Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-10-21
HARRISONS PLAIN WORDS.
Full Text of His Auditorium Speech.
Wall Street Sharks.

by the executive in behalf and for the
| protection of the people. 1t demanded
| that the money of the nation should be
| of such character and SO issued that
| the control of the national currency could
| be wrested from the hands OF the sharks
and harpies of Wall street: that the mon
ey Of the nation should be the money OF
the constitution. gold and silver coined
! at the historic ration OF &c TO l. under
| which the nation had thrived and pros
pered. CLOUD. LONG CONTINUED
| APPLAUSE AND WAVING OF HAND
| hERCHIEFSD
! Each and every demand OF that cour-
! ageous document had its underlying
! cause the dangers threatening the peo-
| pie from the Unsuitable exactions OF
monopoly Every clause was probe that
sank deeply and unerringly into the can
Ger spots that are eating into the very
| VitalS Of the nation, and the bowls of
rage and despair that went up from the
haunts OF monopoly and trustdom were
only so much evidence that the lancet
had touched the sore spots at the very
quick.
Republicans Pledged to Trust.
THE issues OF 1896 are the issues OF
today. cloud applause.) The Republic
an party has carried out its pledge TO
the trusts and corporations to the very
letter. Every whispered promise and
every written pledge has been treated
with the sanctity OF a sworn oath. Pros
perity has come. it is here today in every
part of the land. The steel trust. the
sugar trust, the railroad trusts the bank
ing trusts and all the stock jobbing and
people-robbing trusts are drawing usur-
ious interest on the advancements they
made two years ago to the high priest OF
ns tional honor and prosperity. They are
thriving today as they never have thriv-
ed before. They dominate in courts and
legislative bodies. and their representa-
tives sit in the antechambers of the white
house to see that nothing gets away from
the combination. The great local issue
now before the people of Chicago is but
one OF the many crimes the Republican
party has committed against the plain.
everyday citizen in behalf of the corpora
tioas. The Allen law merely shows the
lengths 10 which the Republican party
is willing TO go in serving monopoly. in
handing over the people. bound and gag
ged, to the tender mercies OF q great and
constituencies corporation.
Fifty-Year Franchises
Governor Tanner, even in the benight-
ed regions of Golconda, did not dare
offer word OF apology for that infamous
concession to monopoly passed by We
nal Republican !, gisIature and given add
ed force by his own signature, by which
the streets of this city We're to be hand
ed over as much useless trash 10 the
traction companies for the next fifty
years. He failed to make bare mention
of the passage of the bill. He forgot
TO state that two OF the most prominent
members of the local Iachine, each now
n candidate for Office at the hands OF the
citizens of Chicago. spent weeks and
weeks at Springfield. lobbying for the
notorious Humphrey bill and later on for
its no less Infamous offspring, the Allen
bill. He neglected to state that these
Republican statesmen. now candidates on
the Republican ticker, at about the same
time had sudden large accessions to their
bank accounts. which they were pleased
to ascribe TO their great good fortune in
specializing on the Stock Exchange. on
the Board OF Trade and at the poker
table. lie passed over as too trivial for
notice the connection pointed out by the
Times-Herald. Republican paper, be-
tween these sudden accessions OF wealth
and the passage of the Allen bill. nor
did he urge his candidates to answer the
very pertiuent-yes. even impertinent-
query. printed day after day by the
Times-HeraId in boId-faced type on its
editorial page: Where did they get It?
Importance of the Allen Law Issue.
The people regard the Allen bill
very vital issue in this campaign. They
claim. and that Justly, that the streets
of the city belong to the people. that no
corporation shall have practically per
petual lease of them and that no cor
poratlon shall enjoy their exclusive use
without paying into the general treasury
adequate rental for the same They
remember that stocks in street railroad
companies have advanced from par to
$50 a share without an equivalent being
seen a shrewd promoter take contract
on the stock of two of these traction
companies at an advance OF over 600 per
cent on its par value and borrow enough
money on his contracts to make himself
absolute master of the traction service In
two divisions OF the city. The people are
shrewd enough to see that this vast un-
earned increment OF value is nothing
more or less than the profits derived from
the possession and occupation of the pub
If~ ct Wi .
city is impoverished and unable to give
to its citizens the public conveniences
they should by right enjoy. Our people
know that even compensation OF 10 per
cent OF the SIS. 000. coo which constituted
the gross earnings of the traction COM
panies during the year OF 1897 would keep
the streets and alleys OF the city clean
and healthy and enable the city in some
measure to make such street repairs as II
Justly owes to its citizens. No corpora
ton has a valid excuse for e. franchise
extending over a period of more than
twenty years when the tendency in all
civilized communities today is toward
municipal ownership. or at least mu-
nicipal control OF natural monopolies.
And. knowing these facts. the people OF
Chicago are determined to make the Al
len law issue OF vital consequence
In this campaign
Repeal the OdIous Law.
That law must be repealed and wiped
from the statute books before its full
harvest of infamy can be reaped by the
corporations IN whose behalf II was pass
ed Let the people OF Chicago awake
to q full realization OF what the Allen
law means to them and bury under an
avalanche of votes every legislative can
didate who Is not fairly and sQuarely
and securely pledged to do all in his
power to remove this danger that threat
ems the honor and prosperity of Chicago
The War.
These are some OF the true issues in
the present campaign. issues which the
Republican party cannot and Will not be
permitted TO shirk or ignore. Let them
II they will mislead themselves with the
false hope that their candidates can
wrap the folds OF the American flag about
them and go on 20 victory the strength
-. hv h.