The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1914-03-12
A new POWER APPEARS.

Hedf something. III is more lndu
murmur OF discomfort. 1t is fast get
ting to be roar of dissatisfaction
Nor is this disquet, this displeasurt
local. 1t is not sectional. 1t is l'o'
factonal. 1t is general, lowering the
entire state, affecting all classes =
touching all interests. 1t is not mere
annoyance that has caused this irrita
tion. 1t is an abuse of power, betray.
al of trust, an assumption of authorl-
ty that never was granted. contid-
ing people find that their confidence is
misplaced. A trusting electorate are
now convinced that in some way
whether purposely or ignorantly, they
have been misled, deceived.
Another important fact now faces us.
Not only are the people now fully alive
to the seriousness of the present stua-
tion, but those who are responsible for
high taxes, centralized power, govern
ment interference in private affairs,
inquistorial methods, and other evils,
know that the present popular, state
wide protest is not a mere temporary ex,
element that will pass away, but de-
termined Indictment of otficialdom that
will be pressed to trial before the court
of the people. To meet the issues now
raised, all the statistical, oratorial,
editorial, literary and political power
of the state capitol is pressed into SER
vice. From the public addresses now
being delivered, the special articles
being prepared, the complicated and
entirely irrelevant tables and diagrams
being published, one would think we
were in the midst of a heated campaign
The farmers are aroused as never be-
fore. All over the state they are hold
ing Indignation meetings. Their taxes
/ in most places average from twenty
five to fifty per cent more than last
year, and that notwithstanding prom
ises of lower taxes because of increased
rail road and insurance taxes and the
income tax.
Why this futter, this excitement
this undue anxiety in official circles?
Why the knowingly false and oft-re-
peated statement in certain quarters
that the present popular uprising is
caused by few designing politicians
for selfish and sinister purposes?
This remarkable movement among
the people is spontaneous. There are
no leaders. None are needed Every
iutellise man knows the facts. tie
knows that something unusual has oc-
Cured; that some singular change has
been brought about; that things are
not as they were. Every observing
man knows from daily occurrences that
some new power has appeared that
some influence is at work that some
heretofore unknown and unrecognized
authority is directing affairs. The peo-
Pile are learning the facts. A tax re-
ceipt tells its own story. An order
from commission speaks for itself and
tells of the existence of new power.
We no longer have, as of old, three de-
partments of goyernment-legislative,
executive and judicial. A new power
has appeared to direct our affairs, con
troll our policies, interfere in our indus
trial activities, make its hand felt
wherever enterprise is at work, or la
Dor and capitol are employed. The
! fact is, the real power in Wisconsin to-
/ day, the one felt most in every depart
6Eent of industrial and official life, is a
< ,rnbination of the state commissions
, ,fth the University cf Wisconsin.
That combination drafts our laws. 1t,
more than all other influences, secures
their enactment. 1t is active every
day in the year in their enforcement.
The university feeds the commissions,
and the commissions furnish places of
power and profit for the output Of the
university. The state officials, who in
olden time constituted the real admin
strative department of the government,
who generally manage state affairs, are
practically lost sight of. They do not
count. They are reduced to the posi-
tion of a kind of head clerks. MN
A new power is in charge of affairs.
The people have been battered and
fooled into believing that they were
really running their own business,
when, all the time, they were being
tied hand and foot and placed under
the control of new masters. About all
there is now left for the people to do
is, as Kipling says, Pay, pay,pay."
And this new power grows. There
is no stand.stll about it. Like all tyr
annies, it is grasping, inconsiderate,
offensive, dictatorial, imperious. The
power of the railroad rate comm ssion
when FIRST organized as compared with
what it is today is about equal to the
comparison of mole to an elephant.
The powers of the tax commission at
the time of its origin as compared
with it's powers and activities today
are abont as June zephyr compared
with January blizzard. And so with
the others, only not to SO great an ex-
tent.
From their inception and organiza-
tion to the present hour, the constant |
demand OF these commissions has been |
and is now, power, power, and more |
power. money money and more mnpev |