The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-08-25
What Henry Wallace, Leading
Republican of Iowa Has to
Say
EditoriaIly in the Last Issue Of
His Paper, Wallaces'
Farmer


a citizen and he should not tolerate
under any circumstances any interfer-
ence by parties outside of his baili-
wick. The fundamental idea under
lying American institutions is that
the people are competent to govern
themselves. We are not Filipinos nor
Porto Ricans, but an intelligent peo-
pie capable of attending to our own
business.
No county or senatorial or repre-.
sentative district would for a moment
permit the president of one of the
great railroads, whose home is in Chi
cago or New York, to come into its
territory and tell them whom they
should nominate or elect, but they
permit them to do exactly the same
thing through their paid agents and
representatives who may happen to
be citizens of the state. That this is
done and has been done for the last
fifteen or twenty years is so well
known by everyone who knows any
thing about political movements that
it is not a subject for argument.
The fact is too notorious.
There are but two reasons that
would justify action of this kind on
the part of foreign corporations.
One is that the people of the various
states and districts are not capable of
self-government and must have some
wise, experienced captain OF indus
try" to govern them. Another, that
1T is necessary to obtain control es-
pecially of state legislatures in order
that they may rob them by extortion-
ate freight rates and passenger rates
at their convenience. No railroad Of
ticer would dare for a moment to ad-
nit thai he is actuated by either of
these motives.
The reason actually given is that
1T is necessary to control elections
Especially state legislatures) in order
to prevent the corporations from be-
ing robbed by the people in the way
of excessive taxes or onerous and rigid
restrictions. They tell us that they
are persistently sand-bagged by dem
agogues who happened to be in office,
in order to carry favor with the peo-
pie. They tell US that their property
is in our hands; that they cannot re-
move it; that the power of taxation is
unlimited; and that it is quite posi-
BILE for an executive council in order
to cater to the prejudices of the peo-
pie against railroads to practically
rob them of their well earned profits.
For this reason they take partthrough
their county attorneys and local
agents in manipulating primaries,
c%aucuses, and conventions. They do
the same thing in the selection of
delegates to congressional and state
conventions. They furnish free
transportation not only to delegates
but to workers. They debauch legis-
lators, judges, and county officers
With free passes. They take an ac-
tive part in the campaign for state Of
fcers and camp with their Hobbies in
legislative halls-all, as they say.
through the fear that the people
may rob them.
They forget that the people are
quite as much interested in having
good railroad facilities as are the
managers of the railroads themselves,
Farmers. who constitute the bulk of
the people, want well managed, well
conducted railroads, profitable to
their owners and to their stockhold-
ers. and have no possible motive for
expressing railroads in the way of
retaliation for wrongs and Injustice
suffered at their hands.
If the railroads will just keep out
u the state, county, and congression-
politics and let the people exercise
their inalienable right of self-goyern-
nent and will trust to the n of
Justice and fairness inherent in an
agricultural people, they will get fair
treatment. Otherwise. they must
necessarily expect trouble, that
trouble which comes justly and right
eoughly on men in any class who in
'lst on attending to the business of
other people. It will be objected
the agents Of corporations by
virtue of the state statutes have the
same rights as other citizens. Most
certainly; but as citizens, not as
agents of a corporation. So have
but the government
soon settles with a postmaster wEo
Uses his position for political ends.
II an attorney for a railroad issues
passes for political purposes he is
obeying the orders of a foreign
corporation or he is abusing his posi-
lion for selfish and personal ends.
Think it over and ask yourself why
it is that a foreign corporation should