The representative., 1898-01-19

the roads by using them and are as
much entitled to consideration as those
who contributed to build them, unless
there is no equality of citizens before
the law.
If the court will hold that corpora
tiOns must take their chances like indi-
vidUals in business they would work for
those things which would tend to pro-
pie. Knowing your rights, if you fail
to defend them, you deserve still more
abuse than you have received at the
| hands of the corporations during the
past thirty years. Remember If you
| don't defend your rights no one else
will. If you pursue the course l have
| outlined the railroad companies, in my
| judgment, will tire sooner of disobeying
the law than the state will weary Of
compelling them to obey it.
| The fact that a district judge in this
| state has ruled that when an unsuspect-
ing, law-abding citizen purchases
|
| company in the hands of scalpers, and
| offers it for his transportation, the rail-
road has right to confscate his prl-
yate property and he is not entitled to
| demand the return Of his property as a
condition of paying his fare, while the
company is justified in maltreating such
citizen even unto DEATH providing he
contributed to the injury by his stub
boTnesS in refusing to leave the car,
pay his fare and not demand the return
OF his book, is now judicially estab-
iished. The highest tribunal in the
state. which should have been justly
designated the supreme fraud of the
state, has sustained the above
decision by simply stating that
such citizen should pay his fare or
leave the car, and not demand the re-
| turn of his personal property, it held he
! had his remedy in the courts afterwards.
! In view Of all this it seems to me that
! as the courts are at present administer
| ed any appeal to them is equivalent to
court held in hell.
There is another corporation or trust,
| desire to call your attention to, known
as the malt-house trust During The
last year | shipped some twenty thou
sand bushels Of rye and barley to manu-
! facturers and malsters in transit thereby
realizing in some cases nearly the Chi
cago prices at Lake City. This year The
same parties informed me that they can
not deal directly with me; they belong
! to the trust The malt houses and buy
| ers are nearly all combined under one
| management and one buyer purchases
their supplies instead of fifty buyers as
heretofore, thus making little or no COM
petition. | have always been opposed
to prohibition law, but in self-defense 1
have changed my mind. | would, there
fore, suggest that the next alliance state
convention insert a prohibition plank in
| their state platform. In my judgment
| the devil must be fought with fire.
Mr.. Rahilly presented a resolution
| calling for the appointment Of a COM
mittee of fifteen to demand more dras-
! tic legislation Of the next legislature
and pledging the members not to vote
| for any candidate for the senate or
house who would not pledge himself in
| advance to vote for these measures The
resolution covering the demands is as
| follows:
Whereas, The last convention of the
| State Farmers Alliance appointed a
committee of nine members to secure, if
| possible, the enforcement of existing
| laws for the protection of the farmers
of the state; and to formulate bills to be
| adopted by the legislature, then in ses-
sion, for the reduction of freight rates
on railroads by uniform cut Of 20 per
| cent on such rates; also to reduce pas
| senger rates to 2 cents per mile; also to
protect the rights of the holders of rail-
| road mileage books, and also to secure
| the establishment of scales for the
weighing of grain shipped at all stations
! in the state; and
| Whereas, The committee prepared the
bills in question, and submitted them to
the railroad committee of the last house,
they were refused and contemptuously
thrown aside without one word of ap-
proval from any member Of said COM
mittee; therefore,
Resolved, That a committee of fifteen
I on1,,ho SC Al,
chair and instructed to renew it's de-
mands before the next legislature; and
that the farmers Of the state are urgent
ly requested to vote for no man for the
house or senate unless he publicly
pledges himself, in writing, to advocate
| and vote for the said measures.
In Germany the government owns The
| Oh 60