Willmar tribune., 1900-10-17
SCALY TRICKS OF REPUBLICAN LEADERS
Defense Of the Trusts by Hanna's
Henchmen Batting Starving
Workmen Mckinley Making
Ready for Plunder-The Philippine
War Not Over.
Especial Correspondence

does not better his position, because
in that speech he failed to say a word
which indicated that he knew of
any sort of combination hurtful to
the people. He failed to indicate that
he or his party were in favor of re-
straining trusts or combinations of
any sort.
The gas belt of Indiana has suffered
especially from trusts, and the men
who have been rendered idle by them
are furious at Hanna's selfish indif-
ference to their troubles.
Right on the heels of Hanna's ias-
co comes a campaign report prepared
for the republicans by Carroll D.
Wright, of the bureau of labor sta
tistics, which assumes to show that
trusts pay higher wages and employ
arate industries.
He takes IA "selected" trusts. Very
carefully selected. The Standard Oil
and coal combine, for instance, are
omitted.
If there is not such things as trusts,
why this defense from CARROLL D.
Wright?
The bureau of labor statistics, like
the industrial commission and every
other governmental bureau. is being
pressed into service by the admins
tration. Statistics are manufactured
to order to prove anything that the
republicans desire.
1t is not necessary to show the
flaws in Wright's statistics-though
there are plenty of them-let every
workingman judge for himself. If
he is working for trust is he get
ting higher wages than before the
trusts came into existence. If ho
is, does the slight increase in wages
cover the increased cost of living?
Let the strike of 100000 coal miners
against one of the greatest trusts on
earth answer Carroll D. Wright. These
men are striking for living wages
They do not aspire to prosperity or
the full dinner pail.
Let the parade of hundreds of chill
dren from the coal mines of Pennsyl-
vania answer the republican conten-
tion about the blessings which trusts
bring to workingmen.
No man puts his eight-year-old
child into coal mine to work, un-
less forced to do so by the starva-
tion wages paid to himself.
Let the reduction of wages made 10
the 10000 employees of the steel and
iron trusts answer Carroll D. Wright's
statistics.
These men have been idle since June
30, locked out while their trust en-
ployes decided whether or not they
would pay fair wages.
Now, having been starved into sub
mission, the men are invited to 20
back to work at reduction. They
are glad to 60, in order to live, but
they are not going to vote for the
party which puts into the hands of
a trust the power to starve them
into submission.
The Miners Strike.
The coal miners strike is likely
to be long and bitter one. The
trusts secured Euorpe for years and
imported the cheapest labor that
could be had there, under the i'm
preston that it would submit to low
wages and bad conditions more meek
ly than the independent American
workman. The foreign workmen were
tractable enough until they found
that they were starved worse than
slaves or dumb beasts of burden. Now
they have come to the conclusion that
they may as we'll starve idle as work.
ing. Their habits of passive endur-
ance will keep them out on strike
longer than the American. Thus the
coal operators are reaping harvest
which they deserved, but did not ex-
pect.
The administration press has been
bowling about the danger of violence
and bloodshed from the first day of
the miners strike. 1t seemed to know
what was going to happen. Sure
enough when some miners began to
throw stones lot of Pinkerton's men
shot into crowd indiscriminately,
and then the militia was called out,
How convenient for the coal opera
tors to- have republican governor
and 11,0o0 militia at their beck and
call. No wonder the trust refused
arbitration.
Last Sunday the militia desecrated
the day by parading in the mining
villages with Gatling guns. Not that
the miners were disorderly. Oh, no,
but to show then what they may ex-
pect in the next two or three weeks.
It is to be hoped that violence and
bloodshed may be avoided, but this
baiting Of starving men is paving
the way for something worse than
Homestead or Hazleton.
.55 A Clumsy Back Down.
The administration has executed q
rather clumsy back-down on the Chi
nese situation, and it is purely for
campaign purposes. ,.55..5, 5.ss sr
Frightened by the popular uproar
against any further alliances or med
ding with foreign powers, the admin
istration now intimates that our
forces will be withdrawn from Peking.
They have not marched out, how
ever, and il they do, it: will only be
to the coast.
Six warships have just been or
dered to Asiatic waters. What for? !?
Time will show, but it is clear now
that Mckinley proposes to be right on
the ground when there is any Chinese
plumber TO be had. He lis making
desperate effort to delay matters until
sitter election. II case the republican