entirely upon the wills of a dozen men.

They have taken the mines; and all the coal there is in the United
States, or practically all, is controlled today by a few railroad
companies who can tell us just what we must pay, and if we are not
willing to pay it, we can freeze; and we respect private property so
much that we will stand around and freeze rather than take the coal
that nature placed in the earth for all mankind. (Applause).

All the iron ore in the United States that is worth taking is owned
and controlled by the Steel Trust, one combination with a very few men
managing the business; not more than a half a dozen absolutely
controlling it have their will; and nobody can have any iron ore, or
mold it or use it, excepting at the will of a few men who have taken
possession of what nature placed there for all of us, if we were wise
enough to use it and understand it. And the great forests of the
United States, what is left of them--and there is not so very much
left. We are a wise people. We pass laws now for the protection of
timber in the United States, so it won't be destroyed too fast, and at
the same time, we put a tariff duty of two dollars a thousand on
lumber that comes from somewhere else so that it will be destroyed at
a high price. (Laughter and applause). We are the wisest set of people
of any land that the sun ever shone upon. And if you don't believe it,
ask Roosevelt when he comes here. (Laughter and applause).

A few men control what is left of the forests, a few men and a few
great corporations have taken the earth, what is good of it. They have
left the arid lands, the desert and the mountains which nobody can
use,--the desert for sand heaps and the mountains for scenery. They
are now taxing the people to build reservoirs so that the desert will
blossom; and after it begins to blossom, they will take that.
(Applause). And even if they didn't own the land, they own all the
ways there are of getting to it, and they are able to take from the
farmer just so much of his grain as they see fit to take, and so far
as the farmer is concerned, I wish they would take it all (laughter
and applause), because he always has been against the interests of
every man that toils, including himself. (Applause). And they are able
to say to the working man engaged in industry just how much of his
product they will take, and from him they take just enough to leave
him alive. They have got to leave him alive, or he ca