The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-10-14

gressional ditrict in congress is rep
resentative of vast agricultural COM
munity. have been especially i'm
pressed in travelling over this terri
tory as I have done very extensively
in the last several months, with the
beautiful fields, and farms, and the
commodious farm buildings. When
commenced my active personal canvass
the green fields of grain were waving
in the wind like the ripping waters
of great lake, then the yellow tint
and the harvester began clicking in
the fields turning the square corners,
and binding up its bundles, and finally
the fat stacks were piled up awaiting
the coming of the thresher and then
the gathering of the grain, hauling
and storing away. 1t is pride to
live in such a garden spot, and one
seeking to represent people carrying
on such persuit is reminded of his re-
sponsibility.
"All business, all prosperity of peo-
pie in this section are depending direct
ly upon properly protected agricultural
interests. Legislation beneficial to those
interests is legislation beneficial to all
interests of people in this district.
am in favor of stringent laws, which
will effectively prevent the oleomar-
garine interests from substituting their
product for butter in any way which
will corrupt the butter industry OF
the country, or destroy it.
The Oleomargarine Interests.
"The activity of the oleomargarint
interests is but another of the many
interests which work to the injury
of the people of our section, and / be
lieve in proper legislation so that these
interests may be protected against the
Ingenuity of the oleomargarine in.
terest, and that the conditions may be-
remedied as laid bare by the decisions
of the courts.
There are a great many problems
of government. We are this year tt
go through the oft respected propa
ganda of a great American election
Three hundred and ninety odd men
will be elected to represent their va
riOus districts in the congress of TIN
United States
"This is the political system, estab
lished by our forefathers when tn,
constitution was framed, and in Sc
establishing it, desiring to give to eacl
citizen the greatest possible opportunity
to participate directly in the affairs
of government, but realizing that ever
then but with two and quarter mil
lions of people, that such direct par
ticipatiOn was impossible, they estab
lished what we today possess, repre-
sentative form of government.
"If then, we have today. in trutl
and in fact, truly representative,
form of government, the work of on
forefathers was not in vain, but
on the other hand, we have not il
truth and in fact, as well as in form
and in law, truly representative
form of government, then the worl
of these men who fought seven years
one gun to every five men, from Con
cord and Lexington to Yorktown, AM
the work of those men who Tough
four years from Bull Run to Appoma
tox. was in vain. | ask you my friends
was it?
I'm the last decade, there has bee
builded among the great enterprise
which are incorporated, and which car
ry on the public utility business o
this country, consisting of transporta
ton, traction, franchise, and industrial
concerns, a gigantic combination /
is combination of the directors o
hundreds of corporations and group
of corporations having directors VIII
are combined into combinations an,
combinations of combinations.
Combinatio of Capital.
At the end of the fiscal wear ende,
June 80. 1909, it has been estimate
that single groupe of corporate di
rectors consisting the dictatorship O
the National City Bank of New Yorl
and the National Bank of Commerce
of New York, sixty-two in humble
owned and controlled through sympa
thetic cooperation and control in stool
OF corporation tenth of all of tn
assessable personal and real propert,
of the United States. Mr.. Rockefel
Ter is at the head of one of thos,
gigantic institutions, and Mr.. Morgan
is at the head of the other.
And while the interests have bee
organizing, and incorporating and com
blning, the people seeking each ON
to Guido the other in initiating tn,
style and stand of living of their for
tunate brethren have been spending 70
Injuries and extravagances, for pleas
ure yachts, automobiles, talking ma
chimes, fireworks, cosmetics, jewelry
imported silks, satins, laces and toys
and for cigars, tobacco, liquors, sod,
waters, and confectionery, enoug
money in one year to run the Unite,
States government for four years.
"Thirty-two millionaires in the Unit
ed States senate own $2l0,O00,OOO dol
lars worth of property, and make up
part of the gigantic system of com
bination, and are the chosen repre-
sentatives of great share of tn
commonwealth of the union. 1t is littl
wonder that the people are inquirine
is. our government representative?
Conceded that each district in thi
election elects to congress a repre-
sentative truly in sympathy with tn
views of his constituency, it is fac
of common knowledge that they, bod
of three hundred and ninety odd mem
bers, about to legislate upon question
if Importance to their constituency
will find difficulty in granting to eacl
member full opportunity to talk an1
vote on each of the thousands of meas
ures that are introduced in a singh
session of congress. The body in it
self is necessarily unweildy and takin,
advantage of these conditions, the in
trests have extended their inhuenc
over the very sanctity of our nationa
law making body.