The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1903-07-02

or WOrShlplng the verbal expressions OF
former platforms as fetshes. Therein
lies the backward road to ruin.
The chief issue of1896, in the form then
put forward, is dead. To attempt to T
galvanizc it into life is to be false To |
the spirit of 1896. The spirit malsath /
alive but the letter killcth let this
text shed light upon your deliberations.
The paramount issue of 1900 must wait
| The conscienc4s Of men We're and still /
are ~rung by our arguments against i'm
| perialisr, but the fancied welfare OF
| their pocketbooks prevailed on the day
OF election. And now the new feudaIlSlu |
| OF the trusts 80 overshadoWs AL else IN |
mems minds that they viii not shape
theis political course by considerations
OF our foreign or colonial policy. The
Issue OF today was implied in every
past platform, yea. in the declaration OF /
! us, in Magma harta, wherever right |
has striven against might. But it
awaits expression at our hands. ALI
sornis OF oppression have been bound
into "a single sheaf and named the trust.
In II Is slavery for the producing masses.
IN it is tariff wrong. In it is the cur
rency monopoly, reaching out for the
banking business Of the world. In it *
government by injunction invoked by
impasialis3, Selling the homes OF weaker
people for the exploitation of the cap
ital. At the trust We may aim our
blows, confident that when the Goliath
, falls, down with him viii go all the
hosts OF philistine evils ut which we
have been hacking.
The problem were simple il il were 2s
T easy to dc as 10 know what to do. Three
roofs bcared up the dominions OF the
3 trusts. These are highway monopoly,
t tariff monopoly and land monopoly.
Land monopoly in the form of ownership
| Of mines and forests has so far come for
) ward rs to have been made an issue by
I. the democrats in New York in q plat
4 form denounciug the anthracite trust.
| This great evil demands the attention
: OF all who hope to see industrial
T. wrongs set right.
TARIFF NOT SUFFICIENT.
: The tariff monopoly alone seems 10
II me Insufficient To account for any OF the
+ great and powerful trusts. They rose
4 under its shelter, bat, controlling as
they now do. our mines, forests and
} railways, most, if not all OF them, could
. still live though trade were free. Yet,
n any movement toward free trade is in
L itself good, and how can We better
/
l. the name of such industrial giants as
n the trusts with the ancient and absurd
y lie 4'protection to infant industries.
, Furthermore, while free trade does moi
a kill the trusts it would establish line
IT beyond which their robberies could moi
le extend. Hence we should renew ON
~ war on protection, unturl again the
d. tariff reform flag, and demand free trade
N IN trust made goods. or the very essence
\ OF liberty is the right to move from
1t place to place and to transport prop
n crty He who is bound to the pIac,
where he was born is serf. He VIII,
W controls the highways by which he
IS must move and transport goods holds III
le in a sort OF serfdom. The third grea
n bulwark of the trusts is highway monop
r. oily. 1t appears in every city in monop
'd oily Of our streets by the public service
ID corporations and everywhere in th
he privately owned steam railway lines
at controlled almost exclusively by In
same group of industrial potentates VIII
own the other trusts.
N GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP.
"a Whether private individuals couIs
49, under any circumstances success
a fully compete in success with the truStr
IN may be questioned, but it may be taken
Az for granted that as long as the stock o
n the railways and trusts are owned b.
r. the same interests, no one can compete
10 with either. There are those who seen
n to believe that proper restrictive stat
in utes vigorously enforced will cure Thu
~ evil. | am not in agreement with thes
n optimistic views. There is no force il
,c law to compel the single owner OF tw
Va railways to compete with himself, nor il
" it possible by statute to prevent men a
~ railway owners from granting favors t.
ts themselves as shippers. Against a com
"a bination 80 fortified all the Quaker gun
OF mark strenuousness will be pointc
Il, in vain. SO long as this conccntratio
of OF ownership exists there can be bu
al two kinds of business in this country
-, ! that done by trusts and that done b
-, consent Of the trusts. So long as thi
* condition exists government OF the pee
IN pie by and for the people must remain
. theory only and not condition. B
"a not deceived; there are only two horn
10 to the railway dilemma. We ms;
~ choose between railway OWNERSHIP
ia and the operation Of government an
y government ownership and opePatio
a. OF railways. And in the resumptio
"A by the people Of the control of thei
~ own highways will be found the mos
an simple and practicable way toward dc
70 priving the trusts OF their power G
- evil.
-, -, 1t lies with you my friends to max
IN IN this day great. You may do so by
-, brave recognition of the stupendou
.. questions to which l have referred an
an intrepid attempt to DO the utmos
>. thing needful. AS a party we hav
- marched far, but we must march OF
\. To some it may seem best to linger o
~ last nights camping ground; and if W
- are true to our duty, we must march OF
~ To halt is to retreat; retreat is rout an
y ruin. The forward march is not onl
r. 70 the road OF honor, but the way of safet,
On The people are ready for issues ado
~ quate to meet the needs of this grea
IA crisis. They will greet with acclama
- tions him who will speak the word for til
10 hour. Have the greatness to speak tina
ha word here and now. Take counsel, nc
~ ~ of your fears, but Of your courage. b
1