The independent., 1903-01-15
News OF the Week


of the Cuban treaty. What kind of
fix are those papers now in which
have been declaring that "the indus
try would be ruined IL this treaty was
ratified? Do those editors expect 10
see all the beet sugar factories torn
ddown? Did they ever, at any time, be-
Iieve the statements that they made
about "the ruin of the Industry
Were those editorials advertisements
paid for at so much line by the
tariff grafters? The next time that
you hear a tariff CRATER talk about
how "the industry will be ruined,
refer him to this beet sugar episode.
The reason why these chaps have quit
their fight Is that they are engaged
in promoting a large number or COM
panies for the production OF beet su-
gar and have sent out circulars prom
Using stockholders a profit OF from
so to 80 per cent on their investment.
These circulars state that there Will
be O large profit in the business IL all
tariffs are removed. Secretary Wilson
came to their aid in an interview in
which he said that beet sugar could
be sold at 2 cents a pound at retail
and then give a large profit to the
producer and intermediate handlers.
The ruin of the industry cry had :.
tendency to defeat the sale Of beet SUI
gar stock, and the promoters thought
that they had better call it OF. so
the national association announced
that 25 per cent reduction Of the tariff
on Cuban sugar would have no effect
at all on the profits OF beet sugar
manufacturers.
Confusion and chaos reigns all over
the United States. In some places
factories have shut down, in Others
the people have formed mobs and
raided loaded coal cars, in others they
have resorted to burning beans anG
corn and cutting down shade trees
schools and churches have been
closed, people are trying to burn soft
coal in hard coal stoves and are rem
dered ill by escaping gases. all on
account of the action in the beginning
of one baby trust down in Pennsyl-
vania. The whole country is on the
verge of anarchy. The trust principle
overthrows the system upon which
80,0U0, 900 of" people have been accus-
toned to do business and the result
is chaos.
The New England white slave driv-
ers who own cotton mills in the south
have defeated the proposed laws to
prohibit child labor. That the New
England lobby was able to do that,
does not in the least abate the sordio
criminality of the southern legislators
who failed to act. Neither does their
plea that child labor by the hundred
thousand is employed in the north.
The greed of the trusts has no bounds
They not only want all the great in
crease in the production of wealth
created by the labor of adults and
made possible by the advance of Sci
ence, education and invention, but
they want the additional wealth that
can be created by ,ne toll of the lit
tie children So the children are
driven into the sweat shops and fac
tories north and south and made to
work harder than the black slaves of
the south ever worked before the war.
The Northwestern has had to re-
duce it's train service out of Chicago
for want of coal and announces that
it will have to take off some Of its
suburban trains next week unless AZ
increased supply can be secured. 1t
seems that the persons ito whom God
in his infinite wisdom has entrusted
the property interests of this nation,
cant manage things at all. The un-
disputed sway of the individual who
announced that fact for four or five
months and until the president inter
fered, has thrown the whole country
into chaos. The Independent be-
lieves that statement now, less thar
ever. If God had done anything Of
the kind he would not have provided
for freezing the poor. He would more
likely have provided for roasting some
of the coal trust magnates on a rec
hot gridiron.
The coal famine was so severe il
Toledo, O.. that coal was only sold tt
those who had physicians certificate:
stating that it was actually necessary
to save their patients lives. Now le
the trust magnates and wOuld-be wis
men interfere some more with th'