Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-05-12

PEOPLES PULPIT.
DESTROY. THE COMBINES.

How the People Secured Relief From
Excessive Railroad Rates, and How
They Can Easily Secure Relief from
Excessive Prices and Evils Caused
by Combines.
(sy William II. Jones, candidate
for the nomination to the office OF
Representative on the Republican
ticket of Van Buren, county,
through our country the question then
was. how to secure an outlet for farm
products and an inlet to manufac-
tured goods and so great was the need
of these that almost all of the first
railroads We're assisted by taxation
and public donation. When these
roads were put into operation it was
found that freight and passenger rates
were excessively high and burden to
the public. Relief from these burdens
were sought by building more rail.
roads hoping that competition would
reduce rates of transportation, but it
was found that additional railroads in
stead of bringing competition brought
combination and no reduction of
rates. Having failed in this plan an
other was tried, that Of government
supervision Of rates, and the inter-.
state commerce commission was insti-
tuted to regulate rates on interstate
shipments and the several states un-
dertook to supervise rates within their
own borders, and the result is that
railroads are no longer permitted to
charge unreasonable nor unjust rates
or make unfair discrimination be-
tween individuals Or localities. The
lessons learned by experience in deal
ing with railroad combines ought to
be of great advantage IN
dealing with other combines for
they all have a common OBJ
ject, that of increasing the wealth
of those interested in them at the
expense of the public. The fact that
railroads are public utilities afforded
the government the right to step in
and control their rates. but factories
are private property and which pre-
vents government supervision of them.
But while this is true and the right
of each individual to control his own
property mast be preserved, yet the
right to control his own property does
not give any one the right to combine
for the purpose Of injuring others and
the public, which is the sole object
of combines, and the government has
beyond doubt the right to prevent
them accomplishing their purpose, and
also from blacklisting men who have
displeased them. The only question
is, how can the government best &C.
complish this work. Certainly not by
undertaking to control them by fixing
prices as it does with railroads, and
experience has demonstrated that
competition will not adjust prices Or
bring relief from the combines, for
they prevent competition. Then but
one thing is left and that is destroy
the combines.
No one has done more or taken
more advanced grounds on this sub
ject than our President. He has gone
into court with the prestage Of his
position, and the power of the govern
ment behind him and has waged a
relentless war on them, winning many
splendid victories, and never has z
president been more universally re-
spected and loved than the man who
now fills that place. Our president
has done splendid work, but by the
time he has got one case through the
courts and secured an order dissolving
one combine a dozen others have
started, and thus the evil goes on in
creasing, without prospect of relief
Court action is slow and it cannot be
otherwise from the fact that they
must exercise the greatest care lest
the innocent suffer at their hands,
and the provisions that guarantees
protection to the innocent it used
conscienceless attorneys to cause de-
lay and often defeat justice Our ex-
perience with railroad combines GER
tainly has demonstrated that soms-
thing more than the courts is neces-
sary in dealing with them and in the
case Of railroads it has been found in
government supervision Of rates.
The public has abundant power
within its hands to destroy every conf
bine now in existence, and that with
out an additional law suit or employ
fish it at once if it would use that
power, without interfering in the
least degree with any individual in
INC CouCIOl VI lis pFUpeiIy. ue
power 1 refer to is the power of tav-
alton. In short tax the combines
to death. Combines are gotten up
for the purpose of taxing the people,
and why should not the public tax
the combines? The pioneer who
burned the grass from strip CT
ground surrounding his home as a
fire protection, fought fire with fire,
and why should not the public follow
his example and fight taxing COM
bine with taxation? A tax law that
would destroy at once every combine
in the country could and should be
based on the following ideas: The
knowledge of the existence Of COM
bines and their nature should be OBJ
tanned by the assessors and the lists
property for taxation, which could be
done by providing him with blank
containing such questions as would
bring out the facts, and then provide
that every man should answer fully
and truthfully those questions and q
failure to do so should constitute the
crime of perjury. With the evidence
thus in hand let the law provide that