Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1904-06-02

Free Press.
The corporations are saying, We
have got the money, and the bust
ness; we control production, dIstri-
button, transportation and prices. We
have not vet quite annexed the gov
eminent to our other "interests." but
it il our intention to annex it. We
would like to have some faddist, some
political crank, some agitator, state
whatever reasons there are supposed
to be why we should not annex it..
Who should govern Il state or a
country if not the people who own
the country? That is what we, the
corporations owning the United
States, and every individual state,
would like to know.
The contention of the corpora tions
| is not so unreasonable as 1t seems, at
| first thought, to be. Every man and
every inter est has a right to his own.
| A corporation worth its hundreds OF
millions has TIE same right to it's own
that the owner of "A garden spot with
a cottage upon it has. And if it is "A
corporations right to keep what it
| has got, why is it not its right to
| control what it has got? There is on
| ~ one way in which the corpora
tions can really control their business
| and that is by running the govern
| ment in connection with their other
| business; creating trust in which
the scheme of popular government
hall be put in "at what it is worth
and take it's chance with the rest of
the holdings as to dividends.
The corporation contention to the
| right to own and control its prop
erty, and to have that right acknowl-
| edged and uninterfered with, is, new
ertheless, the biggest problem before
the people of the United States, and
of every Individual state at the pres
| ent time. We get together in our
political conventions and prattle
about tariffs, and currency, and in
ternal improvements, and canals
and the army, and foreign re-
lations, and say as lttle--or have
| what we say mean as little--as we
can about the one great, overshad-
owing, all.important question before
the country, whether the aggregated
corporations shall control what they
own and pretend to own. Shall their
demand that the reins of govern
ment be put into their hands be
complied with?
| Theodore Roosevelt is the first
president we have ever had who has
realized the encroachments OF the
great overpoweriug combinations OF
wealth, and shown any disposition
| to curb them. Because he has, he has
| incurred the enmity of the corpora.
! tions. and that means that he has in
Cured the opposition of the agents OF
the corporations. 1t accounts for such
| expressions us lldN VI "a w lSNpuSlu
Republican representative in New
Work u day or twu since, wban he de-
Iciafea tfiat Gov. Ia fUne,te u s}-f,
state is against everything that rep
reseuts commerce and industry, and
against the railroads; and that Wis
consin would probably give its vote
for Roosevelt, but that he wished
Mckinley or Cannon or some other
such man were to be the candidate
whom 1--WE" could vote for with &
will.
The president is n disturber. He
refused TO be guided, too. He i,
against business and commerce and
the man who has dollar, just as tn,
disturber is who is governor of Wis
consin. He is in the way of the per
lection OF the plan for the annexa
ton OF the government by the cor
porations, and letting them admins