The representative., 1900-09-20

OF public utilities 4uch % supplying
water. gas. electric light, street railway
service. etc. thefe p NO longer COM
petition. but monopoly in the hands Of
few individuals.-
In all these case6sH the people got the
benefit of the mdaoRoly It would be a
blessing: becausessmonopoly can cheap
en- production and iimprove the service.
But SO long u the monopoly is in the
hands OF a few Individuals, the public
is absolutely In t6Aif power.
The web ana Yoof Of modern society
is transportation!ss Communities are no
longer independent ~ they once were.
but are inter-dependent. Yet~transpor-
tation. which is both food and raiment
and shelter, Is controlled. not by the
public whose life depends on it, but by
private monopoly monopoly that has
the public absolutely in It's power, and
as yet there has been no exception to
the rule that when men have power
they use 1t. ss
Not only IL the public in the power OF
the transportation companies, but these
companies practice determinations
whereby they build up few mighty in
terests and destroy the smaller shipper.
Substantially every manufactured arti-
Gle that is Of prime necessity to our
people is controlled by trust. which
can arbitrarily >fix prices. The method
OF forming trust Is simple. All, or
nearly ALL of the establishments en-
gagged in manufacturing the same line
Of goods are placed under one manage
ment. This management then has a
monopoly Of supplying the market.
Even II 1t lowered prices 1t is evident
that the principle is bad, for the public
ought not to be in the power of any set
of men.
II there were no other objection to
trusts and mOnopolies than that I have
named, 1t Is clear that we must rise up
and destroy them or be devoured. But
the evils we have complained Of are
least. The collateral evils are worse
than direct ones.
First, they do not bear their share of
the public burdens.
Second, they insist ON controlling the
preacher in the pulpit, the editor in the
sanctum, and the professor in the lee
ture room. They cover independence
and destroy free thought and free
speech. They suppress the truth and
cultivate fslsehood, and with vulgar
swagger they darkingly seek to domi
nate every business and all social af-
fairs.
Third, the systems and the practices
which the corporations have brought in
vogue destroy the families of the men
who profit by them, and thus society
in the end suffers from the destruction
of portion Of it's members.
Nearly all of the abuses we complain
of today can be traced to special privi-
leges. The gas companies; street rail-
way companies, transportation COM
panies, trust companies of various
kinds, all have special privileges. They
have charters authorizing them to per-
form some function which puts the
public in their power, while if the pub
lie had performed this function itself
it would have remained independent
Government cannot delegate any of its
powers to private individuals without
giving these private individuals an ad-
vantage over other citizens.
There is no question but that the
tariff is the mother of some of these
trusts: it builds wall around the
country and keeps foreign goods out.
This makes it possible for the home
manufacturers of any article to put all
their establishments under one man
agement, and thus have the people at
their mercy. Break down that wall;
let foreign goods come in and the trusts
will have to reduce their prices so as to
compete for business. In all such cases
it is manifest that the abolition of the
tariff would give relief.
You remember that the Interstate
commerce commission was created
about IA years ago by congress for the
express purpose of regulating freight
rates, protecting shippers and especially
to prevent unjust Determinations on
the part of the railroads. But the rail-
roads would not submit to the rulings
of the commission. They got first one
federal judge to pull tooth out of this
law, and then another federal judge to
pull another tooth out of it until finally
they have made the commission impo-
tent. Generally the railroads got their
friends appointed on the commission
and were able to control 1t, and when
ever they could not control it they got
a convenient court to neutralize its ac
tion. The commission has indeed col
lected many volumes of evidence show
ing discrimination and violation Of law,
but it could give no relief. Every time
a state commission attempted to do any
thing some federal Judge held it's acts to
be unconstitutional. Twenty years ago
regulation was the proper remedy. 1t
has been tried and failed. Then what is
to be done? Are the American people
helpless? Let us see. The government
now carries the letters of the small ship
pers on exactly the same terms that 1t
carries the letters sof the big shippers,
but here the parallel ends. Now, II it
would carry its goods ON the same terms
that the big shippers have theirs car