Little Falls herald., 1912-10-18

care of it soon takes all of his energy.
Every waking moment is devoted to
it. He thinks of nothing else, dreams
of nothing else, but money, and still
more money. It becomes an obsession
the one subject on which he can talk
with any degree Of intelligence. He
becomes stranger to his friends and
often to his own family. His wife, if
she be not an exceptional character,
must seek diversion in social display,
And what of the children? They grow
up strangers to him. He seems to
think that his only responsibility to-
ward them is to supply them with all
the money they want. Many of them
are sent to the Devil on the double.
quick.
Evil Effects Of Bad Example.
Those below him in the financial
scale are dazzled by the. lavish dis.
play Of wealth and tempted to their
own destruction by the insane fever
Of emulation. Extravagance runs riot
and frugality is forgotten.
There is an effect, public in it's char
acter, which is quite as destructive,
the effect on politics and government.
Effect on Politics and Government.
Since the industries of the country
have fallen under trust control, a sin
lister change has taken place in our
political morality. It is not strange
that this should be so. Every corrupt
act Of legislator or politician is the
result Of a bargain. It may be ex.
pressed or it may be tacitly under
stood, but it is there every time. It
takes at least two parties to make a
bargain, buyer and seller. The
politician has votes to sell. The mon
opolies have use for the votes, and,
what is more important, they have
the money or the influence to pay for
the votes. This is a condition which
all good citizens deplore. But they
are not agreed as to what would be
the best remedy. Some want to
strengthen and continue our system of
regulation. Others believe that regu-
lation has proved failure and that
public ownership of public utilities
must be resorted to. One thing is
certain, unless big business can be
driven out of politics and be prevented
from corrupting our government, the
people will demand public ownership
as the last resort and only recourse.
Public Utilities Commission.
But, whether we are to have one or
the other, a public utilities commits
tinue the present system, such a body
must be created, with ample power to
enforce it's orders and to stop all forms
of discrimination and unjust charges.
1t must also have full power to audit
the books and to investigate every de-
tail Of the business, so that none of
the revenues can be used to control
our public affairs. If such control also
proves unequal to the needs of the
case, utilities commission will be
the proper body to take charge of
the utilities and operate them for the
people.
8 s. = +
We in Minnesota have had con- *
siderable experience with our pres
ent form of railroad regulation. *
Not many years ago the railroad
commission adopted commodity
s. rates, and, through legislative &C. *
tion, these rates were agreed to
by the railroad companies. But =
= no sooner had the legislature ad-
= jOurned than the Federal courts
were appealed to, with the result
that the cases are still pending.
We have had another expert
ence, also, in Minnesota, which is
somewhat unique. Passenger fares T.
of two cents mile were estab-
lished by law, but, after adopting
and using them or considerable
y period of time, the railroad COM
panies experienced a change of =
heart, and, in violation of the plain =
provisions of the law, raised the
rates back again to three cents a
mile. Now, every time you buy a
railroad ticket, the law is violated, =
and you are made to pay a third =
more than it allows. No such ac-
tion was taken in surrounding =
+ states. Wisconsin on the east,
Iowa on the south, and the Da-
kotas on the west, all enjoy bet ="
ter passenger rates than do the
people of Minnesota. Evidently
= the companies have discovered 4
that Minnesota is IAN easy mark"
* Bonded indebtedness.
The limit of our bonded indebt- =
y edness should be raised so as to
permit the issue of bonds in pay *
ments of public utilities in case
it becomes necessary to own them. *
+ This should be contingent pro- *
vision and should be adopted in
+ any event, for, so long as our =
hands are tied by our present bond =
limit, we have no adequate weapon
of defense against injustice and
discrimination. But when we give *
ourselves the legal power to take s.
over the utilities and pay for them, *
we are in a position to compel
some attention being paid to our
rights and our interests. $
+ = 4
Get the Tools.
When you undertake to do job of
work of any kind, you first provide
yourselves with the proper tools. If
you want to dig ditch, you get =
spade. If you want to fell tree, you
get an axe. If you want to break the
soil, you get ploN. If you want to
build a house, you get a saw, a ham.
mer, and other tools. Every under.
taking needs it's proper tools or ma