The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1903-05-01

Goal was twenty, tWSny nve, thirty
dollars a ton-and scarce and two
thirds waste even at that appalling
price. Coal, the necessity of all, had be
come an extravagsnt luxury for the
rich. The Coal Trust and the Union
had been forced to an armistice; Goa
was mining again, and should nave
been cheap. But the controllers OF
coal. banded in a monopoly and secure
behind tariff wall which ade i'm
portation impossible, were holding up
the helpless consumers aud were rob-
bling them pltilessly. Ana it was
winter.
Senator Vest had spent month in
arming himself for this mis- last fight.
He had waited until precisely the
right moment should arr1ve-tne
moment when one plus justice woult
be an overwhelming majority. The
Republican leaders faced an impossl
BILE dilemma. From the people rose
ever higher and tiercer the demand,
"Take the duty off COAL Wrench the
fingers of the stranger from our
threats. = But to take off that duty
would be to confess that the tariff did
foster monopoly. did cause extor-
tionate prices; and that confession
would mean the powerful
political "agents of the interest, :
giving themselves the lie direct /;
would make it impossible consistently
70 refuse to revise all tariff schedules
on trust controlled articles.
+, Senator AldrIch had decided that 1T
would be fatal for "the interests to
permit the door to be opened so much
as crack for tariff revision. He
had issued orders that the coal tariff
must not be touched; that any and
every ATTACK upon it must be repulsed
at whatever cost. He had resolved
to brave public sentiment and taKA
chances on a rising thermometer.
Senator Vest had resolved that that
tariff should be repealed. On the one
side Sentor Alarich, the unyielding.
backed by his robust, able, resourceful,
oratorical paiadins and his majority.
On the other side the one man-no,
not man. Just an intellect
for from the chin down there
was death Just an intellect
and voice. A fercer battle was
never fought In legislative nall. A
stranger, more thrilling exhibition
Of power, sheer intellectual power, was
never given-not even when Rlchelieu,
cast down and dying confounded the
courtiers by wrenchlng from his king
the reins of power which the king had
fancled he could recover because
Richelieus hands were chilling in
death.
The Fight for Free Coal.
Senator Vest demanded the repeal of
the duty ON coal. His speech was calm
and simple; passlonless arraying of
facts-the monopoly, the
tariff, licensed extortion, suffering OF
the people. Aldrich replIed-a nervous
agltated evasion. The weird figure ne
was addressing seemed to cast spell
over him, taking the glibness from his
tongue, the plausl biIity from his pro-
testatlons.
Senator Vest renewed his demand
with more mercIless facts ana argu
ments. Hoar replied-a quaveIlng
plea that the Senate hadn't the con-
right to originate such a
measure. The welrd figure Of life
n~death which he faced as he talked
Affected him as it HAD affected Senator
Aldrich.
The voice from the propped up figaro |
demolished the plea Of technicality and |
'enewed the demand-tranquil, logical, |
with rapier steadfastly aimed at the
craven and quaking heart Of 1.-THE
interest" Hale replied-an impassIon-
ID eulogy of the departed Dlngley but
somehow it's passion sounded hollow,
ounded like buster. And then in rapid
uccession the other palaoins strOve,
tut strove in vain. Their tongues
ripped, their sentences became entangl
d. their rhetoric faltered, fzzled,
pluttered, expired.
The galleries leaned breathless.
Aldrich and mis- lieutenants sat In
rowning, angry Nlrcle, cycling their
onqueror., They had counted on the
acK of skill in the minority.
They had supposed that Vest was too
Il to maze the fight. And until he
lade that fight, arraigned them at
be bar OF public opinion, calmly
bowed them that IL they persisted
1ey would not save 1.-THE interests
ut would destroy them and imperil
le whole protection system. they mad 1
OF realized the danger of their own ],
DsitiOn. Indeed it was not dan |
,ous until Senator Vest made it 30. !
or there never Is real issue until |
,me man, some leader with the heart
J feel an issue and the mind to plan =
and the eloquence to state it, rises q
Id points 1t out and draws the lines ,
battle.
Aldricn thought it over. He chose ]
10 wiser course-to sacrifice the one a
interest" for the salvation Of the
any, to remove at least the sting OF a
Try from the growing popular de- b
and for cutting 1.-THE interests out b
the tariff. The DUTY was taken off a
al; the coal crowd seeing what h
ould be the effect of the object lesson b
their prices forced down by foreign II
al actually In the market, made b
ste to put down the price before O.
lportation could begin. But they Il
ceived no one but themselves. The b
untry knew why the price of coal I,
ddenly went tumbling down until o.
had become comparatively cheap. n
II was the most impressive posslbl 81
ject- lesson IN the power OF one man, s.
matter who or what.or how many Il
how much opposes, when that man Il
armed cap-a- pie Ia justice, and a
ows when and where and how to pl