Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1908-01-11
The Trust Buster.

(Original.l !

"Ain't goin' to vote at all" granted
the old man.
What, not exercise your duty as Il
patriotic citiZen?'
"Patriotism be hanged! \ mans
patriotism is really what he considers
his interest to be You fellrrs know
that for years I've watched the trusts
rcaChin' out. legally. Illegally. bribin',
corruptin', as the case required, to rob
people You know how when they
want judge they buy him; when they
want Il legislature they buy it. They
was tryin' to buy the cov'ment o. the
United States, but they run up agn
somep'n' stronger'n they was their
selves. They got prosecuted under the
law
Then my patriotism was boilin'. |
their dues. l seen the time comm
when all the money a man could earn
needn't go into beef and oil nd he
plenty as bad whisky. and we cud all
I'VE on WllaI we ESei To llNe on dlOT'
the trusts sucked the life outer us.
Il thought this was patriotism. 1t
wasn't 1t was nothn' morc'n llickin'
agin the other felIcr gittin' the better
of us. If anybodyd give me money to
pay for things | wanted and have a
good sum left over | wouldn't "a kick
ed. I'd kicked the feller that tried to
interfere with the system. How did |
find that out? I'll tell y. My brother
Dan went to New York when he was a
boy to go into business. Now he's
stockbrOker.
"Waal, Dan he was allus writin' me
to come down to the city to see him,
an last summer | went. He's got a
big house n lots o hired help. |
asked him If there was much preju-
dice agin the trusts in New York. lie
didn't say nothin except, oh, you're a
trust buster, are ye| | hadn't been
called by that name before. and l
didn't like 1t nor his way o sayin' it.
Well he went on, If you stay here
long enough We'll take that out o YOU
Never said. Tll never lose my rev
erence for law, for equity, for justice
and above all the poor, who suffer
from havin' to pay eXorbitant prices
for what they need
Il used to loaf down in Dams office
durin' the daytime. ere was allus
a lot of fellers there loo!.in' at click
in machine they called Il ticker 1t
told 'em what their stocks was a scllin'
at. When their stocks went up they
larfed; when they went down they
looked sour as green apples. One day
John told me that a pool-Whatever
that was-was a-goin' to put up Blood
sucker Or an if | wanted to make
some money he'd give me Il chance.
All he wanted was some margin, as he
called it-that is, per cent O. the cost
O. the stock-just as a matter O form.
I wrote a check on my bank for the
amount, and before the ink was dry
on the paper he told me the stock was
bOughten.
"Bloodsucker Oil went up and up
and up, and my profits went up with
It, Then news come that the company
had been fined enough money to buy
must O. the farms in this yere state. l
saw my profits wiped out, and then
most O the money I'd give Dan for
that blamed margin was wiped out
too All the felers around the ticker
begun to howl that the gov'ment was
ruinin the business O the country.
And what dye think? When Dan told
me that If my stock went down few
more per cent he'd have to sell me out
an I'd lose all l put in l jest riz up
and cursed and | swore
"'Consarn a gov'ment thatU inter
fere with what 1t don't know nothln'
about! These attorney generals and
judges he'd better confne 'emselves to
punishin' men for hoss stealin'. The
Bloodsucker Oil company has been
Cheapenin' kerrysene for years, an
now corrupt set o men who want to
turn the country into an empire like
RoOsia air tryin' to stop 'em. It's
conspiracy to rob the people and make
'em pay more
THE men around the ticker didn't
any of 'em pay any attention to what
l was sayin'. They was all swearin'
at the administration themselves eX-
cept one man, who says to me, he says:
"'But, my friend, don't you want
rome power able and ready to see
that the men who manage the cOmpa-
ny whose stock you own don't wreck
it and swindle yOu?'
"'No,' | says; Il don't. What goods
the stock to me if my margin is all ct
up and git sold out?
when l started for home, a ruined
man, gratin' my teeth and cussin' the
gOv'ment, Dan he handed me a check,
smilin'. 4 didn't buy you any Blood
sucker OIL he s0ys, but when l saw
the decision of the court finin' the
company | sold some shares short for
you. Your profit is 81, 600. Here it is.'
"Waal, now l was out Of 1t l could
feel the patriotism oozin' right back
into me, tinglin' in my fingers, my toes
and my ears. 'Y' calls me trust
buster, Dam I says, AN l am. l wish
they'd fine BlOodsucker Oil all Its cap
ital, an you'd sell it all short for me-
But when | got home and thort 1t
all over l made up my mind that
couldn't conscientiously consider my.