Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1909-11-27
Rubbish Burning Must be Stopped
BRIBERY is BLAMED ON
THE MEN HIGHER UP

THE MEN HIGHER UP
Editor The Prcss:A Sunday North
American reports former Secretary Of the
Treasury Shaw as saying that ''thes sc
practices of underweighing and under
valuation We're not confined to New
York, but had always existed in other
ports of entry, and he did not believe
they could ever be stopped" The same
paper says: No less than twenty-five
weigbers were already implicated in the
conspiracy to defraud the government
through false weighing of imported sugar
Snbject to duty And Mr.. Shaw saws:
And he did not believe they could ever
be stopped from defrauding the govern
ment'
Before agreeing with Mr. Shaw let us
I examine the case and see if we can find
a motive for such fraud.
These weighers are appointed by gov
eminent officials higher up, and, no
doubt. are well paid compared with
/, other men who work for private corp
orations. However, they are tempted by
the trust to make little on the side
and they can't resist.
The Sugar Trust is private corpora-
tion in business for profit Not content
to have monopoly of the sugar business
which enables them to tax the people for
a larger amount on the price of sugtr
than King George III ever got by taxing
the people of the American colonies, they
now bribe government officials in order
to make more profits. Do you notice
the incentive behind the Sugar Trust.
as profits and more profits?
And where do you as consumer If
sugar come in; is it not to pay these
profits, and more profits, to enrich a few
owners of the Sugar Trust?
Do you think that individuals, other
than those now in control of the Sugar
\ Trust. would run the sugar business IN
the interests of the whole people, and
lagainst their own interests, as long as
profit is the incentive?
/ The people must like the way the
trusts use them, as the majority continue
to vote to be done by the trusts.
Did you ever hear of public officials
bribing the trusts, or private corpora
tions. Do you not always find it the
other way about, private corporations er
trusts bribing public officials in order 20
make more profits! Until a majority of
the people vote to change this system uf
private ownership Of the means of life,
for profit, to collective ownership and
operation of the means of life, for use,
you can bet your boots such practices IS
Mr. Shaw speaks Of will continue. Real
what he said later.
Now, reader, hope you will not get
the idea that these things will always
sugar industry together and sell our
former Secretary Shaw tells You so. You
are interested in buying sugar-a neees-
sity as cheap as you can and the best.
Why not have the whole people own the
sugar industry together an dsell our
selves sugar at the labor cost of pro-
dueing and distributing the sameg
You. will notice if the public made and
Sold sugar, the cause of the present
bribery-the private corporation would
be abolished in the sugar business, even
as chattel slavery wa sabolished.
Let rs get busy and establish sys-
TEN wherein it will be as easy to be
good, as it is easy to be bad, under the
present system.
The Circuit Court Of st. Paul handed
down a decision to dissolve the Standard
Oil Trust; should five of the nine judges
Of the Supreme Court uphold the Circuit
Court in their decision, and melt the
Standard Oil Trust into many small oil
corporations tif such a thing were posi-
BILE under private ownership do you
think they would stop selling at high
prices! What difference does it make ID
us whether we are held up for profits
by many small corporations or a few
large trusts as long as we are the vic
TINS?
Don't you think the whole people had
better own the oil business too?
TOILER.