I
xr
mm
The Wealth Makers and Lincoln Independent Consolidated.
VOL. VIL
LINCOLN, NEB., THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1896.
NO. 32
fie
I
V
HONESTY
TRIUMPHS
s The Bute House Thieves Most Keep
- 1 Franca Off tli PenitantiiTT Funds
I
t i
H0L00MB AND LETOIQH WIS
I The Gallant Fight of the Popullet Gover
. j nor and His Warden Al. Beemer
I I Can't Get that Three Thousand
' Dollars
r i Taxpayers Everywhere Rejoice.
The fight that Governor Holcomb and
f Warden Leideigh have made during the
I last four months to prevent the further
robbing of the state treasury has no
parallel in this or any other state, for the
pluck, persistency and patriotic unselflsh
; (less with which it has been fought.
S There was nothing of power, place or
money to be gained, either by the Gover
nor or the warden. It was a fight made
to save the already overburdened and
'ilmost poverty stricken taxpayers of this
state from farther looting by the
Churchill-Russell gang. It is the first
triumoh ever trained over the old peniten-
I'tiary ring. From the day that Boss
I Stout got control of that institution un-
til Warden Leideigh took charge, it has
v been a pest hole of corruption,
f ' Upon the inauguration of a Populist
S Governor the first effort ever attempted
I $o conduct the institution honestly, was
linade. It was met by the Republican
members of the Board of Public Lands
'And Buildings with most furious opposi
tion. Without the shadow of law to support
hem, Churchhill and Russell appointed
C. Beamer as superintendent of the
prison with a salary of $3,000 a year, an
office unknown to the law or the consti
i fution, and made a contract with him to
SAve him control of the convicts, and of
dft$l00,000 appropriated by the legis
lature for support of the prison. All this
ytabney and all the convicts could earn
mrmta 4-m ha nut in 4-ha hnnAa rtt Ttllaaol
i The warden, the officer provided for by
p.. ... .. . . i , i - i
n nr.ncr.irnr.irtn ann rna mw whh t.o no
line as useless as cue mtn wneei to a
agon.
nVarden Leedeigh refused to admit
mer to the prison, and the board re-
bed to audit or pay the expenses of
lintaining and guarding the convicts.
pr five months, warden ieiaeign nas
3d the prison against these state house
leives. Neither ne, nor any oi tne em-
pyees have received a cent of pay, dur
K that time, but they have all bravely
fcod at their posts of duty defending
e tax payers against this gang of pub
X robbers. They are brave men and the
voters oi rvebrasKa should ever noia
Fthem in grateful remembrauce.
Mr In
In their intense desire to get their
itching fingers on that $100,000 appro
priation and what money the convicts
could earn, Churchill and Russell went to
unheard of lengths, even refusing to per
form the functions of the office they held.
Finally Warden Leideigh brought suit
against them in the supreme court of the
state and asked the court for a writ of
mandamus to compel them to do their
duty.
The case came to trial last Thursday,
and upon the facts being presented, the
tne actions or tnurchiu and KusselJ
proved to be too outrageous even for a
republican court to uphold.
cere: v
The treasurer is the only legal
odian of the state funds. So none
hat $100,000 appropriation or the
of -the convicts will ever find a
r -&ement in Mr. Russells itching palm.
j. lho Wo yri art nan maintain a auif-. in
Qis own name.
3. The Warden is the keener of the
prison and the board can in no way in
terfere with the performance of his duties.
4. The contract made with Al. Beemer
fi t was illegal and is void.
The state must maintain the peni
tentiary and it is the duty of the board
io meet with tne Warden and make pur-
uitseg on nis estimates.
j j e; The Board of Public Lands and
jfiutldings cannot handle any state money
pfind the chairman of the board is not re
sponsible on his bond for money paid
over to him.
This last point is a clean knock out
for Churchill and Russell. If they can't
iaadle any of the money they will have
ino further interst in the affair.
It will be remembered that the state.
i 'to iret. rid of tha fH tliimjinrr xrinrmnr.
system, bought out the Mosher contract
land Uorgan. Mr. Kirkpatnck, attor
ney for Warden Leidleigh, in speaking of
. this matter said: .
j "The act in question contains two sub
i, . jH)tfl, only one of which is mentioned in
the title; one is the cancellation of the
M : Mosher lease, the purchasing of ma-
I tiuiiKrjr, iuuib, ciu., ueiunguiTO morgan,
i . i i : . . . . j ts ,1 i . i ,.
fiuu musing uuu uuauy seining up tne
prison contract that had been in force
under various statutes since 1877. This
Jjibortion of the act is complete in itself
I nd comes fairly within the title of the
itct.
QPPOTlf) Oil Vilarf annonra in ftAntiAn
. of the act hereinbefore Bet out, and is
lie ohe relied unon for authoritv to
imke ie Beemer contract. This subject
, i ibsr a it possibly could be made. One
"-losing up a prison contract at an ex-
wns to the state of 135.000. wh ch
1 1 practically an entire loss, the other is
J
an entry into another contract, with
different parties, for a different term and
upan terms less favorable to the state
than those of the old contract The
first is adjusting and settling np an ex
isting obligation, the other is creating a
new liability. One is freeing the state,
at great expense, from a contract which
had been a moral stench in the nostrils
of the taxpayers of the state for years,
and the other is to authorise the making
of a new contract that, while it might
not run as long, would, we think, be less
favorable to the state than the old. One
is rescuing a man from a lake, the other
is drowning him in the ocean. The first
would be laudable, the second a crime."
Of the Beemer contract he said:
"The contract purports to turn over to
Beemer the entire charge and control of
the penitentiary, penitentiary grounds
and all the buildings and property of the
state, which the Board is not authorized
to do. It turns over to Beemer all of
the appropriation of the legislature that
he may see fit to spend, together with all
earnings of the prison and provides that
he shall pay to the chairman of the
Board of Public Lands and Buildings
what money he is not able to spend, less
the $3,000 that he keeps as salary.
"The Board undertakes to create a new
office and install Beemer therein to per
form no other duties than the warden is
required by law to perform and under
takes to pay him $3,000 for performing
the warden's duties."
To all this the decision of the court has
put a stop. But Churchill is not ready,
notwithstanding the decision, to perform
the duties of his office, but was telling
persons around the Capitol the first part
of the week that he was going to make
another trial to get no Id of that money.
The only hope is, there is a Populist
governor there to watcn him.
A RECEIVER FOR OMAHA.
Because the City Government is Un
able to Meet Its Expenses
The above are the bold headlines of a
column article in theState Journal dated
Omaha, Jan. 13. The article reads as
follows:
"A petition is in preparation and will
soon be in circulation asking the courts
to put the city of Omaha into the hands
of a receiver. Joseph Barker admitted
that he had suggested last week that a
petition be prepared and a receiver ap
pointed. The city he said was coming
to it and while he had not investigated
when the next interest on bonds became
due. he knew that the city was obliged to
borrow money last year from the banks
to meet its obligations promptly, The
banks would not continue to help the
city unless there was a radical change
and there was absolutely no hope of
obtaining such achange from the council
or city officials. The appointment of a
receiver was therefore the only remedy
which he could see. Mr. Barker argued
chat a receiver would not be bound by
the present chaJter provisions fixing the
salaries of city officials and providing
for a number of unnecessary officials as
by the present water, lighting and other
contracts."
Here we have an object lesson where
both of the old parties have at different
times ruled the city since it was organiz
ed, and what is the result, a city so bur
dened with debt that it is not able to
meet its current expenses. During the
last four years it has been robbed by a
Republican treasurer of about $150,000.
For the last four years the city has been
ruled by the Republicans. The city coun
cil has been the most corrupt one that
Omaha ever had, all kinds of jobs and
jobery have been put through thecouncil
and the tax-payers have been robbed
right and left. The city is cursed with a
private company uwning the water
works. The taxpayers are called upon
to pay more than $85,000 for water
that is used for public purposes, while
the company charges the private con
sumers prices that are more than twenty
per cent, higher than the prices charged
to private consumers of the Lincoln
water works which is owned by the city,
and the people of Lincoln are not taxed
a dollar for public water.
There will be a radical change in nearly
all the city governments in this country
or the cities will have to be placed in the
hands of a receiver. The city of Lincoln
will have to retrench in its expenditures
and turn out its boodling mayor, and
with its council of fourteen members, ten
of which are boodlers and with on inter
est bearing debt of more than $2,500,
000 to be taken care of, it is hard to see
how it can be kept out of a receivers
hands, and you want to remember that
this city has been ruled by the Republi
can party for the last twenty-five years.
A Rig Fraud
The new dodge of a popular loan issued
on Monday by Secretary Carlisle has a
cat in the meal tub. The bids are to be
for $50 and multiples of that sum. A
popular loan on the French model would
be for $5 and multiples of that sum. But
this is not the worst of it. She advertise
ment contains the following proviso:
"The rlcht to reieot, nrnr nnrl all Aa a
reserved." This will enable the syndicate
to get an tne Donds. because excuses for
rejecting the small bids will be plentier
than Satlda on th sen ah nra Tf if nan
wuv.w. ai . u nan
intended as an honest popular loan the
l 1 (31 . , . . ...
uuuuB wuuiu oe onerea to the public at
such nrioe as under n.11 tha Kinnmitimu.
wmw VIIVUIMDVUUWO
would be regarded as reasonable. Silver
I,- I 1
J&.UIgUC.
AH druggists sell Dr. Miles' Fain PlOa.
A RALLYJTPATRIOTS
The Bill for the Issue of More Bonds is
Denounced
ALL PASTIES EEPEESENTED
An Immensa Crowd of Laborers, Bank,
era and Business Men Unbounded
Enthusiasm
Tbe Meeting a Great 8 access.
The meeting of the Nebraska Silver
League last Saturday night at Bohan
an's hall in this city was one of the most
remarkable gatherings of voters that
ever convened in this state. It was re
markable on acount of the immense
numbers present, who. came together
upon a notice of one weekly paper
and a line or two in the evening dailies.
The State Journal, with its accustomed
inate devilishness, announced Funk's
opera house as the place. Many went
there, and Beeing it all in darkness went
home. There was no brass band, no
posters, no bills, only these simple an
nouncements, and the voters of Lincoln
turned out in greater numbers than they
have to any political meeting in the
height of a campaign for years past. It
was remarkable because all political par
ties were there, and all were represented
by speakers of their own. The chairman
of the meeting was a republican, who
has, as a member of that party, held a
seat in congress and the office secretary
of state for Nebraska.
It was remarkable for unanimity.
There was not a dissenting voter present,
or if there was, he did not let it be
known.
It was remarkable for enthusiasm.
The air was almost constantly rent with
cheers. When Gov. Holcomb appeared
he was greeted with round after round of
applause. So was Bryan, Mr. Hardy,
Mr. Wolfeubarger, Mr. Brown, and every
speaker who addressed the meeting.
The meeting was opened by the election
of G. L. Laws, on the motion of Mr.
Bryan, as chairman. Then speeches fol
lowed by Mr. Hardy, Mr. Jay Burroughs.
Mr. Brown, Mr. Wolfenbarger, Gov. Hol
comb and W. J. Bryan. . ,
The large audience was made up prin
cipally of populists. There were also
many democrats and prohibitionists and
a scattering of republicans. All the
speakers were fierce in their denunciation
of the issue of bonds, and at every refer
ence to free silver the audience nearly
raised the roof with their shouts.
The following resolution was passed
without a dissenting voice and sent to
Senator Allen, to be presented in the
United States senate:
Resolved, That we, the citizens of Lin
coln, Neb., irrespective of party, in mass
meeting assembled, earnestly protest
against the issue of bonds to buy gold
and heartily approve of the bill recently
reported to the senate by the finance
committee, providing for the free and
unlimited coinage of silver at 16 to 1, for
the coming of the seigniorage and direct
ing the secretary of the treasury to ex
ercise the right vested in him by redeem
ing greenbacks and treasury notes in
silver.
SPEECH OF HON. G. L. LA WES.
Mr. Lawes upon taking the chair at
the great meeting at Bohannon's hall,
Saturday night said,
Fellow citizens: As members of the ex
isting political parties of this state it is
entirely proper to ask, "What are we
here for?"
A wail of distress comes across the
waters; trumpeted into thelisteningears
of a suffering people. A people intelligent
and industrious, inhabiting a continent
rich in every material resource, living
under one of the best, if not the best,
form of government on the earth, and
yet the evidence of want are everywhere
and the mutterings of discontent on the
increase.
There is evidently something wrong.
We have have had sunshine and
shower. As promised, we have had seed
time and harvest, not in as great abund
ance, it is true, as sometimes, yet in our
own state, and within a few miles of our
beautiful city, food, cprn and wheat, can
be bought for less than cost; for less than
we can produce them with the labor of
our own hands. Yet the hungry are
every day at our doors.
Our churches are doing charity work,
down to the penny contribution by the
little children.
Our fraternal societies are carrying and
caring for their brethren to the fullest ex
tent of their ability.
Towns, cities, and counties are bur
dened with demands for aid, and even
our moneyed institutions are asking
charitable consideration and gentle
treatment at the hands of the people.
And such is due them. "Bear ye one an
other's burdens." Many good men,
strong and true, have borrowed money
of the banks which they cannot now
return.
Like an athlete lowered into a well
where the air is bad, all seems quiet and
safe around him. The light is good, the
walls are secure, but there is an invisible
power robbing him of his strength,
llis limbs tremble, his voice grows faint,
and bis hold on the "hoist" is loosened.
So does the man of preperty soon feel
his financial strength depart from him.
He feels his strong hold upon his busi
ness weakened by depreciation in the
value of his holdings fill his voiee is no
longer heard in protelt or supplication.
He is financially deaSvand the banke,'
"charges off" his not to "profit and
loss," thus diminishing the banker's as
sets and lessening his ability to meet his
obligations.
Of all men engaged in legitimate busi
ness today tbe western banker is most
entitled to sympathy, and, like the In
diana boy who said he did not believe
there was another boy in Indiaba who
liked ginger bread as well as he did who
got so little of it.
This financial death damp, this con
traction of the circulating money of tbe
country, affects all of us, whether banker,
business man, or beggar. Yet its prog
ress is so silent and stealthy, so subtle
and unobserved, that its existence is
doubted or denied by our most active
and intelligent workers till they find
themselves powerless, their best efforts
for success as barren of results as the
generous shower that falls on the tree
less desert or the herbless ocean.
So great is the demand for currency
today that our great banks in New
York have felt it necessary a second
time to protect themsplves by the illegal
issuance of clearing house certificates.
Should any respectable butcher in this
city issue checks marked "Good for 25
cents in meat at my shop," those checks
would pass at par amoug our people in
any reasonable amount, and yet we are
told that, it is a "want of confidence"
that is our ailment, in part at least. Is
it not rather a want of ability to con
vert property into money that iuduces
"want of conjfdence."
Not directly connected with it, yet di
rectly growing out of existing conditions,
contrasting more strongly than usual
the difference between those who have
and those who have not tbe rich and
tbe poor, is there thought to be a grow
ing disregard of the rights of property;
an increasing ill will and a tendency
toward anarchy.
It is known that there are those among
us who would rather steal than work.
Others who would rather starve than
steal. Others again who would rather
steal than beg. And there are the con
verse of each of these propositions.
B'ortunately neither course is neces
sary at this time in this country.
Under the laws all the property of all
the people is pledged to help those who
are powerless to help themselves. Tbe
meanest course a man can pursue to get
a living is to steal. Such conduct is only
justifiable when every effort for self-help
has been exhausted and when appeal to
all sources for aid has been asked and
refused.
The right to hold and enjoy every
?nt'B worth of property honestly earned
is only less sacred than the rights of flesh
aud blood, and must be maintained.
Private property is tbe foundation of all
progress, of all learning, of the arts and
sciences; of society and the family, which
is the corner stone, the architrave and
the supporting arch of our civilization.
How quickly the loss of property af
fects the higher civilization is forcibly il
lustrated in this state and throughout
the country today.
The method adopted to acquire prop
erty may be censurable and in some in
stances ought to be subject to legal
restraint, but diversity of natural endow
ment, orability to acquireand hold prop-
erty, on fair terms ought not to be re-'
strained.
,"The laborer is worth his hire," and
there indeed can be no ill will against
those who have and hold property,
known or believed to have been honestly
acquired.
But there are those so wbolely devoted
to money getting; whose scent for gain
is so sharp and whose relish is so keeu
that the methods they adopt are not as
commendable as those of the house
breaker and the highway man, whom
nobody trust, and by whom few are de
ceived, and here is where the trouble
begins.
Every dollar owed by the people of Ne
braska any where whether by individual,
city, town or state, ought to be paid
with a dollar of equal purchasing power
with the dollar borrowed.
Anything less than this, if contributed
to in any way by the borrower, is par
tial reproduction at least. Any demand
for anything more than this, of the in
creased demand be contributed to by the
lender, is legal robbery.
The people who hold our obligations
East, are in the main of moderate wealth
and our obligations, to them represent
tbe savings of years of patient toil and
rigid economy.
These people could be settled with today
at a large. J have no reasonable discount
doubt that all paper against us due and
part due, could be bought today for 50
cents on the dollar and I am not entirely
without knowledge to support this prop
osition. Our creditors do not want our prop
erty which they are being compelled to
take at great inconvenience to themselves
and in many instances great loss to us.
This is the result of civilizations forced
upon us and them by the hyenas and
jackalls of the human race; the brokers
of New York and London, men who
"post" with almost fiendish delight the
failure of one of their members and
cheerfully aid in ordering his family into
the street and himself to insanity and
suicide.
These are they who are in control of
the money of this country and who are
dictating to its president and congress
what kind and what quantity of money
the people of this country shall use.
These are the men who engineered the
horrors of Black Friday and who inaug
urated the panic of '93.
These are the men who have hired
learned professors of eastern colleges to
write and circulate all over the country
learned dissertations on the beauties
and benefits of the gold standard and
who have employed the cartoonist and
the rhymer to remonstrate to the poor
man and the laboring man the great in
jury that wouli result to them should
silver be reinstated on au equal footing
with gold in the coinage of this country.
These are the men who are Jnow deplet
ing the Treasury of its gold and demand
ing that the greenbacks shall be retired
and a new interest bearing debt of nearly
$500,000,000 shall be converted into an
interest beariug debt of like amount and
the contraction of the currency to that
extent.
And what answer does a gold standard
president make to such demand? He
says; "Issue the bonds quickly and save
the country from bankruptcy and ruin."
And what does congress say? Here it
is: "A bill to maintain and protect the
coin redumption fund."
After the introductory, the bill pads:
The secretary of treasury is author
ized, from time to time at his discretion,
to issue, sell, and dispose of, at not less
than par, coin coupons, or registered
bonds, to an amount sufficient for the
object stated in this section, bearing not
to exceed 8 per cent interest, payable
semi-annually, and redeemable at the
pleasure of the United States in coin after
five years, etc.
And the secretary of treasury shall use
the proceeds thereof for the redemption
of United States legal tender notes, and
for no other purposes.
Under this bill these notes are not to
be destroyed, but stored and not to be
paid out to meet deficiencies in the reve
nues, and that condition is provided for
in the second Bection of tbe bill -
Tben it would appear to be plain that
the result would be the same under the
president's plan and under the Dingley
or house bill, except as to time and the
sale of interest, which are more favorable
to the people than under tbe president's
plan. Under both plans a non-interest
bearing debt would be changod to an in
terest bearing one, and the currency
would be contracted in either event nearly
$500,000,000. Are. the republicans of
Nebraska in favor of this course?
Every republican member of congress
from Nebraska voted for it. Po Meikle
john, Mercer, Hainer, Strode, and An
drews represent Nebraska republicans?
Ed. Independent.
Should this bill pass the senate and be
came a law, what would be tbe result?
Admitted that this line of policy will
contract the currency, let me quote what
Abraham Lincoln said would be the con
sequences: "If a government contracted a debt
with a'certain amount of money in circu
lation, and then contracted the money
volume before tbe debt was paid, it is tbe
most heinous crime that a government
could commit against the people."
And hear what John Barnard Byles,
one of .England's greatest jurists, says:
"Men talk glibly of variations in the
currency. Few reflect on the awful ex
tent to which such changes affect the
prosperity of all ranks. The laborer, the
pauper, and tbe beggar are as much in
terested in the currency question as the
manufacturer, the' shopkeeper, or tbe
great proprietor of lands or funds, and
even more."
Such quotations could be made at in
definite length, made by leading states
men and thinkers of all countries and all
times.
But we are told that financial trouble
and panic are tbe result of deficiency of
the revenue, the repeal of the McKinley
tariff. That the election of a president
on a free trade platform with both
houses of congress supposed to be of tbe
same faith, bad some influence in bring
ing about such unfavorable results, I am
not here to deny. No doubt protected
interests were alarmed, and began to
hedge against lower prices by diminish
ing their output and reducing expenses.
But when the party placed in power
under promise to reform the tariff failed
to do so, and was able to make a reduc
tion or but 3 per cent, as told by the
New York Tribune, and a part of this
reduction because of an enlarged free
list, including lumber and wool, ought
not these protected manufacturers to
have felt that their position was in
vincible and immediately begun work
again? But they did not do it. They
could not secure the necessary money on
fair terms. The people were not able to
buy.
Clothing in our stores at half cost and
men in our streets half clad are not evi
dences of over-production. Neither is
the fact of less than a full crop at less
than half former prices.
Corn, wheat, and oats at- less than
cost, and nobody but Armour with
money to buy! Armour, who has put
his own price on every steeron the plains
and on every pound of steak eaten in
most cities. Truthfully could Webster
say that liberty could not long endure
in any country where the tendency was
to concentrate wealth in the hands of
the few. This is the calamity howl
raised by Webster, and I suppose Dan,
noth withstanding his transcendent abili
ties, was about as bard up most of the
time as many of us are now.
This, then, is the condition that con
fronts us:
A gold standard president urges the
issuance of gold bonds to pay off the
greenbacks and convert anon-interest-bearing
debt into an interest-bearing
one, and in doing so contract the cur
rency of the country nearly $500,000,
000, and according to Senator Sherman,
adding greatly to the burden of existing
debts and arresting the progress of
almost every American industry,
Under the house bill now pending in
the senate, headed however by a free
silver substitute, the same result will be
reached and the same policy followed.
Tbe greenbacks are to be stored not
cancelled, that is all.
Do the republicans of Nebraska favor
the policy?
If the senate should not pass this bill
soon you may expect to hear a calamity
bowl go up all over the state that the
silver senators who seem to be in the
majority, are responsible for continuing
distress and endangering the credit of
the nation. A nation as before stated,
(Continued on 8th pg.)
THE
(III!
ROBBER
GANG
They Transform an Earthly Paradise Into
a Barren Desurt
W0ITDEBI5G 15 TEE DAEOEC3
The Bewildered People Hope Plutocracy
Will Bring; Them Relief
About Time to Wako Up
Wood Lawn, Neb., Dec. 30, 1806.
Editor Nebraska Independent :
Last wsek the German National Bank
closed its doors, which shook the confid
ence in other banks so that one of tbe
savings banks had to take the advant
age of the right of sixty days warniug.
By the deceitful bankruptcy of the
Capital National Bank, the State, Lan
caster county, the city of Lincoln and '
the citizens of Nebraska have not only
lost over half a million dollars, but our
credit was injured for more than double
this amount, so that one business after
another failed, and now another bank is
failing. Where will this end?
When a few years ago the Populists ;
gave warning about the consequences of r
our corrupt business methods they were
laughed at as near-sighted, impractical,
calamity howlers, and when, with great
difficulty, they disclosed the enormous
frauds and steals in the different de
partments of the state and county in
stitutions, such as the Insane Asylum,
Penitentiary, etc., the robber's gang did
not shrink from any means to save tbe
plunder, and bribing and false oaths had
their effect; the plunder was saved ani
tbe successful robbers laugh at the peo
ple whose life blood they have tapped.
Only one member of the whole gang was
foolish enough to hastily plead guilty
and was sentenced to the penitentiary for
five years. There is no doubt that the
lawyer of this man has in an unjustifi
able way neglected to defend the rights
of his client. He would not be in the
penitentiary if tbe lawyer had done hi
duty, because if a member of this power
ful gang pleads guilty of any crime he is
a fool and should be sent to the insane
asylum and not to the penitentiary, It
is to be honed that after a while this man
will be declared innocent. By each a de
cision the court would acquire due re
spect from tbe people, and it seems that
a good many judges are in need of re
spect. If Mike steals a horse from Sam and
sells ft for cash to Pat, Sam can take the
horse away from Pat without paying
any indemnification, but Mosher robs his
depositors of $100,000 and buysa house
for it, which he gives to his wife. '
Mosher's creditors have no right to
take this house away from Mosher's wife
because she is the innocent purchaser.
Tbe house is tbe wholly unattachable
property of this woman, although in her
innocence she never paid a single cent for
it.
Although the people of this state can
daily observe this robber gang even
take the shirt from some fellow's body,
this robber gang is never blamed for the
prevailing misery. . The responsibility is
always put on somethingelsd, high tariff,
or low tariff, Populists or saloons,
churches or the devil.
In his book, "If Christ came to Chica
go," Mr. Stead describes our plutocrats,
natural and true, as follows:
"The process of accumulating goes on
irresistibly. The snowball gathers as it
grows. Even spendthrifts and prodigals
cannot dissipate the unearned increment
of their millions which multiply while
they sleep. The millionaire is develop
ing into the billionaire and the end is not
yet." .
But everywhere the money power has
the people by tbe throat. Whether it is
the pawnbroker charging' 10 per cent per
month interest npon the pledges of the
poor, or the millionaire, negotiating
with newspapers for the abandonment of
the inter-commerce act, the spectacle is
the same. The poor man is the servant
of the rich and at present stands in
danger of becoming his slave.
Plutocracy in America even more than
in England, recalls Victor Hugo's memor
able description of the octopus. Had be , t
described it from bis observations in '
America he would not have altered a '
single sentence. This description of the
spectral phanton of the deep, the devil
fish, with its huge arms, with its four
hundred tentacles that cut and suck like
a cupping glass, this loathsome horror
of vampire death, lurking in ocean
caves to seize the limbs and draw the
life of the unwary fisherman, is only too
true to life as many an unfortunate will
recognize.
The devilfish is the most suitable sym
bol for our plutocratic administration.
Legislatures, courts, army, police, Pin
kerton's and the church. Even higher
educational institutions are the tentacles
which deliver the people to this gruesome
monster to suck out their blood. As soon
as a corporation has its charter, the peo
ple are delivered to it soul and body, and
escape is impossible.
(Contlnned on 2d page.)
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