~o r1io;+r. -
an industrious old age as counsel for
the Central Trust Company of New
York and the Citizens Street Railroad
company, of Indianapolis, is 1attering
to our democratic instincts.-Twen-
tieth Century.
Even the "best citizens of Boston
are becoming vociferously in favor Of
public ownership of street railways.
Perhaps the Boston Brahmins do not
know that his is a populistic measure.
Upon analysis Populism will be
oundt to be simply common sense. Our,
theory is that each human being has a
right to the products of his labor. To
secure men in this right it is necessary
to abolish m~onopolies which control
production n distribution and divert
into their own treasures the products
of the labor of the millions.
All monopolies should be operated by
the public for the public benefit; other
wise they will be operated by private
parties for their own private benefit.
n in the operation the masses will
be Obliged to surrender the products of
their labor without receiving an equiv
alent therefor.
h "best citizens as we'll as the
dangerous classes of Boston are learn
ing something, and, with their unriv-
aled opportunities may fairly be ex-
pected to learn more. The most prom
lnent OF the B~ostonese are advocating
the public ownership of street RAILWAYS
and why not? Every argument that
can pe o1ered In favor of public rather
than private ownership of streets will
be found to apply as we'll in proving
the justice and p~racticability of the
public ownership of street RAILWAYS,
No Bostonian would think of advocat-
us pAAVolo HiOuOpOly OF the city
streets, and it is equally absurd to
support the private monopoly of the
only practical means of travelling over
the streets.
Not a solitary law can be passed in
the interest Of the people but that It
is fought by the corporations in the
courts. The Indiana legislature ma sso,g
a three-cent fare law; conductors in In
~dianapolis refused to accept less than
five cents, and elected a number of mas.
sengers. A case is pending in the fed
eral court, and ex-President Harrison
is retained for the company. The only
way out is municipal ownership though
that would be fought similarly. The
broader remedy is Observation-Disclosures
ism, thus taking away from the courts
any other function than defining the
application of a law. Something should
also be done to prevent the federal
courts from usurping any Jurisdiction
they see fit.
The new Populist administrations in
Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota
all found the state treasures stripped
of the last dollar by Republican loot
ers; but the Republican press is entire
~ silent upon that phase of the sitna-
ton.