Imperial Valley press., 1914-10-28

a
thing that is transported by railroad
Or steamboat because all rails and all
engines and the wheels and trucks of
all cars and the big steamships them
selves. as well as the engines with
which they are propelled, are made
from iron ore. The monopoliZer of
the iron ore is also able to levy trib-
ute upon everything we wear and up
on practically everything we use be-
cause it is the structural basis of
every manufacturing plant, as every
machine is made from it. Moreover,
the monopolizer of iron ore levies trit.
ute npon most of the business in big
cities, because practically all of the
large buildings are constructed with
steel framework and consequently the
rents must pay interest upon the ad-
Gitiolal cost due to the monopolization
of the iron ore.
Practically all food, clothing and
shelter supplies have something done
to them by machinery either before
or after being transported. All of
that machinery is run by the use
Of energy derived from timber. coal,
oil, natural gas or water power. All
cloth is now manufactured by the use
of such energy and most clothing il
manufactured by the use of such en-
ergy Wheat is ground into flour By
the use of such energy. Clothing and
flour are both transported by the use
Of such energy, because either coal o.
oil is used with which to run the en-
gines which haul the trains and pro-
pei the steamers that carry freight.
All five OF these natural resources
from which energy is procured are
already monopolized. Four-fifths of
all the timber in the United States
is in private ownership and a recent
report of the Commissioner of Cor
Forati6ns shows that 1904 men own
/ los, 100000 acres of it. This is an
area as large as all of Maine, New
/ Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut.
Rhole Island, Massachusetts, New
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Delaware combined. Moreover eleven
railroads own 81 per cent and control
9S per cent of all of the anthracite
coal in the United States, and one
man, to wit, the son of Pierpont Nor
/ gan, is said to control those eleven
railroads. The production of btu
minous coal is monopolized and one
man has fixed the price of coal in the
| United States for the past % years.
AS Il natural result thereto he can
and Goes levy war tax at any time
he pleases without Congress being in
session and without any war being
actually in existence. Oil is in the
same condition. The Standard Oil
Company has a monopoly upon the
oil production of the United States
and fixes the price even in California.
where four corporations, including the
Standard Oil Company, control over
! IS per cent of the entire production
Natural gas is monopolized by the
same people. Three corporations con-
troll over so per cent of all the water
power developed in the State of Cali
fornia up to date and ten corpora
tions control over so per cent of the
water power developed in the United
States up to date. A very few men
control all of these corporations.
/ Hence it will be seen that all the en-
ergy with which machinery is run
and therefore with which all manu-
featuring is done and practically all
1 transportation by land and sea is ac-
complished in the United States, is
owned and controlled by a small grou,,
of men who are known as the Wall
Street Interests. The high cost OF
living in the United States is due
primarily to this fact. These few men
levy tribute upon every man who
works and upon every man who pro-
duces farm products and upon every
merchant, lawyer, doctor and banker
All people look alike to them. They
are above all law at the present time
because we have not yet attempted to
fix The price at which they can sell
wood, coal, oil, natural gas or water
power. They levy tribute upon all
the people of the United States ac-
cording to their own sweet will and
they have thus pushed the cost of liv-
ing higher and higher, and they have
have taken to themselves each year
a larger and larger proportion of all
the wealth created in this country.
l believe in protecting our farm
products against cheap lands in Mex |
leo and Canada just as | believe in
protecting our manufacturing and Ia
borers against cheap labor of foreign |
countries, and | would do all in NV