davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-07-29

A man who lives in the suburbs
thirty miles from . big city gets
Communication ticket. The railroad
carries his two.hundred.pound body
back and forth twice day for
twenty-five cents day. II he wants
to talk to his house twice Q day the
telephone company charges him sixty
cents. and charges for the wire be.
sides.
In other words, the telephone mon.
opoly charges more than twice a.
much to carry over . wire human
voice. which weighs nothing, % the
railroad charges to carry . two-hun.
dred.pound man over thirty miles Of
solid steel rails.
And the railroad has to have ter.
minals. and locomotives. and power;
whereas. with the telephone. the
mans own voice 10 the chief power
involved.
Armour Of Chicago 10 . man who
could give the people Of this country
the beneht Of cheap telephone service
If he should make up his mind to Dc
Il. He has proved his ability % O.
organiser: he 10 man Of great
wealth and Of unusual industry and
application. Il 10 notorious that hil
working hours are from seven In thu
morning until six In the evening. and
that work 10 his only amusement
The idea 10 not visionary, for Ar
mour. associated with others-with th(
Hartman estate. with Kennedy Todd
and Dc Forest Of New York, and will
the receivers Of the Chicago subway
40 . body-has already begun thu
work Of giving genuinely cheap and
enicient telephone service to the cit,
Of Chicago.
In Chicago the receivers Of the sub
way have installed already more thar
twenty-five thousand automatic tele
phones. They give an unlimited serv
ice for SS6 . year-about ons.half th(
charge Of the Bell monopoly. The,
give unlimited telephone service Il
private families for less than thirt!
dollars year. With Q full extension
Of their system even the poorest fam
lilies will use the telephones. and b,
better OF at the end Of the YEA,
through the saving Of carfars.
The charge for pay stations viii
this new system, which 10 backed b!
Armour and the others. 10 three cent
per call. and the intention 10 TO lowe
this rate eventually from three cent
to one cent. At one cent the proA
would be enormous, with the econo
mics Of the automatic telephone IN,
Q sunlcient number Of subscribers.
The right plan would be, Of course
for the business men Of New Yorl
who pay enormous tolls to the tele
phone monopoly to get together. I,
bind themselves to take new servic'
an automatic cheap service Will
certain guarantees - and througl
pressure of public opinion compel tn
granting Of a franchise to an auto
matte company charging the loves
possible rate.
But It 10 difhcult to get busines
men to unite; dificult to make then
resent effectively even the most pal
pable extortion.
The chief hope lies in the courage
energy and business knowledge o
Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-07-29

troll the telephone business Of the
whole country. His report also shows
that the Chicago branch Of the monop.
oily is obliged to buy all Of its equip.
ment from q notorious Electric Com.
pany which 10 also owned by the
American Telephone Trust. This com.
pany makes It's own prices for what
It sells to the other concern and the
people Of Chicago are expected to pay
for the profits Of both subsidiary insti.
tutions Of the Trust.
Talk about the Tobacco Trust, the
Standard Oil Trust and every other
trust. The trust that IL the real thing
is the Telephone Trust. This Trust
hits over . quarter Of q million people
in Chicago. Recently II has grown 10
bold that II managed to grab of for
the purchase Of it, watered stock
big sum Of money donated by the gen.
erous Chicago public for the immedl.
ate relief Of the widows and orphans
Of brave firemen who gave up their
lives last December In the discharge
Of their duty. Any alderman who
votes for an ordinance favoring the
Telephone Trust deserves the ignom.
my which he will certainly receive.
The telephone monopoly In Chicago
has grown to be an unbearable nuis.
ance.
The service 10 rotten.
The scandal attendant on the pass.
age Of the telephone ordinance By the
council fve years ago 10 not forgot.
ten.
The passage Of the present ordi.
nance will result In something more
than scandal for the facts viii BE-
easier to get at.
Any alderman who votes for IN In.
crease Of rates viii bs branded - he
ought TO be.
The Chicago American Of June "a
contained the following Vigorous a.
ticle on the subject Of . merger:
The New York Times announces
that there 10 hope Of telephone com
petition in New York City and that
Armour. the great packer Of Chicago,
10 said to be back Of the plan.
The idea 10 TO buy up certain fran
chises In the state OF New York, -
pecially to get IN entrance into New
York City. and to give to the citissnl
the benefit Of telephone competition
and Of actually cheap service.
Tho idea OF cheap telephone service
10 going TO grow In the United States
and eventually II 10 going TO b real
ised, despite the power Of any mon
opoly or the profits Of any group oi
individuals.
It costs less. or under proper man
agement would cost less, to send Z
telephone message than 70 send
letter.
There was Q time in the United
States when private individuals q
| plotted the mails and when the citi
zen writing . letter paid from tor
cents to Q dollar or more 70 have
Il delivered. Government ownership
economical, businesslike methods
have reduced the price Of sending let
ters to two cents all over the United
States-even In the Klondike. where
the letters are carried on dog sledges
And sane. businesslike administra
ton Of the telephone system OF thii
country, with the latest up.to-date au
tomato methods. would make tele
phoning as cheap as writing letters
and cheaper.
That will not come at once. but {
very great Improvement will come
and right away.
The price charged by the Bell mon
opoly 10 reposterous-there 10 n,
worse form Of extortion among all th'
extortions In the United States.
Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-07-29

ownership basis. He asserts II is his
intention, unless new rates are set
tied by the council and the Chicago
Telephone company. to get up peti.
ton and ask for an expression from
the voters on the question of the mu.
nicipality operating a telephone sys.
tenn. It Is understood Aid. Bauler
proposes to get this expression un.
der the public policy act, which per.
mits the submission Of q question Of
public policy to the voters, the dc.
cision being merely advisory and not
binding.
The Telephone Trust has com.
menced q bitter and an uncalled for
attack on the Mayor and honest alder.
men Of the city Of Chicago who are
lighting for the peoples rights against
heartless monopoly.
The Telephone Trust is opposed to
the honest. capable and efiicient serv.
ice that Mr.. J. Ogden Armour and his
colleagues are prepared to give to the
city with their automatic service.
The Telephone Trust has changed
managers in Chicago and has decided
to throw dirt upon honest men In the
city government who oppose its dom.
ineering and extortionate methods.
The Illinois Tunnel Company mas
fully complied with the terms Of is
ordinance and yet the grafters union
II not satisfied.
Il wants the Illinois Tunnel Com.
pany which has expended over $2,300..
900 In instruments, wires and station
equipments, to be forced to give up
al Of this to satisfy the Telephone
Trust.
Any alderman who votes IN favor
Of IN increase Of rates for the Tele.
phone Monopoly will be beaten to
finish the next time he runs for once.
According to some accounts several
men who are working for the mon.
opoly and Ito franchise may not be
residents Of Chicago when the next
election comes around.
The Telephone Monopoly 10 busy
circulating ugly rumors" about the
Corporation Counsel. the Mayor and
the honest aldermen who are standing
up for the peoples rights.
ugly rumors" 10 good.
Aldermen who are anxious to learn
the truth ought to inquire into the de-
tails Of the passage Of the telephone
ordinance ave years ago.
ugly rumors"!
Well. there are some pretty ugly
fumors going the rounds Just now.
But the Mayor. Corporation Counsel
and honest aldermen are not the ones
affected By them.
A watchful eye 10 being kept on the
situation by too many people to have
Il easily misunderstood.
A new report has been ordered on
the books and accounts Of the Tels
phone Trust.
When the aldermen get that report
they ought to be In position to low
Or rates.
n they raise them they will raise
something hotter than this climate
has been for the past few weeks.
Mayor Harrison made q popular
move when he ordered q new repor'
on the telephone situation. The "ex
pert" whose report ia now In the
hands OF the Council Committee fav
ored the raising OF rates and gen
eral contribution to the necessities o
the phone gang. His report strangel!
enough showed that the Chicago
branch OF the monopoly is ownet
body, boots and breeches by th'
American Telephone crowd who con
Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-07-29

There 70 . general demand for the
abolition Of boulevardS.
They srs maintained exclusively for
the rich ct the expense Of the poor.
They ase used exolusively By pss.
sons owning automobiles and are
kept up by the taxes Of people who
Do not i've upon them.
When people oe modssats means
we're enabled 70 own and enjoy the
dsivinS oe horses. The beulevards were
The aslight q he ee0Aea people.
N % 1j3eseot new.
People vhe I'VE upea etseets tAa4
are nee bealsvasls eaa ooly have
tAso inDeeve1 by Du14iAs thelS AAAls
Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1911-07-29
THE CHICAGO EAcLE.

lake and connecting with new and
modern pumping stations. Az for
water meters how are they expected
to stop waste. A person who has Q
meter and Ii willing to pay for the
water can have II running night and
day and the scarcity will be greater
than ever. Water meters will not
bring more water. They will bring
famine, misery and disease to many
and comfort to none. Let the city
arise above the vision Of meter graft
and work for . water works system
that is worthy Of it.
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02

chose the latter. The Bible tells "
that he loved The mulbitudes ana
they heard him gladly. What ID
more, a man with revolutionary IDEAS
never offers them to the ruling cities.
1t has no desire to effect . change
in the existing order. or to accomp-
lish its own dissolution. Revolutions
never begin at the top. HencS Jesus
talked to "publicans and Sinners" and
chose his diciples from among them.
He attacked the plutocrats OF that
time with such words as these: Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypOcrites for We devour widows
houses, and for a pretense make long
prayer; therefore, We shall receive the
greater condemnation. Again he
arraigns them: Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
We make clean the outside of the plat
ter, but within they are full of extor
ton and excess" In this manner he
continued to indict them before the
bar of public opinion until the oay he
paid the penalty fof it on the Cross.
1t is by no means difficult to see where
his sympathies lay. His words were
clear cut and free from ambiguity.
Jesus showed exactly where he stood.
He was at all times on the side Of the
proletariat
One of the features Of Christianity
most Objectionable to the ruling class
was the common-ownership of pro-
perty. Whether this was instituted
by Christ or was adopted by his early |
followers because of economic neces-
sity is not certain, though It is quite
probable that the latter reason is the
correct one. There existed at that
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02
THE CHURCH AND socialism.
~ Prof. Henry g. rsioan)

Il seems almost paradoxical to
speak Of a conflict between the
church and Socialism. People are
want to think Of the church as an
institution 0f perfection, and there
fore conclude that a progressive
movement at best can only approach
the ideal standard set up and repre-
scented by the church. However,
much this might seem to be the case,
. moments reflection on the part OF
any half way Intelligent person will
convince him of the contrary. In
every place where Socialism shows
signs of life it is Immediately attack
ed by the dignitaries of the church.
What, then, may be the cause OF
this deadly hatred which the church
30 venomously pours out upon the
Socialists and their cause? Can there
possibly be an economic reason? Is
1t at all that this apparently perfec,
embodiment of a just and righteous
cause can be tainted with the evil
influence of materialistic conditions?
We shall attempt to investigate.
Marx and Engels began the famous
document, Communist Manifesto, with
these words: "The history of all
hitherto existing society is the history
of class struggles This formed the
basis of all their research and the
major premise Of all their conclusions.
At the time Of Jesus we find such
letariat. He accordingly found It OBJ
Ngatory to preach to one or the other.
He was compelled to take sides. He |
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02


time numerous trade unions amonl
i the Greeks and Romans. commonl,
called Solonic brotherhood. Thu
members were. IS the name would III
dictate, the workers Of that epoch
During the early prosecutions the
Christians found among them a place
Of refuge and shared with them a
common table and goods. That the
Christians practiced communism ID
attested to by the early Christian
writer's. The writer Of the Book OF
Acts says in the discussion OF the
early church: And all that believe
ed were together, and had all things
common" St. Jerome viewed "Opu--
lence as the product of theft, CON-
mitted, if not by the actual possessor,
by his ancestors" st. Ambrose says
that Mature created community;
private property is the off spring OF
usurpation.' Good old Tertullian
goes even farther and describes their
whole manner of life. In his Apollo
gies to the emperors he tells them
,of the 'fraternal stability of our
community of goods, our broth erhood,
how it knits, while the Roman system
of individualism disintegrates. The
family possessions which generally
destroy manhood among you. create
fraternal bonds among us. One in
mind and soul We do not hesitate to
share our earthly goods with one an
other. And all things but our wives
are common among u.s." What a
splendid system of Socialism, and
that, too, eighteen hundred years
ahead of time! Nothing could have
been more Objectionable to the aristo-
crazy than religion that sanctioned
such a system 1t had to be eradicat-
cd less it infect the whole Roman
Empire; and it was.
During the reigns of Nero, Domi-
tian and Diocletian fierce persecu-
tons broke out that threatened to
the last vestige of the fol-
lowers Of the Nazarene On the con-
trary, persecution only tended to in
crease their numbers. When the
were over, the victors
adopted the religion of the vanquish-
ed. Christianity had to be gotten rid
Of in another way. 1t remained for
the crafty Constantine to devise
method whereby to divest it of It's
coroding elements. He was unusual.
ly shrewd and was therefore not slow
in seeing the growing power Of the
Christian cult. AS soon as he had
firmly established himself on his
throne, and had put out of the way
the other five emperors who claimed
equal power with him, he reconciled
Christianity to it's doom. He made
principles Of Christianity which had
hitherto inspired an energetic prole-
tariat, were allowed to smother and
1t the religion Of the empire At last
it was accomplished. The vttalizing
die within the narrow and dingy walls
of the Roman state. Pagan super
stition, ceremony, and ecclesiastical
depotism gradually supplanted relig.
ion, simplicity Of worship, and demo
cratic discipline. True, there were
still those who remained faithful to
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02


cumstances threaten their aa3iAlla-
ton In case they persisted IN tAal5
reactionary tendencies. II such n
stances. the church in question ~
offered . mild palliative 20 o. 70 ~
main in business.
Now. Socialism in its practical ap-
plication is not . religious matter.
neither It IL inreligious. vet It n, -
was stated at the beginning. suhjaet
to violent attacks on the part OF the
clergy of these and other sscts. TAe
Socialists are persons enlightened
enough to know that evolution 70 On
inevitable thing, and, besides. they
are humane enough to want some
thing better for humanity right away
-, especially when they know It II
coming ultimately whether we will
it or not. The clergy are deceived
into thinking that as things are, 50
will they also continue. Hence
their willing subservience to the pow
ers that be, anG hence their assaults
on the advocates # Socialism. These
assaults are by no means confined 70
the denominations named, but will
apply equally well to the Methodists,
Baptists and others. Just at the pres
ent time, the Methodists are the most
conspicuous in the fight with the ex-
ception Of the Catholics. In the or
ganization of the Individual and So.
cial Justice League" last June these
two old time enemies met in friendly
conference through their representa-
tives to devise a plan to combat the
influence of Socialism. After per
fectinS their organization they elect
ed renegade preacher, ]. We6ley
Hill, preddent, and IL infa1ksss
Archbishop Ireland, vioe Jtssldsnt-
the former Z Methodist, the latter q
Catholic. They passed strong rsao-
lutions against the Socialists, though
they could find nothing worse to &C.
cuse them Of then economic and 20
litical" theories. They went even
farther in saying that one Of the pur-
poses of the league was to '1nculcate
Just conditions Of competition there-
by publishing to all the world that the
churches are in politics. OF course
there were other denominations reD.
resented but these stand pre-eminent
Is as much as the one was given the
president of the organization and four
on the executive COM
mittee, j. Wesley Hill, Bishops War
rem, Cranston, Vincent and Mallaliow;
the other the vice president Of the
and chairman of the ex-
ecutive committee, Archbishop Ire
land serving in both capacities. B.
sides this, scores Of Instances oou1a
be given where the different churches
have gone on record % being hostile
to union labor, to say nothing OF
Socialism. We Socialists are thor
oughly SIGH of hearing preachers say
that they do not concern themselves
with anything foreign to religion md
that 10 why they do not enter into
politics, when as q matter Of net
they are in politics whenever the
plutes demand It. To be sure, some
ignorant but we'll meaning fellow Will
(sountinusd on last paye)
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02

the teachings Of the Matter and who
protested eloQuently against THU
prositution Of their religion. but 70 nc
avail. The churc& soon took on deli
mite form and culminated in power
full instrument Of exploitation--the
Roman Catholic church.
The church soon became the
strongest opponent of freedom in.
stead Of its most powerful exponent
as heretofore. Now dogmas were
added: ourgatory. confession and
celebacy each appeared At the requir-
/ ed time. They we're instrumental in
keeping the Mob quietly at work.
while the church and clergy engaged
in business. The church emphasized
it's own superiority over that of all
other institutions; and papal infalli-
bility succeeded the living personal
ity of Christ. Heaven was no long
er to be attained through faith in
God but through obedience to the
church and faith in its doctrines. In
this way it removed responsibility
from the individual and severed the
relation existing in idea between him
and God and established a new one
between him and the priest. In
word, the throne of Grace was moved
from heaven to Rome.
But these changes did not take
place accidentally Underneath lay
deep rooted cause; the feudal system
of land ownership which had grad
tally supplanted that Of the Roman
era had also effected like change
in the church. The latter, after its
union with the state at the time of
Constantine, had by its constant A.
ISOLATION with plutocracy adopted
plutocrtaic ideas and had become the
most powerful and dominant pluto
crat of them all. Thus, at the time
of the reformation the pope, as the
head Of the church, had obtained
possession Of more than one-third Of
the land of entire Europe, and had,
in addition become the sovereign Of
a large part of Italy. The same per-
son served at the same time as pope,
landlord and monarch-a very strik-
ing trinity indeed. Now, a. to what
brought on the reformation, We can
do no better than quote the words of
Frederick Engels:
The great International center OF
feudalism was the Roman Catholic
church. 1t united the whole of feud- d,
allied Western Europe, in spite of all
internal wars, into one grand political
system, opposed as much to the !,
Schismatic Greeks az to the Moham-
medan countries. It surrounded feu-
dial institutions with the halo of d.
vine conservation 1t had organized
it's own hierarchy on the feudal model
and, last, it was itself the most pow
erful feudal lord, holding, as it did,
fully one-third of the soil Of the Cath
Ole world Before profane feudalism
could be successfully attached in
each country and in detail, this. it's
sacred central organization, had to
be destroyed.
Moreover, parallel with the rise
Of the middle class went on the re-
vival of science; astronomy, mechan:
The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-03-02

les. physics, anatomy, pAysiology,
were again cultivated. And tho Bour-
geoisis, for the development Of it, IN.
dustrial production. required . "a.
ence which ascertained the physical
properties Of natural objects and the
modes OF action Of forces Of nature.
Now, up to then science had but been
the humble handmade Of the church,
had not been allowed to overstep lie
limits set by faith, ana for that res.
son had been no science at all. Sci
ence rebelled against the church; the
Bourgeoisie could not do without sci
ence. and, therefore, had to Join in
the rebellion.
THE above. though touching but
two Of the points where the risins
middle class was bound to come in
collision with the established relig-
ion, will be sufficient to show, first,
that the class most directly interest
ed in the struggle against the preten-
sions of the Roman church was the
Bourgeoisie; and second, that every
struggle against feudalism, at that
time, had to take on religious dis
guise, had to be directed against the
church in the first instance. The
long fight Of the Bourgeoisie against
teudalism eliminated in three great
decisive battles.
The first was what is called the
Protestant reformation in Germany.
The war cry raised against the church
by Luther was responded to by two
Instructions Of . political nature;
first, that of the lower nobility under
Franz Won stckengen (1,523), then the
great Peasant War (1535). Both
were defeated, chiefly in consequence
Of the INDIGESTION of the parties most
interested in the contest, the burgh-
ers of the towns" /
Luther, however, as Engels clearly
shows, failed to produce creed revo-
lutionary enough to overthrow rsudaa.
ism in Germany. But" says Engelo.
where Luther failed, Calvin won the
day. Calvin's creed was one fit for
the boldests Of the Bourgeoisie of his
time. His predestination doctrine
was the religious expression Of the !
fact that in the commercial world Of
competition success or failure does
not depend upon a mans activity or
cleverness, but upon circumstances
uncomfortable by him. In Calvin
ism, the second great Bourgeoisie up
heaval found its doctrine ready cut !
and dried"
Having these facts before us, 1t
ought hardly be necessary to dwell /
longer on the fact that churches arr
subject to the law of economic de-
terminism." Perhaps neither Luther
nor Calvin were conscious Of being
driven to their work BY force Of ma
terial circumstances, but we living
centuries after can plainly see thas
1t best they were mere instruments
aiding revolution In its course, shap-
ing their doctrines to suit tho re-
quirements Of the material conditions
of their respective localities.
The Catholic, Lutheran and Presby-
terrain have not changed to any great
extent since then, except where cir