The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-01-12
Entered at Richmond. Ind. Postofncs
As Second Class Mai; Matter
UNSUITABLE ANARCHISM.


"Let us admit frankly if a trust cor
0ers a market, apportions state INTO
districts, permits only its own agent
there and forces the farmer to sell at
its price or lose his product, that he Is
q poor American who does not resent
the situation. We stand with him for
Fesenting such impudence. The only
question to ask is, How shall he re-
sent It? Trusts are Illegal that act i'll
Restraint of trade. and the whole
country in national and in state cap
Acity has been making efforts to curb
such trusts. Now how did the Ken
lucky tobacco farmer go about the
work? First he formed another trust
Thought the devil with fire. How
much better is he then than the orig
enal tobacco trust? His methods were
xhe same and in addition he let loose
enight riders to destroy property
added arson and terrorism and the
Invasion of the commonest rights to
the original sin of unlawful combina-
63on to restrain trade. OF the two is
not he the worse?
"And let us ask another question:
Sf the farmer oppressed by this tobac-
co trust had put forth the same effort
Or a half of it to have the trust
brought into court and had fought it
there according to law. would not the
situation be infinitely better today?"
The above is part of an editorial in
the Indianapolis News last night in
regard to the war between the might
riders" Representative of the farm
ers' union of Kentucky-and the to-
bacco trust. The News takes the stand
that the farmers of Kentucky should
have appealed to the law, instead Of to
tho fire brand in their fight against
the tobacco trust. How much good
would the law have done these farm
ers? President Roosevelt has been
one Of the most persistent fighters
against the criminal trust the coun-
try has had in years. Through his
efforts the greatest of our law defy
ing trusts have been brought before
the bar of justice and vet nothing has
been accomplished. The Standard Oil
trust was fined over $29,000,000 for
glaringly illegal acts and yet it has
never settled that fine and probably
never will. We see our senators and
representatives in congress, where the
laws of the country are made, in the
employ Of these self same criminal
trusts. What kind of laws are they
making? The kind that repeated
trials of the criminal trusts have PROV
ed were made SO that the special in
terests could never be brought to time
ind fittingly punished for their mis-
i6eeds. Why then should these Ken
tOueky farmers be censured for taking
- law into their own hands and
09hhng the tobacco trust in the way
Tiny are? Why on the contrary
should they not be commended for
having enough sense to realize that
sgung to law" would mean but end
Tess years Of delays during which time
ehe tobacco trust would be doing bust
vfe9s at the old stand and in the same
ola highwayman fashion? OF course
Ei,ere is no denying that the course
Tho Kentucky farmers are pursuing is
nothing but rank anarchy, but neither
arc the eXtortionate actions Of the to-
bacco trust any less than the foulest
Kind of anarchy. The Kentucky sit
nation is simply case of poor anar.
chfsts turning against their wealthy
oppressors, the rich anarchists who
are at the head Of the tobacco trust.
The example these Kentucky farmers
are setting will soon be followed by
others who are tired of trust domin.
alton, for the law does not protect lis
II it did the Palladium and the News
and thousands of other newspapers OF
the country would combine to use the
law against the great paper trust that
IS depressing the newspapers. But
the law has already been tried against
the paper trust. Several years sso
the paper trust was dissolved by
law Today the trust is at its old
stand doing business at better and
higher rates than ever before. The
law as it stands in this country to
day is a mockery of our shallow liber
ty. 1t is the instrument with which
We are oppressed. For all our boast
ed republican institutions we hay,
less real liberty than the subjects O
European monarchs.