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The Commoner.
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 40
which they derive from the special
privilege) of using tho public crcdii for
their privato benefit. Clothe i with
tho Boverelgn powor of ci eating what
is practically a legal currency, they
can contract it or expand it wiicueior
they please; and, if they dccido to
give the country a taste of their des
potic powor, as in 1893, there is no
pow'or which can protect thy victim.
No class of citizens should be clothed
uy law Willi Bucn icrnuie uuvuuiu&en
over uioir lenows.
Jefferson and Jackson wa&cd war
against national banks, contending
they wore hostile to the splri of our
government. Tho republican pariy
has always favored national banks;
but tho latter day democrats havo
sometimes opposed them. Thus, In
tho national platform of tho party
in 1806 and 1900 national banks
were denounced in language stiong
onough to have satisfied Thomas Jef
ferson. At this time, however, the
councils of tho dembcratlc party are
presided over by Arthur Gorman, who
has always supported the system, and
by August Belmont, who is a nation
al banker. To prove that both "the
great political parties" are now "ir
revocably fixed" In their support of
the national banks we have only to
remembor that they united hands and
hearts to recharter them two ears
ago.
Railroad Monopoly
Another example of class-legislation,
is found in a study of our transporta
tion system. We have given to the
various corporations which control
our telegraph, telephone, express and
"railroad business such enormous
powers that the government itself is
a dwarf among these giants. Their
revenues are greater than those of
the government. Their power to tax
falls not only upon tho public, but
upon the government itself. In the
late conflict with Spain, the maunei in
which they preyed upon the govern
ment was something frightful in its
rapacity. And, the,, constant practice
they have of charging the government
for the annual uso of a postal car
a greater sum than the cost of the car,
is but one evidence of tho undisputed
fact that the government darea not
deny them anything. They almost
openly uso the "frank" of members
of. Congress to add to the weight of
' mail matter during that annual per
iod -when the mail is weighed to ad
just the "average." Hundreds of tonp
of junk is thus handled durine those
few days; and upon this fraudulent.
man matter the average for the en
tire year is based. The tax-payers
have to pay. The congressmen who
lend themselves to this swindle got
free passes, and other good things.
In 'express charges, freight rates,
telephone and telegraph tanfts the
public Is plundered every day in che
year; and the manner in whlcn they
submit to it is one of the" marvels
6f the age. No other people among
civilized nations are so cursed w.ith
corporation tyranny as ourselves;
and we never seem to think that any
remedy is possible. Half a dozen cor
poration kings can meet in tne office
of J. P. Morgan, and tax the life out
of any town or city in the United
States. By a spurt of the pen they
can add hundreds of millions of dollars
to tho burden of the people They
enable tho trust to slay its rivals by
granting rebates, or special rates,
"Which make competition Impossible.
They debauch,v public morals by their
methods of gaining what thy want
from governors, legislatures, judges,
editors, politicians and members of
congress.
Deadly Principle of Interest
Napoleon once rosetjfrom a study
of interest tables with tho lomaik
When I consider the deadly pnn
ciple which lies hidden in these tables,
I marvel that it has not devoured the
human race." That deadly principle is
precisely what has devoured bo great
a part of tho human race. That deadly
principle does devour a portion
of the human raco every year.
Tho big fortune, by tho lav of its
nature, tends to grow bigger. Each
colossal accumulation represents what
one victor gained and ten ihouband
victims lost. For. in a fortune of a
hundred millions there can be no such
thing as fair reward for productive
labor. Such a fortune, or anything
like it, represents as a rule the spoil
of tho successful marauder in tho
fields where others had toiled, Such
a man Is a free-booter; and his hoard
often costs tho losers more lives, more
tears, more broken hearts and ruined
homes,' than are found in the tiack
of actual war. When those Standard
Oil kLaves robbed tho people of
thirty-six million dollars in ono day,
thoy felt entitled to the adiuiiation
of tho business world. On the same
day, perhaps, hungry women stole
bread for hungry children, and went
.to prison for it. J. P. Morgan, Andrew
Carnegie, Charles Schwab, and other
conspicuous captains of industry In
creased their unwelldly fortunes by
pocketing five hundred million dollars
which other less conspicuous persons
confided to the Steel Trust. No one
was punished; and at one of those
libraries which Carnegie has been es
tablishing all over the land, admis
sion was denied to one of tho best
books of one of the best Russian
authors, because it gave a rivid de
scription of the condition of the
peasantry in Russia. Htmsot a mon
strous product of governmental fav
oritism and "Protection," no book
which exposes and denounces class
legislation can be satisfactory to this
man who has in his coffers so- many
millions which should have been left
in the pockets of those whose honest
industry produced them.
With a Standard Oil accumulation,
a Carnegie accumulation, and other
similar accumulations represented by
such men as J. P. Morgan, August Bel
mont and Arthur Gorman, what is to
prevent "the deadly nrinciDle of com
pound interest" from operating with
appalling results in this country? By
the law of their nature, those monster
fortunes will grow larger an J larger.
As the owners of this huge wealth have
taken more than their share from the
common stock of the nation's wealth,
so there must be increasing millions of
men who get less than their share.
The absolute mathematical certainty
that the advance which certain iavoied
interests are making must lead to the
permanent poverty and subjection of
the great body of the unprivileged is
made doubly certain when we remem
ber that the enormous burdens of tax
ationstate, municipal and national-
rest mainly upon the shoulders of tho
unprivileged. Tho middle and the low
er classes have to pay-, not only their
own taxes but those which th? privi
leged escape. The final result ol this
ruinous Injustice is too apparent to be
questioned.
Cannot Go on Forever
What will bo tho end? No stu
dent believes it can go as it is for
ever. All see danger signals ahead.
That a rising tide of angry discon
tent is pouring ovei tlie country cap
not be disputed. Tho evidences, of it are
visible everywhere. If H. H. Rogers,
J. P. Morgan, August Belmont, and
men of that typo think the-o in nn
act of spoliation to which the people
will not submit, they are making for
themselves- a fool's paradise. If the
Standard Oil crowd and the sugar
trust crowd think that tho American
people are going to stand idly acquie
scent while they gobble up all the
wealth of tho republic, they are play
ing with fire. It will not bo permitted.
Already more than half of tho annr.ni
increase of wealth is absorbed by less
than a dozen trusts. Already wo have
men so rich that they could buy up
the entire property contained in one
of our states. If "the deadly principle
of compound interest" continues to
work for the Standard Oil, that group
of plunderors will soon own the whole
of the United States. Thojr an J their
confederate kings will have such aj
grip upon our entire system, commer
cial, financial and political, that the
government will amount to little
more than a piece of nocessary
mechanism to the Standard's system.
The federal administration will take
orders from some future Rogers, just
as boards of directors of dozens cf
huge corporations now do. The very
life of the republic demands tno cur
bing of these gigantic combinations,
and every aggressive step thej take,
from henceforth, will hasten the day
when imperative public opinion will
compel the constituted authorities to
protect the public from ruthless
spoliation of this kind.
Need for a Third Party
A third party has no right' to exist
unless there are abuses in government
which "the two great parties" refuse
to reform. Unless both of the two
old parties are wrong, ther is no
room or excuse for a third. But, If
both the old parties are. equahy guilty
of class-legislation, and are equally
subservient to the beneficiaries" of
special privilege, then it is not only
the right of the patriot to form a
party of protest, but" a duty. Civil
liberty is at once a heritage and a
trust. We are recreant to the higher
requirements of citizenship if we fail
to realize our responsibility. The
ballot is one of the weapons with
which wo must hold our ground. The
contention of the people's pauy being
that both the old parties are wrong,
we wage war on both. Ouro is -the
two-edeged sword. In our campaign
it may happen that wo dc greater
damage to the republicans than to
the democrats as in 1892, when Mr.
Bryan and other western democrats
were induced by the Cleveland mana
gers to vote for Weaver. In another
campaign, it might chance that the
greater damage is done the democrats.
In the one case as in the othoi. we
would not concern ourselves aootit the
matter. Such a result Is the accident
of war, not the purpose of toe cam
paign. It is our business to preach
sound populism, which is sound Jef
fersonian democracy, and to hit the
republicans on the one hand and the
democrats on .the other. We must
"hew to the line;" letting the chips
fall where they may.
The statement has been made that
in a speech, in Atlanta, I,espicssed
a preference for -Mr.- Roosevelt over
Mr. Parker. Neither in tha; speech
nor in any other, have I none- so.
Being a candidate for the presidency
myself, I would have made mvself a
side-show to whichever of the other
two candidates I expressed a piefer
ence for whereas ; am in full, mii'
tant, aggressive control of an Inde
pendent show of my own.
Parker a Swinging Target
Much abuse has been heaped upon
me because more time was devoted by
me to denunciation of Parker thnn
of Roosevelt. The reason is obvious
enough. Roosevelt is a straight-out;
republican, who declares bolujy for
republican principles, defiantly defend
ing existing conditions. To attack
him is a short, easy job. He is so
conspicuous and stationary a target
that no one who wished to take a shot
at him could possibly miss tho mark.
He Is not In the ambush; he is behind
no "blind;" he stands out inhe open,
and he says to his enemies, "Here I
am a republican who stands. rut on
all existing conditions! if vnn wnnt n
1 fight, come on!" Now. I can under-
that:
ftffltfr) a rnmiVillirTn in,
while I would love'to maC.n!,1!?'
axe ring on his helmet until one of
us went down in political defeat and
death, yet I could respect him all tho
whilo, as a foeman worthy of any
man's steel. Mr.- Roosevelt will get
republican votes and no others. He
is not seeking the support oi Bryan
democrats' upon false pretends. Ho
is not playing a confidence game on
tho negro question. He is not at
tempting to win Jeffersonians by a
sham adherence" to Jeffersonian prin
ciples. In short, there is no danger
that Jeffersonian democrats will vote
for Roosevelt upon the assumption
that he is a Jeffersonian democrat.
There is no danger that Roosevelt
will get a single vote to which I, as
a Jeffersonian in principle, am 'en
titled. With Mr. Parker it is different. Ho
is not a Jeffersonian democrat, yet
he seeks to secure the support of Jpf
fersonians. If he would speak out
plainly and tell the people that he is
in principle, the sdme thing, practi
cally, that Roosevelt is, the Bryan
democrats would fall away from him
by the million. I would then be en
abled to organize such a party re
volt against the republican rule as
would sweep the country. H13 attltuuo
is thoroughly disingenuous, profound
ly lacking in true manhood and lead
ership. He was "willing to staud upon
the New York state platform which
Mr. Bryan denounced as a dishonest
platform. His position waa so in
definite, so foxy, so entirely neutral,
that Mr. Bryan declared, to cheering
thousands, that Parker was "absolute
ly unfit for the democratic nomina
tion," and that "nobody but an art
ful dodger"-could stand upon that New
York platform which so much re
sembled its father, David B. Hill. I
believe it was also in the same
speeches that Mr. Bryan declared that
a man should be willing to ale for
his convictions which -is also a very
sound proposition.
A Foot Race and a Rout
Mr. Bryan, who is always careful in
the statement of matured opinion,
has assured the country that "the in
fluences back of the Parker candidacy
are so intimately associated with
trusts and great corporations that the
democratic party could not appeal to
the masses." "With such a candidate,"
said Mr. Bryan, "they would begin
with a foot-race and end with a rout."
Likewise he stated a self-eviaout tact
when he declared that "the plutocratic
element for the time being Is In con
trol of the democratic party. '
It was equally clear to Mi. Bryan,
as it was to so many others, that
"the nomination of Parker was se
cured by crooked and indefensible
methods," and that the nomination of
such a man who had, as Mr. Bryan
declared, -won the honor with "loaded
dice," "virtually nullified the anti
trust plankln the democratic plat
form." These Were fearfully important facts,
and tlrey produced the impression on
the minds of millions that thers was
something stealthy, deceitful, coward
ly and utterly dishonest in the Par
ker campaign for the nomination. Mr.
Bryan stated facts, profoundly im
portant facts, and they, continued to
be facts up to the time tha Parker
actually got the nomination which ho
had sought on a "cowardly and strad
dling platform," the honor for which
ho played with "loaded dice."
Whether or not the healing virtues,
the nomination cured all the hypoc
risy and fraud by which it had been
obtained, is a question each citizen
should put to- his own intelllgcuce be
fore he votes.
Those things which Mr. Bryan said
were facts, before the nomination,
were not obliterated from the cata
logue of facts by the nomination;" they
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