People's voice., 1900-03-29
THE CURE FOR TRUSTS.
An Address to the People of
Kansas by the Press Bu-
reau of the POpulist
State Committee.
To the People OF Kansas:

svndicates and corporations, which
to-day rule and Cypress the American
people-is the natural and inevitable
outgrowth of the selfshness which
permeates poor and rich alike in our
land. Each man has devoted his time
and energy so exclusively to the pur-
suit of his own little personal ambi-
tions, to the struggle for the almighty
dollar, that he has been criminally
and dangerously Indifferent to grave
questions of public welfare. In sor-
did contest like this, not only the
powerful and cunning, but the most
brutal and conscienceless must neces-
sarily win. They are the ''fttest"
for such a sodden struggle If his
tory teaches one lesson it is this, that
a nation that is sunk in materiaIism,
selfshness and greed, will breed ty-
rants as naturally as carcass breeds
maggots.
Our nineteenth century tyrauts are
neither few nor weak They control
all the arteries Of commerce and most
of the necessaries of life. They WELD a
power not possessed by Queen Victor
la nor Emperor Willamette power
to levy taxes without the consent Of
their subjects Each one of the hun.
drsds OK trusts, syndicates, combines
or corporations which have practical
monopolies on the different neoessi-
ties of life, is able, In addition to the
fair average profit obtained by bust-
ness msn competing with each other,
to levy q monopoly tax on every
American sovereign ~ who is forced
TO use Its product No English lord
exerts the colossal influence Of Hunt
ington, the railroad magnats; ne Ger
man baron wislds tiths Of ths tyr
annical forcs OF Rockefeller, the
Standard Oil king; no Italian prince
Is more thsAa doll in power, when
compared to our Napoleon of finance,
Pierpont Morgan, or our even more
illustrious suzerain of tyrants, Mark
Hanna
What are we going to do about itP
First comes the battle OF the poll
ticians; we must conquer the enemy
at the polls. Second comes the battle
between statesmen; we must complete
the subjugation in the halls OF Con-
gress, and in the courts, where the
last stand will be made.
As to the first part of our program,
the defeat of the enemy at the polls,
we may as well acknowledge at the
start that it will prove no easy task.
The powers of organized greed so
completely dominate in the strong
holds of our national life and pros
perity that their financial resources
for the struggle are as inexhaustible
as our national wealth. When they
want s25, 600 900 for campaign fund,
all they have to do is to levy an ad-
ditional tax on their victims for that
amount. II they need twice that
much, with which to debauch voters,
the process is simply repeated 1t is
clear that we have to fight unlimited
wealth in the hands Of absolutely un-
scrupulous men. Can we win?
There is only one force on earth
that is more powerful than Doodle,
and that is a moral indignation, a
moral enthusiasm, patriotic devo-
tion which is ready to sacrifice time,
money and life itself to principle. A
man who is on fire with love OF
humanity, home and country, can
neither be bribed nor bulldoz,d. Like
Achilles, he is invulnerable EIch
one must &C forth not to see what he
can gain for himself, but with grim
determination and a sublime devotion
to see how best he can spend himself
to accomplish most for our common
cause. Unless the cause is dearer to
US than personal gain or personal am.
bition not only will we fail, but we
will deserve TO fail The organized
selfshness of the masses can never
overcome the organized selfshness
and greed Of plutocracy, but the or.
ganizei altruisn, the organized SELF
sacrifice, OF the common people is as
resistless as the rythmical movement
Of the tidea
Therefore it is that this year we
have asked the people to pay the
expenses of their campaign against
their industrial and commercial
tyrantS Not only is it ec.ssary t.
have money with which to carry or
a campaign OF education aad organi.
zation, but it is even more necessary
that every man who believes with us
and who expects to enj1y the results
of the peoples victory, shall labor and
fight, shall vote and contribute hi:
mite with all the rest 1t is essential
that the rank and file of our party
shall enter into the spirit OF the cam
paign, shall become dominated by tbs
spirit of self-sacriics, wlich once
started will set the very praires atire
with divine conhAgratiol, when no
power in earth or hell can quench
The selfshness and indifference which
would refuse to contribute ones share
toward paying the expenses of ones
own battle for freedom is the very
sub-soil from which al past aud pres
ent tyranny has sprung The mer
who are not willing, at any sacrifice
to pay the expenses of their own f yht
belong in Mark Hanna's party, and
believe they arr there to a man.
| The State Central Committee ask.
| avarv haliavar in our y.-;po;rlo,