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About The Wealth makers of the world. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1894-1896 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1894)
THE WEALTH MAKERS. December 27, 189 ! THE WEALTH MAKERS. New 8erle of THE ALLUNCE-ISDEPESDEXT. Consolidation of tb Farmer Alliance and Neb. Independent. PUBLISHED EVERT THUR8DAT BY Tht Wealth Makers Publishing Company, U24 11 Bt Ltacola, Nebraska. Gioson Howabd Oimoii Editor i. 8. Hyatt... BaiiineM Manager N. I. P. A. "If any man must (all tor me to ri, Then ek I not to climb. Another' t pain I ehoos Dot for my rood. A golden ebala, a rob of honor, 1 too good a prise To tempt my but; hand to dn a Unto tallow man. Tht lit bath wo Bumcieui, wromiiS by sbss's satanlc toe; And wbo tbat bath a beart would dar prolong Or add a aorrow to a stricken aonl Tbat seeks healing balm to make It whole? My botoB awna tb brotherhood ot man." Publishers' Announcement. ' Tb sobnerlptlon prlc ot Thi Wiai.tr Mai III I $1.0(1 per year, tn ail ranee. Agents In olldtlng eabeerlptlon should be T err oarefsl tbat all names are correctly epelled and proper poetofflc giren. Blanks for return absorlptlons. return envelope, etc., can be bad on application to this office. Alwat sign your nam. No matter how often f on writ ns do not neglact tbl Important mat ter. Etery week we reeelre letter with incom plete address or without signature and It Is sometime difficult to locate them. Ciixoi or address. Subscribers wishing to ehnng their postofBc address muet always gi their former as wall as their present addrena when chang will b promptly mad. STATEMENT 2T CIRCULATION J. 8. Hyatt, Business Manager of Tbs Wealth Makers Publishing Company, being duly eworn, says tbat tb actual number ot lull and complete copies ot Tan Wealth Maims printed during tb six month end lug October 11, 1884, was n 211,200. Weekly average, 8.123. to before me and subscribed in my presence tbls Xltb day ot October, 18M. IS, J. If UBKETT, Notary Public. ADVERTISING RATES. 1.1t per lack. I cent per Agate II. 14 line to tb Inch. Liberal discount on larg spac or long time contract. Address ail advertising communications to WEALTH MAKERS PUBLISHING CO., J. B. Hi ati. Bos, Mgr. Send Us Two Hew Names - With 92, and your own subscription will be ex tended One Year Free of Cost. An article of special value on trusts is printed in this issue. senator Pkffer s bill to do away with Congressional funerals, is exceed ingly sensible. The courts or judges of this country are fast drawing upon themselves the contempt of the people. A bill has been introduced in the U. S. senate to establish a University of the United States at Washington. Letters keep coming in asking about the co-operative enterprise. The people in great numbers are ready for it. We print this week the first part of a paper read by Hon. John H. Powers be fore the Irrigation Convention at Kear ney, a paper ot great interest and value. Don't fail to look for it and read it. We made a mistake in onr last state ment regarding returns, giving McFad den's vote for Mr. Powers. There was a difference of a few hundreds, Mr. Mr Fadden leading. Ex-Senator Edmunds of Vermont had an article in the November Forum giv ing nine reasons why we should continue to elect senators as we now do, instead of as Mr. Bryan advocates, by direct vote of the people. We have received for review from Har per Brothers, the publishers, Henry D Dloyd's new book, "Wealth agaiust Commonwealth." It is a large-sized vol ume of 563 pages; price, 12.50. Review will appear later. About the only progress we can hope for in the way of civil service reform from old parties is during the second term ol their presidents. Cleveland has just ex tended civil service rules to over 2,600 places in the Internal Revenue service, heretofore treated as party spoils. Senator Allen is too large a man to be run over or tricked from his purpose by such corporation tools as Fugh. The Alabama man is likely to get all he wants of Allen before the latter lets np on the Alabama election question. Sen ator Allen is determined to find out whether that state has a republican form of government or not, and the Repub lican Senators are likely to assist him We hope our Senator will ehow himself as ready to fight the Democrats as to oppose the Republicans. II Sworn ) ISBAL.J THE LAW OF H APPLIES 8. We wish one another in limited circles "a merry Christmas." We not only wish, bnt plan and toil that through the gifts we bring, it may be a merry, happy day. The world around, this day is celebrated. Why? Near nineteen hundred years ago the child was born whose name has been placed by the world of men above every name. Jesus Christ is the one perfect man. lie taught ns to live aud die for others. lie both preached and practiced love. He is called the Son of God, because his character is Divine, tbat is perfect, in love. He taught ns to say, "Our Fath er," and was himself our strong, sympa thetic, sacrificing brother. His moral teaching, as left on record, ifj all-comprehensive and unmixed with error. In this he is distinguished from and infinitely superior to all other teachers. But not all even of those who bow outwardly to him, believe in him, or in the Divine word he brought. He spoke with authority, and said, "A new commandment I give onto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you." He did not seek wealth or fame, or political power, but cared only to love and be loved. He called his disciples to him and said: "Ye know tbat they which are ac counted to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them. But so shall it1 not be among you: but whosoever would becomo great among you shall be your minister, or servant; and whosoever of you will be chiefest shall be bond servant of all. for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." It is thus seen that be came to destroy the rule) of force, oppression and slavery, caste, the statutes of the rich, monopoly, poverty, the power of evil; and so to bring good news to the poor, the en slaved, the bruised and the blind, to proclaim God's willingness to forgive and to command tbat the strong re store to their brethren their equal birth rights in the earth. He had many followers among the common people and a few wbo were rich, a few who were learned and great who became poor and despised for his sake. But his love for the lowly and downtrod den and his public denunciation of their rulers who were then, as now. envious self-worshippers and greedy extortioners, though outwardly religious and respect able, brought him to the cross, a cross of love which lifted him in sacrifice to the view of all the morld. Via cruris, via Ju ris, the way ot the cross is the way of light, men see. We must suffer together till we are saved together. We must la bor and suffer vicariously, voluntarily, for those who cannot save themselves. We must fill up "tbat which is left behind of the sufferings of Christ," to save the world, while saving the world, out of the evils of the present selfish struggle for gain and place and power. The word, example and spirit of Christ is a growing power. Slowly the nations and generations of men are coming to realise the perfection and full application of his teaching, that love instead of sel ishness is the law of business, and that there is in love a greater value than there Is in money! We are beginning to real ice that it is suicidal to be self-centered, that we destroy our individual happi ness by struggling with each other for money and buying therewith service which is loveless. We can some of us though the number is yet very few be lieve with all our hearts that "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And so Christ has risin indeed." "Glory to God in the highest: on earth peace, good will to men." THEY WAHT THE EARTH The Congressional committee on bank- ingand currency have been inviting the leading bankers of the country to ap pear before it to advise what sort of a bill they shall commend and engineer through Congress. The bankers are the only class that has been consulted, take notice. And the reason must be that they are not like other men, selfish, al ways looking out for their own inter est. They care as much tor the borrow ing as for the lending class, see? Aud they all agree that the government should turn over the business of creating fiat money to the banks. All govern ment notes Bhould be replaced with gold drawing government bonds and the legal tenders destroyed. And the Shylock class should be allowed to print gov esnment endorsed paper, costing them one-half of one per cent a year, and be allowed to loan it at from six to a hun- dred per cent a year the profit being from 1,200 to 20,000 per cent, besides what they get for loaning deposits. Lyman J. Gage, president ot the First National bank of Chicago, in response to the request of the Congressional com mittee says he agrees with the president and Carlisle "as to the present weakness of our situation, and the great desira bility of separating the government from the direct responsibility ol currency is sues." But his plan is: "Authorize the issue of $250,000,000 2 per cent bonds, payable at such time as Congress may elect (twenty-five years desirable) to be offered to subscribers at par. Accept in payment United States legal tender notes or Treasury notes, the same to be cancelled. "Amend the National bank act so that banks can obtain note issue to the face value of bonds deposited as security for circulation. Reduce the tax on circulat ing notes to one-half of 1 per cent. "This done, National bank notes, would make good the vacuum caused by the re tirement of government notes. In fact, there would be somecontraction, through forced redemption of bank issues, if it be true, as soma claim, that the volume of circulating medium in the Lnited States is larger than can be maintained, and tbat the outflow of gold is nature's method of equalizing things, if this be so, if contraction through the exporta tion of gold, or through the retirement of a portion of the paper money be a logical sequence of our situation, then in tbat case the government being safe from demands, the banks with circula tion outstanding would be obliged to bring their issues within narrow limits, but all this would work itself out and need not be dwelt upon at length now. "The problem is this: To take the gov ernment out of the note-issuing business. "First Without contracting the cur rency in the process. "Second Without inviting expansion. "Secretary Carlisle plan is subject to tho danger involved under the last sug gestion. Yours very truly, "Lyman Gage." Look at the proposal in his first para graph, a quarter of a billion greenbacks and Treasury notes to be replaced with bonds and cancelled, destroyed. These proposed bonds call for 16,250,000 in terest each year, which burden would be added to the backs of the already over burdened people, aud the hard-earned wealth which it stands tor to go as a pure gratuity to the banks, they being permitted to issue full face amount of the bonds in bank notes, which they would control and loan at their own terms tc the people. This, in figures, is the pro posal of the bankers represented by Gage: to give $ 250,000,000 for f 250, 000,000 plus 250,000,000 of interest-bearing bonds. (Uneven exchange is no robbery, according to the bank ers' code.) The people to get a great burden of perpetual debt 'heaped up on them as their only consideration for allowing $250,000,000 greenbacks and Treasury notes to be changed into exactly the same amount of national bank notes I? I Doesn't it beat all, the gall of the bankers and the readiness of our sup posed representatives and professed de fenders to listen and accede to their de mands? ' Notice what Gage says the problem is. , THE EVIL AND THE REMEDY Mr. Rosewater says Burns struck the keynote when he declared that there can never be a good government adminis tered on a business basis in any of our great cities until the municipal monopo lies are put under public ownership and control. What the Bee says is worth re printing to show how reasonable Pop ulists doctrines and demands are. We quote: "The rottenness and corruption en gendered by the New York Tammany and all other Tain many 8 can be readily eradicated, by publicity and civil service regulations, by which the police and tire departments of cities are taken out of politics and municipal sinecures abol ished and every city employe is required to perform a full day's work for a fair day's1 wage. But the boodling of coun cil men, boards of public works and in spectors will always continue so long as orivate corporations are allowed to oper ate the waterworks, gas works, electrio light plants, street railways and tele phones. "No effective municipal reform can be looked for until all those necessary public conveniences and supplies of light, heat and water are owned and operated by the cities, for the cities, and not for pri vate gain. Municipal monopolization of water.gas and electric lighting have been in oroaress in many of the larger cities for years with the most satisfactory re sults. This is notably true oi rnnaaei Dhia. the foremost manufacturing city in America, lue acquisition oi Bireei run ways, or tramways as they are called abroad, and telephones by our great cities, is only a matter of time. The corporations which have acquired fran chises for these municipal monopolies will of course resist the inevitable change with all their might and main. Many oi these corporations have loaded their plants down with mortgages of two or three times their value and besides pay ing interest on this inflated debt are earning dividends upon millions of wat ered stock. These extravagant profits all come from public use and privilege, which by right should revert to the municipality. "But these excessive profits are not the worst feature of municipal monopolies. Their most pernicious feature is the con stant tampering and corrupt manipula tion of councilmen and city boards which result in the general demoraliza tion ot these officials and keep reputable eitizens out of city councils and other city offices because they do not want to associate witu boomers ana wara neei ers. On the other hand the corporations that own municipal monopolies make it their business to control party primaries aud conventions in their own interest, which is promoted by boodlers; whils honest men would not allow them to vi olate their obligations and saddle upon the taxpayers excessive claims for ser vice that is wretchedly performed. "Manifestly the taxpaying citizens can only hope for relief from misgovernment and legalized robbery by the repeal ol all franchises that are not already in force, and the gradual acquisition by purchase of all the municipal monopolies thot are now controlled by private own ership. These arguments support with equal force our demands that the railroads and telegraph be nationalized. Mr. Rose water advocates the nationalization oi the telegraph monopoly, but not tht railroads, we believe. The railroads, however, as he very well knows, hav long been corrupting both state and national politics, and the courts Bind 1876 have for the most part come into their possession. Witness the Dundy, Woods, Jenkins, Ricks, and Taft decis ions as samples of their work. Monopo lies of every form feed upon the basis o! liberty, breed increasing political cor- rnption, and if not taken out of private hand by a new party will soon force ui to choose between the worst of slavery to Drooertv owners, und revolution and trust now practically possess and run the two great political machines, support powerful lobbies in all the stats legislatures and the national congress, and have the courts so in hand that single judges sweep away all state laws which would curb corporations, issue blanket injunctions against the leaden of organized labor, and by sentence of imprisonment against President Debs and others propose to take from the or ganized workers their one weapon of de fense. , Municipalization and nationalization of all natural monopolies will alone en able us to resist the encroachments and corrupting power of the corporations. 0O-OPERAT0B8' MEElIKG M0ND1Y A meeting of those living in Lincoln or vicinity who are interested in the pro posed Christian corporation, or com munity enterprise, which was recputly discussed at the Co-operators' Confer ence, is called for MonJay evening next at the parlors of the Universalist church, corner 12th and H streets. There is much to talk about, and it will give us an opportunity to get intimately acquaint ed. Regular weekly meetings will here after be held at the above place to spread a knowledge of the, movement and per fect ideas concerning it. All are welcome. Come and bring any friends whom you can interest. "Tbs Inn was full at Bethlehem; A busy crowd was there; And some were rich, and some were wise. And some were young and fair; But wbo or what they were today There is not one to care; But in the cattle's manger There lay a baby stranger, Sott nestled, like a snow-white dove, among the scented bay; And lol through him was given Our song to Earth and Heaven. The song two worlds together sing upon a Christ mas day; 'Glory to God! Good will to menl O, listen! Wake it once again! Peace upon Earthl Good will to menl'" We are indebted to The Outlook foi some interesting figures taken from Van Oss's "American Railroads as invest ments." It is the most recent railroad authority and is written not by a Popu list but by an English investigator who justifies stock watering and the methods employed by the railroads to conceal their profits from the general public. On pages 133 and 139 this English author ity says: "The mere fact that American railroad bonds pay an average of 4.86 per cent suffices to show that water is not detri mental to the investor of today. These bonds represent no par investment; the average price at which they reached the first investor did not exceed 68, no mat ter what somebody who buys them to day must give for them. Hence Ameri can bonds now actually return an aver age of 6.50 upon the real investment. . . . The above relates only to bonds, but we will show that the same conclusion must be arrived at concern ing shares. Shares, according to 'Poor's Manual,' now pay 1.80 per cent on the average apparently no high figure. . . . . But for $4,650,000,000 shares now in existence, the original investors certainly paid not more than $465,000, 000, or ten per cent of their face value, and probably less. Hence shares should now return at least 11 per cent per an num upon the actual investment" Prof. J. L. Frank of the Lincoln Col lege of Music is to furnish the orchestral music for the governor's reception. Prof. Frank, it will be remembered, composed much of the music in our new Populist song book Armageddon, the music of "Get Off the Earth," "Sons of America," "The Alarm Beat," "We Have the Tariff Yet," "God Save the People," "It Stuck in His Crop," etc., and he has composed a new march called "The Governor's March," which will be rendered by a fine orchestra under his direction at the Governor's re ception following the inauguration, prob ably the evening of the 3d of January. The Governor's March is being brought out in sheet music form and will be for sale at this office and at the College of Music, Y. M. C. A. building. The price is 35 cts. Title page is adorned with a fine engraving of Governor S. A. Hol comb, the first Populist governor, but not the last. Prof. Frank is a musical director and teacher of high rank, and it will be an advantage to remember his school, if our people wiBh a musical edu. cation. Judge Woods, in pronouncing sentence upon Mr, Debs and his co-workers, said: "Combinations are condemned not only when they take the form of trusts, but in whatever form found, if they be in re straint of trade." Condemned by whom? Has there been any successful suit against trusts under the Anti-Trust law? This decision of Woods is the first case in our knowledge, tried under the Trust law of 1890, which has secured convic tion, and in this case one man was both iudne and jury. The Anti-Trust law was a dead letter until the corporations and Railway Managers Association, assisted by Attorney General OIney, bethought them of trying its force against the starv ing striking workmen, through their lead ers. Judges of the Woods variety are fast breeding anarchy. President Dale of the "Nebraska Farmers' Allisnce, re-elected, has sent us his address which will appear in next ttwIi'h Wealth Makers. We also re ceived, just before going to press, a com munication from Mrs. Kellie, the secre tary. It will not be necessary for us to pub lish "the provisions of the income tax None ot the wealth makers of Nebraska ftliiQiXiiiirome-,, It IS the wealth I takers whose income gets above this figure. The New York Journal of Commerce says, "The halt of enterprise . . . is little more than the effect of a tempor arily unmanageable superabundance of products." What do you say to that, wealth makers of Nebraska? Have you been producing so much wealth you don't know what to do with it? Too rich for comfort, are you? The J. of C. says there are two methods of overcom ing the evil of having too much wealth: one way is to find new sources of con sumption; the other is to abate the ex isting hurry and overwork. New sources of consumption! We should search the world over for a people who are in need of the surplus wealth that America cannot consume! Or we should quit working, now that we have so much wealth that we can not consume it as fast as we produce it. The editor of the J. of C. must be a descendant of the seven wise men. With the first of the year the European money lords will have to be paid their annual interest tribute on $3,000,000, 000 of American securities, $180,000, 000 obligations, and the demand for gold will probably under the circum stances send it to a premium. The banks seem to expect this and are fast drawing out what the recent $50, 000,000 bond issue drew in. With the scramble for gold beginning now we may look for Cleveland to add two or three hundred millions of bonds to the one hundred millions already is sued, to avert a gold panic. We are drifting on the rocks rapidly, and the banks are turning the danger to their advantage by hurrying through a bank ers' currency bill. The growth of corporations having special privileges and powers not pos sessed by the citizen, and their insatiable appetite for class laws pf the sort which give them monopoly advantages, are making them the controlling factor in our elections and in our lawmaking and executive bodies. Their work is all of a corrupting sort from the top to the bot tom. As Professor Herron said, "We do not select the men We elect." Elec tions are for the most part a sad farce by which we tatify the acts of political hypocrites and monopoly robbers. What's in a name? Rome was a repub lic in form and name long after tyrants had obtained absolute power in it. Public Opinion, published at Wash ington, D.. C, is a paper which we feel like commending to our readers. Its weekly clippings from the leading papers of all parties are of great interest and value, the selections being made with care and excellent judgment. It costs but three dollars a year, and for a busy man it is really worth more than twenty times as much invested in the papers it culls from. Its editorial summary of the progress of events at home and abroad is worth much. It also has financial, sociological, civics and other depart ments of interest and value, making al together in its contents the most com prehensive publication printed. Professor Corbett seems to be a man of no character. On the evidence of Dr. Connell it appears that he promised two parties the same position and drove one of them to despair and suicide, by refusing to fulfill his agreement after having made all possible use of her be fore election. Corbett's campaign work was underhanded and dishonorable from beginning to end, and part of it we have already exposed. Mrs. Notsen was sent out by Corbett during the campaign' to visit the teachers in his interest. Hegave her to understand that he would make her his deputy, allowed her to spend hun dreds of dollars working for his election, and then cast her on. Newfoundland is in the throes of a financial crisis. The Commercial and Union banks have failed ond nearly every manufacturing concern in St Johns, the principal city, has ceased run- ting. "Many mechanics and laborers nave been dismissed, there being no cash to pay their wages. In the merchants' stores fish worth $2,000,000 has accu mulated, on which the proprietors can not realize. There is no shop trade for want of circulating medium. Help is urgently needed or the results will be erious." Yes, why don't they use gold, don'tcher know? Dun and Bradstreet report falling prices in the face of lessening stocks of goods. Failures are two per cent more numerous even than last year. Gold is going to Europe by the millions and it is also being drawn out of the Treasury by the banks in order to force another issue of bonds. The banks are crowding a currency bill through Congress w hich will give them all power to absorb the surplus product of labor and reduce the people to worse conditions than those ot chattel slavery. All money will be placed in their control, and with it all wealth, all capital, all lands, all people who must toil. The price of "Shylock's Daughter," which we reviewed in a preceding num ber is but 25 cents, instead of fifty, as we stated. C. H. Kerr & Co., Chicago, publishers. The Treasury has lost $14,613,210 of its gold in ten days, and only a third of this has been sent abroad, showing that order to give Cleveland an excuse to issue another $50,000,000 bonds. TAKE NOTICE ! To those of our subscribers who have not been getting their paper regularly, we wish to say that it is probably due to the neglect of one of our mailing clerks to do her duty. This we have just re cently discovered by accident and we re gret it more than we can tell. We assure our readers that it will not happen again if we can help it. We intend that The Wealth Makers shall reach you not later than Friday or Saturday each week, and if it does not, write us immedi ately and we will know the reason why. WEALTH MAKERS PCB. CO. "Sympathetical co-operation" is all right on the part of trusts, but all wrong on the part of strikers. See? The Idaho Populists gained from 25 to 42 per cent this year over their vote of 1892, and are the second party in the state. By decision of Judge Woods President Debs goes to jail for six months, and other A. R. U. officials for a less period. So the battle for human liberty mus again be fought out on American soil. 0 Liberty! can man resign thee. Once having telt thy generous flame? Can dungeons, bolts and bars couflne th'.' Or whips thy noble spirit tame? Or whip thy noble spirit tarn? Turn paper did not comment on Audi tor Moore's effort to pin the shamefully corrupt extravagance of the Republican, state officials to the backs of the Popu list legislators. The Qnill nnd other papers haveeffectually shown up Moore's tricks. He is a cunning politician and a fraud whose personal record will not bear investigation. The railroads refuse to obey, flagrant ly and criminally violate, the Interstate Commerce law, and propose the pooling bill in stead. And Congress stands ready to compromise with the lawbreakers, judging from the vote of the house. It makes all the difference in the world whether corporations or individuals trample on the law. The Union Pacific' it is reported, is the party which has just purchased the pri vate coal mines at Rock Springs, Wyo. It was a $200,000 dea, land gives the railroad a monopoly of the entire coal output in southern Wyoming. The rail road companies of the whole country are in possession of the price, controlling part of the coal mines, bituminous and anthracite, and they are robbing every jamily in the land. . The Nicarague Canal bill will probably go through Congress, and furnish a gang of thieves an opportunity to rob the tax payers of the country of something like $70,000,000 of bonds, and several mill ions yearly interest on the same for a generation or more. Politics, you see, is a matter of business, and morals are suspedned in business and war. "To the victors belong the spoils," is the idea that prevails. Civil Service Reform Leaguers and Populists ought to get together. " Attorney Webster argues very stronglyagainst Jud?e Brewer's decision, or rather assertion, that the Maximum Rate law would reduce rates below what would be just, and advises that the case be carried higher, The Populists would say men to this if they had an Attor ney General and State Board of their own; but what is the use to waste money paying railroad attorneys enormous fees to prosecute railroads? It would all be a farce. The Lexow committee has got the cover off in New York and is proving by Bworn testimony, part or which is confessions, that the police department of that city is a huge blackmailing po litical machine. Police captainships brought in the neighborhood of $15,000, this money being collected from the peo ple by force. The higher officials in a few years all amassed wealth, and a few enormous fortunes. Elections for years have been controlled by Tammany and equally corrupt Republican politicians. The new railroad bill allowing rail roads to pool their earnings has passed the House by a vote of 170 to 110. If the Senate also passes it and Cleveland signs it, as no doubt he will, it takes the railroads out from under the common law against combinations in restraint of trade. Mr. Bryan made a good argument against the pooling bill. It was in efiect that there is but little com petition between railroads now, and a law to further exempt them is utterly unjustifiable. The present bill is a bill to promote monopoly. The Bell Telephone company has lost its case in the United States Circuit court, its own patent expired in Jan. 1894, but it had obtained what are known as the Berliner patents, which it had never used, yet, dog-in-the-manger-.like. pre vented others using (a sample of "busi ness") and tried to make use of after the Bell patents expired to shut off competi tion. The Berliner patents were knocked out entirely by the recent decision, as having been obtained unjustly, on false eJaisiS; lo-sernr the Bell company. But the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court. -. 1 w