Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-06-24
COUNTRY PEOPLE AND LEGISLATION.
lFtnm 49, Lancaeter Tellsr !


When the hill to regulate railroad
rates WIS before th legislature farmers
shoula All have noted the efforts made
by lobby influence to prevent its pas.
sage MANY farmers did, but it is la
mentable fact that too small a proper
tion Of the farmers and of all industrial
classes give attention to what their leg
islators. their state officers, their courts,
their county officers, and even their
town Ulcers are doing The working
man gets into the habit OF thinking ana
feeling that others are attending TO the
Offices he must attend to his work. And
unless something has turned mp TO put
the office flea in his own bonnet he as
rule cares little about how the offices are
run and makes no effort TO know how
they are run. He easily becomes oblivi-
Gus TO the fact that those who do have
the offices and those who control the Of
fees, while he Is working hard to earn
a good living and to provide for those
dependent upon him-they are scheming
by means OF the offices to get the biggest
portion OF his earnings.
The income Of the farmer depends up
on markets that are far away. The
price he gets for produce depends in
part upon the freight charges to take
his produce TO market. IL the freight
rates are higher than they should be the
prices for his stock, his grain, or other
produce are at least as much lower than
they should be as the freight rates are
higher shan they should be. The same
is true Of what he buys. The factories
that make his plows. seeders. cultiva-
tors mowers, finders, buggies, wagons,
threshers, and other machinery, are far
away When they buy these freight
bill is added TO their price. II that
freight bill Is nearly twice what it should
be the buyer pays that much more than
he should pay. If 1t happens that there
have been failures of the hay crop, and
the corn crop so that farmers have to
buy these after they have been brought
hundreds of miles over railroads the
freight bin i good portion Of the
price II that bill is thirty or forty per
cent more than Is just the injustice falls
upon tbs buyer and consumer. This APP
plies to others than farmers. 1t applies
TO buyers of lumber, to bu-ers of furni-
tuIe, TO buyers and consumers Of coal,
to purchasers Of merchandise, OF all
kinds. On everything you buy that
comes by freight or express If the things
came free the cost would be less. II 90
per cent. is charged for carrying the
goods 10 you, then you pay 20 per cent.
more than II they came free. II 20 per
cent. is forty per cent. more than Just
rate then you pay that much more than
YOU should pay. II the purchase price
Is 500 at the factory ana the freight is
% per cent. the machine will cost you
S249 II the freight rate is 90 per cent.
more than 1t should be then you are
robbed of fi6.
Now what happened when that freight
rate bill was before the legislature2 1t
had been proven TO the legislature that
freight rates II Wiser nsin are higher by
40 per cent than Ia adjoining states,
Are the buyers and sellers in Wisconsin
the consumers who pay the freights
and the producers off whose products
this extortion comes. willing TO stand
this inequality? In numbers You are
pet haps hundred TO one of those who
are benefited by the extortion. But
were You represented in the lobby
Scores of men were at Madison to OPP
pose the passage of the rate law. Pro-
the big manufactures of the state were
aut4S MA4A ltAS5SA EesOAuhA11H UppOSAHS
the bill Why should they Clearly
their doing so shows connivance between
them and the public service corpora
tiona. Either they are paid for their
lobby influence or hey hold that any
means CT lessening the prices Of products
that come from tine country, aud of adj
ding TO the prices Of machinery and
commodies that are shipped to the conn
try, is profitable to the capitalists of the
large cities This il not bad logic, for
in both cases it takes our money away
but are we the slavls TO stand under 1t
Shall we who are hundred votes strong
10 their one be- the fools TO let them have
the offices ard run the state and the ma
ton in this way They think we are