The Washington times., 1918-07-28
How Nature Moves Mountains
Government Ownership Has Similar Method

In time this planet like the planet Mars, will be COM
petey round and men may nave 70 og caaa, a .ns
spots in which the of the may be lodged and
kept from overHowng the lands
You know that there in the various oceans seas ana
lakes of this little planet enough water to cover the whole
world about one mile deep go
And if the earth were entirely round like billiard
ball there would be land visible. One mile OF salt wa
ter would cover the earth everywhere
Many million years will pass before this earth becomes
SO round as compel to think OF new place 10 put
che oceans waters and keep their feet dry.
There is however, in this country mountain range
called "od Monopoly that calls for sympathy now It Is
not standing up under the heat of public opinion and pub
lie investigation well as certain gentlemen would nave
wished -. ou.. ou,u ,.,,
years ago. very powerful insOlent defiant feature OF our
The people were Mohammed Monopoly was the noun
tain If Mohammed wanted anything, he had to go to the
mountain, get down on his knees most pontey anu ask
But times change, sometimes suddenly, and just now
the mountain is coming to Mohammed with mgn prlceo
corporation lawyers for its spokesmen, weeping oery
pleading humby, feeling generally miserable
Streams that run down the mountain year after
wear century after century, through millions OF years. wear
away the mountain sides and the mountain tops
The streams are running down from Old monopoly
now under the heat Of Public Ownership and Public Intel
gence and lowering the height of that mountain SO
that even child can notice the difference.
That which the proud owners thought was a great
mass of solid turns out to have been mountain OF
ice easily melted The melting gong on rapidly specla
Meuopolv which is the name for concentrated power
in this country simply continuation under republican
goverumen and in modified FORM of the rule Of barons
dukes and kings in the old days OF feudalismL
The ancient monopolists encountered many difficulties
and they about their methods OF extoron In prml
tive ways ...h.n.
came along they stole part of what he had telling him that
what they took was toll for permission to their road
way their bridges
The owners of Monopoly Mountain over here invented
much better schemes They said to themselves Let US
find out exactly those things that people MUST have And
let Us put under ownership and control those Things
which naturally ought to be under the peoples owner
ship As long control and fix the price Tor that Wncn
the people MUST have we take much choose
of the peoples money and do legally beautifully and In
a thoroughly modern republican way"
The beautiful system that you In this picture
melting away. Sometimes the mountains become lower
only very slowly Sometimes great upheavas earthquakes
affect them suddenly and bring down high peaks TINS
war is the earthquake that has nteered with Monopoly
Mountain War, the great earthquake, acts quickly
The railroads have gone into the peoples hands and
Express companies first crippled by the peoples com
petition through parcels post will remain for the moment
enclosed in Government control of railroads. sort OF
monopoly vermorm appendix that will be cut out sooner
or later
Government-and they will stay in the people IS hands
Old Monopoly rubs his eyes and hardly believes what
has happened
The people are saying to the big monopotsts, "You
have shown that competition foolish You have shown
achieve the greatest efficiency and the greatest economy
Thanks for the information We shall take the
natural monopoies, manage them and own them Tor our
selves
Good-by Old Monopoly Mountain. You have faithful
servants preaching and working for you good corporation
lawyer engineers that would like to save you.
But your days seem to be numbered You can't gel
back those raIroadshe veins arteries Of the country
You can't get back the tgaphs and telephones through
which people talk to each other.
And it is hard to be believed that you will ever succeed
in stealing the ships that the people have built for them
selves with their money.
You were fine big mountain once, and there Is gooc
dssI ~ hut won't last long.