Evening star., 1924-09-25
Calls Privilege supreme Issue.


The supreme issue in this cam
paign is not railroad control" con-
tinued the Senator 1t is not the
tariff. banking or taxation. These are
but manifestations of the one great
struggle Make no mistake about ii.
The supreme issue. involving all
others. is the encroachment of the
powerful few upon the rights Of the
many"
Robert Marion La F'ollette-4 years
district attorney of Dane County.
Wis; years member Of the national
House of Representatives.; 10 years
in the private practice Of law: then
s years Governor of Wisconsin. and
Is years member of the United States
Senate-is an arrestine character in
American political history. No man
has been more highly praised for his
public WORK. And no man has been
more condemned.
Woodrow Wilson. before his cleo
tion to the presidency, in speaking
of this most amazing man. said:
Il have sometimes thought of Sena
tor La Toilette climbing the noun
tain of privilege taunted.
laughed at. called back. going stead
fastly on. and not allowing himself
TO be detected for single moment.
for fear he also should hearken and
lose all his power to serve the great
interests to which he had devoted
himself | love these lonely figures.
climbing this ugly mountain OF priv
lege | am sorry for my own
part that | did not come in when they
were fewer
Yet. later. Wilson denounced the
Wisconsin Senator as one of the
'willful" Senators
the Wisconsin leader as follows:
Thanks to the movement for a
genuinely democratic governme Mt
which Senator La Toilette led to
overwhelming victory in Wisconsin.
that State has become literally a
laboratory for wide experimental
Legislation. aiming to secure the so
cial and political betterment of the
people as a whole"
A few years later, a the height of
the great war hySteria. Roosevelt
made this observation bout the Wis
Consin Senator:
He is showing himself the worst
enemy that democracy has now alive"
Ten Years for Observation.
And yet Rober: La Toilette has
grown steadily since the war.
What manner OF man is he? Let US
go back a few years.
The first ten years of his political
life were years of observation. He
fought the State political machine of
Wisconsin because it was vicious and
corrupt, but he didn't know then why
1t was vicious and corrupt.
The next ten years gave him time
for much study and reflection. He
was then in private life. He began to
believe that big business was actively
in politics because it had something &
to gain by being in politics. In 1894
he declared war or the corrupt State
ma chine of Wisconsin and influenced
Congressman Nils Haugen to file as
an anti-machine candidate for the
Repub blican nomination for governor
Haugen was defeated.
La Toilette then ran as the anti
machine candidate in 1896; the peo-
pie voted for his nomination, but the
convention said otherwise. He tried
again in 1898, with the same result
But he was gaining the confidence OF
the people of Wisconsin. No State
was more boss-ridden or more ma
chine controlled at this period thar
was Wisconsin.
II can't help feelin' a good deal OF
sympathy for Bob La Toilette" de-
clared Isaac Stevenson, one of the
machine leaders-a1d afterward
United States Senator-after La Fol.
. lette's defeat in 1898. I'VE have go;
the newspapers; the organization, the
railroads, free passes, and all the
money, and he is fighting us all alone
Ii he'd had money enough TO buy d
few more postage stamps, he'd have
beaten US sure.
Takes Fight Into Field.
BY 1900 he could not be stopped
He was elected governor. Then
began a six-year fight with the State
bosses. 1t was bitter struggle
The machine controlled both the State
Assembly and the Senate. They re-
fused to enact legislation which La
Toilette told the people he would en-
act if elected. Then La Toilette went
directly to the people. He read the
roll call of the record of the mem
bers of both. houses. He spoke 4s
days in succession, averaging Sk
hour a day on the platform.
BY 1905 La Toilette was absolute
and supreme in Wisconsin. From
that day his leadership has never
seriously been challenged.
The railroads in Wisconsin, during
this time, were valued and taxed in
the same way as other real estate
Railroad rates were likewise based
on a fair valuation of the property
The legislation proved wise. From
1908 to 1909, more than $39, 1000 ,00C
was invested by the railroads OF
Wisconsin in new construction. Al
the same time freight and passenger
rates were lowered, causing a savin 6
Of $20o0,0o0 q year to the people o1