Willmar tribune., 1900-10-24
What Is Going On in the National
$.. Struggle for Political Su-
7 premacy. ,z5.. ,s=,=
ADMINISTRATION AIDS The TRUSTS.
Prosperity OF the Trusts In an Un.
j. disputed Fact-Labor Oppressedb By
the. Combines-Republic Indl1-
fesence to the ,Workingmen's
Troubles. -. -s.
Especial Correspondence.l

issue IS the prosperity, OF the country,
we must brush everything else aside.".
Now, what Hanna really meant was
that the republicans consider the pros
perity of the trusts the chief issue. To
insure that everything else must be
brushed aside. \
But he literally and unintehtionally
indorses the democratic position in
saying that the prosperity OF the whole
country is the ISSUE. The democrats
contend that we have had trust pros
perity and not that of the whole people.
In fact, the masses have been heavily
assessed in order to pile up trust mil
lions.
There isn't any doubt about the real
ity of trust prosperity. When the wire
trust makes SIS, 100000 in six months it
/ is prosperous. But in order to do that
it doubles the price of barbed wire to
the farmers and closes five factories,
throwing thousands of men out Of
work.
The republicans believe in encourage
ing this sort of trust prosperity. 1t
does not matter to them that the work
man and the farmer have less than be-
fore the trust was organized
Trust Prosperity.
The coal combine is prosperous. It
has monopoly of the anthracite coal
of the world. By working it's men long
hours and at low wages it secured the
largest output of coal this year that
was ever known in the anthracite field.
Recently it has advanced the price of
coal two dollars ton to the consumer.
The advance alone nets the coal trust
$2,000,O0O a week.
How about the miners who dig the
coal out of the earth? They are not
prosperous. In fact, they have been
SO near starvation that they recently
went on strike. Then public attention
was called to the awful conditions un-
der which the coal combine forced it's
men to work. An average wage of 80
cents day. Only 1so days of work
last year. The miner furnishes his own
blasting powder at $3.50 a keg. He
could buy it for 80 cents from anybody
but "the company"
The miner never sees dollar of cash
from one end of the year to the other.
He is forced to trade at the "company
store" There he pays from 40 to 60
per cent. more than even the trust
prices on necessaries in the open mar
ket.
If his family is i'll the miner must
patronize the company doctor. He even
lives in the company hut, by courtesy
called house.
The miners strike caused the whole
country to draw the contrast between
the prosperity of the coal combine and
the starvation of its employees.
The republican party has made it
clear that it favors trusts. In four
years President Mckinley has not ac-
CURED courage enough to interfere
with any trust, no matter how illegal
or unjust its transactions.
Hanna's Fears.
Now Hanna fears that the miners
strike will defeat the republican party
next month. He is trying to patch up
a compromise which will send the men
back to work until after election.
Unfortunately for Mr.. Hanna's plans.
the miners want their union recognized
it any concessions are to be made.
They know that if the operators deal
with them as individuals all conces-
sions are likely to be revoked immedi-
ately after election. If an advanced
wage scale were signed there might be
some hope of permanency. -
In any case, the operators will make
the consuming public pay the bills. If
the miners go back to work this week
at ten per cent. advance in wages the
public will still be charged with the rs
pei. cent. advance which went into ef-
feet immediately after the strike was
declared.
Bryan has called attention to the de-
plorable conditions under which the
miners work. The democratic press has
SO successfully put before the public
the Justice IT the miners demands,
that Hanna is forced to assume SYM
pathy for the men which he does not
feel. a--.,.@. -. .+ -.
Even if the strike is settled before
election, the public will not forget
that the coal combine is still doing
business at the old stand. The people
want to replace Mckinley by a >presi-
dent who will look out for the welfare
of the masses. .; -.... l.. .,.
Republican Indifference.
The Workingmen's Political league,
of New York, has just passed resolu-
tions calling attention to the indiffer-
ence of Hanna and other republican