Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1904-04-28

as the candidate OF the Republican
party. If they are successful in their
attempt to defeat him at the caucuses
and secure the nomination of any other
man. they feel that they can make
failure of the primary law. nullify the
railroad tax law and prevent the
enactment Of rate bill.
To illustrate how vital this Is to the
railroads, what they have to lose and
what the people of the state have TO
win, consider what these three meas,
ures stand for.
The proposed primary election law
stands for a direct vote for your can
didate under a secret ballot-a system
of voting for nominees in such a way
that there can be no intimidation of
the voter because the ballot is secret
and no successful bribery. because
there are no caucus and convention
delegates to bride. You do your own
The railroad tax law stands for an
assessment of railroad property at its
full value, and at the same rate as
other property is ass,sse in the state
1t compels the rich owners of railroad
stock to pay their full share of the
taxes in Wisconsin
The railway commission bill pro-
vides for the regulation of freight
rates by the state which will give an
equal rate to all shippers similarly
situated. and prevent the railroads
from raising the rates to more than
make up for paying their share of the
taxes.
These measures should have become
laws long ago. They would have be-
could have had their way about it,
Each time they were defeated, the will
Of the majority was defeated.
There is only one way to keep our
kind of government alive. That is to
have fair count and to decide all
questions by majority vote. There
is no other way. That makes the is
sue in Wisconsin to-day. 1t is a great
issue, 1t is all there is of town gov
eminent, city government state gov
eminent, national government.
Which Shall 1t BE.
The majority has decided these ques-
tons over and over again in this state
The count has been fair. 1t has never
been questioned. But the railroads.
and the men who do their bidding in
the legislature, have contempt for
the people, no matter what their ma
jority may be. They refuse to sub
NIT. Either the people must control
the corporations, or the corporations
will control the state. Which shall it
be?
1t is a great question. Any man who
derstand it. Any man who under
stands it must be on the side of the
people, unless he is getting some spe-
cial favor or advantage from the cor
porations, or is controlled by them in
some other way.
These are the facts and the argu-
ments This is the plain truth. Moth
ing more. nothing less. All the rest OF
the hue and cry, the charges of ex-
travagance, the game wardens, the de-
feet in the mortgage tax law (Which
could not be foreseen and can easily
be remedied), the cry of bossism, the
array Of figures, compiled by cunning
railroad statisticians, and the plea for
Harmony" coupledwith the prayer for
compromise" is simply so much bald
erdash put out to mislead and bewild
CT the voter.
The thousands of men who have
stood for taxation and reasonable
rates for all--and among whom are
many destined to future advancement
at the hands Of the people, stand Gov
ernor La Follette's denomination now.
They present no other candidate For,
after years of savage attack, the
trained fighters of the railroads have
found no, flaw in his az NOR, no stain
upon his character.
when He Was Tryes Predecessor.
Edward +. Jones of Bughamton. ex-