Tombstone epitaph., 1906-06-03

Where the Republicans gain xvnnpleue
 cohirc' n "ouriy. state or nstion tley
 set up Il boss Ur bosses and .4mely sub
 init to his or their discrimination. It
 one slanceS aroLnd the United States.
 this condition Of affairs Is at once se .n
 10 prevail. It will also be developed if
 examination is made Of tLe political
 conditions under the roltrol of the
 Republicans that an ali. uce exists be
 tween the boss and the corporatinn,.
 In most cases the railroad corpora iiois are the dominating factor and supp;F
 the necessary aid to keep the boss ox
 ring in power. Every large corpora
 ton. be t railroad or trust. has lesal
 department. and most O: the political
 work is accomplished and the ex-
 penses charged up to it. Nearly all tho annual passes and the trip passes are issued by orders of this department and when it is necessary to buy cleo. tons or legislatures the money expeEd. cd is charged up as legal expenses What may bc called the legitimate out
 lays of the legal department of all tbe great railroads includes an attorney at all the principal towns through which the railroad runs. and these usually cover all the county seats. These at- torneys. the most competent in the county. are under the control of the great legal light at the headquarters ot tke corporations. There is often an- other official known as the general agent who fixes legislatures and city cDun..ilS n INtg lnx in, ft,.. iy,t., ,S tie railroads or to defeat those which would make them pay their fair share of taxation. When these corporation officials are combined with the political machine that is in power. the people have no chance of holding their own.
 In some states rival railroad com pines struggle for supremacy. This is the case in Iowa and Nebraska, but ft matters not which one succeeds in foisting its selections on the Repub- lican party as state officers or for the Legislature and congress-the effect Is to have laws passed to protect the COY porations from paying their just shars. of taxation.
 The whole theory of democratic gov ern,nent has been turned upside down. The participation of railroads and oth- CT corporal tions in politics has led to the enactment of laws. state and fed. eral. that relieve the favored few and their allies. the corporaticn- and coIu- pines. of paying what inc ordi.;ar; citizen pays in proportion to the prop. erty owned. Congress fixes the tar1J so that poor man paya q much gre2.- CT percentage of tax than a millionaire in proportion to lis :scome The statc legislatures enact is .vs th:t allow tLe aiij combines to eseaps paying on their lands and other prop erty anything like the proportion Of taxes that the merchant the farmer and the small householder pay. These. of the corporations and the wealthy amount to millions and are q constant inducement for them tc-. expend vast sums in politics to maiI.- tain their advantage. The expenditure Of this money leads 10 the GebauchlDg of those voters who are not proof against the arts of the briber and breeds callousness and indifference end shameful apathy among those who are high In church and state This uwfui political condition is rampant in some states and quiescent in others but unfortunately the germ exists ev-.