Decatur Democrat, Volume 46, Number 34, Decatur, Adams County, 30 October 1902 — Page 9

Impotent pm {epublicans Show Themselves Unwilling to Cope With the Trust Problem. do Republican President or Republican Congress Has Ever Secured Relief In This Direction. -rowth of the Trusts Has Been Most Prolific Under Undisturbed Republican Rule. I for six long years the Republicans lave had control of all branches of fee government, executive, legislative Ind judicial. During this period the Organization and growth of the trusts Kas been most prolific and their extortions from the P ubllc bave been en ' ■arged and extended to most of the ■eceesities of life. The coal combine Ind the beef trust are examples of the Erowth of combinations during this Eeriod of Republican administration. I The opening of this era of Republican rule was emphasized by the enEctnient of the Dingley law, many Schedules of which were not only intended to protect the combines, but Eere actually prepared by attorneys If the trusts and therefore were entirely in their interests. The trust ■agnates, finding themselves securely Intrenched and protected, then began L series of great combinations that |taggered the commercial world and |ave gradually raised prices of most Necessities to the highest notch ever ■fore known. | Naturally the voters began to kick |t these exactions, and attempts were Kiab' by the Democrats in congress E reduce them. The present execuKve in his first message to the con|ress recommended publicity as an an- ■ Mote. but no notice was taken of this ■commendation by the Republicans in ■ongress. It remained for a Demo■ratic senator to propose an amend-E-nt to the census bill on the lines ■f President Roosevelt’s recommenda■on. A vote was taken and all the Republicans present voted against It Ed all the Democrats for it, but it ■as defeated, for the Republicans were ■h command of the situation. ■ The political situation became more ■cute, anil upon the close of the first ■ession of the 57th congress the president determined to take the stump ■nd try and stay the tide that was ■owing in favor of controlling these ■ast corporations. It appears from his ■peeches that he has no remedy to ■ff<-r other than publicity of trusts’ Ransactions. unless an amendment to 81. constitution can be had, but this Bould only be available to a future ■•aeration, and the voters are clam■ring for immediate relief. To change Be constitution requires two-thirds of ■engress to vote to propose it and Bree-fourths of all the states to ratify Buch changes. Clearly this is an im■ossible achievement if the present ■•■uiper of congress is continued, be■des the further obstacle of all but Bne-fourth of the states agreeing to Be same. The corporations control ■ver one-third of the senate was stat■d by Senator Morgan, and it is doubtB1 if they do not control a greater per■entage of the present house of representatives. Under these circumstan■es can the Republican party be reBed on to control the trusts? It would Beem to be unlikely and improbable, ■ranting that President Roosevelt is ■neuro in his trust-baiting, will he be Bble to bring his party to the same Baine of mind? But unfortunately ■>ere are strong indications that the himself is but lukewarm in B is anti-trust tight. If he were sin■ere. would he be silent on the prinBl<al remedy for stopping the extor■ons of the principal combines, by B®}'ng not a word about revising the Bjritf and thus cut off the protection these eomuines now enjoy and ich allows them to fleece the people B’’ h ” tune of from 30 to,loo per cent" ■ or floes he say a word about the ■“a strike or lift a Anger to stop it. ■a thei e would seem to be away The law of Pennsylvania for■l ’ rai ' rnn 'ls to operate mines or man of any kind, and the federal trust law provides that combines H punished by fine and imprison- ■ p . and the judicial arm of the govB»oent could enforce it. Beh ° mlnerß °E Pennsylvania have ■* ved with wonderful moderation, . n,> * or<l of Praise or encourageK has been vouchsafed them by Ko m.KH I,I, nt ’ tbou 8 b he enlightens KL at' '° n mucb * eRS important matB It i b ‘ n Gth and minuteness. Kllof r h '' r ' >for * ! useless to look for Kbiu.? m tnMt Pxac <ions from a Reprl’ldent or a Republican T are bou “tl to their Kbßlrtv r, >'n, , '" S ad i°’ | rne'dand the ship 11 WhlCh Sp,lator Hanna sue■ill ain„ . paasin * through the senate Klei. Th« e » ln thC lloUge t )lguon ’ ■“ted for Republican senators who ■l sin. . ». aro not proud of their recK<>n launrh h 'i MorKan Bh| P trust has K.st W ||. " >d and Ris found that the K|y. Th. absorb ab ™t all the subor - ' I ’ ubbf ' a n members of the K 0 "' 1 to itn ' Pr ' Bl " ,n, * VPH d * d nOt P r °’ ■dy stent t n record R’r the ship sub K" to re-oilT.u efore askln K the votK>P'‘ai j r them, The bill will reSr« over. “ L ' omber after the elections

WATCH FOR FRAUD. A Republican attorney general has given an opinion stating that if a voter says he cannot reau the English language, or cannot mark his ballot bv reason of physical disability, the poll c erks may mark it for him, and that in all ordinary cases an affidavit is unnnecessary.” THIS IS NOT THE MAWV o- AX -AFFIDAVIT IS NECES SAR y in EVERY CASE. Section 48 of the election law as amended by the act of March 6, 1899 (acts 1899 p. 540) provides: ’’ “Before the poll clerks shall so prepare the ballot of said elector THE SAID ELECTOR SHALL, in the pres ence of the board, MAKE AFFIDAVIT IN WRITING that he is unable to read the English language, or that by reason of physical disability, setting out the particulars in which said physical disability exists, he is unable to mark his ballot.” The same section provides that a voter who makes a false declaration on this matter shall be fined and disfranchised, and that any poll clerk who shall deceive a voter or mark the ballot except as requested shall be sent to the penitentiary for from two to five years. Every Democratic election officer in the state MUST INSIST on the making of these affidavits and that blanks shall be at the polling place for that purpose. One of the favorite methods of Republican vote-buyers is through this channel. A bargain is made on the outside, the voter goes in and declares he can not mark his ballot, the Republican poll clerk thus sees how his ballot is prepared, and gives the tip to the scoundrel outside, who pays the fellow his money if “all right.” Indiana is Democratic, and Republicans must not be allowed to get it by foul means. Secretary Shaw tooa a step of veryquestionable propriety last week when he abrogated the requirement which compels the banks to hold 25 per cent reserve against deposits of government funds, far the action was entirely arbitrary and enabled the banks of New York to extend their credit still further. As the banks of that cityhold about $40,000,090 of the treasury's funds, they- may expand their loans to that amount. The New York papers believe that the action of the secretarysets a dangerous precedent, from the fact that it may give foreign bankers a false idea of the power of the secretary. Both the legality of the action and its expediency are called in question by conservative bankers. The puzzling thing is why the secretary should resort to these questionable devices. which do not strengthen the bank reserves, but encourage further speculative expansion, when he could, in perfect compliance with the law, resume the refunding of the older bond issues into the new 2 per cents, thus getting actual money out of the treasury and at the same time furnishing the basis for new circulation. Mr. Cannon cf Illinois, who is being urged in some quarters for the speakership to succeed Mr. Henderson of lowa, is thus quoted in an interview on the tariff question: “The tariff will be revised some time, but not at the next session of congress, or by the succeeding congress unless there is a check in the present prosperity.” As Mr. Cannon Is one of the Republican leaders of the house of representatives and is chairman of the comm.ttee on appropriations, his statement must be taken as good authority for the faction which he trains with. If that faction, whicn includes about all the leaders that now control congress, is able to control the organization of the congress to be elected this year, there will evidently be no tariff revision or trust legislation. The trusts would seem to have a firm hold on this faction of the Republican party, for tariff revision is the only legislation thdse trusts fear who are protected by the tariff. Ex-United States Senator Washburn, a Republican, in an interview published in the New York Tribune, Sept. 11, 1899, says: “There is one thing that greatly disturbs me. The Republican party, whether jrtstly or unjustly, is associated with trusts in the minds of the masses. As a party we have reached the crisis where we have got to call a halt. The Republican party has got to disconnect itself from the trusts. It has got to legi-late them. The Republicans in congress will have to examine the subject thoroughly, and whenever they find a trust is depending for its exorbitant profits largely upon protective duties it will be the duty of Re publican congressmen and senators to remove the duties at once. This should be done with the duty on steel rails and tin plate.” Governor LaFollette of Wisconsin delivered a notable speech for a Republican at the opening of the campaign In that state, taking the broad ground that the tariff must be revised if tiro people are to secure any relief front the trusts. He pointed out that the tariff protected the manufacturer and competition protected the consumer, anti as long as tnere was comp'dition between the protected >< blatr '« S n the burden was not onerous. He then declared that a new law. an ar Iffi’la law. is supplanting the natural law of competition, and by »he producers of like articles limit the quantity produced and fix the pdee. The governor makes a ,tP ° ng pp for tariff revision and Indicates that he sees the trend of the time, and wants to be in the band wagon.

AN ANTI-TRUST LAW That Fails to Ante, Notwithstanding the Trust Game is Being Played Kight Under the Nose of Indiana's Executive. When the legislature met at Indianapolis in January, 1901, every Republican representative and senator went up to tho state capital with an antitrust law in his pocket. The party was opposed to trusts, it was declared, and that, hydra-headed monster was to be so effectually curbed that the people would suffer no more from his depredations. Senator Agnew presented an admirable measure to his fellow senators, for he really believed that his party professions were made in good faith. But he soon found that his bill, which would have curbed the trusts, was to be sidetracked for one that would not, and he ceased to push it. In the meantime the Republican managers had been looking over the bills and decided that the most ineffective one, that is, the one which would be surest to prove a dead letter on the statute books, was the bill offered by Representative Cooper. '1 he Republican majority was called into caucus, the will of the party managers was made known and the Cooper bill was adopted as a caucus measure and put through all the stages of legislation, Gov. Durbin giving it his approval on March 8, 1901, The bill defined trusts and combines and declared that any agreement to charge more than the regular price, or to refuse to furnish any article of mercandise, or to cause any person or corporation to cease to do business, is hereby declared to be against public policy and unlawful and void. It was then ordained that any domestic corporation which should violate any of the provisions of the act should forfeit its charter and its franchise, and its corporate existence should thereupon cease. Every foreign corporation violating the act was to be denied the right of doing business in the state. Following these declarations the act declares that “it is hereby made the duty of the attorney-general of the state to enforce the provisions of this act by due process of law.” The third section is as follows: Sec. 3. That any violation of the provisions of this act shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be destructive of full and free competition and a conspiracy against trade, and any person or persons who may engage in any such conspiracy, or who shall as principal, manager, director or agent, or in any other capacity, knowingly carry out any of the stipulations, purposes. prices, rates or orders made in furtherance of such conspiracy, shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than SIOO nor more than $5,000, and by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than 10 years; or in the judgment of the court by either such fine or such imprisonment. This has been the law of the state in respect to trusts since March, 1901, but no suit has ever been brought under it, notwithstanding the fact that trusts are operating in all parts of the state and it is made the duty of the attorney-general to enforce its provisions. It was known at the time that the Republican managers forced the caucus to select the Cooper bill because it was thought by them to be a harmless measure, but it would seem that decent respect for his oath would require that the attorney-general try to enforce it. That official is energetic enough when it comes to collecting fees and deducting his per cents, but when it comes to trusts his energy is all expended. His predecessor declared a previous law inoperative without trying it in the courts, and Mr. Taylor seems to be following this distinguished example. All Due to the Tariff. Against the advice of McKinley, the adjuration of Roosevelt, the pledges of the Republican platform, the good faith of the government and the dictate of humane consideration for a suffering people, the Republicans, rather than diminish the unjust profits of the sugar trust, refused to do justice to Cuba. It was but tne triumph of greed over right and justice. The Republican party owes its lease of power to the trusts and it cannot get far enough away from them to deliver an effective kick. Through tne protective tariff, the infant industry has grown so rich and so strong, at the expense of the consumer, that they are now, through the Republican party, riding roughshod over the rights of the people. These monsters the tariff has created have turned upon the nation and now hold it by the throat. And yet the Dingley bill still is in force. Still it compels the oppressed consumer to pay over a tribute into the trust coffers when he buys their goods. All the evils of the trusts which were created by the tariff continue to grow greater so long as the tariff remains. Is it not time for revision? Is it not time to elect a party to power which has always been the consistent enemy of trusts? From 1891 to 1895 the Republicans did everything possible to interfere with the administration of the new tax law, even denouncing it in their state convention of 1891 and on the stump of that year. From 1895 to the present time they have been claiming all the benefits that have come to tho state from the law, thus trying to rob the Democrats of the prestige of the only financial legislation that could possibly result In liquidating the slate debt. _

HENDERSON FLIES THE TRACK. David 11. Henderson, speaker of the national house of representatives, and for 20 years a member of that body, has declined the nomination recently given him by the Third lowa district, and will retire from congress at the close of his present term. Mr. Henderson says that he retires from the congressional race, not through fear of being beaten at the polls, but because he does not agree with his party in respect to the relations existing between the tariff and the trusts, and, finding himself thus differing from it, he prefers to step down and out. In other words, he does not believe that the tariff is the parent of the trusts, and he is unwilling to obey the behests of his party, which has declared for a pruning of the tariff on all goods that are controlled by the trusts. This declaration is equivalent to a free trade plank in the lowa platform, for it is only protected commodities that have come under trust domination. In the course of an address to the lowa Republicans, issued in connection with his letter declining the nomination, Speaker Henderson says: “In conclusion I desire to say that after a careful study of conditions and political views in lowa and in my own district, I am satisfied that I am not in harmony with a great many of the Republican voters, who believe that free trade, in whole or in part, will remedy the trust evil.” In another part of his address he defines his position regarding trusts in this language: “For my part, if any great interest in this country is prospering through protective policies or any other legislation. and is using its advantages, growth and prosperity to plunder the American people, I. for one, am ready to strike it by whatever legal means we may be able to adopt, provided, that in so doing we do not hurt innocent interests.” It will be seen that Mr. Henderson expresses entire willingness to strike down any industry-that is plundering the American people, provided no innocent interests are hurt. This is pre-, cisely what the people and the lowa Republicans understand to be the shield for Republican inaction, and it was against this that the lowa platform was invoked. That instrument declared in favor of “any modification of the tariff schedules that may be required to prevent their affording shelter to monopoly,” and Mr. Henderson is forced to concede that this is within the power of congress, for all that body would have to do would be to take the duty off of articles which have been brought under trust control. No sane man would argue that congress has not this right, for the very act of putting a tariff on implies the right to take the tariff off. One must look deeper, then, for the reasons for Speaker Henderson flying the track at this important juncture in the history of the Republican party. In the first place, his district is overwhelmingly Republican, but these Republicans are in a state of great unrest. To meet defeat in his district would be a body blow from which he would never recover, and especially since he has refused as speaker to countenance attempts at limiting the power of the trusts. The Democrats have nominated former Gov. Bliss in the Third district, and Mr. Henderson knew well that the trusts would be the predominating issue and, with his record in congress, he was in no sense prepared to meet it. A second reason might be found in the certainty that the Democrats will have a majority in the next congress, and that Mr. Henderson did not want to return to a body in which he would be in a hopeless majority, a leader without a following, for a Democratic victory would discount him both with his party and with the people. A third reason, perhaps, is that as speaker of the house he was wholly subservient to the will of the trusts and is conscious that every vote cast by Republicans in lowa in support of their platform or in support of Democratic candidates is a vote against hio record in congress. Os course, he eulogizes reciprocity in his address to the people of lowa, and applaudes President Roosevelt’s utterances in favor of giving congress more power to deal with combines against the people. But the one way to reach the trusts is through direct legislation by congress and by taking the duty off of articles that the trusts control. Mr. Henderson is unwilling to do this and is therefore out of plumb with his party in lowa, which has spoken in no uncertain tones of its conviction that the tariff is the breeder of trusts. The leaders of the New York Republicans have decided to give President Roosevelt an indorsement for 1904 and in this respect will depart from long established precedent, It having been the rule not to indorse a president for renomlnatlon two years in advance. These are strenuous times, however, and the president wants the long distance cinch and will get It. It might bo chat he’s afraid of tho Fairbanks boom, but hardly. Two years ago Gov. Mount was opposed to inviting Mark Hanna to speak in Indiana because the senator was praising the trusts. This led to "strained relations” between she executive and the Republican state cen tral committee, and the governor reto make speaking appointments through that body. If Gov. Durbin could speak—but he can't and, of course, there's no use discussing tho proposition.

NOW TO VOTE GOUGTLV Jk READ THIS COLUMN CAREFULLY : The device at the head of the Democratic ticket Is a rooster. The device at the head of the Republican ticket is an eagle. Other tickets on the ballot have different devices. The Democratic ticket is in the first column, the Republican ticket Is in the second column, and so on. Below is a sample of the Democratic and Republican tickets, with th® respective party devices, in the order in which they will appear on the official ballot . | SAMPLE BALLOT / ¥-r in ir-Y K *SL ‘4 /J/ DEMOCRATIC TICKET. ” REPUBLICAN TICKET.’ For Secretary of State, For Secretary of State. DEM. REP. ___ i ALBERT SCHOONOVER. DANIEL E. STORMS. INSTRT’CTIONS TO VOTERS i FIRST. You must get your ballot and a blue pencil from the polling clerks in the election room. Remember that a blue pencil is now used Instead of a stamp. SECOND. If you want to vote a straight ticket make a cross, thus: X, within the large circle at the head of the ticket containing the device of the party for whose candidates you wish to vote. If you do not wish to vote a straight ticket, you must not make a cross in the large circle containing the device of your party, but you must make a cross, thus X, on the small square to the left of the name of each candidate for whom you desire to vote, on whatever list of candidates it may be. If the large circle at the head of the ticket is marked, and the ballot is marked at any other place, it is void and cannot be counted, unless there be no candidate for some office in th® list printed under such marked device, in which case you may indicate your choice for such office by making a cross, thus X, on the square to th® left name of any candidate for such office on any other list. The cross must be placed within or on the circle or square or the ballot is void and cannot be counted. THIRD. Do not mutilate your ballot, or mark it either by scratching a name off or writing one on, or in any other way except by marking in the circle or on the squares as before mentioned. Otherwise the ballot will not be counted. You must not put any mark of any kind on your ballot except as before mentioned. FOURTH. After marking your ballots, and before leaving the booths, fold them separately so that the face of each cannot be seen, and so the Initial letters of the names of the polling clerks on the back thereof can be seen. Then hand your ballots to the inspector, the pencil to the polling clerk, and leave the room. FIFTH. If you are physically unable to mark your ballot, or cannot read English, so inform the polling clerks, and make an affidavit to that effect, and tell them how you wish to vote, and they will mark you ballot for you. But neither you nor the clerks must permit any other person to hear or see how your ballot is marked. It is a penal offense to declare that you cannot read English or cannot mark your ballot, if. in fact, you can; and in no case shall the ballots be marked by the poll clerks if the voter can read the English language or is physically able to mark his ballot, and then not until the voter has made the affidavit. SIXTH. If you should accidentally, or by mistake, deface, mutilate or ■poil your ballot, return it to the poll clerks and get a new ballot. SEVENTH. You must not accept a ballot from any person outside of the election room. Any ballot outside is fraudulent, and it is a penitentiary offense to have such a ballot in your possession, whether you attempt to vote it or not. EIGHTH. You must not attempt to hold any conversation in the election room except with members of the election board and poll clerks. NINTH. Use only the blue pencil handed to you by the polling clerk in marking your ballot. If you mark with any other pencil your ballot la void and will not be counted. TENTH. You must not put any mark of any kind on your ballot •xcept r.s before mentioned.

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