The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-08-18
PUBLIC.

-
chises is a high crime against democ-
racy. 1t is contrary to M spirit OF
republican institutions. It. is a city
granting a privilege to an individual
to enrich himself, usually at the ex-
lcnse of the classes least able to bear
It, the poor people. The hard-earned
nickel of the w-asherwoman and the
toiler 60 to make up the profits OF 3
street railway magnates. lie all those
who share this sort of profit under
stand the source Of their wealth.
want the ladies who wear diamonds
and the men who make gifts OF this
kind OF money to universities, hospi-
tails, missionary societies and churches
to be made aware of the source Of their
revenue
In granting, in giving or in selling
a franchise of that kind the city be-
comes a party of the crime. The So
cial distress in our cities. our states
and nation today can be clearly traced
to our dishonest business methods. It
is not corrupt politicians that has
brought disaster so much as corrupt
business men.
"The methods Of business have got
into our politics through every con-
ceivable form Of bribery and appeal to
the vilest and lowest passions Of hui
man life, with the result that we have
a country in which a few people are
wealthy, a few are in what may be
called circumstances Of reasonable
comfort, the masses are OF the verge OF
poverty and millions are in absolute
pauperism.
THE trust. the combine, the monop-
oily, are all legitimate products of the
same wrong system, and the futile and
abortive efforts of our. public officials
to get results from laws made to reg
ulate, restrain and control trusts Is q
striking illustration of the folly OF our
method Of procedure.
I'VE have built up a social system
in which we have assumed that it waA
possible that all might succeed, when
the very success of a few is dependent
upon and can only come from the fall
ure of the many, and it Is because l
see that a suicidal policy Of this kind
can lead to nothing but confusion
and c%onfounded" that l protest against
it.
Through close personal contact with
biting poverty the great mass of Tho
disinherited are coming to understand
the source Of their misery, the cause
Of their distress. They are coming
to see that u policy OF granting sps-
cial privileges in the way Of public
franchises, contracts and unusual op-t
%portunities for profit-getting to a few
is inevitably making paupers Of the
many, and u only salvation is to es-
tablish the purely democratic policy
in government OF considering the In
terest Of all the people as always ahead
of and superior to the rights of any
individual or set OF individuals.
I'm my short experience in public life
I have learned two valuable lessons.
One is that public officials are not as
corrupt as they are popularity supposed
to be; the second is that business Is the
poison that comes into the life Of the
public officials and seeks to corrupt
1t.
1T is somebody's business interest
to get a contract; 1t is to somebody's
business interest to get a franchise or
extension Of one, and the methods OF
business are too we'll known to call for,
any comment at my hands.
II know no better way to study the
municipal problem than for US to adj
journ to the city hall, where we will
come face to face with the municipal
problem as every official in this city
and every large city Of our country
sees it day after day. 1t Is the problem
Of the unemployed. Scores of hungry
looking men in whose faces are plainly
written the lines of hopeless despair.
And what special privilege or grant or
franchise do they ask? Only the privi-i
lege that is the inherent right of every
mantle right to work.
When this right is once secured and
the place where men may work is al
easily found as the place where a man
may vote. our problems will be solved.
for this is our municipal problem. It
is our national problem"
THE WAY THE PEOPLE RULE
The people rule in this land" you
say?
"Yes."
Then the people must be favorable
to the gigantic trusts that are robbing
them?
"Well-no, you see they
And the people decided to pay $780,
100000 for the Philippine people and
islands.
"Oh, no. Mckinley instructed the
peace commission to-"
And then the people declared that
the Filipinos were too barbaric to
govern themselves, SO ignored their
plea for self government, and thus
brought on the war
mo, that isn't the how. You see
Mckinley and Alger and Han"
And the people don't want the gov:
eminent to issue its own money, and
SO they ordered bills introduced into
congress giving bankers an iron clad
monopoly of the money business?
mo. the people didn't. The bank
ers caused those bills to be introduced
-confound 'em-but-'
And the people ordered embalmed
and rot refrigerated beef" for our SOL
der boys in Cuba, and then
No. sir; that was done by that AL
ger through Eagan. and if"
And then the people gave Eagan q
seven year furlough on full pay. and
then
mo, sir; the president did that, and
the people"