Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1924-09-19
ADDRESS By CHAS.
NILDMAN OF D. X. {.
At STATE MEET

ARHaIlhkktN OF ANl ~ - a. AZ AsAN
eleventh assembly Of tht order u
railway conductors Of America faT the
state of Illinois al a }olnl meeting 9f
the State Legislative Committee of
tie Conductors and fiemen held At
Springfield. September :. ia2A
Brothers.
As We assemble here te deyise Ways
ami means 70 protect aur interests
along political and economic lines, Nc
are confronted With questions Of far
greater significance than most ot us
would care to admit.
Ask the question when you will %
Nhele you viii, What Is the matter
with eur America today : and IA
ninety-nine cases cut Of every hun-
dtvd tie answer will he. a few have
too much and many have toe little af
the worlds goods or the products cl
lahar approximately FIVE percent Of
the people age in absolute control, yes
telling the other ninety five percent
Jus, VIA, ley must 10.
les, thai is the whole trouble In a
nutshell, but what ATE We Eaiug 10 lie
about IL Keep things as they are
Ne that would be foolish, many
remedies have been applied in the
past. such as strikes. riots, followed
by It's iiain of class hatred and all
such things In general which amounts
TO nothing short Of raising the Devil.
But did they work. did they accom-
plish any permanent good to any
body? Nc.
Well then, what are We going 10 de
about iit Now ! don't know just
what We are going 10 do, but ! do
know what We can do and what We
must do II We expect TO make the
forward stride that is necessary 10
keep pace with the events of modern
times.
Il does no good To raise the wages
OF labor, for when we do the powers
that be Immediately raise the price of
all the goods that labor produces,
aud this raise followed by another
raise in wages and IL will surely be
followed by another greater raise In
the price of an commodities, SO YOU
see We are going around in a circle
just like a deg chasing his tail, not
getting anywhere
Now brothers, we have the be .
form OF government in the world but
| am sony 10 say that it has gotten
into bad hands and In the application
of II they have installed systems that
must be changed, and that IL a politi.
cal lob, 80 now you see why We are
in politics do you not When you
hear any objections raised TO the
Order Of Railway Conductors being In
politics just make that statement
without any reservation for We are in
politics up to our eyebrows whether
we like il or not.
In times past most of Us have had
the habit of growing when things
went wrong with our National Gov.
ernments affairs and letting II 20 a
that, we never took the tfonble to
think hand and reason in our owl
minds lust what was needed or just
what should be done 10 make our
national affairs go right, and the re
suit has been, that while We were say
ing let George President, or George
Congress, OF George Supreme Court
do t, organized capital stepped In and
hacked the whole blooming concern
with men Of their choosing 20 do their
bidding with the natural result that
government of the people, for the peo.
pie, by the people, has been displaced
by government of class by class,
for the cole benefit of class, and
what are we going TO 10 about It. II
is certainly a political job, and labor
has its share Of the responsibility Tor
doing the job, bu, first We must hnd
out Just what Is wrong, aud just what
will be needed to make the necessary
repairs
Our government is made up Of, or
consists of three departments: hrst,
the executive department, on presi-
dent; second. the law making depart
ment. or the senate and congress;
third, the judicial department. or Su-
preme court; these are the three de-
partments upon which the foundation
Of our government Is resting, and a.
we stated in the beginning, that q
change in the system Of application
was needed, let US take a peep into
each of the three departments ana see
what is wrong, let US begin with the
executive department, now ] hear you
ask what is wrong with that?
Well, the principal drawback to
getting an efficient executive that VIII
be a free lance in all matters coming
before him is the method Of financing
the campaign he made when he was
seeking election, as almost all Of the
financing is done by big business, and
not without asking something In re-
turn. you can readily see that his
promise once given must be kept, a.
an illustration, four years ago the
/ Oil interests went to San Francisco
and financed the Democrats, while the
! Z. S. Steel corporation was In Chi
cago with the Republicans and it Is a
well known fact even though direct
proof would be hard 10 obtain, that
they financed both parties under the
promise that they be allowed 70 pick
the cabinet OF legal advisers Of the
president, and other appointive ofil'
GERS, and from the course Of event
since that time it is evident they dad
the picking. ,..
/ At least we have a preponderenece
of evidence In the acts Of Fall, Daugh-
erty, DENLY, Burfns and others nc
! h. a,ypnlgH that my con