The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-09-22
JOHN D. IS CHILLED
Governor La Toilette Roasts the
Big Oil King.
Points Out What Might Happen
In this Country.
Railroad Aggression Is a Men
ace to the Whole People.
He Asks That President RoOse-
welt Be Encouraged.

st. Paul, Sept. 20.-"There might
| come time when some Rockefeller, as
much richer than the Rockefeller of to-
day as John d. i richer than the gen
GRAFTON preceding aim, will gain control
of all our railroad systems, and then
looking over the farms of the whole
land say: why should | not become
the landlord of all this! p" said Gov
ernor Robert NJ. Id Toilette in his lee
ture on Representative Government" at
the Central Presbyterian church, st.
Paul last night.
among the factors which may de-
stroy the representative government"
said he there are none so potent as the
| railroad. One of the first to recog-
nize this was John ID. Rockefeller, who
has done more than any other man that
has lived to destroy honesty and in
| tegrity. The powers of the brain are
intellect, will and emotion. Rockefeller
has an intellect; | am sure he has Il
will, but | don't believe he had that
other power.
HE was the first to see the value of
roads and got them to put up rates to
drive out his competitors and thus give
him full sway. ] know the despair he
caused among those men in Pennsyl-
vania. Rockefeller may give his mil
lions to colleges and missions, but he
cannot expiate the crime of driving
these men to poverty and despair.
The same was done in the anthracite
coal fields. The supply of anthracite is
| small. Eight raifs9o5 companies got
hold of it. They robbed the people who
owned it. you know / said | would
be conservative in the choice of words.)
The transportation companies control
absolutely any product which must de-
pend on transportation for its value.
People owe it to themselves to see that
they take control of the highways of
commerce. | do not mean that they
should own the railroads. Until there
is a good law upon the statute books
of every state, and the nation as well,
and that law has failed, l am not in
favor of public ownership. But when
that fails the only alternative is gov
eminent ownership.
The large shippers are complaining
of excessive rates. But freight is moth
ing to them. The manufacturer makes
the jobber pay the freight, the jobber
makes the retailer pay it, and the re-
taller raises prices so that you, the con-
sumner, are the one to must pay the
freight.
by our constitution and laws no law
nor any commission can curb the rail
roads, for the supreme court would de-
termine if rate is unreasonable. But
we want a reasonable rate. That's all
we want, and that we'll have before
this contest is over.
Roosevelt in his message in 1901 said
that all shippers should be treated alike
and that for existing evils there should
be Il speedy remedy. That was in 1901.
Shippers and their associations have
been asking for relief ever since, but
nothing has been done. Do you think we
have representative government at
Washington"
Pick up any paper tomorrow morn
ing and you will read of the findings
of corruption by grand juries. You are
familiar with this here in st. Paul and
Minneapolis. Then there is Milwaukee.
There's something else now that makes
Milwaukee famous. 1t is not graft. for
that is everywhere but it is a district
attorney who is able, determined and
cannot be bought.
1.-The men who corrupt the govern
ment are not the masses, but the men
who made their millions in violation of
the statutes of the government. They
have practically gotten hold of the leg
islative departments of the government.
Tell me of an instance where con-
test has occurred between the people
and the corporations where the people
have not gone down time and again. /
do not mean to say that all govern
ment is corrupt. Town and county Off
Gals are usually honest. The admin
istrative departments of the state and
the nation are for the most part clean.
But the department we most need to
guard against is the legislative. There
is where the big machines work to con-
troll, and if they control there, they con-
troll the government.
when our big corporations began to
grow up they began to surround con
gress and our legislatures with lobbies