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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1903)
iThe Commoner l.i.'l I WILLIAH J. BRYAN. EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Vol. 3. No. 41. Lincoln, Nebraska, October 30, io3 Whole N. 145 w SERVANTS OF THE TRUSTS . In the November number of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly appears an article entitled "The National Lobby at Washington," and written by the editors. This article should be read by every American citizen. Although to many it may seem that the authors of this article have made start ling revelations, with all the seriousness of the ' situation as they have described it, the half has not been tolU. In the beginning, the authors of "The Na tional Lobby at Washington," explain that thero exists "a profound impression that something I wrong with the basic principles of our govern ment as it has been administered for a decade." This Impression, the authors attribute to "the robbery of the treasury through bribery, black mall and petty larceny in the postofllce depart ment; the Illegal bsc-ptlon of public lands with the suspected connivance of officials now removed and ofjnembers of congress still in office; the defalcations of the department of justice and in the office of the commissioners of the District of Columbia; the interest" of congressmen and" sena ,tors in glov.e and tombstone contracts." It is pointed out, that as a matter of fact, the congress of the United States is its own lobby; that in nine cases out of ten the lobbyist sits in the senate with his tate behind him or in the house of representatives with his district and his senator behind him; that in nine cases out often the senatorial or representative lobbyist acts and speaks for some great corporation which Is seek ing some vast special privilege which is antag onistic to public interests and to which it has no, moral right. In the opinion of these authors the great curse of national legislation is the cam paign contribution. Upon the campaign contri bution is placed che . "sponslbilityor the growth of the new system whereby congress is its own lobby. It is pointed out that in presidential or congressional electiors the great corporations pick the candidates ard tne party to whom they feel they can look for fa-ors; then they contribute enormous sums to carry the election. "Frequently," say the authors, "a definite bar gain is made with the national committee that something shall be done or another one not done. It is a cold matter, of business. Commercial Acumen, which y.as built up vast fortunes in a generation or two like those of the Standard Oil crowd or of Carnegie's coterie of young men, can usually pick a winner or make a winner In a na tional campaign. It did so in 1888, when it turned its back on Cleveland and contributed to the Har rison fund for M. S. Quay to sperid. Again it did so in 1892, when it switched from Harrison back to Cleveland and gave the millions to William C. Whitney and Don M. Dickinson with which they swept the country. It couhi not choose in 1896 and- in 1900 because William J. Bryan was run ning for president on a platform which made the corporations quake, so Commercial Acumen emp tied a sum equal to a king's ransom at the feet of Marcus A. Hanna at the behest of such men as Cornelius N. Bliss, Senator 'Aldrlch, Senator Al lison, and Senator Quay." And it is explained by the authors that "the great interests which con tributed In these four campaigns got what they paid for." Ah interesting feature of "The National Lob by at Washington" relates to the part played by a number of conspicuous senators. Senator Nelson W. AJdrhjh of Rhode Island Is credited with being the most Important man in the senate. It Is said that Senator Aldrlch represents more great In terests than any other man In congress, being the representative of the Rockefellers, the Morgans, the James J. Hills, the E. H, Harrimans, the W. K. Vanderbilts, the Schwabs, the Ct.rnegies, the Armours, the Swifts, and the Cramps. It Is ad mitted that the list of interests that Senator Aid rich serves with his voice and his influence Is too long to print in an article of limited scope. It is, however, pointed out that Senator Aldrlch represents the Standard Oil company. It is ex plained that the term "Standard Oil company" as here "used describes all the enterprises in which iJofi'fl&Dackefellei has united the-greatest ag gregation of capital in the world. It Is shown that in the proposed currency legislation Senator Aldrlch represents the Standard Oil group and the J. Pierpont Morgan group, and that as the ser vant of these- interests when congress meets he will be found pressing a bill to permit the tem porary inflation of the currency so it may meet the demand which may be made upon it every time the speculators In Wall street expand prices. Mr. Aldrlch is further referred to as the ser vant of the sugar trust, of the steel trust, of the beef trust and of the anthracite coal trust. Next to Senator Aldrlch in point of influence as the friend of great combinations of capital is Senator Hanna, according to the authors of "The Na tional Lobby at Washington." It is said that in the capacity of chairman of the republican na tional committee Mr. Hanna "collected in 1896 for the election of McKinloy the largest campaign fund ever spent in the United States. Again in 1900, he collected an enormous sum. 'late money came mostly from the. trusts, the great financial Institutions and protected manufacturers. With these contributions cc ae responsibilities for Sen ator Hanna. Not one of the men who gave their money gave It solely to ensure their property against the laws which they feared If Bryan were elected. They all demanded something more. First of all, they wanted a high protective tariff and this they got in the DIngley bill. Rockefeller, Morgan, Hill, Harriman, all wanted to be let alone and permitted to go on with their trust building. Griscom wanted a ship subsidy. The Idea which capital detested "ibove all things was that which looked to the broadening of the Sher man anti-trust law. Senator Hanna took emphatic ground that there should be no more anti-trust legislation. la this position he had the hearty support of the old guard In the senate, consisting of Aldrlch, Spooner of Wisconsin, Quay of Penn sylvania, Allison of Iowa, Elkins of West Vir ginia, Foraker of Ohio, and Fairbanks of Indiana. All of these men can be classed as defenders of trusts and when they unlto, they can dominate tho senate." Accompanying this interesting articlo aro sev eral pictures of senators and abovo each picture is a -brief and Interesting description of the man. For instance, over Senator Aldrlch's picture that gentleman is described as "tho most potent In fluence In the senate and tho primo mover in leg islation favorable to corporations." Senator Quay is described as "leader in the fight against restricted immigration on behalf of the foreign steamship lines." Senator Ellens is introduced as tho gentle man "who promoted tho agreement between the sugar trust and Senator Gorman who later be came leader of tho beet sugar lobby." Senator Millard is referred to as "the strong friend of tho ueot sugar trust and also a main stay of the Union Pacific railroad." Senator Dietrich Is called "one of tho fore most upholders of beet sugar and protector of the present usurpation of public lands." ""Congreatsman Babcock is referred to as "the spokesman for the brewing interests." Of Congressman Wadsworth, it Is said: "Sent to congress from an agricultural district, but tho chief representative of tho oleomargarine indus try." Senator Burrows is referred to as "one of tho leaders of the beet sugar lobby and violently op posed to reciprocity with Cuba." It Is explained that "most of the senators who are engaged In shielding tho trusts and corpora tions that have so long do . 'natcd congress were above the suspicion that they do it for pay; that most of them co millionaires in their own right; that while they aro actually tho servants of tho trusts, they are parts of the trusts." There aro many people to whom the state ments of tho authors of "The National Lobby at Washington," aro not revelations and yet It may not be doubted that 'here are thousands of others, particularly among the rank and file of tho re publican party, who really imagine that the Ald rlches, the Hannas and tho Burrows aro states men who are greatly concerned for the public welfare. To those whe nve been really Ignorant on this subject, so wivcJo in Leslie's Monthly will provide foo for erjous thought Can tho Amejican ople expect honest rep resentation at tho 1 ands of their public officials when the trusts are permitted to choose those officials? Is it not humiliating to the American citizen when he Is told that tbvs men who are presumed to represent public Interecis aro, in fact, the repre sentatives of special interests? JJJ Returning to Scarecrows. Mr. Hanna must be quite badly scared him self, or else he Is pretending to be scared, for be is - warning his constituents that if ho isn't elected there is g.ng to ho a terrible industrial panic. He Is quottd as Maying that he "earnestly believes" that "if this frtate goes democratic, or tiutfdMfcJk