Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1900-11-02
Especial Washington Letter.

Longer Scare.
Especial washington letter.
It is not in the coalfields Of Pennsyl-
vania alone that a trust is showing the
country how it proposes 10 treat those
dependent upon it for employment.
Grant, a suburb Of Chicago, has prac-
tically been wiped out Of existence by
the dismantling and removing of a
plant owned and controlled by the
electrical trust The 900 employees
upon whom $500 people depended for
support have been told that there will
never be any more employment for
them in the town Of Grant. The week
ly pay roll was $4,000.
With the dismantling and removal Of
the factory the employees are obliged
to look elsewhere for work. This
means that the merchants are left
without customers. Grant will short
~ become a deserted village.
This ability to curtail and deny en-
pIoyment at will is one of the most
alarming features of trust domination
of the country. A trust can give the
men at one of its branch factories only
three months work in the year If it
chooses. 1t a keep competing pants
idle so long that the value of the
entire surroundings is deprecated.
Then they can be bought up by the
trust at q merely nominal figure.
Workmen can be starved into accept
ing any terms Of employment that the
combine offers.
If an employee offends a full aedged
trust. he will have to get himself a
new trade or leave the country. The
trusts will blacklist him SO that none
of it's factories will give him work.
Mr.. Bryan in his speech at Indian
apolis before the National Association
Of Democratic Clubs pointed out that
the trusts are anxious TO have a big
standing army-not to control the In
dams, the fewer Indians the larger
the army desired-but to repress any
discomfort of w~orkingmen. Said Mr..
Bryan:
"Does the w~orkingman ask for more
wages? He gets a big standing army.
Does he ask for shorter hours Of
labor? He gets a big standing army.
"Does he ask relief from the black
list? He gets a big standing army"
A dozen reasonable requests of labor
were mentioned. and to each of them
Mr.. Bryan showed the Republican an
swer is a big standing army. And this
because the trusts desire it to control
discontinued workingmen.
The trusts are doing their best to re-
elect Mckinley and are making a great
display Of contracts having at the foot
a clause providing that they are void
in case Of Bryan's election. If they
were actual contracts. it is doubtful
if such a stipulation would hold in law.
The fact Is that the orders and con-
tracts are secured by trust agents,
with the understanding that they are
to be used merely for Republican cam-
paign purposes.
1t is perhaps a good thing that the
Republican party Identifies itself Sc
fully and squarely with the trusts.
Every man who votes for Mckinley in
this campaign knows that he is voting
for IN extension of the great power
already welded by the trusts. He
votes for n repetition Of the essential
features of the miners strike in every
trust controlled industry. He votes for
coercion instead of a free ballot. He
votes for the dismantling of prosperous
100000 H. Co., o-o,l;+o- ~ .r;ooo
on every necessary of life. He votes
for the impoverishment of the farmer
and wageworker.
The trusts are not to exercise coer-
cion as successfully as in 1896. In
stead of submissively promising to
contract, Void if Bryan is elected"
the wagon workers are collecting lists
Of trusts which do this. The names Of
the trusts are being widely circulated.
Citizens without regard to party are
making the only. protest which can
touch q trust. They are refusing to
buy goods manufactured by trusts
which coerce employees. There. are
many articles of trust manufacture
which are not absolute necessities. The
consumers strike the trust on a tender
point by this refusal to purchase. 1t
may dawn upon Hanna and his COL
leagues after election that q repetition
Of the tactics of 1896 is only making
Democratic votes. Then, too. some
manufacturing plants are promising
their men permanent idleness if Bryan
Is elected.
This is rather a stupid threat to make
to an intelligent people. Everybody
knows that no manufacturer who is
making money is going to close his
place of business because Mckinley is
defeated. The same threat was made
in 1896. yet after Bryan's defeat hun
dreds of firms went out of business.
The election of Mckinley could not
give them q day Of grace if they had
not managed their business profitably.
Hanna is disappointed to find that
the striking coal miners thoroughly IN
derstood his attempt to settle their
strike until after election. When the
operators. under Hanna's suggestion,
offered them a 10 per cent advance in
wages. the miners asked to have the
coo1o eir1od with tho upiop inst nc ia