Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1901-06-20
I RAILROADS CONTROL.
PRACTICALLY DIRECT LEGISLA-
TON IN EVERY STATE.
Unless the People Awake and Demand
Initiative and Referendum on All
Laws Even the shadow of Popular
Government VIII Disappear.

Six men control all the trunk rail-
roads Of the country and unless UNI
looked for disagreements arise compe-
ttion is a thing of the past. This
wonderful combination or community
OF interests" as they now call it, has
been formed with extraordinary rap
idity and in addition to controlling the
railroads they dominate what is known
as Wall street. These six men also
m~onopolize other lines of industry, iron,
steel, tinplate, oil and anthracite coal
and the accumulation of their vast
wealth is being invested in other trusts
and combinations.
These six men are J. P. Morgan. A.
J. Cassatt, w. K. Vanderbilt, James J..
Hill and George j. Gould.
Morgan controls the Southern rail-
way system, the Mobile and Ohio, the
Northern Pacific, the Erie, the Phila-
delphia and Reading, the Jersey Cen
trail, the Lehigh Valley and the Monon
system.
A. J.. Cassatt controls the Pennsyl-
vania railway, the Baltimore and Ohio,
the Western New York and Pennsyl-
vania and owns Jointly, with the Van
derbilts the Chesapeake and Ohio, and
the Norfolk and Western.
w. X. Vanderbilt controls the New
York Central and allied lines, the
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and st.
Louis, the Lake Erie and Western and
the Chicago and Northwestern.
E. H. Hartman controls the I'LL
nois Central, the Union Pacific, the
Southern Pacific, the Chicago and AL
ton, the Kansas City Southern and the
Chicago Terminal and Transfer.
James J. Hill controls the Great
Northern and jointly with Morgan, the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and
large interests in the Northern Pacific
and Erie.
George J. Gould controls the Mis-
souri, Pacific, the st. Louis Southwest
ern, the Wabash, the International and
Great Northern and the Texas Pacific.
Associated with these railroad mag
mates and owning large blocks of stock
are William Rockefeller, Jacob H.
Schiff and others whose specialties are
banking and trusts.
What a vast political power these
men can WELD, if only by their con-
tributions to the political party they
think will best serve their interests.
They are all acting with the Republi-
can party and their donations to the
Hanna campaign funds at the last two
national elections and the coercion of
the large army of railroad and corpo-
ration employees, turned the scale in
favor of the Republican party and at
least in 1896 defeated the honest ma
jority of the American people.
They control legislators and elect
congressman who do their bidding,
there are but few counties in the
United States that have not their paid
attorneys at the county seat to watch
their interests and manipulate caucuSes
and conventions of both parties or of
which ever is the dominant n for
the time being. They are so well
served by the present administration
that they hope to see it perpetuated
and are willing to pay a high price to
have it so. Mckinley suits them well,
they are paying the expenses of his
trip through the country and furnish
ing the choicest foods and wines, not
only for him, but for his cabinet and
all the followers that make up the
party. They are amply paid for this
large outlay, for no appointment to Of
flee has been made by the president
that was opposed by any of these rail
road magnates and none ever will be.
Not that they favor a third term, Han
ma would suit them just as well, may
be better, or any other man of the
same stamp.
These six men, therefore, control
the government of the United States.
Is it any wonder that many are look
ing for government ownership?