Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1900-09-25

! Nubpi| etNtH UuJ IeNUitc from HilaH-
cinl etringency can The Republican
party claim credit? The question "
not whether tue laboring man Is able
TO 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 laborlng man with the trust
magnate, and see which fares the best
at the hands OF the Republican party
Inquire also whether the laboring
mans income has increased as rapid
" as his living expenses.
But even if every laborlng man was
prosperous, even If that prosperity
could be traced to .ev,publican leg sla-
tion, still the laborfng man is n citi-
zen, and must look at political ques-
tlons 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 ell
ticed into an imperlalistic trap, no
matter how well the trap may be
bated with food
During the last campaign laboring
men were threatened with idIeness 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 at 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 in
dustry since 1896 remember thS t some
advance was necessary to COMPENSATE
the reductions which occurred after
the last election.
Coercion i'm 500.
A firm in the city of Washington an
nounced shortly before the election in
1896 that it would not be able to con
tinue in business if was elected 1t
went into bankruptcy Immediately aft 3
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
the prospect of his own bankruptcy
in order to influence voters he cannot
complain If his creditors take steps
to collect their accounts before the
election in order TO avoid a possible
loss
The Chicago Times Herald Of Sept.
8 contained a special dispatch from
Indianapolis settirg forth the COM
plant made by the anthracite coal
miners. In the dispatch ! read the
following statement made by ONE of
the miners: ''It Is merely question
the mem 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 a member
Of the national board of the United
Mine Workers of America, viz: Aver
age daily wages received by miners,
SE35; average wage of day men at
mines, 80 cents" Let the parent cal
culate the annual income of a miner.
and figure out, IL he can, how the
miner is going to keep himself, and
support his family under present con-
ana then let the parent ask
himself whether he is willing to have
ais 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 a monopoly secures so muchg
All monopolies Are bad.
Those who attempt to divide private
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 fcl-
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 a 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 or
high tariff laws. II a tariff duty ex-
cludes the foreign product, while do |
nestle manufacturers combine to raise |
the price oe home product, the Ameri- |
can citizen may be plundered here. |
while the trust sells abroad in compe-
titlOn with the world 1t may not be |
out of place TO suggest that | intro
1uced a bill eight years ago providing |
for this remedy, but we are not will
ing to 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 trust which con-
fines its operations to a single city, |
or a single state. Such a trust can |
be eNterminated by state legislation |
1t 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 a private monopoly place limi- !
taions upon outside corporations doing /
business within the state. This, how /
ever, is not sufficient, Congress must !
cooperate With the state in preventing |
the organization Of any Interstate mo- /
nopoly Without impairing the pres
ent authority of the state, congress |
can provide that corporations organ
lied in any state shall not do business /
outside OF the state until certain neces-
sary conditions are complied with. If