The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-21
ALDERMAN WALLACE SPOKE
ADDRESSED SUMMER CLASS 1T
 DAVENPORT CHURCH.

l NoOn-The Benefits Obtained from
 Municipal Ownership-VOtsTs Are Too
 CaTeiess-church should Take a Hand
 in Elections.
 President George Wallace of the board of aldermen made q short address yes terday noon before the summer class at Davenport church on the topic 'The l Economic League" There was a very good attendance and the talk was close
 ly listened to and many features of the league were explained by Mir. Wallace.
 He told of the inception of the league | and explained fully its aims and pur- poses as have been set forth in it's con-
 stitution and by laws published recent ly.
 | Municipal ownership of all public util- | ities and direct taxation were given more attention than any other matters. He spoke of the trial of municipal own
 ership in cities in Great Britain, espec- | ially the city of Glasgow which has
 municipal ownership of gas works, wa ter wor,-s street cars. etc., about the
 only exception being the burying 1 ground, which is owned by a private l corporation. He said that the general ] condition of the people there was bet | ter and that they enjoyed better wages | and their conditions were improving every day and that their hours of work
 were being decreased gradually. Now ! they work eight and ten hours and get | the same pay as when they workd l twelve and fourteen hours. He also said that the value of the individual vote was greater there than here be- cause they voted for the men of their
 choice directly. He said that municipal | ownership there had certainly been a | great success, and If not, it was merely | by reason of the carelessness of the in- l dividual voter who does not give the
 proper amount of time and attention to | politics. One of the objects of the 1 Economic league was to try and elimi- nate this tendency to extreme careless
 ness in the matter of choice of men to
 fill the political positions. He said that the cities should have rental for the
 use of their streets by the street rail- ways, the electric light and telephone | companies, the same as any landlord
 had for any building or other property | which he possessed.
 There would then be no spells of of-
 flee and men of absolute integrity and
 who are above the spoilsman in princi- | pie would seek the offices. This feature ! of spells in office would be eliminated l because of the close scrutiny of the peo- l pie.
 The league in this city and state was composed of working people and they l had power for gooS which would be felt in the very near future. They are | just beginning to realize the fact of
 their possessing power and they are | being instructed how to use 1t. In the | past, fraternities and labor organiza- tions of various natures have been or | ganiZed for the purpose of preparing to | protect the members against any en- croachments of their rights and have waged strikes, more or less successful,
 but have never knocked at any political doors until now. It is their intention | to put men in the legislature who have
 their interests at heart and who cannot | be tampered with and who will enact { laws which will be of interest and ben | eft to the workingman. Then there will be no strikes and no troubles; ev-
 erything will be harmonious Selfish
 ness has been the root of most of the evil that has resulted in the ranks of | the working class, but with the princi-
 ples of the league closely adhered to l there will be no selfishness and no l lnnn xtyt1I
 have a more careful watch on all mu-
 nicipal affairs in the future than has | ever been taken in the past, and they will have something to do with all of | the votal questions which refer to the rights and welfare of the citizens and especially of the working classes. It is | the intention to vote Independently and l not to follow the principles and customs l of any of the old parties, and thus be | free from their corruption. Another
 matter which is to be given the utmost
 and closest attention is that of having
 the street railway, electric light and
 gas companies pay their proper share Of l taxes.
 | The speaker said that the church had not been doing its duty in the line of
 taking the proper interest in these af-
 fairs in the past few years. The
 churches have been asleep and it is high
 time for them to awaken and come to | full realizat tion of the fact that they
 can wield powerful influence for good, l in temporal affairs, if they are so in- clined. The church members are not
 watchful enough about the men whom
 they put into office, and many times
 those chosen are not above the spells 1 system. It is a depressing state of af- fairs when corporations make con- | tracts for all times and thus the spring. l ing into existence of an organization | such as the Economic league became a
 necessity and it is here to champion the
 cause of the working classes. It is the
 intention to benefit the masses and do
 away with the spells system. The ben
 efts of municipal ownership may not all
 be in money, but they are in better ser- vices from the many public utilities. At the conclusion of the talk num- 1 Der of questions were asked by those ! present concerning various phases of the nature of work expected to be done
 by the league. and MT Wallace cheer fully answered them.