The daily sentinel., 1907-05-18
Fearless Little Giant
of the Badger State
CONTINUED from Page one.)
TOR FROM THIS STATE" /" and when

|
ment, the church rang with applause
He said that 1t was serious hour
in the life of a republic when such
things were done by a sovereign state,
as to barter away the greatest Office
in its gift.
A rapid change was then made by
the speaker in the character of his
thought and language. He said he
had rapidly but not fully traced the
political history of the country and
now he would speak upon its CONNER
cial history and how this was AFFECT
ing representative government. At
one time, not long ago, individuals
and co-partnerships handled all the
necessary business of the country.
With the increase of population and
conuuering of the great west larger
conditions prevailed and new form
for conducting business prevailed-it
being the corporation. There was lit
tie to menace in the formation of a
corporation, as 1t could contain Just
as many partners aB desired to come
in. with these corporations under
the free play of competition, there
was nothing menacing and the bal
ance of power was maintained
But finally these corporations got
tired OF competing and said to them
selves that 1t was useless to compete
when they could control and they
formed a new condition in CONNER
cial life known as TRUSTS. The pri-
mary purpose of these trusts was to
stifie and throttle any competition
Whatever and to abolish all character
OF comparative life. Every line OF
production is controlled by the trusts.
The two great staples of life and COM
merce, meat and grain, are under the
control of one single trust. Six cor
porations formed this trust and you
cannot buy pound of beef or one of
grain at any other price than the ar
bitrary one, set by these two great
trusts.
To show their power in 1874 the
price of beef was showed down in
this country at the command of the
beef trust 163 millions of dollars.
Eight great grain elevators control
the price of grain and every farmer
in the United States is dominated
by this great grain trust. Talk about
slavery. said the speaker, the Ameri-
can farmer and cattle grower is as
much n slave, as was ever the black
bondman of the southland.
At this point the speaker illuatrat-
ed how he first was initiated into
the iniquities of the grain trust by
Tom Worrall, of Lincoln, a small
grain grower, who was first forced in
to the combine and when he thought
himself sufficiently strong left the
trust. but was soon crushed out of
existence and is now issuing pamph-
let's to teach the people of the slav-
cry under which they live to the
grain trust. In 1898 1t is proven that
/ the American farmer received for
I,l gfx fha n
he should have done and in 1904
twenty to twenty-four millions. Nor
ris Brown, attorney general of Ne
braska indicted the grain trust OF
that state. but the state was after
ward bought up the same as the state
of Wisconsin had been purchased, af-
ter 1t had passed n stringent rate
law governing railways. But he said
that now Norris Brown had been elec.
ted United States senator and he
was glad of it, because It was lone
ly in Washington and he wanted help
He said he could not stop to talk
about iron and copper, but they were
controlled in the same way. Eight
railroads of Pennsylvania control the
anthracite coal measures, stolen from
the people. These railroads forced the
people to sell their anthracite hold
inGs, because they would not carry
their product to market. the most ne
farious combination ever permitted
by sane government. 1t was assert
ed that they would eventually do witt
bltuminous. as they had done will
anthracite.
THE TWO GREAT CoMMoDIT
les ON TOP OF THE EARTH
II GRAIN AND BEEF. AND THE TWO
i GREATEST ESSENTIALS TO COM
/ Al 4 ITNTTNINL
i GROUND IRON AND COAL. were
4 solely in the hands OF n very few
/ people. seventy-siX in ALL"
Here most dramatic situation en-
sued the. speaker growing so ex-
cited that he mounted another steI
in the upper platform of the pulpi
and waving his hand aloft cried fol
the people to down the trusts oi
lose their republican form of govern
ment, 1t was powerful, dramati,
and most convincing and gave tru,
shape to the hero mold in whicl
the giant little speaker seems to b,
cast.
Continuing the speaker said tha
these seventy-sIx men held 1000 di
] rectorships in American corporations
and then detailed the number fol
/ each one.
But another thing happened latel,
there was not sufficient control in tn,
hands of these 76 men and they form
ed n new condition commercially
which is known as Community In
terests." This is far worse condl
tion than trusts, because It means tn,
sitting of all possible competition
In 1890 said the speaker, when tn,
Sherman antitrust act was passed
there were only four trusts. Nov
everything is organized on GRIM
INAL BASIS. BY a compilation o
statistics we have found that tn,
entire equipment and building of
the trusts cost only four hundred
! millions for actual construction, bu
that they have. been capitalized foi
/ fourteen hundred millions, the las
ten millions being watered stock. up
on which the people must pay divi
dends at fictitious prices for the pro
ducts of the trusts. Thirty five thou
sand dollars viii build any electri,
line per mile, but in the state of New
Jersey the home of trusts, they have
them capitalized under what Is
known as public service" cooperation.
and they have their electric roads nm,