Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-03-21
SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Tho People Arc Ripe for Economic Revo
luton and Await q Moses to Deliver
Them from Bondage

luton and Await q Moses to Deliver
| Them from Bondage.
Multiplying signs bear evidence that
the people are ripe for an industrial
| and economic revolution and only
await the advent of political leader
who shall be wise enough to read the
| signs of the times and lead in the di-
rection the people are willing to be
| led. Millions of voters in the United
| States are now thoroughly imbued
with the principles of socialism, but
most of them do not know it, while
| those who do are afraid of the term
socialist" and dread to align them
selves with party that bears that
name. Indignantly repudiating the
idea that they are socialists, they yet
believe in large proportion of So
cialistic principles and prescribe their
| adoption as remedial measures.
Only few years ago the few (of
| whom l was one), who were agitating
| these questions and advocating these
| principles in Kansas City, were re-
viled and ridiculed as anarchists and
cranks; to-day, SO completely are the
people of Kansas City in accord with
these ideas, the politicians in both the
old parties are endeavoring to outvie
each other in their advocacy.
No better evidence of the truth of
these assertions can be offered than
the platforms adopted by the two
| parties in the municipal campaign
now in progress. Thus, the republic
an party, in convention assembled,
said:
We believe that the control of public
utilities by the municipal government
should be administered as a sacred trust
for the people, and that public franchises
should not be granted to private persons
or corporations except upon adequate
consideration and proper safeguards, and
we point to the fact that the republican
party was the pioneer in the Inaugural
tion of the policy of requiring corpora
lons, as consideration of the grant of
public franchises to pay fair portion of
their earnings into the city treasury for
the benefit of the people.
We are opposed to private monopolies
and therefore favor competition among
corporations holding franchises for ad-
ministering public utilities. and the regu-
lation by the municipal government of the
charges fo- their use, and we further ia
vor the acquisition and operation of their
property and franchises by the munich
| pality wherever and whenever II shall be
practicable so to do.
We point to the record of the water
works department as a demonstration of
| the fact that with the merit-system ap-
piled to the service the administration of
public utilities by the municipality can be
made financial success at the same
| tice giving the people the best of service
And the democrats, not to be out
done in this direction were, if possi-
bic. even mCre explicit and outspoken
| in their treatment of these subjects.
They said:
We hereby reaffirm our allegiance to
| the tfme-honored principles OF the demo-
| cratic party of equal right to all and spe-
| cial privileges to none, and we especially
reaff1rm that plank in the platform of the
democratic city convention of 1898 which
declared in favor of the municipal owner
| ship of all public utilities, and pledge our
selves to carry the same into execution
In our Judgment it is now practicable
1or the city TO own and operate its own
electric light plant for the purpose of
lighting its streets. boulevards and parks.
which can be done al comparatively small
expense by utilizing the power plants
now necessarily maintained by the city
We favor full and fair competition in all
public utilities. and in granting franchises
in the future, to secure competition, we
pledge ourselves to see that not only
adequate compensation is paid the city
tHSitIOf, Dul lndI provision Is made for
municipal ownership, at the option of the
city, paying therefor the actual value of
the tangible property. exclusive of the
value of the franchise itself
Also, adequate provision shall be made
against consolidating, transferring and
assigning such franchises to other parties
so as to secure real competition and avoid
monopoly
We favor an amendment to the citv
charter requiring that If franchises are
TO be granted. they be submitted to the
vote of the people.
These expressions on the part of
both political parties, simply mean
that the people are so overwhelmingly
in favor of municipal socialism as to
make it impolitic and unsafe for a
party to go on record as being op-
posed to it. And this is only one of
the many straws which show which
way the wind is blowing.
Rev. Lyman d. Abbott is known all
over the United States as q level
headed, conservative man, of sterling
worth and is noted for his integrity
and purity of motives. He is not
spectacular or sensational and has
never courted notoriety or tried to
advertise himself into prominence.
He serves wealthy congregation and
all his worldly interests would seem
to be with the classes as against the
masses. In any event, he would prob
ably Indignantly resent the imputa-
tion that he was a socialist And vet
Mr.. Abbott, in recent sermon, has
declared that the time has come for
labor to employ capital, instead of
capital employing labor, and that the
laborer's only salvation from his pres
ent industrial bondage lies in his
ownership of the tools with which he
works and the capital he must use in
producing wealth and, as he explicit
ly stated, this involved the laborer's
ownership of railroads, mines, forests,
etc. This is the socialistic theory.
pure and simple.
Then there is Mr.. c. III. Burke. the
very able editor of the Farmers
Voice of Chicago, who has over and
again avowed himself an individualist
and has written many able articles i'm
contravention of socialistic communi-
cations received from correspondents.
From recent issue of the Farmers