Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-02-13
AGAINST THE TRUSTS.
[Continued from page IT.

Try. 1t mas gone on ana on creating
monopoly, transferring 1;'fhe wealth
created by the MASSES ihp6 the hands
of the few until today almost every
developed resource of this great land
is under the control of some kind OF
an accursed monopoly.
THAT little band of oil producers
gathered in Franklin in 1872, protest.
ing against monopoly, protesting
against special privileges; that little
band has broadened and just in pro-
portion as monopolies have touched
the other industries of our land, until
men of every state of this great ma
ton have gathered here at Chicago de-
termined that the wrong of monopo-
lies and trust shall be wiped off the
scutcheon of the republic.
The mighty power of right against
wrong, which shook the old state of
Pennsylvania in 1872 and forced the
repeal of the South Improvement COM
pany's chayser will shake the republic
of state in 1900. The mighty power of
the American ballot focused upon the
wrong of monopoly, focused upon the
laws by which special privileges have
been granted will wipe out the wrong
and purge from the statute books all
special privileges. Up from all of the
centuries, up from all of the sacrifices
of all of the patriots, heroes and mar
tyrs of the past has come this govern
ment of ours, based upon the doc
trine of the equal rights of man. If
we fail, liberty is lost forever. There
is no virgin soil, no nnbroken wilder
ness in which to plant the seed of lib
erty again as our fathers planted it.
But we will not fail. This govern
ment of and by and for the people
must not go down into that awful
night of an oligarchy of corporate
wealth. The old revolutionary spirit
is not dead. Out of it's long sleep it is
awakening with newness OF life, with
strength sufficient for the reformation.
| This American republic is founded
upon the thoughr of the equal rights
of man, upon the thought that every
little boy and every little girl starting
out upon life's highway might look up
| in the morning, the morning of life,
with knowledge that there is no place
of honor, prestige or fame which they
might not reach, that nothing but God
given advantages could stand between
them and the highest round upon the
ladder of human attainmenSs. But let
this trust monopolizing process go on,
and mark the change; then every lit
tie boy and every little girl born into
this land under the stars and stripes,
except favored few, will be born into
condition of human slavery, the
worst the world has ever known. With
every resource of our great land mo-
nopolized by capital, and man, man
made in the likeness of God, chained
| IN no En1, III
of monopoly is feeding upon his vitals.
God forbid that my children or their
descendants shall be subject to such
conditions as this. God grant that the
| children of America shall not be sub
| ject to such condition as that.
snow what is the remedy? In my
opinion one of the most important
remedies is the national ownership of
the railways of the country, the high
ways. For / say to you that there is
hardly monopoly in America today
that has not been created and main
tanned by railway Determinations. Es-
/ tablish equal rates over the railways
of the country, such as we would en-
! JOY under government ownership, so
that every man can go to market with
the products of his handiwork, with
the products of his mill, or his mine,
or his farm, just as cheaply as any 9TH
er man, and monopoly will wither
away.
But how can this reform be
brought about? Only by the ballot,
only by the organization of great
political power Independent of party
independent Of party bosses, strong
enough to drive from public life the
tools of monopolics ard trusts, and put
in their places men prompted by i'm
pulses for the public welfare. When
You have done this, the rest is easy.
kWhen you have put into legislative
halls and senatorial chambers, into eX-
ecutive chairs and up on judicial
benches the right kind of men, how
long will monopolies last? Not long.
''But how can this power be Great
ed? Only by creating non-partisan
organization in every voting precinct
of this nation. 1t must be an organ
ization interfering with no man't poll
4 tics-so that every republican, every
democrat, every populist, every prohi-
bitionist, every reformer who is OPP
posed to monopolies and trusts can
organize in their respective counties
and townships, plsdging themselves to
vote against candidate who can be
controlled by this corrupt corporate
power. And as, by magic, there is a
power created greater than the power
4 of corporate money in our public life.
Yes, that power of the ballot intelli-
gently and courageously used is the
only power which can save our insti-
tutions from disaster.
AT the close of the civil war, when
for four long years the perpetuity of
our institutions of government had
been hanging in the balance, when
doubt and dread had hung over the
land like pail, the man whose birth
we commemorate today, that great
patriot and statesman, Abraham Lin
coin, offered these words of warming
to his countrymen: AS a result of
the war, corporations have become en-
throned and an era of corruption in
high places will follow. The moneyed
power of the country will endeavor to
prolong its reign by working upon the
prejudices OF the people until all
wealth is aggregated in few hands
and the reDublic DESTROYED >