The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1903-01-29
THE PHILOSOPHER
Of Maxville Theories and
Moralizes.

IicdtloH VI harper weekly, the
momentous, national and ever uni
versal question: elbow far is u
man justified in turning the imper-
ative necessities of his neigh5or's
into his own exceptional pecuniary
profit?" And we may ask in addi
tion, does the law of supply and
demand regulate the price of our
necessities2 We answer: it does.
as scarcity of anything will cause
q rise in its price But more par
ticular; was the existing crises in
the present coal market caused by
a scarcity of coal, or is it specula
tiue2- The latter is true, as any
close observer will verify our state-
ment, that ever sirce the appoint
ment of the board of arbitration
by the president, the barons in
company with the railroad mag
mates, instituted a gradual rise in
the price of coal, and being inter-
viewed, they had many fabricated
excuses of not supplying the de-
mand The foundation and rise
of the present coal famine, or coal
infamy. we find in the coal regions
of Pennsylvania. wbere during the
long strike the death dealing ball
was fired, and the force of its mo-
mentum is felt today from ocean to
ocean. We admit that it might
be called idiocy If a man, or firm,
would see a lawful chance to in:
crease his wealth, if he. or they,
would not grasp the opportunity.
Yet is it human, and lawful, be
fore God and man, to oppress the
poor consumer, in order 10 increase
the multi-millions of others? Such
action borders on ancient barber-
ism, as the destitute and freezing
families in this land of plenty will
testify.
Who is responsible? Various an
swers are given. The coal baron
says, lack of transportation hence
the railroads. The railroad mag
nate says: it is the want of motive
power, and the two together whis-
per, "stand pat, as long as we can
squeeze the people, we will leave
well enough alone ~ But it had
ever been thus. When great grand
pa Adam was placed on the witness
stand and interrogated about the
forbidden fruit. he claimed Eve
was the cause of his sin, and Eve
said it was the serpent. We have
an equal trio in the present coal
infamy. The serpent is the mex
cusable, insensate and revolving
greed for profit Adam is the rail
way magnate. and Eve, who first
plucks the fruit is the coal baron
We have noticed with astonish-
ment the shameful opposition in
our present congress, manifested
against the presidents request to
place coal on the free list. and not
until after a heated debate, coal
was placed on the free list for one
year. Will not the candid reader
admit that high protective tariff
is the mother Of trusts and com
bines, and as a recent writer more
torcibly called it, licensed plum
der which wrings tribute from the
consumer to increase the wealth of
the. mult;-millioneires. Remove
this evil on everything the labor
ing man has to buy for himself and
his family, and the trusts will fail
under their own weight. The coal
barons nave no sympathy for. any
one. Their pagan motto is "live
and let live." while in a christian
sense it ought to be '.live and help
others to live" Our prese, lauds
the philanthropy of J. D. Rockfel-
ler and others who donate millions.
to colleges and Libraries, out of the
hard earned penny of their labor
ers, who sit shivering by the dim
light of his coal oil lamp for which
he paid his multi-millionaire en-.
ployer IS cents per gallon. Has
congress the legal right to fix the
price of coal or oil? No! But we
firmly believe that the cry of dis
tress will at last reach the ear of a
Just God and punishment will
sooner or later follow. For nearly
121 years a national sin rested up
on the fair brow of Columbia, un-
til at last God answered the cry of
slavery, and four years of de-
vastation, blood and death ragged
over our fair land. and the shack
lees fell from the black man. God
forbid another rebellion and reYo-
luton, but it will come like the
downfall Of Rome and the blood