Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-09-17

! man had plenty 10 eat K would still
/ be necessary for the Republican par
| " 10 show some connection between
| Republican policies and tile lahuring
| mans food supply. If bountiful crops
! come to the farmer he does not thank
a Republican administration. If
! famine aboard raises the price of farm
! products here the farmer does not
thank the Republican party for bring.
| ing the famine. If an unexpected ana
| an unpromiSed increase in the gold
| supply gives any respite from tinan-
cial Stringency can the Republican
| party claim credit The question is
! not whether the laboring man is able
| 70 exist under present conditions, but
| whether he is enjoying his share of
! the blessings of the country and the
| protection of the government. Com
| pare the laborinG man with the trust
magnate. and see which fares the best
a the hands of the Republican party.
| Inquire also whether the lahoring
| mans income has increased as rapid
| ~ as his living expenses.
| But even if every labOring man was
| prosperous, even if that prosperity
could be traced TO Republican legiSla-
/ ton, still the labOring man is 4 citi-
| zen. and must look at political ques-
tons from the citizens standpoint. He
cannot afford TO barter away fut-
ure security: he cannot afford To sleep
while his Industrial independence is be-
ing destroyed. Neither can he be en-
ticed into an imperialistic trap. no
matter how we'll the trap may be
bated with food.
During the last campaign laborinS
men We're threatened with idleneSS by
employers who desired to coerce them
into the support of the Republican
ticket. Many of them were told not
To return to work unless the Repub-
licanS were successful ut the polls.
After the election some of these EN-
ployers closed down their shops and
others reduced wages. If advances
have been made in any branch of i'll
dustry since 1896 remember that some
advance was necessary to compensate
the reductions which occurred after
the last election.
Coercion in 1896.
A firm in the city of Washington an
nOunced shortly before the election in
1896 that it would not lie able to con
tinUe in business if l was elected. It
went into bankruptcy Immediately aft
er election notwithstanding the fact
that its candidate was successful at
the polls There are indications that
this attempt at intimidation may be
resOrted to again this fall. If a bust
ness man feels justified in holding out
in order TO influence voters he cannot
complain if his creditors take steps
10 collect their accounts before the
election in order to avoid a possible
loss.
The Chicago Times Herald of Sept.
contained special dispatch from
Indianapolis setting forth the COM
plaint made by the anthracite coal
miners. In the dispatch l read the
following statement made by one of
the miners: 1t is merely Il question
whether the men would StarVe to
death at work or starve in idleneSs."
The dispatch also contains the follow
ing figures in regard to wages, said |
TO have been furnished by member |
Of the national board of the United |
Mine Workers of America, viz: Aver |
age daily wages received by miners. |
S1.3J; average wage of day men at |
mines, 30 cents" Let the parent cal |
culate the annual income of miner, |
and figure out, if he can, how the |
miner is going to keep himself. and |
support his family under present con- |
ditions; and then let the parent ask
himself whether he is willing to have
his son take his chances with the min
erS. Is it due to natural or to human
laws that the producer of wealth fares |
so poorly, while the man at the head |
of n monopoly secures so much?
All MonopoIies Are Bad.
Those who attempt TO divide private
monOpOlieS into good mOnOpolies and
bad monOpolies will never make any
progress toward the overthrow of the |
trusts. There is no good monopoly |
in private hands; there never was, and
never will be. With all the advance
ment in civilization man is still too
selfish to be trusted with the abSO-
lutte control with that which his fSl- |
lows must have. The Republican
party has no remedy for the trusts.
Publicity is good, but publicity alone
is not sufficient. The practices of the
trusts must not only be made known,
they must be prevented. The Demo
cratic platform contains demand for
legislation which will place trust made
articles on the free list. There is no
doubt that such law would protect |
the people from much of the eXtOrtion |
which is practiced under cover of |
high tariff laws. If u tariff duty eX-
cludes the foreign product, while do
nestle manufacturers combine to raise !
the price of home product, the Ameri-
can citizen may he 'plundered here, |
while the trust sells abroad in compe-
tition with the world. 1t may not be
out of place to suggest that ! intro
duced Il bill eight years ago providing |
for this remedy, but we are not will |
ing 70 stop at one remedy, we desire |
TO apply every remedy within the pow
er of the state and federal govern
ments. Congressional action is not
necessary TO destroy n trust which CON
fines its operations to single city,
or single state. Such trust can
he exterminated by state legislation
II is within the power of the state to :
prescribe the conditions upon which ..
shall be organized, and ..
these conditions should be such as TO .
make Il private monopoly place limi-
taiOns upon outside corporations doing l
business within the state. This how
ever. Is not sufficient. Congress must |
20 operate With the state in preventing 1
the organization Of any interstate mo- c
lOOolv Without imDairinC the Dres- | (