The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-04
JOHN LIID'S VOW
Continued from First Page.

lie lands shall be preserved and that the
squandering and ineffieiency In their admin
tstratton shall cease. We pledge Chat the
administration OF our system Of taxation
shall be so conducted that income-producing
wealth. franchises and special privileges shall
bear their fair share of the burden. as well
as capital employed in production, and labor.
we pIedge the people that the public inst-
buttons N this state shall be looked into,
and. II any ineffciency exists, that 1t shall
be removed; that economy shall be intro
duced, so that the money of the people voted
for their support shall be expended to the
best advantage. We also pledge ourselves to
such remedial legislation and administration
In behalf of labor the changed conditions
Of society demand at the present time. These
are some Of the pledges we have made to
the people.
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.
Now. my friends. at this late hour shall
not assume to discuss In detail these oues-
lions, but l want to say to you that tina
transportation question. while 1t may not
appear to you citizens of st. Paul with the
same force that it does to the farmer new
ertheless you are just much interested in
it. Things in this world have changed with
in the last fifty years. We are practically
living in new world. You have great city
here, city that we are all proud of-every
man in this state OF OURS And let me fell
you that II you were cut off from the rest
[ OF the state for two weeks you would suf-
fer great discomfort and inconvenience. I'm
der our present civilization there is not one
human being who Is self supporting-inde-
pendent Of his fellows The cities are depend
ent upon the country-the country upon the
cities. We would suffer discomfort every
day we're the interchange of commodities IN
terfered with.
I am not here to advocate especially the
cause of the country. I am here to advocate
| Justice to the interests of the country be-
cause know that in that advocacy I serve
the best interests of the cities. It has al
ways been my aim to develop better feel
ing between the people Of the cities and the
country, and to bring about closer rela-
tionship between the different factors Of
ciety. What is conducive to prosperity in the
| country Is conducive to prosperity in the
cities. What helps the farmer helps you, too.
In many sections of our state railroad rates
have been unreasonably high. By the decis-
ion referred to as the Steenerson rate case
1t is made possible in a legal logical and
American way to adjust these questions.
All that Is needed now is to have state
railroad and warehouse commission that is
able enough, honest enough and courageous
enough to apply the rules laid down by
our supreme court, and 1 tell you that II
shall be charged with the responsibility Of
the appointment Of this commission you shall
have three good. as loyal, as true, as able
and courageous men as the state affords
Applause.) Men who will not only do JUS
tice to the farmers. but do equal Justice and
exact justice to the capital invested in the
railroads as well.
Now, my friends, suppose 1t be true that the
railroad rates In this state are excessive on
grain or any other commodity that the farm
er produces. it may seem a small matter
to you. but 1t affects you as well as him.
Suppose it to be true that there is misman-
agement in the binding Irvine plant at Still
water. That may seem small item to you
but let me call your attention to the fact
that there Is probably upwards OF 10000, GOO
pounds Of binding twine consumed in this
state every year. 1t was worth last year
about or cents pound This year, after
the trust got It's work into use common
expression-it was worth 10 cents q pound.
That makes a difference OF upwards Of So, 000,-
600 to the people Of Minnesota. I say that
Encouragement o6 that plant means q great
deal to you The farmer doesn't bury his
money. He doesn't deposit 1t in the banks
as q rule-some few do. He spends his
money. This $2,000000. If. instead of going
into the pockets of the cordage trust, could
have been invested in additional comforts
for the farmers families, for new shoes for
the children, for new hats for the young
meant Just that much more trade for your
CITY.
/ simply refer to this as an illustration. So
with regard to freight rates. The producer
always pays the freight on the commodity to
the place where 1t is consumed. The farmer
pays the freight his wheat not only to
Minneapolis Duluth, or the seaboard but
If that wheat Is destined to Europe, he pays
the freight all the way. Our interests are
mn IIoI nI1r Rory g,,kA
| much as you laboring men are in your pros
| perity and success. If you are employed. II
| YOU draw good wages, you probably cannot
eat more than you do ordinarily for the
| people Of this country, thank Cod don't
| starve, but you can buy better grades of but
| ter and spread 1t on your bread little
| thicker and you can be more luxurious than
in hard times, and that produces a market
for the farmer. Now, there Is no denying
| that the interests of society are mutual
That you cannot do an injustice to one, with.
| out making every factor In society feel It,
| 20 I say, when we come here, as our party
| IN its platform has done, and claim justice in
! behalf Of the farmer, in the same voice we
| pledge justice to labor employed in this city
and elsewhere In the state. Why. my friends,
| there have been vast changes in civilization
| in the last fifty years. I'm the matter of pro-
duction there has been great Improvement
There have been vast improvements in la
| bor-saving machinery. We are equipped now
to feed and clothe and shelter almost the
| whole world ourselves If we could employ
| all the machinery we have and run 1t by
| the willing American hands we could proba-
! bly, supply all the civilized world right from
the United States. My friends, another prob
| lem confronts civilization, and that problem is
involved in this campaign. That is the prob
lem of a fair and equitable distribution of this
increased production resulting from the intro
duction of machinery and science in our in
| dustries 1 think the great evil today is
not the lack Of production, but because So
ciety as yet has not evolved fair and just
| rule for dividing this increased production
| between the owners Of the machines and the
| hands that operate them. We do not come
| here| certainly do not come hereto de-
nounce capital. Capital is as necessary as
| labor and the more peaceably they can CO.
operate, the better and juster terms that
they can work together the better for So
ciety. We hope to produce such conditions of
justice and fairness between capital and labor
| that they can cooperate without friction in
the future. Capital should receive Its fair
| whether employed in the shop or on the farm,
! to have it's fair share of the product resulting
from human invention. There is a feeling
| that there has been an unfair division; that
| although machinery, steam and electricity
| have been made to do our work. neverthe-
less the hours of labor9are as long as hereto
| fore. That is What Is causing the unrest
we read about and hear of and feel. Now,