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Show Taking Away the People's Own.' When one steals a horse, he cannot transfer any title to it, and, the owner may recover it wherever found. This rule 'should be made to apply to the people's property stolen from the people by bribing their representatives, and the-people should be entitled en-titled to reclaim their own. The law should require all franchises to be sold at public, auction, and a sufficient time allowed after the sale for any one to raise the bid, to prevent collusion." These words are not The Telegram's, but those of a man recently raised to an exalted position in one of the American States. The illustration is as forceful as could well be drawn. A crime against the State or municipality is no greater, no legs, than a crime against the individual. Franchises are the property of the people. To give or barter them aw.iy is a crime against the people. To permit a monopoly 10 assume functions that properly belong to the people peo-ple without giving adequate return, either in taxes cr concessions, is a robbery of the people. When such a result is accomplihsed by bribery of those chosen to represent the people, the offense becomes heinous. The sale at public auction of valuable franchises is not a sure cure for the evils of monopoly, but it is the nearest approach to a remedy that legislation has yet devised. Municipal ownership, in theory, is better. But the times are young. Political science may yet evolve a plan whereby the rights of the people may be protected against the greed of corporate corpo-rate monopoly. The granting, by 'sale or otherwise, of any extended franchise under existing conditions by any American city would therefore be the su-premest su-premest of folly. If,- as contended by the man quoted above, the right of recovery should attain to the people for valuable franchises improperly taken, the folly of extending such franchises becomes all the more apparent. He DM His Work W1I. The death of Gen. Lew Wallace removes a stroug man from the affairs of life. He was a good soldier, an able man of business and an author of note. His fame will rest upon his great novel, "Ben-Bur," a story that will live long. Some of the critics sneered at the book, but it suited the people, who were willing will-ing to overlook possible defects in style on account of the vividness and strength of the story. Gen. Wallace put his best into the book. It was full of conviction and earnestness, highly dramatic and glowing- with life. Buch work is bound to live. There is all to little of it these days, although the presses are running night and day turning out alleged masterpieces of fiction, most of which bear the stamp of having been written before breakfast. Gen. Wallace's life was well spent. His great book gave pleasure to hundreds hun-dreds of thousands. |