Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/59

 judiciary, he went before the courts, calling for justice, and demanded his "day in court." He got it, but there were too many days in court. He appealed, and he fought and went from court to court, single handed, always impeded by increasing Necessity. Wiser and sadder, but deeply perplexed, he learned that the vaunted common law was strong in name but a shambling thing in action. He gave up stubbornly; he had been told of the glories of our constitution, and yet he could not but believe that there was something wrong, but resented as unpatriotic any such thought. It took a long time for him to learn that if he would live, he must accept the terms of the all-powerful one who could either make or break him; he learned to do the political bidding of the one who had Advantage. He became a cynic and distrusted the "agitators," of whom he was warned by the agents of the powerful one.

Turn back through the pages of history, study them well and read the results of this advantage in contract in the old days, as depicted by A. B. Stickney, a railroad president:—

"The managing officers were now potentates,—'railroad magnates,' 'railroad kings.' They travelled in state, surrounded by their personal staff, the heads of the different departments, who were almost as important personages as their chiefs. When they visited a town on their lines, the principal business men rushed to greet them. The fat of the land was at their disposal. Merchants