The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1903-09-24

The very soul Of Democracy is
enmity TO monopoly. The thought
which inspires il. is that the door Of
opportunity must open to every
willing hand and skillful brain. All
Of the policies of the Democratic
party. from the days of jefferson TO
Bryan. have been grouped around
this great central pillar of liberty.
| have said that today, TIE coun-
try is in the midst of a crisis. |
say this for the reason that until
within recent years. aye. within re-
cent months. all political parties de
clared eternal enmity toward. and
warfare upon every form of mono
poly. Within the last few mouths,
the Republican party has absolutely
reversed its position and given the
lie To every platform adopted 10y its
conventions. The new doctrine Of
the Republican party is. That there
are good trusts and bad trusts and
that in making warfare upon the
trusts. We should use the cS,rc"lcSt
caro- nos 10 iajure the good trusts
| deny that there even was such a
thing as good" monopoly. There
can no more be- n good monopoly than
there can be n harmless rattle
snake. To attribute righteousness Of
purpose To a monopoly. is Us r.djCul-
Gus as 10 ascribc patriotism To Ben
edict Arnold.
The sole end and purpose Of mon
opoly is 70 annihilatc competition.
and to fix arbitrary prices
No man has yet given us the rule
by which the President proposes to
distinguish between good monopolies
and bad monopolies Let me an.
nounce the distinction which will be
made by Mr.. Hanna. and the man
ayers of the Republican party. A
good monopoly will be one that has
contributed literally to the Rcpub.
lican campaign fund; a bad mono.
poly will be one that has refused to
contribute. But as none will refuse.
all will be good monopolies the
morning after election.
We are then confronted by the
proposition that the Republican
party proposes To perpetuate and
fasten upon the country for all time
these gigantic combinations. What
does this mean tn our country? The
prayer that was forever upon the
lips of Jefferson was that wealth
should he distributed among the
masses of the people This was the
dream which inspired the brain of
Lincoln; il was the principle for
which jackson fought with heroic
courage. 1t is the thing that has
made our country great. In the in
dependence of the individual is |
found the strength of the Republic.
This is not possible. unless the ave.
nues Of opportunity are left open to
every child that shall be born
When You create corporations pow.
crtul enough To control the mines
from which the iron ore is obtain.
ed, To own every furnace and mill |
in which il Is manufactured, ana The |
means ui transportation TO market
you close the iron and steel trade to
the rest OF the people.
When YOU Crntrali2e the great |
railroads of the country into two or
three gigantic systems you pl9cc be.
yond the limits of possibility III"
building ui a rival line,
When Won gather and concentrate
the commerce of the country in a
lex great concerns You enable the
institutions controlling this vast
wealth to crush all endcavcr at com.
petition.
When You permit the consolidation
of all the packing companies OF the
~ ts.- int - trs - 81
you give To it Che power to fix It's
own price upon the farmers princi-
pal source of wealth, and at the
same time. 10 levy an unjust tribute
upon every nan who has meat upon
his table. You make il possible to
rob both the producer and the con
sumner.
Wien the Republican party has
passed its asset currency and branch
bank bills. it will have created
moncycd oligarchy with more arbi-
trary powers than were exercised
lts Peter the Great in the fiuod- tide
OF his dcspotic sway, or than were
possessed by a Roman dictator over
the Inhabitants of a conquered PROV
incc.
What. then. is left to the young
men OF the country? They may be-
come the hired men OF these great
institutions The independent citi-
zen. earning his livelihood in his own
workshop. seeing before him con
stantly the chance of enlargement Of
business and finally Of opulencc and
wealth. is of necessity disappearing
from the land.
.TiiS- nracnSS- -unfnrtunatalE- 49,
ceads By such insidious steps rs 10
be scarcely discerniblc. except TO
those who study the drift of events.
ii is true that where IT
was possible for man with limited
capital to engage in a manufactur-
ing industry a few years ago, today
this is not only impossible. but in
stitutiOns Of enormous wealth have
been compelled by these mighty COM
binations to surrender their fran
chisos and rights and to quit buai-
ness, or so into bankruptcy.
INFANT INDUSTRIES HAVE BE.
COME GIANT MoHOPoLiEs.
Tbare can bo M doi,bt Int that tho !