The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-08-23
q CHAIRMAN DENISON.

and creditor, honest as between the
bondholder and the bond-payer, hon
est as between the owner of dollars
and the owner of property. It stands
today for money basis so large that
every financial furry will not dis
turb our volume of credits. 1t stands
today for system that does not fall
when few millions of gold are ex-
ported. 1t stands for money is
sued by the government and not by
the national banks, for monetary
system sound and not faulty; for a
system devised by wisdom for the
peoples good as against system
fashioned by folly for the advantage
of the few. 1t stands for an ade-
quate supply of primary money-one
that can not be contracted by few
magnates whose love of country is
the love of dollars, whose patriotism
is the gathering of harvest of gold
from fields fertilized by the bodies of
American sons.
The Trusts.
If the history of the republican
party is one of utter inconsistency
and unreliability on the question Of
finance, it is certainly open to no
such charge on the question of trusts.
1t has wandered widely in it's devo-
ton to an honest bond and an hon
est dollar but it has never departed
from the desires of its offspring, the
trusts. Mfcawber like, it has been
shifty and uncertain on the matter
OF money but it turns to the trusts
with an affectionate concern to hear
the burden Of Mrs. Micawber's song,
Il will never desert by Micawber >"
Born from the womb of privilege and
nourished at the breasts of "protec-
ton" the modern trade combination
claims the republican party as its
putative father. And illuminate as it
will against the vicious deeds of its
offspring, that party has never raised
an effective hand TO stay those IRE
datory deeds. In public it has damned
their crimes; in private it has di-
vided the spoils.
For three and one-half years the re-
publican party has held absolute pow-
er IN Washington and not one blow
has 1t struck against the encroach-
ments of organized wealth. Pretend
ing to the protection of American
labor that party has favored the as
sumption of unlawful equity powers
to crush the cause of labor while it
has refused to enforce unequivocal
statutes hostile to trusts e xtortion.
The people have complained, the press
has Numbered, conventions and syn
IS have demanded and threatened,
out the republican party, recreant to
its country's welfare, has sung the
song of protective industry, unde-
clared duts, and unknown destiny.
while the excuses of lawless trade
combinations have gone on unchecked.
prosperous we may be, but who is
gathering the fruits of prosperity?
Production may be phenomenal. but
who Is obtaining the benefit thereof?
Wealth may be accommodating, but it
is in the hands of the manipulators
and not the masses. The problem, my
| friends, is not one of production but
of distribution. The question is not
can, the people producer" but "can
the people get a share of what they
producer" The farmer sows and
reaps, the mechanic tolls and strives.
mighty labor with her hundred hands
transforms increasingly the rough
rocks of earth, the tangled tribute of
the soil, into things of use and orna-
ment; but the gain of all this sowing
and toiling, beating and weaving
finds its way into the purses of those
who toll not, neither do they spin."
Exemption From Competition.
The term protection" is a concise
statement for legal exemption from
competition. A protective tariff is
designed primarily to prevent foreign
competition. Exempt from foreign
competition by tariff law, a COM
bination of all competing domestic
concerns in q given line of business
produces monopoly in fact. In
stead of numerous competing concerns
in given industry, there is but one
concern. Numerous sets of officers
give way to one set. Many sales
men give way to few. Instead Of
number of houses buying raw ma
terial in competition there is now but
one buyer, and instead Of a number
of houses offering to sell to consum-
ers there is now but one seller.
Instead Of number of employers
competing for laborers, in a certain
line there is but single demand, I
do not need to tell you the result.
The market of labor is absolutely
controlled in spite Of the laborer: the
demand for raw materials is absolute
ly limited in spite Of the producer;
and the price of the finished product
is fixed absolutely in spite of the con-
sumer. If the laborer complains he is
unemployed; If the producer grum-
bles his product it unpurchased; if
the consumer objects he is left un-
fed. And this modern colossus in the
industrial world, this Moloch of mo-
nopoly, is the legitimate offspring of
the policy of privilege as expounded
by modern republicanism.
Trust apologists say that trusts are
but stage in the natural evolution
of industry. If this be true, then
the benefits of trust economy should
be shared with III the people. If
combination lessons the cost of pro-
ducing given article, then that arti-
Gle should be marketed at a lower
price than before the combination was
made. Employees should receive a
share of the gain in higher wage
scale, producers of raw materials
should have higher prices, and con-
sumers should have cheapened pro-
ducts. But is such the case? Is
the public made partner in the
economic gain? The cost of produc-
ton is undoubtedly diminished, but
is the public benefited? Instead of a
fall in the price of trust-made arti-
cles, the price has been advanced
| from so to 500 per cent Labor NAV