The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-06-02
UNITED STATES SENATE
OWNED BY RAILROADS?
Walter Thomas Mills Puts
Some Real Old Wine in
New Bottles for People. :,
Discusses Attitude of Great
Legislative Body From
Socialistic Standpoint.

SOcla1lSLlc STANDPOINT.
The senators at Washington who
have been most active in the opposi-
ton to the Presidents plans for. rail-
way rate regulation, have come to be
regularly mentioned as the railroad
senators. The plain meaning of this
is that the senators referred to in this
way are understood not to represent
the states from which they are elect
ed, but rather the great railway inter-
ests which use the political forms of
tie various states from which these
senators come, to elect men to repre-
sent the railways rather than the
people.
It is we'll not to be shocked by this
state of things, but rather to extend
the line of vision. If we do we will
discover that all great industrial in
terests are represented in the senate
and elsewhere in the government
New York state has no senators in
Washington. The United States Ex-
press company has one senator from
New York and the Vanderbilt rail-.
ways have another, but the people Of
New York are unrepresented. Rhode
Island has no senator's. The Standard
Oil company has two senators from
Rhode Island, but the people have
none. Ohio is in the same condition
and the record can be extended to the
other states. The recent all-winter
contest for the United States senator
ship in Missouri was simply fight
between shippers who owned railroads
and shippers who did not oIyn rail-
roads. In this fight the Deliberate
Republican, and the Missouri Repub-
lican caucus was smashed to elect
Senator Warner over the caucus can
didate, not to represent the people OF
Missouri, but to represent the rail-
roads both inside an< outside of Mis-
souri,.
When the last senatorial election
was about to take place in California,
the Sugar Beet Gazette" Of June 4th,
1904, said:
whether Mr.. Oxnard has made up
his mind to enter the%contest for sem
| atorial honors or not, the Beet Sugar
Gazette fully agrees: with his friends
that the beet sugar industry should
be represented in the United States
senate by at least one man who is d.
rectly interested in it's growth and
familiar with its technical and CON-
merctal requirements. The
whole past history Of the beet sugar
industry in this country is one long
and convincing argument for the
necessity of political representation
by men engaged in the industry.
Other Industries learned this lesson
and profited by it, and it is safe to say
that today there is not another indus
try of national Importance in this
country that is so insuff1ciently repre-
sented in the legislative councils of
this nation as the beet sugar industry.
IL All the conditions pave the
way for an abundant representation OF
the industry by direct representatives
in both branches of the supreme legis.
lative body"
The Sugar Beet Gazette, from
which this editorial is taken, is tho
representative trade journal of the
sugar beet industry. In these frank
and truthful words IL confirms my
contention that the senators at Wash
ington do not represent states but IN
dustries instead.
Governor Cummins of Iowa has pro-
posed that two-thirds of all the states
shall join in proposing an amendment
to the national constitution to make
the senators at Washington subject
to direct election by the people of the
various states, instead of by the legis-
latures of the various states. It is to
be hoped that he will succeed in
carrying out this proposal, but even
this would not reach the real diff
Guilty.
The great industrial interests do
not arrange themselves along state
lines. The members of the presidents
cabinet are supposed to represent
great departments of industrial activ
fly. When the constitution was writ
ten the great collective activities OF
the people were of a local nature.
Only those living together in given
locality had interests in common and
hence there followed the state and
county and township lines and politi
cal organization and representation
accordingly. Now the greatest col
lective interests are not of local na-
ture. Men have interests in common
within the Industries in which they
are employed without regard to geo.
graphical localities. The great groups
having interests in common in Amer
ica are not bounded by sea shores,
river banks and mountain ranges. The
great industries which have grown up
in the last fifty years have created
great interests in common among all
the workers in any such great indus
try. And without waiting to change
the constitution these great Industries
have taken possession already of all
the forms of government. The SEN
ators are railroad senator's oil sen
ators, steel and iron senators and so
on to the end of the list. It seems
that beet sugar is short on represen
tation, but the cane sugar mills have
and have had for. many moons the
most satisfactory representation.
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Tho Socio1}sta roalo M oo,,o ,,1o3r&