Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-14

|
emerged from the American steel and
iron industry, no Bessener or Siemens,
no great original master process, which,
bringing it's due and proper reward to
J the inventor or the discoverer, makes
the whole world better as well as
richer. Under our system, government
subsidies took from the American con-
sumer the fruits of the ability and the
| ingenuity of these great men and en-
abled a chosen few to pocket most Of
the profits for themselves.
Power of States and Cities Added
In this progress of privilege, almost
| imperial in it's rapidity and the methods
employed, the time came when the op-
portunities conferred by the federal
government were not sufficient to
satify the growing cohorts of monopoly.
Then the powers of the stats were in
voked. Although they could not. to the
| same extent as the federal government,
| create values by taxation they could
confer powers and authority upon rail-
roads, street railways and corporate
bodies often organized by an abuse of
| the general laws, though devised for
| the encouragement and promotion of
| honest enterprise, and they could sane
tion the combination which federal ex-
actions had made desirable to those
who would stife home competition. So
every state legislature became first the
| resort of a lobby and, when this be-
! came too. expensive, the method was
changed, and the boss came to his own.
| Here, again, not only was the system
which had been so effective in federal
politics, relentlessly applied. but it's
power was added to the forces already
i'm existence so that the briber was
able to draw upon new resources from
al Il nd fhIIc tn
levy blackmail from an enlarged con-
stituency of victims.
Still privilege grew by what it fed on;
still with the daughters of the horse
leech, it cried: "Give!" "Give!" In
| almost every city and local community
of Importance there were public fran
chises and rights. so, these were either
given away or sold at prices ridicuously
low, nearly always without those wise
restrictions which provided for the pay
ment of taxes, or for renewal on new
and more favorable terms. fair alike
to public and to private interests. 1t
was not long until the holders of those
franchises formed alliance with those
above them in rank. From this new
source there trickled down added rivu-
let's Of bribe money, and other legisla-
tive bodies were opened to manipula-
tion by the boss. When the vicious
circle was complete. the greater so in
Guided the less that the so-called or
ganization of the Republican party had
at it's command every capacious and
well-filled reservoir of political corrup-
ton, with supply pipes draining from
them into every camp where its favor
ties were found.
No Democrats Are Real Bosses
1t is one of the natural but interest
ing, and often overlooked, facts of
political history that, with all the de-
velopment of "bosses'' throughout the
country, during the past generation,
there is no instance where in any state,
a Democrat has come to the front with
the will and the opportunity to use
public power or revenues to enrich
himself, or his henchmen, or his fol-
lowers. 1t is also true that, in no more
than three or four cities, has this rank
and foul eXcrescenCe been able to gain
hold, to grow and to flourish for any
considerable time in the Democratic
party
No claim need be made that this is an
illustration of party virtue: but it is
true that never in its history has the
party been so allied with monopoly as
to attract it's agents. AS it has had no
public favors to sell, it could not de-
mand that any of the pipes from the
reservoir of bribery should be turned
it's way. 1t has, therefore. always had
to depend upon contributions from its
individual members for needed cam
paign funds, and-even if neither prin-
ciple nor morality were involved-it
could make no more serious mistake
than to enter the auction mart for
votes.
Recent Revelations of Shame
During the past year the country has
been listening, with open, eager ear, to
revelations of the most astounding
character. In this time we have be-
come familiar with breaches of trust,
involving the rihing of graves and the
robbery of widows and orphans with
combinations in which. now, one group
of financiers, now another, has played
it's part and with pretentious business
enterprises, whose securities were ''writ
in water" The ordinary moral obli-
quities, so common to mankind have
almost been lost sight of, while, day
after day and week after week, this
disheartening and seemingly unending
story has been told, until, at each new
recital, the public has been reduced to
ask: What neXt?'
But why should there have been any
cause for wonder? When, for nearly
half a century, we have been binding
our manufacturers as apprentices to
monopoly why should we be surprised
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