Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1904-12-06

It accumulates its countless wealth
from chartered franchises which
have in most cases been violated
and Justly forfeited to the State.
It is this Oiigarchv that seeks ~
divide this nation into e.,s1es-
the rulers and the ruled.
nothing TO reason and as little to
our laws and the DEGREES of our
national tribunals.
This American railway Oligar-
chy derives its power from
wealth. Itaccumulates its count
less wealth from chartered fra :
chises which have in most cases
been violated and justly forfeited
to the State. 1t is this Oligar-
chy that seeks to divide this ma
ton into castes,-the rulers and
the ruled.
Its proud, ambitious and domi-
neering spirit brooks no resist
ance from Courts, States or Ma
ton. 1t is determined to rule by
the force of its financial and cor
porate power.
If there be anything about
which the minds of our common
people are united, it is this,
that a government administered
by chartered corporations is the
first step in the direction of mon
archy; they will never submit to
this. Rather by far declare every
railway charter null and void
and forfeit to the State.
This Government derives its
just powers from the governed
and it must be administered by
the governed and not by ruling
class of chartered corporations.
Our common people are IRE
vocably determined that a sig
nal example shall be made of all
attempts to do things otherwise
than according to our laws and
our Constitution.
Our great wheat fields and
natural grazing lands upon the
public domain are rapidly becom-
ing exhausted by depicting
process of cropping without
returning anything to replete the
soil with its native richness.
This depicting system is carried
on to give our nation a surplus in
bread and meat for commercial
export to less favored nations of
the earth, also to give employ
ment to our multiplied energies
and to our sons aud daughters at
remunerative wages; but how
long can this system of robbery
and spoilation of the soil go on
feeding railway corporations with
ninety per cent of the net profits
of our varied agricultural pur-
suits?
The American railway Oligar-
chy grows rich and strong while
our agricultural lands are grow
ing poorer every year, for the
want of commercial fertilizers
which cannot be employed on ac-
count of the high freight rates
exacted by railway corporations
everywhere. The vast tonnage
of fertilizers and waste of cities
would restore the constant waste
of our soil it could be distrib-
uted by railways at a reasonable
margin above the actual cost of
transportation in empty trains
running to our rural depots for
surplus products. A national
system OF distribution of fertili-
zers at actual cost would clean up
our American cities and make
them fit habit atoms for people
and give employment to thou
sands of our citizens who are
now either idle or employed to
cart all the valuable elements and
factors of fertilizers to the banks
of our great rivers and there
made to pollute our whole sys-
tenn of inland waters. All of
this havoc and public waste is
a direct result Of the extortion
practiced by the railway corpora
tions of the United States.
This American railway Oligar-
chy has but recently absorbed
100 ,ooo miles of railroad and is
now dividing into systems to
carry out purposes forbidden by
o1,r ou,c> o,,J &lo l2@~o1 &c $500