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-- The Commoner. . 5
ROCKEFELLER, THE IMMUNE
JOHN D
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John D. Rockefeller glvee to the Cleveland
r(Ohlo) Plain Dealer an interview, In which Mr.
Rockefeller makes a plea for immunity to the
frost system to which he refers as "business in
htereets." Mr. Rockefeller sayg that criticism of
these large business concerns merely injures
American commerce, and "checks our development
Instead of furthering It"
It was to be expected that Mr. Rockefeller,
the head of the Standard Oil trust, would rush
to the defense of the beef trust and to the de
fense of the trust system generally. So what he
says on this line is not particularly interesting
or instructive; because It is all based upon the
false premise that a. trust represents legitimate
F business.
The most interesting portion of Mr. Rockefel
ler's Interview is that wherein he refers to the
unsuccessful efforts of the Missouri authorities
to serve a writ of Subpoena upon the Standard Oil
thief. Upon that point Mr. Rockefeller says:
"While I was in active business I used to
always respond. But now, I am not In a posi
tion to glye this inquiring people the infor
'ination they want They know that as well
as I do. If they really want information it
is other men they should summon, the men
who have the information they want They
know that also..,, So I am reluctantly com
pelled to conclude that it is notoriety thoy
want rather than Information. I yield to no
man in respect for law, but I am unable to
see, where the little notoriety an inquisitor
- might gettrbm iutIngTme,ronthe'rtena' would
Ut . .'u,
serve the ends of Justice. So I avoid the or
deal, with its exhaustion, when I can, and pre
serve my strength and quiet"
"While I was in active business I used to
al , ys respond!" Now that was very good of
Mi. Rockefeller, chief of tho Standard Oil trust,
to "always respond" to a writ representing tho
majesty of the law, and commanding him to ap
pear and testify.
But Mr. Rockefeller explains that in tho ono
instance when he did not respond, ho know tho
authorities merely wanted to obtain a little no
toriety. "I yield to no man in reopect for law", says
Mr. Rockefeller, but it Is different when ho sus
pects that all tho authorities want Is notoriety.
Then as he explains: "So I avoid tho ordeal
with Its exhaustion, when I can, and prcsorvo my
strength and quiet" And he did avoid tho or
deal; ho dodged tho officers of the law and re
mained in hiding until the inquiry for which his
testimony was desired had beon adjourned.
What farces these Rockefeller preachments!
He says: "I yield to no man In respect for
law," but his business concern has violated nearly
every law upon the statute books, and in this
very interview he shows that he has no respect
whatever for law. He Is to be the Judge, when
writs issued under tho law, are to be obeyed. If,
in his view, the officer who caused tho writ to
be issued, is a notoriety seeker, then Rockefeller
"avoids the ordoal." If, in Rockefeller's opinion,
it would not be well for "public interests" that tho
writ be obeyed, Rockefeller disobeys. And so he
is the Judge; he is exempt from legal process, Just
as his powerful monopoly has been exempt from
prosecution.
The penitentiaries are filled with men who
would have beon glad if, in tho prosonco of a
warrant for their arrest, thoy could have "avoided
tho ordeal with its oxhnustion and preaorved their
strength and quiet"
Note tho tono employed by this man, the
richest privato Individual in the world, In dis
cussing writs issued under authority of law!
What a mighty contompt ho shows for such writs
when they are directed at his influential
person !
Thero aro men, some of whom have been
beneficiaries of Rockefeller's bounty, and othors
of whom have had their eyes blinded to tho truth
who will applaud such statements.
How different It Ib when the shoo Is on tho
other foot. How quick tho Rockefellers aro to
condomn tho worklngmen for ovon tho slightest
infraction of an injunction issued in tho Intorest
of a powerful corporation. In theso canes we
hear from tho Rockefellers much about the
majesty of tho law; In theso cases wo aro told
that the workingman who Ignores or violates,
even in tho smallest dogroo, a writ of Injunction,
Is an anarchist But, when it comos to John D.
Rockefeller, ho may Ignoro tho orders of a magis
trate; ho may "avoid the ordeal;" ho may "pre
serve his strength and quiet;" ho may flee to the
wilderness with offlcors in hot pursuit, and re
main In hiding until tho inquiry is closed; he may
then return to his 8unday school preachment
and to his newspaper Interviews, to his subei
dlzed professors and his sycophantic admirers, te "
tell them of his lovo for the law, his respect for,
authority, and his over-weening anxiety for the'
good of his fellow man!
uw, uuueui, is il a compliment to tne m-
tolligonco of the men of today, that such twaddfe-
as cms is ouerod ior serious consideration?
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A R O STV K MI5iA R f T TMEi
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(iClay, a-Mexico; fo., rea described ,by the epuDiiw-
eral Grosvenor, speaking at our Chautauqua, M "" ... ,& fn f 1MJIW
that low tariff and hard times are found co-exist
ing throughout our history always found to
gether. Without any dates he supported this
statement N by the usual old stock-in-trade argu
ment of the protectionist Is he right?"
General Grosvenor Is mistaken. The reason
he did not give the dates, is that the dates would
have confounded him. The truth is that every
panic since the civil war originated under repub
lican rule and developed under republican legis
lation. The great panic which gave "Black Friday"
to history occurred during tho month of Septem
ber, 1869, when the republican party was in
power.
The great panic marked by the failure of
Oay Cooke & Co., occurred in September, 1873.
Then the republican party was in power and
eleven months prior to the. beginning of that panic
that party had been re-elected to power.
The "panic of 1893" began long prior to that
year and, indeed, long prior to the presidential
election of 1892; and It is a fact, although repub
lican orators and republican organs try to forget
It, that the so-called panic of 1893 began and
played its greatest havoc under that famous tariff
law known as the McKInley bill.
Tt mav ho well for Commoner readers to keep
k. readily at hand some of the facts and figures
relating to this question.
The republican party was restored to power
fe March 4, 1889.
The McKInley tariff mil necame a mw ucio
kfcer 6. 1890. and remained in effect until August
f27, 1894r
r The Wilson tariff law, enacted oy a aemo
'cratic congress went into effect August 27, 1894.
i If any one will take the trouble to examine
frhe republican campaign text-book for 1904, pages
L25, 126 and; 127 he will nnd consiaeraDie spacw
levoted to a statement of business disasters irons
ruly 18, 1893, until November 13, 1894. The re
publican managers exrected their readers to re
namhQK i.f fTtA p.iAvplaTirl administration was
Eaugurated March 4, 1893, and that all these
Isasters occurred under democratic aumimbtra-
m; but they expected their readers to forget
at the republican tariff law was in lorce up tu
igust 27, 1894, or covering more than twelve
inths of the sixteem moaths period or ousiness
Tn fhfiir rferencea to tae nanlc.of 1893 .re
publican orators and organsuhabltually overlook
the date when the McKInley law ceased and tho
Wilson law went into effect But when in their
tariff discussions they are required to face tho
fact that that panic played its gr-eatest havoc
during the life of the republican tariff' TaVvky
answer that it was the anticipation of tariff legis
lation growlng-outrof democratic victory in 1892
which brought on thesoushiesB disasters. For
this reason in their list of business disasters
they place July 18, 1893 as marking the beginning
of that great panic.
Let it be remembered that the McKInley
tariff bill became a law October C, 1890, and that
the first indications of the so called panic of
1893-4 were given November 11, 1890, A LITTLE
MORE THAN THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE MC
KINLEY TARIFF BILL BECAME A LAW. From
that date the panic raged.
- The Harrison Administration was inaugurated
March 4, 1889, and ' when the first indications of
this panic were given President Harrison had
not exhausted the half of tho term for which ho
was elected. It is admitted by everyone familiar
with tho facts that President Harrison's adminis
tration had plates prepared for the bonds and Mr.
Harrison's secretary of the treasury made a visit
to New York for the purpose of negotiating tho
bond deal. He was wired by Mr. Harrison to re
turn to Washington. Mr. Harrison said that he
had concluded not to have any bond issues under
his administration and in order to avoid the
stigma the Harrison administration warded off
the bond Issue and unloaded it on the incoming
Cleveland administration.
It may not be out of place to point out that
when the democratic administration surrendered
the reins of government, March 4, 1889, there
was in the federal treasury the largest surplus in
history. When the republican party went out
of power, March 4, 1893, there was a large deficit
and the Incoming administration was finally per
suaded to make the bond Issues which its repub
lican predecessor had at one time thought to be
necessary, but had skillfully avoided.
The claim that the business disasters of the
period referred to were duo to tho popular fear
of tariff legislation to be enacted by democrats is,
as has been said, met by the fact that this panic
-began two yean prior to the presidential election
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11 ISM. tli rwMftil
nlfil dlstSSf Vw Tork. TbNW Tor !-
Ing house' association voted its certificate
banks In need of 'Mfcutstauce.
Tho Boston clewing houBe association did
tho same thing NoVsntber 17. Barker Bros. &
Co., big bankers InVPbiladoIphia, suspended at
that time, with liabilities placed at $5,000,000.
November 19, 18dtf, Usfcr,vwas a run on the
Citizens' Savings bank4, of 'New York, and a re
ceiver was appointed for tho North River bank.
November 22, 1890, the United JEtolJipg Stock
company of Chicago assigned, with "liabilities at
$6,851,000. ' , . .
Nnvnmber 28. 1890. B. K. Jamlesott tc Co., the
Philadelphia bankers, failed, with liabilities at
$2,000,000. ' -
December 6f 1890, the Oliver iron and steei
mills of Pittsburg shut down, discharging 2,000
employes. On the same date the cotton firm of
Myer & Co., of New Orleans failed, with liabili
ties at $2,000,000.
January 3, 1891, the Scottdale rolling mills
and pike works and the Charlotte furnace and
coke works in Pennsylvania closed, throwing
10,000 employes out of work.
January 18, 1891, the American National bank"
at Kansas City suspended, with liabilities at
$2,250,000.
May 8, 1891, the Spring Garden National bank
at Philadelphia closed its doors, and the Pennsyl
vania Safe Deposit and Trust company made an
assignment
The Homestead strike and other strikes dur
ing 1892, and prior to election day, are well re
membered by the people.
Tho record discloses that the first Indica
tions of the so called panic of 1893 were given
November 11, 1890, a little more than thirty days
after the McKInley tariff bill became a law. From
that date the panic raged, and while its effecta
were felt for several years it reached its worst
stage in 1893, and during the early days of 1894,
during all of which time the republican tariff law
was in effect
The late Thomas B. Reed after his retire
ment from the speakership delivered a speech ia
New York in which he said: "Another thins;
which led this whole country into the error of
1892 was tho history of the last thirty years.
(Continued on Page 7)
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