Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-11-05
Public Cpinicn on Iowa Subjects
as Reflected in the Iowa
Newspapers.
The News Of Iowa From Hun.
dreds Of Different Towns
and Communities.
STREET FAIR ATHLETICS.
Iperry Chief Rennrter

! been hunted up and tied to serve as
trapeze or high wire" while the imi
tative small boy may be seen givini
some daring performances that fairl.
atartle the onlookers. In some parts o
town tie trick blcycli t. gives his ex
additions. and now and then runs int,
the house to have his mother stick on :
new piece of court plaster. And thei
there's the ''comcal clown" fully a.
original as the fellows who got 500 a
the street fair for their foolishness. l
is reported that in one part of town ,
girl dressed up in an old pair of overall
and blouse and Went oct to perform
on the trapeze with her brcAher. Befor,
they got thru with the first act goot
sized crowd of neighbor children hat
gathered to witness their daring feats
The girl was said to have been by fal
the most clever actor of the two.
MIR. ROBERTS ON "LIBELS."
Isioux City Journal
Hon George E. Roberts, director OF
the mint, in his speech at Reinbeck OF
Tuesday evening devoted his attention
largely to refuting certain .'libels upor
archy'' The chief libel discussed by
Mr.. Roberts was the oft advanced argu,
ment that the tendency towards CEN
tralized capital is a menace to healthy
industrial growth and must mean that
the rich are growing richer while the
poor are growing poorer. Mr.. Roberts
has the happy faculty OF reasoning
clearly and with convincing logic. II
any of HE hearers at Reinbeck had
been attending democratic meetings
and went to his meeting with the fear
that our civilization is drifting down
stream they must have gone home re-
assured.
A stock argument with which demo-
cratic orators are wont to appeal to the
plain people is that the present pros
perlty is only for the rich; that it is at
tanned at the expense of the poor and
that the plutocrats somehow manage to
n,onopolize it's benefits among them
selves. The wage earners are given to
understand that, while their wages may
have Increased slightly, the men in con-
trui of the capital have fixed things SO
that it costs the masses more to live,
and that the latter are really growing
verse off day by day. That this is not
the fact was shown very simply by Mr..
Roberts. He started with the PROPOSE
ton that capital is increasing more rap
idly than population. This will not be
denied by the opposition, which Will
content itself with the claim that the
few are getting the benefit Of the in
crease The fallacy of such conten-
ton was shown by Mr.. Roberts both by
logical argument and the citation OF
facts of common observation. Capitai
to continue profitably, must be kept
working. The more capital there $ the
more competition there must De among
capitalists for profitable investment.
The function of capital is to support
the wants of the pc ple--the whole
people. Increase in the relative quanti-
ty of capital means lower wages for
capital Just as inevitably as increase In
the relative quantity OF labor would
mean decrease In the wages OF labor
Lower wages for capital mean easier ac-
cess to wealth OF labor.
That this Is condition and not a
theory was shown by Mr.. Roberts by
reference to the returns now received by
capital In comparison with returns re-
ceived in the past. Only q few years
ago man who had $4,000 could coun,
| upon an income of $4,000 annually
Now he must be satisfied with less thar
So, 600. 1t is not long since the man whs
had money to loan on gilt edged Sc
curity could get per cent for 1t. Now
he is glad to take 31s per cent White
this diminution is the earning power OF
capital has been going on, the earning
power of labor has been increased botf
in dollars and cents and In the purchas.
ing power of these dollars and cents
the latter being of the more Importance
Fifteen years ago it cost 20 cents &c
send bushel of wheat from Duluth te
Buffalo by water. Now shippers are in
clned to kick at 2-cent rate. In 1855
the all-rail rate from Fargo to the sea
board was 80 cents. Today 1t is q cents
TEis means that the farmer can marke,
his wheat today Is cents cheaper pei
bushel than fifteen years ago and get
the same net return. 1t means that the
laboring man, with more money in his
pocket, can buy more flour for a dollar
than he could under the old conditions
Wherein has either producer or con-
sumer achieved aught but gain in the
change?
Mr.. Roberts sees no reason to worry
over the individual aggregation OF
wealth thru the building UP of large
fortunes. He rests secure in the conf
dence that capital must perform its
office whether held in the hands Of one
man or many. he even goes so far as
to assert that capital centralized in such
hands as those Of Andrew Carnegie is
of more public benefit than if aistri-
buted widely Ii MIR. Carnegie had rot
built up large fortune he would have
been unable to establish his great stee,
Industry upon its present scale, ard the
public would have been deprived of the
economies IL PRODUCTION which they
now joy. Mr.. Roberts puts this ides
tefse.y IN the declaration OF his belief
that Mr. Carnegie was a greater public
benefactor in building UP his large fort
une than in giving 1t away
Mr.. Roberts speech should make
profitable reading for the pessi,nists
Mr. Bryans Onawa speech would make
effective foil for it.
Before and after trying other remedie.
use Rocky Mountain Tea this month
Twill keep you well all summer. A
great fall blessing. Mcbride & VIII