The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-14
PROMINENT MEN SPEAK
tcontinued from Page one.)

private monopoly enters the govern ment must operate the monopoly, or violate all of the principles taught by Jefferson.
 For instance in the city of Chicago has been won the most notable victo- " achieved thus far in the United States for the cause of municipal ownership. and Judge Dunne, who led the Democratic forces to victory on this platform. was one of the organizers Of the Jefferson Club, under whose aus pices this banquet is given. Can any one be so ignorant of the aims. argu- ments and principles of Jefferson as to quote him in support of corpora tion which monopolizes the highways of this great city? Can any one be- lieve that he would subordinate his objections to monopoly in order to de- fend the right of few monopolists to reap an enormous profit from the use of streets made valuable not by the capi- talists, but by the people of Chicago? If Jefferson was loath to endorse a patent which gave a man a limited monopoly of thing which he actually invented. would he be likely to favor the giving of a permanent monopoly to men who invent nothing except new methods of evading taxation or of cor rupting councils? Nothing is more consistent with the support of Jeffer- sonian principles. than the ownership and operation by the public of every industry which is in its nature a mono poly. Where competition is impossi- ble, the benefits of monopoly must &C., crue to the whole people, not to few.
 Chicago Campaign.
 am glad that in the city of Chicago the Democratic platform was broad enough to include not only the public ownership of the street car lines, but the public ownership of lighting plants and telephone systems-the Chicago water system, I believe, has for many years been owned by the city. The naAIral results of private monopoly are. first, extortion as to the price of the product; second, oppression as to the labor employed in production; third, reduction of the price of raw ma terial and deterioration in the quality of the products; and fourth, the corrup- tion of the power which attempts to regulate monopoly in the interest of the public. When the English parlia- ments franchise for private water plant or lighting plant, it generally fixes a maximum income, and requires reduction of rates when the maximum is reached: but in this country the ad- vocates of monopoly are bold enough to resist all limitation and to demand a ITee ndnQ TOT those WnO are Tn con- trol of the quasi-public corporations In the matter of water plants. the cities have made great progress, but a small percentage of the water plants being now owned by private corpora tions. The taking over of the light ing plants has not gone so far but the movement is now well underway. But few of the cities have undertaken to establish telephone exchanges. but this is a necessary step. and, unless it is taken soon, we shall have the same struggle that we have gone through in regard to water plants and lighting plants The sooner the cities begin to establish their own telephone eX- changes, the less they will have to pay for watered stock. and in compen- sation for so-Ualled vested rights"
 The third Jeffersonian doctrine that is now being misinterpreted and mis- applied, is his argument against long time debts. He took the position that the earth belongs in succession to each generation, and that d proceeding generation had no right to mortgage the earth beyond it's occupancy of it. If this doctrine had been adopted il would be much easier to deal with the problems of today. but it is manifestly unfair to permit railroads and munich nal corporations to mortgage the public for generations, and then to quote Jeff 6a~@on aaajnst tkA Lss1Ie nf bonds when