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V
DECEMBER 20, 1907
The Commoner.
ri
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE PANIC
Speaking at Freenort. 111.. Hon. Edward F.
Dunne, former mayor of Chicago delivered the
following address:
At a time when the granaries of the nation
are. full, when from its fertile fields are now be
ing garnered the most bountiful crops in its
history, when its forges, and factories were run
ning to their fullest capacity, suddenly thero
has come upon this nation, within the last thirty
days, a financial crash which has toppled over
mighty banks, thrown great manufacturing
plants into the hands of receivers, caused the
closing of many stoch exchanges, And still
threatens stagnation to the entire business in
terests of the country.
For the first time In the history of this
country since the civil war, the banks of the
entire country have suspended cash, payments,
and resorted to the war times expedient of
Issuing, shin-plasters to pass current in place
of the currency established by the law of the
land. According to the Inter-Ocean, 307,000
men, who thirty days ago were working, 'are
now in enfor6ed idleness, while many more
thousands stand in dread of discharge, and for
the first time in the history of America labor
ing men by the tens of thousands, are crowding
the steerage of- passenger ships bound for
Europe.
What is the cause of the extraordinary and
calamitous reversal of trade conditions in the
United States? Not a failure of crops because
now and for 'many years past we have been
blessed by Providence with most bountiful har
vests. Not plague or famine, because we have
been remarkably free from these visitations.
Not a natural scarcity of money, for owing to
the recent wonderful discoveries and production
of gold we have a plentiful supply per capita
of the circulating medium of exchange. Not the
democratic party, because it has been out of
power for nearly twelve years. What, then,
lias been the cause of this catyclasm? Some
of our republican friends would have you be
lieye that the author of these evils is the man
;wh:pm they have elevated to the highest posi
tion In the land, Theodore Roosevelt, president
. of the United States.
Now, fellow citizens, I believe our repub
lican friends can locate aright the cause of the
present panic in their own party, but' it is in
the legislative rather than In the executive
branch of the government control, led by them
that the real cause of our troubles can be lo
cated. Tli congress of the United States dominat
ed for the last eleven years by the republican
arty, has been sedulously and persistently fos
tering monopoly and building up the voracious
and greedy trusts which have been sucking up
the life blood of the nation, stifling competition,
robbing the producer on one hand, and the con
sumer on the other, and choking the middle
man between them. This, the- republican con
gress effected by its infamous tariff laws and
its refusal to pass effective interstate commerce
legislation which might curb the weed-like
growth of these monstrous trusts and mon
opolies. As early as 1896 the democratic party
noted and warned the people of the -danger from
these giant monopolies. In the democratic plat
form of that year It 'declared:
"The absorption of wealth by the few, the
consolidation of our leading railroads, and the
formation of trusts and pools requires a stricter
control by the federal government. "We demand
the enlargement "of the powers of the Interstate
commerce commission and such restrictions and
guarantees in the control of raijrjads as will
protect the people from robbery 'and oppres
sion." Even at that early day, 1896, statistics
showed that one per cent of the population
owned much more than half of the property of
the country, and yet the republican platform of
that year had, not a word against the fast grow
ing monopolies of the trusts, but yelled lustily
for more protection and less money.
In 1900 thftj'trusts and monopolies had
waxed still more formidable and dangerous.
Consolidation, exploitation and balloon finan
ciering under the fostering care of the repub
lican congress had gone on apace. The tariff
laws had been given a dose of digitalis while
'the interstate commerce law was given the
usual dose of morphine. The middle man had
been choked, to death, and the grip on both
producer and consumer had been tightened.
The concentration of the wealth of the people
in the hands of the few had been furthor pain
fully accentuated.
Again in 1900 the democratic party, in its
platform, spoke out in more emphatic tones:
"Private monopolies are indefensible and
intolerable They rob both producer and
consumer Unless their insatiate greed is
checked all wealth will bo aggregated in a few
hands and the republic destroyed.
"They are fosterod by republican laws and
protected by the republican administration in
roturn for campaign subscriptions and political
Support. The whole constitutional power
of congress over interstate commerce, the mails
and all modes of interstate communication shall
be exercised by the enactment of comprehensive
laws on the subject of trusts. Tariff laws should
be amended by putting the products o'f the trusts
upon the free lists."
While the democratic party in this vigorous
language recognized the portontlous dangors in
volving and still furthor threatening the people
in 1900 the republican party in convention as
sembled did not even deign to mention the
word trust in its platform. Its financial bene
ficiaries and backers would not allow it.
But they rallied round the swag boys,
Rallied once again,
Shouting the battlo cry of plunder.
And in the year 1900 again the cohorts of
monopoly rallied to the cry; the electorate was
again debauched with the enormous rake-off
contributed by the plunder bund and monopoly
again resumed its scientific robbery of the peo
ple on a grander and more stupendous scale.
Having paid the republican party for pro
tection in their piratical schemes for the robbery
of the people, the trusts justly concluded that
the further prosecution of their manifold de
vices for exploitation of monopoly would not
be interfered with.
The republican presidents and the republi
can congress for the next four years remained
as silent and impassive as was their republican
platform In dealing with the giant trusts and
monopolies that were tightening their hold upon
the people.
Consolidation and amalgamation of small
monopolies which controlled but sections of the
country into single great monopolies that em
braced the whole country now began to appear.
The Standard Oil company had secured the
monopoly of oil from Maine to California, from
the Great Lakes to the Gulf. The steel and
iron, meat, leather and tobacco monopolies
were almost as complete and extensive
The grip of the octopus of monopoly for
the next ensuing four years was rapidly tight
ening year by year.
In 1904 the national convention of both
of the great political parties again formulated
their platforms.
With the evidence plainly before each of
these conventions that the people were being
robbed and plundered by the great corporate
monopolies, the parties framed their platforms
and selected their candidates.
The democratic party for the third time
recognized the great danger impending over
the nation as the result of the tremendous
growth of monopoly and privilege and again
warned the electorate of the result that must
inevitably follow from its continuance and de
clared: "The gigantic trusts fostered and promoted
under republican rule are a menace to compe
tition and an obstacle to business prosperity.
. "A private monopoly is indefensible and in
tolerable We denounce rebates by trans
portation companies as the most potent agency
In promoting these unlawful conspiracies against
trade We demand the strict enforcement
of existing civil and criminal statutes against
all such trusts and monopolies and the enact
ment of such further legislation as may bo
necessary to effectually suppress them."
So flagrant and oppressive had these great
monopolies become at this time that the repub
lican party for the first time in 1904 was com
pelled out of deference to public sentiment to
take notice of the word trust.
In Its platform of 1904 for the first time
the republican party uses the word, but notice,
my friends, the subtle and lady-like language
that it uses in speaking of its friends and finan
cial supporters, the trusts of the country. I
quote it verbatim:
"Control of Trusts. Combinations of capl-
movo in n?rnnr th, reu,t of lh0 onomlc
2?H i ? i J . ,0 aB0' bul ,,0,U,or mt o per
mitted o Infringe upon the rights and Intfenwts
of the people Such combinations wlion law
', cd for Ijwful purposes are alike on-
i liiSrt H.,,f;olocUon.of ,lho hiwH' b,,t ,,oth
fo b?eak thom!"WB naU,IOr Cfln b ',irm,tld
This Is the plank of tho republican con-
tSSii?f 190,1 ln ,tfl cnilroiy' "v!5S-
nnnr!.,J,ftCk Bjinsblan language can bo an
appropriately applied to a convention of millin
ers as to a combination of bank burglars.
It was tho manlfoHt Intention of tho loaders
or tho republican party, ovory man of whom
was dlroct y or Indirectly financially In the groat
trusts and monopolies which woro oppressing
tho peoplo, to continuo tho era of loot and pro
tect the incorporated lootors that furnished thorn
their gigantic campaign funds and made most
of them millionaires. Immodlatoly after tho
election of President Roosovolt tho freo lootors
of finance rosumed with added confldouco thoir
colossal Hchomos for plundering tho public.
By (IovIouh methods having procured con
trol of the great life Insurance companies, banks
and railroads, they used tho trust moneys of
those institutions to acquire the stocks of tho
smaller banking, railway, strcot railway and
Industrial corporations, and having placed them
selves and their satellites on the boards of direc
tors of theso smaller concerns, thoy started their
engraving and printing dopartmonts to work and
issued lo themselves billions of dollars worth
of bonds and Htock certificates which thoy then
listed upon the stock exchanges and .proceeded
to deal out to tho gullible public.
In 1901 the United States coijbub estimated
tho total wealth of tho United States at $107,
000,000,000. Yet while tho total wealth of tho whole
country of evory character as estimated by tho
United States census bureau was only $107,
000,000,000 those conscienceless frv looters
had stocked and bonded four classes of corpora
tions alone, th,e steam railroads, tho public
utility corporations, some mnlng corporations
and some Industrial corporations at the enor
mous sum of thirty-six and one-fourth billions
as shown by Moody's Manual of 1906. In other
words theso frenzied financiers had listed upon
the stock exchange and offered to tho public
for consumption stocks and bonds of theso four
classes of corporations alone, at a supposed value
of thirty-four per cent of all tho wealth of tho
United States.
As a sample of how the public were being
swindled by theso watered stocks and bonds,
let mo cite the case of the American Tobacco
company as recounted in this month's number
of Everybody's Magazlpe.
In 1890 five tobacco firms, having real
estate and buildings worth $4 00,000, were in
corporated In New Jersey for $2o, 000,000. This
stock was actually sold to the credulous public
for from 63 to 180 cents on the dollar. :
In 1898 the public having "digested"- tho
$25,000,000 issue of stocks and bonds, Jim
Keene and tho Standard Oil crowd became In
terested, got control and again started the, stock
and bond factory, and the stock and bond capi
talization was Increased to $50,000,000.
Now a rival pirate ship appears In the
offing Thomas F. Ryan, P. A. B. Widenor et
al, having noted tho success of American To
bacco in the stock market, under the able guid
ance of Standard OU, conceived the idea of a
rival tobacco company, and, ald.d by tho sagaci
ous counsel of Ellhu Hoot, now secretary of
state, organized the Union Tobacco company
in 1899, capital stock $10,000,000, of which
$1,350,000 was-tho only cash actually paid In.
The new company had friends In congress,
notably in tho senate, and tho ddties upon
tobacco could be readjusted so as to help tho
new company and Injuro the old. Result
consolidation, satisfactory legislation and new
orders to the printing and engraving bureau for
tho Issuance of $35,000,000 more stock. Be
fore tho passage of any legislation which would
help the tobacco Interest, It was deemed proper
to get control of tho stock of the only formidable
rival ln the country, a St. Louis corporation
making plug tobacco. This Is accomplished by
the issuance of more stock, making tho total
capitalization in June, 1901, of nearly
(Continued on Page Fourteen)
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