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Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS
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ABVOOATS. a TABIOUS WASHDTGTOK T0PI03- ( Continued from page 1.) dance and the little money men ore taiid to pay the fiddler. What is the remedy? Why, vote for representatives pledged to enact a decent money system; pledged to coin these idle silver bars lying up here in the big stone treasury building. Vote for men that will foreclose on that mortgage on the Pacific railroads and set it carrying your grain, and stock, and freight, at cost Vote for men who will so legis late aa to break up these immense land holdings now in the greedy clutches of alien or native syndicates. Vote for men who will give people a chance to work for each other, and thus open up factories, and mills, and mines. Vote for men who will not lasao themselves with a filibuster and then prance round and yell, and growl because they are tied up. Vote for John Davis, and for Jerry Simpson, and all the rest of the People's party men. Sand the entire quota from Kansas next time. You will have plenty of reinforcements from other states this fall; bo vote for men who will do the work you need to have done. Why not? . Annib L. Diggs. riGHTIJM PCS WOSK. "Eioters" Braved the Blizzard and the Police to Earn Bread. Daring the recent blizzard, there was ample proof that the unemployed of this city have been slandered by the papers, which claim they do not want to work, and that the distress of the idle is ezsg geratedbythe labor press. The scene at one point, the Illinois Central yard?, is thus described by the Chicago Times: Four patrol wagons loaded with blue- coats, rushed to the triin yards of the Illinois Central on the gallop early yes terday morning, to quell the threatened riot that half a hundred angry and hun gry laborers were on the verge of starting in their efforts to get work at shoveling snow off the tracks. Five minutes after the police reached the yards, the only lowering things in sight were the clouds overhead. All day Monday Foreman John Phelan worked liked a Trojan trying to ehovel the blizzard off the tracks between the Randolph street terminus and the train yards at Sixteenth street. The ordinary force of yard men Boon was literally snowed under, and, at the foreman's re quest, Chief Clerk Ackerman, of the road master's office, promised to get a new invoice of labor, bo that the supply should more nearly equal the demand. Chief Clerk Ackerman is philanthropic His kindly heart bleeds for the unfortu nates who are out of work; so he thought he would kill two birds with one shot by sending to the Randolph street relief quarters for the needed la borers. About 150 men responded. They were Bhown the snow and shovels and told to make them both fly. By evening enough lanes had been cut through the drifts to allow suburban-trains to run regularly once more. When the newly employed unemployed returned to their lodging houses that night they spread the good news about the tonB of snow the Illinois Central was going to shovel into Lake Michigan, and yesterday morning laborers went to the train yards at least five hundred strong. Inside of the yards, about opposite Fif teenth street, is a little wooden shanty, in which shovels and other tools are stored. Never did M elem pilgrims rush more ecstatically toward Mecca than the unemployed did toward this dingf tool shanty. By the time Fore man Fhelan reached the yards at 7 o'clock, he found the toolhouie almost hidden behind a large and turbulent crowd of men waiting for him to set them to work. Phelan realized that he could not employ all of the men. He did't have shovels enough to go around. The crowd of hungry ones knew this, too. They also knew that it would be a case of first come first served. The lucky fel lows nearest the door fought vigorously to keep their positions of advantage. Those hanging on the fringe struggled to gat into the inner circle. No one would jeopard his own place by giving way to let Foreman Phelan pass. Thereby the men hoisted themselves with their own petard. Fhelan could not get at the shovels, and the laborers could not get at them either until Phe lan did. The men began to grow riotous and angry. They were fighting for shovels, and shovels meant bread. The hungriest and the roughest began to quarrel. Blows were struck. Phelan feared that the crowd of excited laborers would break loose and af er smashing into the frail shanty get hold of the shovels. Thus armed they might attack the freight house near by. Phelan rushed to the roadmaater's of fice and telephoned to the Harrison street police station for aid. Half a dozen officers were quickly bundled into the patrol wagon and the "bine buggy" rushed with clanging gong to the scene of the threatened riot. When the wagon drove into the trainyard and the officers saw the size of the crowd they had to handle, they decided to take no chances and telephoned back for nuore po'ice. Another patrol wagon soon galloped up, loaded with officers from the Twenty second street station. Details of police were also suit from the Central and the Cottage Grove avenue stations. This imposing display of bluecoata quelled most effectually any evil dieposi tions the 'crowd may have entertained. Most of them simply wanted a chance to work. Part of the crowd scattered as soon as the reinforcements appeared in eight. The officers rounded up the 250 men who remained and lined them in a row. Then Foreman Phelan unlocked the tool shed and distributed his shov els. The men worked quietly and in dustriously In small squads all the rest of the day. A few of the officers stayed until they were satisfied there would be no more -trouble. Then they returned to the station. ''The trouble all arose among those soup house men," said Chief Clerk Ack erman. "Many are realy destitute and worthy fellows, deserving of sympathy. One young Pole worked a few hours this morning. Suddenly he threw down his shovel and cried out in broken English that he. would'fc work any longer. I am starving, he said, simply. I took him to a restaurant and filled him up. He went right back to work and has shov eled like a good fellow ever since." Rail- way Times, Maroh 1. Government Banking. HO. II. Editor Advocate: At the supreme council of the F. A. & I. U., in Topeka, H. L. Loucks, president of the order, said, among other things: "In my opin ion it is a mistake to advocate a per capita basis for money. A per capita volume that would answer in an agri cultural country would be wholly inade quate in a manufacturing country." He then showed that with the advance of civilization and the increase in business attendant upon the greater division of labor, more moaey is needed. Ha con- tinner "Na firArl rust-iron V&T CSDita ' n ha AnnniHarAd a t.rrl A. Hf.inntlfifl Cflf. ) manent solution of the money problem. It must be based on demand for use, those who used it and have the security to pledge being the judges; and not those who have it and do not need it as at present" These are plain words, well spoken. His solution la the correct oae. Supply of money should not be fixed at so much per head of population, but in stead should equal the demand for use by these. able to effar good security. How is this demand to be ascertained? There ia no need to guess at it. Nor need we be dependent for information upon the bankers who are always inter ested in reducing the money volume, so that their credits may become more val uable. The true solution lies in govern ment banks. Let the United States maintain a system of banks. Give us a bank in every American county. Let us elect all bank officers so that the ap pointive power may not be increased. Furnish the banks with just as much legal tender paper currency as the peo ple want to borrow upon good security. Never loan money upon any piece of property to exceed one-third of its cash value in the market. Hera yon have a flexible currency. The supply will al ways equal the demand. When the money is not needed, it will be with drawn from circulation. When needed it will at once reappear. A run on a bank would not be dreamed of. A panic would be an utter impossibility. Our present banking system is based on confidence. So shaky is this frail foundation -that newsboys crying their papers on the public streets have been known to start this delicately-poised system to rocking and down came the banks like a child's card houses. The huge rooking stones that a firger's touch will set in motion are not more nicely balanced than our banks. As on a sua pension bridge you cannot draw a bow across a violin's strings without starting the whole bridge to vibrating in unison, so no one can utter a whisper of doubt concerning any financial act, move or transaction without causing "confi dence" to vibrate at the imminent dan ger of a terrible panio with all its attendant evils bodily suffering, mental anguish, moral ruin.' Of all the monopolies that we fight, the money power is the most powerful, the most merciless and the most insid uous in its attacks. Bankers are its offi cers, banking institutions its strongholds, and banking laws its massive outworks. From it has come every attack on the people through their money since the exception olause was put upon green backs in 1862, up to the Carlisle bond issue of this year. Its selfish power for local evil cannot be better shown than it is by Gideon Laine in the "Dead Line," and by Robert H. Cowdrey in his ex cellent novel, "A Tramp in Society." The aots of the Diegal company in the former case and of Banker Joplin and his associates (pais, we ought to call them) in the latter can be duplicated by the tens of thousands in the world of fact. How easily they can drive to the wall many who are unwilling to be plastio clay in plutocracy's shaping hand is only too apparent. To remedy these evils, there is nothing better than government banking. It is not a pan acea for all political ills. It will solve the money question only. Fairer taxa tion, fuller suffrage, the initiative and referendum, state operation of the liquor traffic, publio operation of public utili tiesthese questions have still to be set tled. J. 0. Rctpiwthax. Horsemen Will be interested in the horse Bale of W. S. Tough & Son, advertised on page 16. I0TX3 MD G0UME2TT. Mr. Gladstone, premier of England, resigned his office, and Lord Roeeberry was appointed by the 'queen to fill the vacancy. The Colorado legislature adjourned on Thursday after passing a few bills of minor importance. As might have been expected Gov. Waite's Mexican coin scheme met with little support The German government paid $2,000 for two models of American railway postal cars, and is now gathering other information concerning our paternalistic mail service, for the benefit of their own. Secretary Morton has been "viadi dicating his character" by having Z. T. White and H. W. Hearth prosecuted for hanging the secretary and his son Carl in effigy a few days ago. They were convicted of criminal libel and fined $200 each. Jubal A. Early, the famous Confed erate general who band his name to be used in connection with that of General Beauregard for the benefit of the Louia iana lottery, died at Lynchburg, Va., March 2. He was a native of that state and was 77 years old. Six thousand miners are thrown out of work by recent closing of the coal mines in Jackson county, Ohio. In the -Hooking valley district, wages were placed at 50 cents a ton two weeks ago, and eince then the Jackson county operatoia noti fied the miners that wages would be reduced to that figure. Chancellor Jamea H. Canfield became very unpopular in the republican days of Kansas by reason of his free trade proclivities.- He has made the Nebraska State university one of the most pro gressive and thriving institutions in the land, and is now a very popular man, even in Kansas. Times have changed. The next national silver meeting will be held at Das Moines, March 21 and 22 under the auspices of the National Bi Metallic league. It will be composed of representatives from the different labor and industrial organizations who believe in "more money and no interference by England, through Wall street, with our financial affairs." The American consuls at Belfast and Liverpool report that American flour is growing unpopular there on account of ita inferior quality. They' say that In dian wheat promises to make a formida ble opponent to the American staple, and it behooves American millers to keep up their standards to the highest point There is also complaint that the flour is not properly sacked and is thus damaged. The consul also mentions great delays in receiving shipments, and suggests a fed eral statute to make the original car riers' responsibility extend to the last carrier. THIS IS YOUE PAPER. Just a few words to the new read ers of the Advocate, on an important subject If this copy is addressed to yon it's yours; at least it belongs to some one of yonr name. We do not send the paper on credit, because we cannot afford to do so. But we sometimes give away sample copies. Then again, there are people who Jay for a paper and have it sent to a riend or neighbor. Perhaps yon are the fortunate friend or neighbor in this case. Or perhaps you have received a sample copy. At any rate you should keep the paper and read it and don't annoy your pcstinii3ter by kicking about giving it to you.