Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-08-29
Hon. w. D. Connor's Address
at Milwaukee Banquet
NO PESSlMIST OR ALaRRIsT
Believes that With All the Past
Achievements of this Country
1t is Strong Enough to Reg
ulate and Control Every
Corporation and Indi-
vidual Within its
Borders

/ period OF its history is marked by
! some great POLITICAL upheaval. Each
! epoch in America has been character
| lied by some mighty achievement,
| which has brought about a bet or
/ government, broader ideas of citizen
| ship, greater liberty to the people and
frmer conviction in the minds of
/ thinking men the world over that the
American republic is permanent in
| stitution.
The last quarter of a century has
/ been a period of great agricultural.
industrial and commercial develop
ment. We have had practically moth
| ing to distract the attention of our
citizens from their civil pursuits. Ev-
| cry energy has been devoted to the
/ clearing of the forests, the opening up
! OF new agricultural districts, and the
establishment of Industrial enter
prises. The country has been COW
! cred with a network of railways, unit
/ ing every section of the nation, and
! numberless cities have arisen, like
magic, in every part of the country.
! The natural resources of the land
| have been rapidly developed. The
people have been so intent in the pur-
| suit of wealth that they have neg
lected their full duties as citizens.
/ This has permitted, in many of our
municipalities, and in both state and
national legislature, designing men to
secure the control of the legislative
bodies and to so shape legislation that
/ private and corporate interests have
profited at sthe expense of an unsus-
! pecting public. The very laxity of
the laws has permitted the combina-
tons of capital, which have for their
1 purpose the control of many of the
! common necessities of life and the
! natural resources of the country.
Many schemes promoted by public
/ officials have been engineered
/ through congress, giving to corpora
/ tons, in which they were personally
/ interested, large tracts of government
| land and other public property, with
| out returning adequate compensation
I to the public treasury. The Indian
lands and Indian timber have been
! considered suitable property for bar
! ter and trade by some men in official
/ positions. Within recent years mem
/ bers of congress have not hesitated
4 to speculate in stocks, the price of
which would be influenced by their
/ vote on the legislation then pending
( in congress.
/ 1.-The tariff laws have been changed
I or threatened with change in order to
/ affect the value of certain commodi-
! ties for the purpose of giving those
( in authority to make the laws a
Z oIo T.,
instances special features have been
/ Incorporated into the law for the ben
eft of special interests and personal
profit.
"Our state laws have permitted
numerous corporations to organize
under the sanction and authority of
the law with no restriction to pro-
tect the public against the unscrupu-
I lous methods of their promoters.
Many wrongs have been permitted to
creep into The body polite while our
| citizens have been engrossed il de-
/ veloping the resources of this virgin
country Wealth has accumulated at
an enormous rate. II has brought
with it perplexing and difficult prob
! lens which must be faced
uOuSu lUGIG dIS MICuSS III our
! system of government. / firmly be-
/ lieve that evil is the exception and
not the rule, and that, in the main,
public officials have been true to the
! responsibilities entrusted to their
care.
"The present time is one of the
most important in the history of the
country Great questions, the out
growth of the policy that has been
pursued during the past, must now be
met and solved by the people. The
Z present conditions are not the result
of a day Evil has crept into our
national system because, for long
period of years the people have been
more or less Indifferent to the affairs
of the country. Nothing today is
more vital to the welfare of the state
and nation than that every citizen
should be brought to realize the ne
cessity of making d personal and in
dependent study of the important
questions that are presenting them
selves for solution. 1t is not new
laws that this country is so much in
need of as it is the fixing in the mind
of every man the necessity of taking
personal interest in the affairs of
their city. state, and nation. in order
that those who are entrusted with the
making and enforcing of the laws
may be held to the rigid fulfillment
of their duties.
1.-The exposure of graft and corrup-
ton in the large cities the last few
years has done much to create doubt
as to the future of our institutions.
A few men have forgotten the obliga-
ton of public office entrusted to
their keeping and have used the Of
fee for their own benefit. 1t would
seem. in some instances. that civic
pride had died in the American heart,
that the principles for which the
blocS of our fore fathers was shed
are ) longer held sacred,
"If in the future municipalities
deem it advisable to acquire the local
public utilities. and if the operation of
these utilities by the municipality Is