"The Profits of Religion." But, if Mr. H. R. Galt actually files a suit against me, he will be the first of our captains of privilege who has ventured that far.
Now, to return to the "St. Paul Dispatch" and "Pioneer Press": I have not made a detailed study of the files of these papers, but I have made a study of the Nonpartisan League movement and its "Nonpartisan Leader," also I have made a study of Mr. Walter W. Liggett, formerly exchange editor of the "Dispatch" and the "Pioneer Press." Mr. Liggett assures me that every statement he makes can be abundantly proven from the files of the papers, and I believe Mr. Liggett. Accordingly I take the risk of summarizing the statements which Mr. Liggett published concerning these two papers, and which these two papers allowed to pass unchallenged. My guess is that Mr. H. R. Galt will do one of two things: either he will do what Mr. Ogden Armour did, and what Mr. Corey did, and what Mr. Rockefeller did, and what Madame Tingley did—that is, nothing. Or else he will do what the Associated Press did in the case of the "Masses"—he will file a suit, or ask for an indictment, and thus get occasion to publish in his papers a high-sounding and dignified statement of his own righteousness; he will put me to the expense of employing lawyers and making a thorough study of his files; and then, when the case comes up, he will drop it, and say not one word about it in his papers!
Now, what is it that Mr. Liggett has to say? His statements are briefly as follows:
The "St. Paul Dispatch" and "Pioneer Press" were financed and put on their feet by a street-car magnate, and for twenty years, from a generous and pure emotion of gratitude, have supported this street-car magnate in all his doings; hiding his tax-dodging and his franchise grafting, ridiculing and misrepresenting his employes when they go on strike. The papers could probably not be purchased for a million dollars, yet they pay taxes on less than fifty-seven thousand dollars. Until quite recently they were charging the city an illegal price for the publication of city advertisements, and only quit when an independent citizen forced an exposure. They have defended the Hill railroad interests systematically; they have suppressed news of public agitation against the packers and the millers, and have editorially defended these and other profiteers. After borrowing three hundred thousand
