The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1909-06-26

It was soon extended and perfected.
Another important event Of this per-
iod was the Ballot reform. Up to this
time the publication and protection OF
the ballot lay with the states and not
with the Congress. In many places
the ballots were not uniform in size
or color. This enabled any one to
tell which way man was voting. The
main features Of the reform were. the
official printing Of the ballots to be
used. their distribution to the voters
by sworn officers Of election, and the
isolation of the voter while preparing
his ballot.
That Congress should occupy itself
with economic questions was made
imperitavely necessary. Capital began
to concentrate in the hands of corpor-
ations and of small groups Of capital
lists. The vast increase in the extent
and use Of railroads made the railroad
companies very influential in many
branches of business. They could dis
criminate as they pleased in both their
passenger and freight rates between
individuals, and even between regions.
BY doing this they crushed their COM
petitors. Congress had constitutional
power to legislate concerning post
roads and interstate commerce. The
States had many of them sought to
regulate the railways already; and in
1887 Congress passed an Interstate
Commerce Act which forbade these
unfair determinations on all railroads
operating in two or more states. An
Interstate Commerce Commission was
constituted to enforce the provisions
of this act. This Commission speedily
became one of the most important
tribunals of the country, administrat-
ing the provisions of the law with both
firmness and discretion, the fortunate
correction Of many abuses.
While these changes in our law had
been taking place, more vital changes
had been effected in the life of our peo-
pie. A great industrial revolution had
begun. Before the end of the century
this movement had placed US first
among the countries Of the earth in
wealth and in the amount and value on
industrial products. The productive
capacity of nearly every working man
was increased by many inventions of
labor saving machinery and new eco
methods of work.
In the South this Industrial revolution
changed the system of labor from
slave to free. While the South was q
slave-owning country free labor could
not come in. Without free labor, no
mills, no factories, no mechanical in
dustries. The South raised cotton,
sugar, tobacco, and left her great re-
undeveloped. After slavery
was abolished, the South was on the
same footing as the North, and her
splendid resources began at once to be
developed. Much the same industrial
revolution has taken place in the
North. The list Of industries well
known to US, but, unknown in 1860, is
a long one. The production of petro-
leum for commercial purposes began in
1859, and to-day is one of the most i'm
portant industries in the country. The
last forty years has seen the rise
cheese making as distinctive factory
industry; of the manufacture of wire
nails, Bessemer steel, cotton-seed oil,
coke, canned goods; of the immense
flour mills at Minneapolis, and the meat
dressing and packing business for
which Chicago and Kansas City are ia
nous. The discovery of gold in the
western states led to a rapid develop
ment of that part of the country.
The mechanical progress made by
our countrymen since the war surpasses
that of any previous period. The
Gattling gun, dynamite, and barbed
wire fencing were introduced, the COM
pressed air drill, the typewriter, the
Westinghouse air brake, the automible,