Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-09-30

mOTo dangerous We6pOu tu6u uke
sharp tongue. The fellow on trial for
murder is Senator Tillman's nephew,
Ex-l lieutenant Governor Tillmar.
the FIGHT IN OHIO.
Wheelock's Weekly of last week
contained two column article con-
corning Tom L Johnson and the Ohio
campaign. It was glowing pane
gyric of Johnson and his work in
OHIO, most of iteprobably we'll merited
by the gallant champion for popular
right in Cleveland, Ohio, The rea-
son for publishing this in a Mime
sofa paper appears at the end of the
article in the following paragraph:
It ia in the face of such fight as
this-equal rights again.t special pri-
vilege- with the gallant figure of
Tom L. johnson upholdlng the real
democratic banner in Ohio, with q
united party behind him, that some
peoples party men in Minnesota still
insist that 1.-THE two old parties are
equally corrupt, and against the peo-
pie, and that they refuse to lend any
aid, moral or material, by holding up
the hands of democratic democrats in
Minnesota, or by placing themselves
squarely alongside of such men as
Johnson and Bryan. Such stupidity
seems incredible.
The populists are undoubtedly glad
to see Tom Johnson make such q
fierce fight against special privileges
in his city and state, and they will
wish him all pos sib]e success. But
that is no reason why they should
abandon their organization. One
swallow does not make q summer, and
ono Tom Johnson does not outweigh
Cleveland, Hill, German, Whitney,
Payne, Olney, Villas, Dickinson, Car
isle, Ingalls,, Zimmerman, and hun
dreds of other capitalists or capital
istic tools ia the democratic roster of
leaders. johnson does not even have
united party behind him in Ohio,
though Wheelock says he has. The
Zimmerman faction came near cou-
trolling the convention, and might
have done so if Johnson had not con-
trolled the state committee, which
took upon itself to settle the contested
delegations. Will Wheelock kindly
meution any state platform, outside
of those of Ohio and Nebraska,
adopted since 1900, which contains
anything that would approach the
populist platform and reasonably
satisfy the most conservative popu-
list? Should we abandon our party
and rush into the democratic party
just because there is one lone demo-
crat of some prominence who is WIDE
~ at variance with his party but still
ciings to it in the forlorn hope of be-
ing able to reform it?
Then, too, let it be remembered that
on one vital issue Tom Johnson is
widely at variance with the peoples
party. The question of taxation is
now. as formerly one that vitality in
terests everyone who has any property
or hopes to acquire some. The
peoples party believes in laying the
burden of taxation chiefly on those
best able to bear it. It advocates an
income tax and Inheritance tax. Such
taxes would bear very lightly on the
struggling masses. Johnson believes
in the single tax, which would lay all
the burden OF taxation on the land.
In spite of Wheelock's statement that
this tax~would be great boon to the
farmers we must persist in believing
that it would have an opposite effect.
When SOCIALIST talks of the single
tax he advocates it as q means for
Matchmaking (confscating) the land,
and then it must be discussed as
part Of the socialistic system. If
s ocialism is the right thing it matters
Little what means are adopted in con.
fiscating private property. But John
9 On and his followers are: not social
i.ts, though they believe in govern
ment ownership of public utilities.
Under their scheme the land would
still belong to the individual, while it
would bear the whole tax burden.
This would naturally reduce the va're
of land. Now, it is the increased
value Of land following; the increase
in population that has enabled many
farmers to get something for their
years Of toll. The man who has
labored ell his life on q farm with
out laying aside very much for, his.
old age still has something IN the In.
creased value OF his land. The man
who owes = large sum for his farm
without any means Of paying II often
finds himself able to sell out and pay
his debt md leaving something for
himself. because laad has inctts aiistssdl III III