The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-09
Controlled by the Golden
Calls Priests.
PLIGHT OF DEMOCRACY
One Tenth The People Hold the Money
and Power and Rule and Rob The
Great Remainder by Meth
0ds Their Creatures
LegaIize.
BY COL. S. A. JONES.

BY COL. $. n. JONES.
To the Editor:-Permit me to SUBJ
nit a few thoughts l believe will
be applicable to the political situation
In the coming national election.
thoughts which the conservative
people of this country should seri-
ousiy think on and investigate before
casting their votes to maintain the
Republican party in power 1t claims
TO De party of protection. but has
1allen far short of the most essential
protection necessary for the main
lenance OF the purposes of this gov
ernment. First of all we need pro-
tecton TO our children and the great
toiling masses of this country. in
restriction OF emigration. Allow no
further entries by people in this
country who eXnect to enter other
than as visitors. without a pledge of
permanent citizenship, and a clean
record behind them, and sufficient of
this worlds goods to begin life on,
even though in a small and humble
way. Emigrants are coming here at
the rate of more than half mill
lion year. that constitutes the offal
and Sums of the earth and who Will
work for lower wages than Ameri-
cans can possibly 1--we on, and who
will live on what an ordinary we'll
raised American pig would refuse to
eat. 1t is these characters that come
here to hoard wages to carry them
back to the countries from which
they come: have no interest whatever
in the success or failure OF our coun-
try as a nation. This is the most
destructive element to honest Ameri-
can labor. with which we have to con-
tend. The public lands are all about
absorbed There are few more res
ervations of which the Indians are
to be robbed, which Will end the free
homestead entry.
The benefit of cheap homes should
be for permanent American citizen
ship. and not for those who want to
utilize them temporarily to get an
accumulation and return to their ma
tive lands. And the next most GER
tain protection that will insure peace
between labor and capital in my
humble opinion is to tax the full
capital stock, both common and pre-
ferred, and all the bonds issued OF
every corporation in existence in this
country and every foreign corpora
tion with a privilege tax that is doing
business in this country. Then labor
will get it's just reward. Labor on
some of the most important railroad
lines i'm this country to-day, is re-
uuired to earn dividends on common
and preferred stock and on heavy
bond issues on lines that have re-
ceived large land grants from the
government and have sold these lands
in some instances for nearly double
the cost of the construction of the
road. Done under a system of legis-
latiou that RepublicaniSm calls eco
romical and industrial development t.
when these roads could and should
have been built by issuing short time
government bonds and put in opera
ton under government supervision
and the lands sold. and the bonds
cancelled, I'D. the government owned
the roads for the benefit of the nation.
And until this nation does own the
great artery lines of railroads.. labor
will have to continue to earn profits
or dividends on three lines of securi-
ties that represent them. sufficient
To satisfy those who gamble on the
stocks and bonds. tariff that Gre
ates no income at the custom house
and prevents competition by small
operators is both vicious. undemo-
cratic and destructive to general in
dustrial development.
The discriminating railroad rates on
coal and oil and pig iron and iron
ore and manufacturing steel. have
brought about the conditions with a
tariff that yields no income at the
custom house. that has enabled our
great home monopolieS and manufac-
turers to collect $24.OO per ton on
\ railroad iron at home. and in that
proportion on all machinery and i'm
plements whose principal construction
is iron and steel, and sell the same
iron and these products abroad at
$500 per ton, which is undemocratic
and seriously detrimental to general
industrial development: and especially
detrimental to the great agricultural
interests that use more implements
constructed from iron and steel. than
all the rest of the world. It is con-
tended and pretty generally conceded
that the large mOnopOliStic manufac-
turing companies. the TRANSFORMATION
companies. the coal and iron mining
companies and the standard oil COM
PAN and the national banks. repre-
sent in their capitalization about 7-10
of what is reckoned the aggregate
wealth of the entire United States.
Yet this aggregate wealth does not
yield over lilo of the taxes for the
support of the general government
both state and national. The other
$40 that represent the land the mer-
camille. the agricultural. the general
mining interest and homes of the peo-
pie is owned by $40 of the citizen
ship of America. while the great
monopoly manufacturing and trans
portation, mining and banking inter-
ests are owned by less than 1-1O of
the citizenship of America. and so
managed and manipulated that they
nav only about 1-10 of the taxes for
the support of the general govern
ment. both state and national. and
under Republican rule are debating