The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1902-11-20
ELECTION LESSONS
MIR. De Hart Reviews the Result in Several
States-Believes the Trust Question
il Out of Politics


Editor independents: On the day be-
fore election November - the New
York World said:
"The campaign has put tariff reform
two correlated questions, which, from
now on, are to be the battle ground Of
the two parties"
If tie World really thinks that trust
regulation "is to be an issue in our
future politics" it is very much mis-
taken. That issue, like the Philippine
question, will soon be an issue of the
past. The people, here, have recently
become so much aroused, that the re-
publican party will be compelled, in
the next congress, to take up the
question of monopolist trusts and dis
pose of them in such way as to be
satisfactory to the people, and to take
the matter out of our politics. The
beef combine demonstrated to the peO-
pie what a trust is, and showed that
the democrats here are incompetent
to Smash the trusts" For instance,
our member of congress came home
here last spring and tried to prove at
mass meeting" that the beef COM
bine could be smashed by taking off
the tariff duty of two cents pound on
foreign meat, while we had plenty of
meat in this country and did not have
to 60 abroad and buy meat and pay the
duty. Our democratic member of con-
gress did not have intelligence enough
to know that the high price of meat
was due to a monopoly of meat in the
west. If they had brought Grover
Cleveland here, he would have exhib-
tied no more intelligence than Allan
l.. McDermott, our representative in
congress. The democrats here don't
seem to know how to break up a mo-
nopoly, except by adopting free trade
internationally.
OF all the foolish things in this world
the most foolish is to think that mo-
| nopolies can be destroyed by free
trade in trust-made articles. 1t Is
really free trade in almost everything,
because almost everything is made by
trust and sold here at a higher
price than abroad. Admitting for the
sake of the argument, that free trade
would destroy the trusts, and admit
ting that it would not destroy our in
dustries. close our mills and factories
and reduce our working people to
starvation, it would at least destroy the
government, because there would be
no revenue or income, with which to
support the machinery of government,
not even to pay the wages and salaries
of those who are working for the pub
lie. This would leave us without a
government and throw us into anarchy,
unless we could borrow money as we
did in the second administration or
Grover Cleveland. We have not for
gotten how he borrowed two hundred
and sixty-two millions and issued U.
S. bonds to that amount, which are
not paid yet.
Before we can have free trade, we
must inaugurate some kind of an in
ternal tax with which to support the
government. Tariff duties are an ex-
te~nal tax, a tax upon foreign COM
merce. We are now collecting two
hundred millions annually in this
way. If we are to have free trade and
abolish this system of taxation, we
must first inaugurate a system of in
ternal taxation, falling upon wealth in
stead of business and consumption by
which we can raise at least two hun
dred millions annually. 1t is folly to
talk about free trade until we have
first inaugurated an income tax or
some kind of an internal tax falling
upon wealth. by which we can raise at
least two hundred millions annually
and be certain of having the money
when the time comes for paying it out
to the employees of the government
Of all the most impOtent things in
this world is a government that can
not pay its own laborers. Therefore
before we begin to talk about free
trade. as to trust-made articles, we
must first get law upon the Statute
hook, by which the government can be
supported.
If the trusts Tor monOpolies) are
making goods and selling them cheaper
abroad than here, we had better be
doing business in this way, than by
undertaking to do it in such way,
that the government will have nothing
with which to pay it's own expenses
to say nothing about the expenses or
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