THE

American Plutocracy
BY

M. W. Howard,
Member of Congress, Seventh Alabama District.

Illustrations by A. A. COBB.

" Here, on the soil enriched with the blood of the patriotic
dead, is to be erected an aristocratic monarchy, with wealth as
its God."— Wendell Phillips.

N E W YORK.

HOLLAND P U B L I S H I N G COMPANY,
1287 B R O A D W A Y .

Copyright, 1895, by M. W. HOWARD. All rights reserved.

T H E HOLLAND LIBRARY.
Entered at the post office at New York, N. Y., as second class matter.
Issued Quarterly. Subscription price, $2,00 per year.

Goldsmith, the sweet and gentle poet, said:
11
111 fares the land to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay."

and he expressed a truth, the depth of whose meaning we of
America are beginning to understand.
As we look over the country to-day we see two classes of
people. The excessively rich and the abject poor and between
them is a gulf ever deepening, ever widening and the ranks of the
poor are continually being recruited from a third class, the wellto-do, which class is rapidly disappearing and being absorbed by
the very poor.
On one side of this gulf we see the people toiling day and
night, in the fields, the mines, the factories, working for meager
wages, scantily clad and poorly fed and when the year's crop is
gathered or the day's wages are paid we see the products of the
farm and the fruits of the toil transferred across this inseparable
gulf and delivered to those who are on the opposite side.
An inspection shows that they are well clothed and that they
have every comfort and luxury. They live in splendid mansions,
in gorgeous palaces. We see no farms, no mines, no mills, no
factories, for the dwellers on this side of the gulf do not labor.
Yet there is piled up all the products of the farms, the mines, the
factories which came from the other side.
A little study of the situation reveals the fact that the laws are
such that this vast army of people on one side are compelled to
labor and toil in poverty in order that the few dwellers on the
other side may lead lives of idleness and luxury.
One of these classes represents plutocracy, the other represents
the great masses, the toilers of the nation.
The greatest struggle of all the ages is the one now going on
between these two classes. Plutocracy is endeavoring to widen
and deepen the chasm while the people are trying to bridge it
until there will be a common ground on which all can meet on
an equal footing.
The rapid concentration of wealth in the hands of a few is the
most alarming sign of the times and unless speedily checked
portends the decay of our national greatness. The danger is so
imminent that thinking men everywhere are alarmed, and it is
with a desire to arouse the people and let them see whither they
are drifting that I have written these pages.
I have an unwavering faith in the honesty and patriotism of
the masses and believe that when the critical moment arrives
they will exhibit the spirit of our ancestors when they declared
what "all men are, and of right ought to be, free and equal."
M. W. HOWARD.
New York, September 1, 1895.

To the toiling millions ot America.
To all who love freedom.
To all who oppose plutocracy.
To all who favor
A government of the people,
For the people and
By the people
This volume is respectfully dedicated.

EPIGRAM FROM LINCOLN.
' You can fool some people all the time—you can fool all the
people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people
all the time."
LINCOLN.

EPIGRAM FROM GARFIELD.
'Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is
master of all its legislation and commerce."
GARFIELD.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.

PAGE.

I. The Else of Plutocracy
.
. 7
II. The Money Power .
.
.
.16
III. The Great Issue—Plutocracy v.
Democracy
.
.
.
.24
IV. The Trail of the Serpent
.
. 31
V. Trusts
40
VI. The Heritage of Death . . .
51
VII. The Sound Money Fanatic .
. 60
VIII. Modern Brigands .
.
.
.71
IX. Easter Morning
. . . .
82
X. Blind Followers .
.
.
.100
XI. The Impregnable Intrenchment . 110
XII. Slavery
122
XIII. The Canker Worm .
.
.
. 130
XIV. Not Charity, but Justice .
. 141
XV. The Twelve Apostles of Wealth . 150
XVI. How Plutocracy Enslaves .
. 156
XVII. Princes and Paupers .
.
. 166
XVIII. The People Triumphant
.
. 198
Appendix A.
207
Appendix B.
211
Appendix
C
216
Appendix D .................................................... 225

PLUTOCRACY
CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF PLUTOCRACY.

The millionaire is a product of modern civilization. He was wholly unknown to our Eevolutionary forefathers.
He could not have
flourished in the same atmosphere which gave
birth to our Declaration of Independence.
But, as we have grown more refined in our
ideas, more aesthetic in our tastes, and more
profligate in our manners and expenditures,
there has grown up the spirit of "money getting." And as this mad rush for wealth swept
us on, the spirit of liberty took flight, and now
the spirit of gain and avarice presides over our
institutions.
At the time of his death, George Washington was the richest man in this country. He
was worth probably eight hundred thousand
dollars, a sum not equal to more than oneeleventh of the annual income of William
Waldorf Astor. Prior to 1860 we had in this
country but three millionaires. This year wit-

8

nessed what may be called the beginning of
the Coal Oil Age. Soon there sprang up the
most gigantic trust the world has ever witnessed, making its promoters fabulously rich.
It was this coal oil trust which sowed the
seeds of political and legislative corruption
which have germinated and borne such a
fruitful crop.
When the late war closed, the race for
wealth was renewed with more zeal, and men
and women became money-mad.
Abraham
Lincoln, the friend of the people, the equal
of Washington in every respect, saw with the
eye of a true prophet some of the dire calamities likely to befall the nation in consequence
of certain conditions growing out of the war.
In 1864 he wrote these memorable words:
" Yes, we may congratulate ourselves that this
cruel war is nearing its close. It has cost a
vast amount of treasure and blood. The best
blood of the flower of American youth has
been freely offered upon our country's altar
that the nation might live. I t has been, indeed, a trying hour for the Eepublic; but I
see in the near future a crisis approaching
that unnerves me and causes me to tremble
for the safety of my country- As a result of
the war, corporations have been enthroned
and an era of corruption in high places will
follow, and the money power of the country
will endeavor to prolong its reign by working
upon the prejudices of the people, until all

9

wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the
Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment
more anxiety for the safety of my country
than ever before, even in the midst of war.
God grant that my suspicions may prove
groundless !"
How prophetic were these words. Surely he
must have had a presentiment of his approaching martyrdom and been accorded a
glimpse into the beyond and a panoramic view
of the future of this great commonwealth,
for the unity of which his blood was soon to
be shed. Ah, noble patriot, America's great
commoner, divinely appointed and divinely
inspired, to-day we are living in the epoch
which your prophetic soul foresaw, and we
are, entering the somber shadows of doom
and impending dissolution which you predicted would hover over the nation, and unless God speedily raises up from the ranks
of the common people a leader with thy greatness of intellect, thy goodness of heart and
grandeur of soul, the people from whose
ranks thou didst spring, and whom thou didst
love even in thy years of glory, will be in a
bondage far more oppressive, more galling
and cruel than were the poor black men for
whom thy great heart did bleed.
At the close of the war plutocracy was not
so all-powerful as it is to-day, but the growth
has been rapid. The war left one section of
the country rich, triumphant; it left the South

10

poor, desolate. It left both sections bitter,
prejudiced, intolerant. The North entered
upon an era of unprecedented prosperity; the
South upon a struggle for bread. Human
slavery was abolished, and the North, rejoicing in the triumph of liberty, forgot that
there were many other reforms necessary,
forgot that there were other triumphs in the
name of liberty to be achieved. The South,
desolated and humiliated, strove only to better her material condition. Both sections
lost sight of the, fact that liberty is a tender
plant and requires constant watching and
careful culture.
They heeded not that there has ever been
a spirit opposed to human rights and human
liberty, slumbering, perhaps, at times, but
ready to burst forth like a volcano whenever
the people ceased to be watchful. Both sections turned their backs upon the future, and
steadfastly gazed into the past, and year
after year fought the war over again. Patriotism slumbered and slept while politicians, not statesmen, kept watch and ward.
The money power now came upon the scene
and peeped cautiously around at first, but seeing that the people no longer were zealously
guarding their liberties, seeing that crafty
politicians were steering the ship of state,
and that the people were blindly following
their leaders, who continually fanned the
flames of sectional bitterness, it became bold

11

and threw off its timid, fawning air, and assumed a most insolent swagger. It began to
stretch out its long arms in all directions and
grasp with its greedy fingers the products of
the people's toil; yet the people, blindly deluded, heeded not, but went on shutting their
eyes and closing their ears to the perils which
surrounded them. So it became an easy matter for plutocracy to strengthen its foothold,
and soon it began to fasten the shackles of
slavery upon the people, and all the while
they kept on chattering of the past, forgetful
of the duties and dangers that surrounded
them, and blind to the future.
The masses have grown poorer each year,
while plutocracy has grown richer. To-day
there are in the city of New York 1,157 individuals and estates worth a million dollars
each. There are in Brooklyn 162 individuals
and estates worth at least one million dollars.
In the two cities there are, therefore, 1,319
millionaires. But many of these are worth a
great deal more than one million dollars, they
are multi-millionaires. For instance, John D.
Eockefeller is worth f 125,000,000; William
Waldorf Astor, $120,000,000; Jay Gould's estate, |100,000,000; Eussell Sage, f 90,000,000;
Cornelius Vanderbilt, f 80,000,000, and so on
down the list. It is estimated that there are
now in this country about thirty-eight hundred millionaires.
Let it be remembered that while one of

12

these men accumulates his ten, twenty or a
hundred million dollars, he does so, not by
his own labor in producing the wealth, but
by some legalized method of robbery by which
he steals what others have earned. Thirty
thousand men, or fewer, own one-half the
wealth of this country, and two hundred and
fifty thousand, just one quarter of a million,
out of a population of almost seventy million
souls, own almost or quite eighty per cent, of
our total wealth. Thus we see that one-half
of the wealth produced in this country annually goes as tribute to thirty thousand persons. In other words, one-half our population, or thirty-five million people, are all the
time employed in working for thirty thousand
of their fellow-men, who are no better than
themselves. But eighty per cent, of the annual wealth production goes to two hundred
and fifty thousand persons. So we have the
appalling spectacle of almost seventy million
people contributing all their earnings above
a meager sustenance, to the favored two hundred and fifty thousand, who, like a mighty
octopus, suck the lifeblood out of the nation.
This organized band of plutocrats has managed to control legislation, and to get possession of every avenue of commerce and trade,
and crush the life out of all competition and
opposition, and now plutocracy reigns supreme, and instead of fawning for favors, as
was its wont in its embryo days, it now forces

13

all the world to come and worship at its
shrine.
Despite the fact t h a t this country went
through the most destructive war ever known
on this planet, and despite the emancipation
of four billion dollars' worth of slaves, we
have grown richer at the rate of two hundred
and fifty dollars for every day and hour from
1860 to 1890. During that period of time
there has been accumulated one hundred
thousand million dollars, enough to secure a
competence for every man, woman and child
in all the land, enough to provide a comfortable home for every family, enough to educate
every child, clothe every half-naked little
body, and put shoes on all the little feet to
protect them from the snows of winter, to
guard against every calamity, and at last to
give a decent burial and modest tombstone
to every one over whom floats the American
flag. And where is this wealth to-day? Who
enjoys the fruits of all the toil, the anxiety,
the hardships, the tears? Where have gone
the earnings of almost seventy million people? Half of it into the coffers of thirty thousand men. Eighty per cent, of it into the coffers of two hundred and fifty thousand.
It is said that just prior to the fall of the
Eoman Empire, the entire wealth was in the
hands of nineteen hundred men. How long
will it be, if the present ratio of gain be maintained, ere a few hundred men will own all

14

the wealth of this magnificent country? Then
what will be the fate of our boasted Constitution, our blood-bought liberty? I cannot
more appropriately answer these questions
than to again quote the language of the immortal Lincoln:
"The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon
the prejudices of the people until all the
wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the
Republic destroyed."
Lincoln uttered these words when all the
world was rejoicing over the overthrow and
destruction of human slavery, but in the hour
of triumph, when the shouts of liberated
slaves were filling the land, the hand of destiny fell heavily upon liberty's greatest champion, and he christened with his blood this
new-born freedom. Can it be possible that
when his matchless spirit bade a tearful farewell to the people over whom he had watched
with a fatherly care, and the slaves from
whom he had so recently stricken the shackles, that weeping Liberty, deprived of her beloved lord and master, also departed from our
land, to seek for the spirit of him who gave
his life blood for the poor and oppressed?
Let us hope t h a t the spirit of liberty is not
yet departed, and with Lincoln pray Cod to
avert the impending danger. We can yet
save our American institutions. Will we do
itj ere it is too late?

Total assessed value of all real and personal property, census of 1890
$17,139,903,495
Owned by thirty thousand persons
8,568,851,747
Owned by two hundred and fifty thousand
persons
18,711,927,796
OwTned by almost seventy million people. . 3,419,980,699
Per capita of real and personal property,
owned by 'seventy million people, about.
4.88
Per capita of real and personal property,
owned by two hundred and fifty thousand people
34,275.00
P e r capita of real and personal property,
owned by thirty thousand people
285,628.00
15

OHAPTEE H.
T H E MONEY P O W E R .

When reformers talk of the "money power"
they are often sarcastically asked the question, "Who or what constitutes the 'money
power?' Where does the 'money power' have
its headquarters? Can you giye the names of
the men who are members of this so-called
organization?" It is the purpose of the author in this chapter to answer these questions.
In certain sections of the country it is almost, high treason to speak of a money power,
and the man haying the courage to do so is at
once called a crank, an agitator, an anarchist,
the foe of society, an enemy to his country,
and an aliep. from God. He is looked on with
suspicion by the sleek, well-fed bankers. He
is ostracized by society, he is boycotted in
business and called an ingrate and hardened
reprobate by the wealthy, fashionable
churches.
The environments haye been so strong that
thousands of men and women, who are to-day
16

HETTY GREEN.

17

suffering from the oppressions and highhanded outrages of plutocracy^ do not dare to
raise their voices against it. But, notwithstanding all the vituperation, oppression and
contumely which a person must bear when he
rebels against existing conditions, there are
to-day not thousands, but millions, of the common people of this country and of the world
in open rebellion against this money power.
Occasionally some great paper, like the
New York "World," catches the notes of progress, hears the tramp of the marching hosts
and sounds the bugle blast of warning. These
things prove that there must be an all-powerful force or combination, so strong, indeed,
that society, public opinion, the rich churches,
the bankers, the military and the courts are
all arrayed on its side.
But I can give more incontestible proof
than this, that there is a money power. I offer
the testimony of Ohauncey M. Depew, a multimillionaire, and a member of the money aristocracy. Surely the evidence of this most respectable millionaire will not be questioned.
Here is what he once said:
"Fifty men in these United States have it
in their power by reason of the wealth which
they control to come together within twentyfour hours and arrive at an understanding by
which every wheel of trade and commerce
may be stopped from revolving, every avenue
of trade blocked, and every electric key struck

18

dumb. Those fifty men can paralyze the
whole country, for they can control the circulation of the currency and create panic whenever they will."
Think of such power for evil being lodged
in the hands of a few men; the power to stop
every wheel of trade and commerce, paralyze
the whole country, control the circulation of
the currency and create a panic at will. It is
indeed an appalling thought.
Fifty men, cold and heartless, who have
grown rich off the toil of others, who never
produced one dollar of wealth, who have
reaped where they have not sown, to be able
to throw every laboring man out of work and
to turn millions of women and little children
into the streets to starve. These men have accumulated their millions, for the most part,
by robbing honest toil of the fruits of its labor, and now that their hearts have grown
more greedy and avaricious, will they hesitate to bring about all these dire calamities
which Mr. Depew so graphically pictures, if
by so doing they can add a few more millions
to their own wealth?
My own opinion is that Mr. Depew has very
much overestimated the number of men necessary to produce a panic. I think that twenty-five men, and even a much smaller number
than this could create, at any time, a panic
which would bring widespread disaster and
ruin. Take, for instance, the twenty-five

19

wealthiest men in this country. They are
worth in the aggregate one billion, two hundred million dollars, a sum almost equal to
all the money—gold, silver and greenbacks—
we have in the United States, the total
amount in circulation, Oct. 1,1894, being estimated in round numbers at one billion six
hundred and fifty-flye million dollars. It can
easily be seen that these twenty -flye men, by
locking up their wealth, could create a panic
and contract the money of the country so that
all business would be stagnated.
These twenty -five men are worth one-fourteenth as much as the total assessed value of
all the real and personal property in the
United States. They are worth one-half as
much as the entire farm products of the whole
country in one year.
In endeavoring to ascertain if there is in
fact a money power, and to get some idea of
its magnitude and influence, let us study the
following table of figures:
Total value of the assets of the railroads is. $11,855,968,000
Capital and surplus of the National banks.
931,260,000
Assets of principal joint stock companies
doing business in the United S t a t e s . . . .
176,000,000
Assets of the life and fire insurance companies
1,300,000,000
Twenty-five millionaires
1,200,000,000
Total value

$15,463,228,000

This is an aggregate of wealth equal to the
value of all the farming lands, fences and

20

buildings in the United States, added to the
total farm products for one year. It is more
than nine times the value of all the money in
circulation in this country. It is one-third, or
five billions, more in value than all the money
in the entire world.
After a careful study of these figures can
any thinking man doubt that there is a
"money power"? But I have the testimony of
another most important witness to offer.
Hear what the Hon. William Windom, late
Secretary of the Treasury, says on this question.
"I repeat to-day, in substance, words uttered seven years ago, that there are in this
country four men who in the matter of taxation possess and frequently exercise, powers
which neither Congress nor any State Legislature would dare to exert, powers, which, if
exercised in Great Britain, would shake the
throne to the foundation.
"These men may, at any time, and for reasons satisfactory to themselves, by a stroke of
the pen, reduce the value of property in the
United States by hundreds of millions. They
may, at their own will and pleasure, embarrass business, depress one city or locality and
build up another, enrich one individual and
ruin his competitors, and when complaint is
made, coolly reply, 'What are you going to do
about it?' The channels of commerce, being
owned and controlled by one man, or a few

21

men, what is to restrain corporate power, or
to fix a limit to its exaction upon the people?
What is to hinder these men from depressing
or inflating the value of all kinds of property
to suit their caprice or avarice and thereby
gathering into their coffers the wealth of the
nation?
"Where is the limit to such power as this,
and what can be said of the spirit of a great
people who will submit without a protest to
be thus bound hand and foot?"
Other evidence might be offered that there
is a "money power," and that it is making its
baneful influence felt all over the land, but
we need no further proof. The idle mills, the
deserted factories, the abandoned coal mines,
the mortgaged farms, the millions of idle laborers, the wretched homes, the ragged inmates, the careworn, hollow-cheeked women,
the pale, emaciated, hungry children, testify
in a language more eloquent than I can employ of the existence of this monster which
threatens civil liberty. These tell us that the
calamities pictured by Mr. Depew as possible
are now upon us, and we know the source
from whence they came.
For years the people have been deceived by
the minions of plutocracy, but at last hunger,
want and wretchedness are causing them to
open their eyes to the perilousness of their situation. In the language of Mr. Windom, we
ask the question, "How long will a free peo-

22

pie submit without a protest to be thus bound
hand and foot?"
God grant that there may be a mighty
awakening of the people from Maine to California, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, and
may the spirit of freedom which made Bunker Hill possible, and the loye of liberty
which inspired the great Lincoln, fill the
heart of every toiler of this nation until they
will rise up and overthrow the boastful
"money power" and pledge themselves anew
to the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

To earn the amount of William Waldorf
Astor's fortune would take a man, working at
one dollar per day, 300 days in the year, 400,000
years. To earn his income for one year, at the
same price per day, would require one man to
work, 29,666 years. To earn his income for
one day would require one man to work 81
years. To earn his income for one hour, it
would require a man to work three and a half
years.
23

CHAPTEB III.
THE GREAT ISSUE—PLUTOCRACY v. DEMOCRACY.

In placing the above title at the head of
this chapter I do not mean Democracy as represented by the so-called Democratic party of
the present day, but real, genuine Democracy.
The Democracy that contends for a government of the people, for the people, and by the
people.
I do not mean the Democracy of Grover
Cleveland, for it is only plutocracy masquerading in a stolen costume. I mean the
Democracy of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew
Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.
The issue is now clearly defined and it is to
be the greatest, the most stupendous struggle
of all the ages. It is the uprising of the people against the money power.
It is quite the fad among certain large daily
papers representing the money power to say
there is no plutocracy, that it is all a mere
hallucination. They scoff at the idea that
this question is to enter into the politics of

25

the future; but while they thus scoff and pretend to fell no alarm, there is no question but
what they hear the mutterings of the approaching storm. But the more imminent
the danger, the more arrogant and insolent
the plutocrats and the Wall Street subsidized
press become. It was so before the French
Revolution. It was so with Charles the First,
it was so with England when our Revolutionary fathers were compelled to declare for freedom. It was so with the slave-holding South
when it would accept no terms of compromise;
and so to-day the money aristocracy, intoxicated by power, reveling in an excess of
wealth, surfeited with a redundancy of money,
has grown bold and arrogant in its demands,
and asks that the toilers of the nation, those
who work with brawn and brain, be made
slaves to this libidinous plutocracy.
The Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage speaks as follows on this momentous question:
"The greatest war the world has ever seen
is now going on between labor and capital.
The middle classes, who have hitherto held
the balance of power and acted as mediator
between two extremes, are diminishing, and
at the present ratio we will soon have no middle classes, for all will be very rich or very
poor, and we will be divided between princes
and paupers, between palaces and hovels."
That time has already arrived. We have
shown,and will do so more fully in these pages,

26

that a few individuals are excessively rich,
owning the fruits of the toil and thrift of
many generations, while the people, "the
backbone and sinew" of the country, "the salt
of the earth/' have been robbed so long that
they have nothing left.
And yet, the greedy, grasping money power
is not content, is not willing to leave the people alone with their burdens of debt and sorrow; not willing to leave to them the mere
shadow of a once proud freedom, but is seeking now, by artful methods and devilish
machinations, to increase the burdens and intensify the sorrow and leave not a single
ear-mark upon our American institutions to
tell future generations that this was once the
land of the free and the home of the brave.
The greatest tools of plutocracy in this
country to-day are Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, and his trust champion, Attorney-General Eichard Olney.
Time was, in the days of our fathers, when
a man holding a high office who willfully refused to discharge the duties which he had
taken an oath to faithfully perform, would
hare been impeached. Upon what degenerate times have we now fallen that the Attorney-General of the United States persistently refuses to enforce the anti-trust law, and
is upheld in his nefarious course by the President.
And yet these men call themselves Demo-

27

crats. Shades of Andrew Jackson, what a
misnomer!
Bnt these tools of plutocracy are hastening
the ruin which is coming upon the heads of
the masters whom they serve. Their open defiance and disregard of the law has aroused a
perfect storm of indignation throughout the
land, and the people who have long been
blinded "by the sophistries of the money power,
are now beginning to understand what the issue is to be. It is the rule of wealth against
the rule of the people. If wealth is to rule,
our great nation must perish; if the people
once regain the reins of government and rule
wisely, we will have the happiest people and
most prosperous country of all the ages.
To show that I am not alone in believing
that this is to be the great dominant issue of
the future, I quote from a speech delivered by Senator John J. Ingalls.
"We cannot disguise the truth that we are
on the verge of an impending revolution. Old
issues are dead. The people are arraying
themselves, one side or the other of a portentous contest.
"On the one side is capital, formidably intrenched in privilege, arrogant from continued triumph, conservative, tenacious of old
theories, demanding new concessions, enriched by domestic levy and foreign commerce, and struggling to adjust all values to
its own gold standard. On the other side is

28

labor asking for employment, striving to develop domestic industries, battling with the
forces of nature and subduing the wilderness.
Labor, starving and sullen in the cities, resolutely determined to overthrow a system under which the rich are growing richer and the
poor are growing poorer, a system which
gives to a Vanderbilt and a Grould wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, and condemns
the poor to poverty from which there is no escape or refuge but the grave. Demands for
justice have been met with indifference and
disdain. The laborers of the country asking
for employment are treated like impudent
mendicants begging for bread."
Laborers of America, whether you work
with brawn or brain, will you longer close
your eyes to the great issue? You owe it to
yourselves, to your wives and children and to
posterity to face this great issue like men, to
throw off party shackles, lay aside partisan
prejudice, and get out from under the party
lash; and, as did our fathers at Bunker Hill
and Yorktown, let us fight for freedom.
It is a battle, yea, a terrible battle. Plutocracy is thoroughly organized and equipped
for the conflict. Let the people rally round
the Stars and Stripes, shouting the battle-cry
of freedom. On the side of the money power
will be the hired tools and minions of plutoracy, who sell themselves for gold. On the
other side, free men who are willing to sacri*

flee much to still maintain equal rights for all
and special privileges for none.
Men of America, let us win the battle while
we can do so by constitutional methods. Now
it need be only a battle of ballots.' But if we
prove recreant to our duty and betray the
trust which our fathers have reposed in us,
then constitutional methods will not avail,
and this continent will be shaken by a mighty
revolution.
The signs of the times are so plain that
they may be read by all. A wayfaring man,
though a fool, cannot mistake them. Let us
be wise to-day,

To accumulate one million dollars, a man
would have to earn and save $100 a day (Sundays excepted) for thirty years.
To earn the fortune of John D. Rockefeller
would therefore require the saving of $100 a
day for 3,750 years.
Suppose the working man could save ten
cents a day, then to accumulate $1,000,000
would require 30,000 years.
To accumulate Rockefeller's fortune, at a
saving of ten cents a day, would therefore require 3,750,000 years. It would require 10,000
men, each saving ten cents per day, 375 years
to accumulate his fortune, and saving a dollar
per day it would take 10,000 men 37 1-2 years.
What working man can save even ten cents
per day above the support of his family? Yet
these are the men who have earned Rockefeller's fortune for him as well as the fortunes
of all the other members of the American
plutocracy.
so

6HAPTER IV.
THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT.

"And the trail of the serpent was oyer
them all."—Bible.
Plutocracy should be called the great national crime. It is certainly a sad reflection
on our patriotism that we have allowed it to
so intrench itself in power, that the people are
wellnigh helpless. But we have sown the
wind and must reap the whirlwind. This condition has come upon us because of our lethargy, and now we are bearing the punishment
for our unfaithfulness.
While the curse rests most heavily upon
the masses of the people, it does not fail to
visit all classes. The stubborn fight of the
poor for bread finds its counterpart in the
frantic efforts of the rich to acquire more
money. There is misery in the hovel and a
feverish unrest in the palace. There is hunger
gnawing at the crust of bread in the alley and
the fierce craving of the heart in the mansion.
We meet the beggar in the street and look

82

into the sunken, downcast, furtive eye; we go
into the busy marts of the world's commerce,
and the burning, restless, eager eye of the
speculator pierces with eagle-like scrutiny.
Truly can it be said that the trail of the serpent is over them all.
The spirit of avarice is devouring the great
heart of this nation. The greed for gain gets
such possession of men?s souls that they become demons. They rush into the maelstrom
of money-getting, and soon lose all fear of
God and love for their fellow-men, and before
they realize it, they have become slaves to a
passion which is as cruel as fate and as remorseless and unrelenting as death.
Come with me to the great New York Stock
Exchange if you would see one of the evils
which plutocracy has given us. We must go
up into the gallery, for it costs thousands of
dollars to buy the privilege of going upon the
floor where the gambling is going on. Ah,
you can hear them now, before we are halfway up the stairway. Let us get a good position, where we can look down upon the wild
scene. Now you see them; yes, hundreds of
men, running hither and thither, shouting,
gesticulating, like madmen.
See the messengers, a hundred or more, dressed in uniform, carrying messages and orders for the
operators on the Exchange. Watch the everchanging panorama as the stocks rise and
fall. Look at the excited group just over

^^'fclfctifa-at, ^

\4

RUSSELL SAGE.

COL. JOHN JACOB ASTOR.

33

there. One little man, with red face and wild
eyes, is waving a paper above his head, and
shouting, screaming, yelling, until it almost
deafens you. There has been an unlucky turn
in the stock market for him, and now he is
trying to sell his holdings before there is another drop and he is ruined.
But look over on the other side of the room.
The announcement has just been made of the
great rise in coal oil stock, and there is a wild
rush of men in that direction. They run like
a herd of maddened, stampeded cattle, and
the roar that comes up from the pit becomes
more terrific, and the shouts of exultation,
mingled with the sullen cries of defeat, drown
your voice so that you cannot be heard.
A large, elegantly-dressed man, with goldrimmed spectacles and silk hat, was a large
holder of the fortunate stock. He throws his
silk hat high in the air; it falls at his feet, and
he kicks it around like a football. In his frenzy at his success he crushes his spectacles under his feet, and dances with all the gyrations
and demoniac yells of an Indian brave or a
wild Zulu. This morning he came down town
almost a pauper, one more unlucky turn of
the wheel of fortune and all would have been
lost; but luck was on his side, and now he is
a millionaire.
I see another man, who has sunk down and
sits in a recess over against the wall. Pain, disappointment, dejection, despondency, mark

84

every feature. His eyes are bloodshot, and
they stare about vacantly. He casts a look up
to the gallery, where we are standing, and
that look is full of despair; but no one pays
the slightest attention to him. He came to
the Stock Exchange this morning worth a million dollars. Luck was against him, and he
lost all. Now he sits there a pauper, and already he is forgotten. The men who knew
him an hour ago now pass him by as though
he were a stone figure. He puts on his hat
and silently ambles out into the street. Let
us follow him, for the maddening roar, the
wild cries have driven us almost into a frenzy.
Yes, those men below are mad; every one of
them is as mad as the maddest, wildest lot in
all Bedlam. Nothing on earth can be compared
to the scenes in the pit of the Stock Exchange.
Nothing in all the universe, unless it be the
infernal pit of Hell, where Satan and his imps
dance, and shout, and scream, and yell, and
laugh their demoniacal laughs over the prostrate forms of bleeding, suffering victims.
But we must not lose sight of the man we
are watching. The day is cold; the rain and
sleet come down in a perfect storm of fury,
but he heeds it not. In a little time he is
soaked to the skin, but he feels not the cold.
Now he walks out upon the bridge, and we
suppose that he is going to his home in Brooklyn. Along the. walkway we follow him.
When he reaches the center of the bridge, he

35

walks hastily out to where there is no obstacle in the way, and before we realize what he
is going to do, he leaps wildly into the air, and
his body shoots downward with almost lightning-like rapidity, and drops with a heavy
thnd into the muddy waters of the river. Ah,
he rises! but the pain, the anguish, have gone
out of his face; his spirit is struggling to be
freed from its prison-house, and once again
he sinks, to rise no more.
One man has won a million dollars, and
goes home to elegance and splendor; another
man has lost a million dollars, and has gone
to find a watery grave, unwept, unhonored
and unsung.
In every large city we have these gambling
hells. In this business, which plutocracy has
made a most honorable one, thousands of men
are engaged. They never earned an honest
dollar in their lives, yet many of them are
worth millions. How have they made it? In
gambling on the prices of corn and wheat
which they never grew, but which has been
produced and sold by the honest old farmer
at a price so small that he is hardly able to
pay his taxes and the annual interest on his
mortgaged farm. They have made it speculating on the cotton which they never saw and
never will see, while the poor farmer in the
South, who sells it for four or five cents per
pound, is unable to send his little children to
school even for three months in a year, and

36

must see them go barefoot in winter, and look
with pity on their tatters and rags.
Every dollar gained by one of these gamblers is taken from some honest toiler. Every
million they accumulate means a multitude of
wretched homes and desolate firesides. While
money rules the country, there is no help for
it. There can be no hope for the people. But
the curse of plutocracy, as already said, is not
confined to any class. It is a vulture which
will eventually destroy those upon whom it
preys, and then it will turn and rend those
Whom it enriched.
One night I walked through a poor, miserable, dirty street in the city of New York,
where the poorest, most wretched of God's
children are huddled together. It was close
upon the hour of midnight. Upon the stone
steps of a filthy, vile tenement house sat a little girl, who, from her appearance, was not
more than seven years old. In her arms she
clasped tightly her tiny sister, of not more
than three. Both were, hungry, pale, dirty,
emaciated. Both were clad in tatters and
rags. Both were fast asleep, the head of the
younger child resting upon her sister's shoulder, the brown curls of the elder mingling
with the golden curls of the baby, while upon
the dirty little cheeks of the elder child stood
two tiny tears.
I stood still and looked at the wretched
waifs, and I thought, Are these, indeed, God's

37

own little ones, and did He really say, "Suffer
little children to come unto Me, and forbid
them not, for of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven"?
Angels must nightly weep oyer such scenes
as these, for they are not isolated cases, but
they are legion.
Oh, Plutocracy, thou friend of the rich and
robber of the poor, surely the vengeance of a
just God will soon be visited upon thee.
During the great strike last year I was in
Chicago, and as I walked along State Street
at night, I saw hundreds of women, some old
and haggard, some young and beautiful, all
hungry and wretched. They were openly soliciting men. In their desperation they would
beg—yea, plead, wildly, fiercely, for money
enough to buy just one loaf of bread.
Many of them told me they had not tasted
food for twenty-four and even forty-eight
hours. They said that they could find no work to
do, and had been turned into the streets to
starve. One poor child I saw weeping bitterly
and moaning, "Oh, God, must I be forced to
sell myself, soul and body, for a loaf of bread?"
Plutocracy, thou art responsible. I arraign
thee before the bar of public opinion. I charge
that plutocracy robs our tender girls of their
virtue, steals from our little children their
daily bread, deprives them of an education
and makes them prematurely old. It forces
tears to the eyes of the mothers of the land,

38

pales their cheeks, bows their forms and
breaks their hearts. It robs men of their independence, the laborer of his hire and turns
out every year a vast army of tramps. It fills
the jails, the alms-houses, the brothels and
the gambling hells. I t is guilty of most of
the murders and suicides. It gloats over human woe and fattens on human suffering. The
more wretchedness and poverty it can produce,
the more flourishing and prosperous it will
become.
Plutocracy is on trial before the American
people, and Liberty looks on in breathless
suspense.

The total crop value in 1889 was $2,460,<
107,454.
The total real estate mortgages in 1890
were $6,019,679,985.
On this basis it would take the entire crops
of the country for almost three years to paj
the real estate mortgages alone, to say nothing of all the other indebtedness, private and
public.
The farmers and laboring men must pay
all these real estate mortgages, and all the
time plutocracy is forcing them to take
less and less for their cotton, wheat and labor.
39

CHAPTEK V.
TRUSTS.

In an article published in the "Forum," Mr.
Chas. F. Beech gives the following definition
of a trust:
"An agreement among the producers and
venders of a certain sort of merchantable
commodity for their mutual protection and
profit in business."
In a little work on trusts by W. W. Cook,
of the New York bar, he defines a trust thus:
"A trust is a combination of many competing concerns under one management, which
thereby reduces the cost, regulates the amount
of production and increases the price for
which the article is sold. It is either a monopoly or an endeavor to establish a monopoly.
Its purpose is to make larger profits, by decreasing cost, limiting production and increasing the price to the consumer. This it accomplishes by presenting to the competitors the
alternative of joining the trust or being
crushed out."
40

41

The author's definition of a trust is:
"An organized effort to rob both producer
and consumer, and to steal all the fruits of
honest labor. This to be done in defiance
of all law and every principle of right, justice
and humanity."
Let us examine into some of the operations
of the so-called trusts and see if the definition
of Mr. Beech, the apologist for trusts, will
stand the test of criticism. In the first place,
is the trust founded on an agreement between
the producer and vender for mutual profit?
Let us take the great beef trust, for instance,
and see who is benefited by it. Eecently the
trust has made most outrageous advances in
the price of beef. Was the producer benefited? By no means. The advance in the
price of beef cattle was so slight as to be almost imperceptible, so there could have been
no agreement with the producers. In this
instance producer and consumer were robbed.
No trust has ever yet been formed that benefited the laboring man. If the producer is
benefited at all, it is when a lot of wealthy
corporations band together and form a trust,
as the whiskey trust, for instance. Here the
distillers limit the output and regulate the
price, and are consequently the beneficiaries.
But what about the primal producer? The
man who grows the corn, the fruit and other
products out of which the liquors are made?
Is he benefited by the trust? Certainly not.

42

Trusts are the outgrowth of plutocratic
rule. Almost everything we eat or wear is
controlled by some trust. The Standard Oil
trust is, perhaps, the most powerful and absolute trust in the country. It not only controls the oil traffic in the United States, but
is now reaching out its grasping fingers to
control the whole world, and there is but little doubt but what it will succeed.
Then come the sugar trust, the beef trust,
the whiskey trust and trusts galore, until we
are dumbfounded with the list. Write the
history of the Standard Oil trust and the whiskey trust, and you will have pages blackened
by the blasts of Hell and stained with human
blood. From every page wo aid stare the
eyes of hunger, the gaunt, pinched faces of
suffering humanity. Between every line you
would see the bright nails upon the coffin lid.
Outlined on every page there would stand a
hideous gallows. And at the turn of every
leaf you would hear the creaking of prison
doors and the rattle of felons' chains. These
trusts have been guilty of bribery, lying, perjury, high-handed robbery, midnight assassinations and cold-blooded murders. They have
crushed competition, bankrupted thousands
of honest men, oppressed the poor, robbed and
plundered the helpless, until to-day they are
absolute and supreme masters of the situation,
able to regulate production, control prices,
grind the faces of the poor, build up enor-

43

mous fortunes for the trust fiends, elect Governors and Presidents, own the Attorney-General of the United States, purchase Legislatures and Congresses, and hold high, carnival
while the dance of death goes merrily on, and
people starve, and rot, and die all over the
land.
The trust first crushes all competitors by
selling the "trusted" product for less than the
cost of production, and when the small dealers or producers can no longer hold out, they
are paid a small sum of money and go out of
business, and then the great trust, whicli has
swallowed up all competitors, raises prices,
according to the promptings of its cupidity.
Another form of the trust is the combining
of all the small trusts or corporations under
one head and "pooling" the commodity to be
handled.
The profits accruing to the trusts are enormous. The Standard Oil trust had an investment originally of not more than six million
dollars. It issued ninety million dollars in
trust certificates. These are worth to-day
about three hundred million dollars, and are
nearly all owned by a few men. This trusthas paid millions of dollars already to its organizers.
The sugar trust has a capital of seventyfive million dollars, the actual value being
about seven million seven hundred and forty
thousand dollars. In 1893 it paid in dividends

44

ten million eight hundred and seventy-five
thousand dollars, put aside a surplus of five
million dollars, in addition to the enormous
sums paid as salaries and the vast amounts
spent in bribing legislators, corrupting officials and contributing to campaign funds.
In addition to the trusts already enumerated, there are a beer trust, a leather trust, a
salt trust, a match trust, a coal trust, a bread
trust, a railroad trust and hundreds of others;
and last, but not least, an undertakers' National Burial Gase Association trust.
We must serve the trusts while we live, and
when we die our relatives or friends, if they
are able, and if not, then some charitable organization, must pay some trust two prices to
bury us.
These trusts are often formed by very pious
and very religious men. The class of men
whom Eobert Burns calls the "unco guid."
The richest man in this country is John D.
Rockefeller, who is worth one hundred and
twenty-five million dollars. He made it out
of the oil trust. He is a member of the Church,
and has given large sums of money to religious, educational and benevolent societies. I
suppose he has some great, charitable scheme
working in his benevolent heart at the present time, and that he needs some more money
to carry it out, for the price of oil has been
advanced, and the poor are now paying more
than twice as much for it as they did a short

45

time ago. I quote from one of the daily papers
of April 16, 1895:
"There was a further rise in oil prices on
the Consolidated Exchange here yesterday,
and the market closed with $2.50 bid for certificates.
"Befined petroleum in barrels was advanced
from |10.50 to $11.50.
"Oil men are talking $3 oil before the week
ends, and if there were many certificates to
be had here there would be the wildest excitement on the Exchange.
"A number of old oil speculators have left
here for Oil City and Pittsburg, where the
real excitement and trading are.
"But the rise is felt elsewhere than on the
Stock Exchange, where brokers buy and sell
that which they never use.
"It has come home to those who cannot afford gas or electric light. A year ago oil of
150 degrees test cost them only five cents a
gallon. Yesterday many of them had to pay
13 cents.
"It is by the light of oil lamps on the East
Side that many of the suits worn on Broadway
are made. Old eyes grow dimmer and young
eyes are injured plying the needle or modelling artificial flowers by the light of lamps in
stuffy tenement rooms.
"In that life where pennies are dollars, the
increase means more self-denial, more pinching, a harder struggle.

46

"A safe oil that small dealers had been able
to sell for five or six cents rose to seven last
December. The poor people found this price
for their midnight oil a great hardship, but a
week ago it rose to nine cents, and since Monday to 12 cents.
"Many East Side grocers practically give the
oil away at cost for the sake of the trade it
brings; others sell at a narrow margin. But
it is a necessity which, like sugar, they must
carry."
When the pious Mr. Eockefeller makes his
offerings to the Lord, does he ever think of
the drops of blood from broken hearts, the
groans from squalid misery, the tears from
human agony, which have been coined into
each shining dollar? Does he realize that he
is offering the Lord blood money? But the
trust of which he is the leading spirit has so
long been accustomed to bribe officials and
legislators that Mr. Eockefeller actually has
the impudence and assurance to try to bribe
the Lord.
Jesus Christ did not say to the rich young
man, "Go, rob the poor of all they have, and
bring the thousandth part to me as a bribe,
a sort of sin offering, and then follow me."
But he said: "Go, sell all thou hast and give it
to the poor, and then follow me."
When the Judgment Day comes, and themen
whom Mr. Eockfeller has driven to suicide,
the wretched creatures lie has hounded into

47

insane asylums, the women who have been
forced into poverty the most abject, the children whom he has stripped of clothing, deprived of food and turned barefooted into the
street to leave foot-prints on the cutting
ice and snow, all rise up as a cloud of witnesses against him, and in answer to all the
terrible accusations he says, "Lord, Lord, did
I not give large sums of this money unto
thee?" what think you the God of Justice will
answer? Will it be, "Well done, good and
faithful servant," or "Depart from Me; I never
knew you." I have not the space in this work
to treat fully of trusts, and can only touch
upon the subject.
The great question is, Shall the trusts control the people, or will the people control the
trusts? Sir John Culpepper, in his speech in
Parliament, thus spoke of trusts:
"They are a nest of wasps, a swarm of vermin which have overcrept the land. Like the
frogs of Egypt, they have gotten possession
of our dwellings, and we have scarce a room
free from them. They sup in our cup, they
dip in our dish, they sit by our fire, we find
them in the dye : fat, washbowl and powdering
tub. They share with the butler in his box,
they will not bate us a pin. We may not buy
our clothes without their brokage. These
are the leeches that have sucked the commonwealth so hard that it is almost hectical."
Let us overthrow plutocracy, and we will

48

destroy the trusts. There can be no halfway
measures. No compromise between monopoly
and the American people. Liberty and trusts
cannot long exist together. One or the other
will soon be destroyed. Let us rise up and
crush them before they bind us hand and foot
and make of our children abject slaves.

WILLIAM C. WHITNEY.

J O H N D. ROCKEFELLER.

Kerosene oil, leather, beef and flour are
four standard commodities of prime necessity in every family. They are all controlled
by the trusts-'—trusts created for the sole
purpose of squeezing money out of the people
and emptying it into the pockets of the plutocrats.
It needs but a simple calculation, using a
family of five members as an illustration, to
show how outrageous the operations of these
trusts are, and how enormous their profits
must be. If such a family uses ten pounds of
beef a week of the grades on w" *ch the price
has been advanced five cents a pound, they
will now have to pay for it fifty cents a week
more than they used to pay, or $26 a year. If
they use the same amount of first-class beef
it will cost them fifty-two dollars a year more.
If such a family uses three gallons of kerosene oil a week, it will cost them twenty-four
cents a week more than it used to, or twelve
dollars and forty-eight cents a year more than
it did before the Standard Oil trust put up the
price.

50

If such a family requires ten pairs of shoes
a year, two pairs for each member, it will cost
ten dollars a year more to buy these shoes next
fall than it would if there was no leather
trust
If such a family uses one barrel of flour a
month, it will cost twelve dollars a year more
for their yearly supplies than it would had the
wheat market not been cornered.
A family of five would therefore be robbed
each year by the trusts as follows:
By
By
By
By

the
the
the
the

beef trust of
oil trust of
leather trust of
wheat trust of

A total of

$26.00 a year.
12.48
10.00
12.00
$60.48.

CHAPTER VI.
THE HERITAGE OF DEATH %

The author is aware that he will be called
a "calamity howler" for attempting to describe the want, woe and misery which is so
widespread in our country. He is conscious
of the fact that every newspaper which is in
sympathy with plutocracy will attempt to discount the pictures of desolation and impending peril by sneers and sarcasm. But the
burdens the people are now compelled to bear
are so great that he would be untrue to himself and to those who bear them if he did not
"cry aloud and spare not."
Plutocracy has cursed the land with a thousand ills, but if we can believe the signs of
the times it has not done its worst. It yet
has in store for the American people many
more woes. Already it has given us a great army
of unemployed. There are in the United
States almost four million men who cannot
find work enough to do to obtain their daily
bread. This means four million tramps, for
51

32

when a man is out of employment and starts
to seek work, he is at once classed by the plutocratic press as a tramp.
While these four million men are idle, there
are almost four million homes desolate—
homes where mothers sit by hearthstones
which do not have the ruddy glow of burning coals, around which hover and shiver little
children, hungry, wretched, ragged. There is
no hope in the faces of the mothers; there is
no light, no childish hapjuness in the eyes of
the children. There are no papers or periodicals on the table, no books in the libraries;
there is no carpet on the floor, no music in
the home, no joy in the heavy hearts of the
inmates; there are no new shoes for winter,
no nice clothes for Sundays and holidays;
there is nothing to live for in the present, and
nothing to hope for in the future. Each day
the wolf comes nearer to the door; each hour
the poor wretches are nearer to suicide, shame
and death. Piece by piece the scant furniture
is sold, and soon there is nothing left but a
pallet of straw. The days drag slowly by into
weeks, and the weeks lengthen into months,
and one by one the wretched victims of plutocratic rule fall by the wayside and find an unmarked grave in the potter's field.
The almshouses are filled to overflowing,
the jails and penitentiaries have a plethora
of prisoners, the madhouses are packed, the
streets are full of homeless wanderers, the

53

morgue has each year a larger number of suicides. The sweat shops resound to the groans
of helpless children and frail women; the
brothels are daily replenished from the ranks
of our fair American girls. Thousands are
driven to a life of shame each year. It cannot be questioned that all these things are the
outgrowth of plutocracy.
A few greedy, grasping plutocrats and the
wealthy trusts and corporations have gotten
possession of all the wealth, so there is nothing left for those who labored early and late
to produce it. The daily papers are full of
accounts of suffering, poverty, wretchedness,
starvation and death, and even then the onehundreth case is not reported.
Here is the account of a young married
man who was driven to robbery by starvation.
It takes but a few lines to tell the story, yet
it speaks volumes of human suffering:
"New York, Jan. 29.—Driven apparently by
lack of food and inability to support his wife
and child, James Flower, 28 years old, an engineer, committed highway robbery last night.
When captured he killed himself by swallowing some prussic acid which he carried on his
person."
Here is the story of another unfortunate,
and the number is rapidly increasing:
"James Mohar died o? starvation yesterday
noon at the Brooklyn City Hosj)ital. A native
American, he had walked the streets of New

54

York without food for eight days looking for
work, and late Saturday afternoon fell exhausted and unconscious at the Brooklyn
tower of the great bridge. At the hospital all
that science and unremitting attention could
do was done. A special nurse gave her undivided attention to him. A nutriment was
administered at frequent intervals, but the patient relapsed into insensibility. Said Dr.
Molin, the house surgeon, as Mohar drew his
last breath: 'It is a clear case of starvation,
nothing else. There are indications of Bright's
disease, due directly to exposure and lack of
nourishment; but otherwise he has no ailments save exhaustion. In most cases it is
impossible to save a patient when he is as far
gone as this one, although we pull them
through sometimes. After being entirely without food for eight days, the organs are unable
to assimilate even milk and whiskey, which
we generally use/ "
From the New York "World." of April 18.1
clipped the following account of the suffering
caused by the high-handed operations of the
oil trust in advancing the price of oil to more
than twice what it was worth:
"Isaac Beck and his daughters, Sarah and
Sophie, work as clothing finishers. They begin at 5 o'clock in the morning and work until long after midnight.
"'And all we manage to earn within that
time/ said Sarah, the elder daughter, 'is not

55

quite a dollar. My poor mother went crazy
over the work.
" ' I mustn't cry/ she said. 'The tears will
interfere with my work. We must be quick
and deft now as long as the daylight lasts,
because the 15 cents that we pay for oil eats
up a good deal of our profits/
"Aaron Kleber occupies a room adjoining
that of the Becks. His wife is stone-blind and
sickly. They have a fifteen-year-old daughter,
Sadie, and a baby boy, Benjamin.
Sadie's
whole time is devoted to the baby. Food and
shelter and clothes are got by the hard toil
of the father.
" 'All I can earn is 25 cents a day," he said,
'Light at night is a luxury beyond my reach.
If it were not for the kindness of Mr. Beck,
who allows me to sew by his light, I couldn't
make more than 10 cents a day.'
"While Kleber was talking his daughter and
wife came in. The wife was holding her baby
clasped to her bosom.
"'Papa,' said Sadie, 'please get us some
bread. I t is getting late, and we haven't had
a morsel all day. Mamma is faint, and Benjamin
'
"Well, it wasn't necessary to utter any
words. It was evident that Benjamin was
starving. His face was no larger than a fist,
the ghastly white cheeks sunken as if they
would meet, and the black-encircled eyes were
set deep in the sockets.

56

"Kleber looked appealingly at his neighbors.
A groan broke from his lips.
"'We, too/ said Beck, 'have eaten nothing
tor day.'"
Only the other day a boy was found under a
cart, gnawing the putrid flesh off of a bone
with all the avidity of a hungry dog.
He
was ragged, dirty, unkempt—a miserable specimen of humanity. Indeed, he looked more
the wild beast than he did one of God's children. When asked where he lived and who he
was, he replied that he was nobody and lived
nowhere.
Not long ago, in the city of Philadelphia, a
man who had in his employ a large number of
hands making coats, was asked why he did
not put a new roof on the building, because
the old one was so rotten that it let in the rain
and the snow, and his workmen were dying
from pneumonia because of the exposure. His
answer was, "Let them die. It does not concern me. Men are cheaper than shingles.
Where one man dies there are ten to take his
place."
A frail, delicate-looking girl stood at the
corner of Broadway and Fourteenth Street in
the city of New York. It was 10 o'clock at
night, and the wind was bitter cold. She had
on no wrap to shield her from its piercing
blasts. A well-dressed man approached, and
she stopped him and begged him to go with
her to a house of prostitution. The gentleman

57

asked her why she, almost a child, with a look
of innocence on her face, should be soliciting
men on the street. She began to weep, and
finally told him the following pathetic story:
"My father died a year ago and left us penniless. We struggled along until three months
ago, when my poor mother died. I had a position where I could earn enough to keep
bread for myself and my two sisters and
brother. We lived in a small attic room. I
was ill a week, and when I went back for my
old place, the proprietor curtly told me that
it had been filled and he did not need me. Since
then I have walked all over the city, huntingwork but finding none.
"To-night there is not a crust of bread in
our miserable room, and the children have
been crying like their little hearts would
break, and begging me to go out and get them
something to eat. And I came on the street
determined to do so, sir. There is no use in
begging; I have tried that only to be rebuffed
and insulted. So I determined to sell my virtue. I know that woman's virtue, at least,
possesses a money value in the markets of the
world, and I am willing to exchange mine for
bread to keep my sisters and brother from
starving. Their pinched, hungry faces and
pleading cries haunt me, and 1 can endure it
no longer."
As she told her story, carriages rolled by in
which sat well-dressed women, upon whose

58

arms and necks flashed thousands of dollars'
worth of jewels. Men strolled along who
wonld not hesitate to spend their tens of thousands of dollars on a single wine supper, but
there was not one of them who would have
given a penny to save her from shame, or
looked in pity a t her poor, mangled form had
she thrown herself under a cable car and been
crushed beneath its wheels.
Six months ago, in the streets of Omaha,
Neb., splendid horses were selling at ten dollars each. The other day a horse sold in the
State of Oregon at seventy-five cents, and a
gentleman with a drove of good horses offered
to sell the entire lot at the rate of a cent per
pound.
The heritage we are leaving to our children
is another Egyptian bondage, unless the spirit
of liberty soon be rekindled. Yea, it is truly
a heritage of death and a grave with the rats
and vermin.

Here is a table showing the assessed value
of property in the following States in 1890:
Idaho
Arizona
New Mexico
Wyoming
Montana
Washington
Utah
Total

$6,440,876
9,270,214
14,675,209
13,621,829
18,609,802
23,810,693
24,775,279
$111,224,002

John D. Kockefeller is worth $125,000,000,
or more than $13,000,000 more than the combined wealth of these seven States and Territories.
He is worth more than the total assessed
value of the real and personal property in any
of the following States in 1890, to wit: Vermont, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.
m

OHAPTEE VII.
THE SOUND MONEY FANATIC.

Pick up any of the daily papers, almost, and
they are filled with sneers at the "free silver
lunatics/' But you will never find an argument against the free coinage of silver. All
they can do is to cry "sound money" and indulge in cheap wit and poor ridicule.
They have erected a golden calf and they
bow down and worship their idol, but are unable to give a reason why they do so, at least
the majority of worshippers are, and those
who could give a good reason for their worship dare not do so for fear that the other
worshippers, seeing what asses they have
been making of themselves, would rise up in
their fury and rend them.
They are like the idolatrous worshippers we
are told of in the Bible who stood up for the
space of two hours and cried "Great is Diana
of the Ephesians." So it is with these blind
worshippers. When asked and pressed for
reasons, they shout at the top of their voices,

61

"Sound money, sound money, an honest dollar, an honest dollar; let the poor man's dollar be as good as the rich man's." And all
the time that they are keeping up this silly
shout, the poor man hasn't a dollar, not even
a penny. The rich man has it all, and the
poor man can't get work enough to buy bread.
These people have been deluded and deceived until they have become fanatics. They
forget that the gold dollar is not an honest
dollar. The honest dollar is the one which always maintains the same purchasing power.
It is the dollar which will pay as much when
the mortgage falls due as it would have paid
when the debt was created. And when our
financial system gives to the dollar an everincreasing purchasing power it becomes a
dishonest dollar.
But what about the old stereotyped cry of
"let the poor man's dollar be as good as the
dollar of the rich man"? Can that be truly
said of gold? Gold is the money of the rich,
and since the demonetization of silver the purchasing powrer of the gold dollar has been
doubled. The rich have practically all the
money, and the poor, of whom there are over
sixty millions, are compelled to work for the
rich in order to get this honest dollar of the
poor man.
The poor man goes to the rich man for employment, and is offered fifty cents a day for
his services. But he says, "you formerly paid

62

me a dollar a day. I can't afford to work for
less." The rich man smiles and says, "True,
you formerly worked for a dollar a day, but
then I did not pay you in honest money; hut
now we are on a sound money basis and your
fifty cents will be worth more to you than the
dollar formerly was." The poor fool accepts
the price and goes to work, the ardent champion of sound money, and when election day
comes round he is eager to get to the polls to
vote for the "poor man's dollar."
At the end of the year he receives his wages,
counts his "sound dollars" and finds that he
has just one hundred and fifty of them. And
he slyly chuckles to himself, as he pockets the
gold, saying, under his breath, "Oh, yes, Mr.
Kichman, my dollar is just as good as yours."
He goes home, and the next day visits his
country town to attend to some urgent business there, all the while congratulating himself on the fact that one hundred and fifty dollars of "sound money" is worth as much as
three hundred dollars of "unsound money."
About two years ago he borrowed some
money through a loan agent and gave a mortgage on his farm. There was still a balance
of one hundred dollars due on the mortgage.
He went to the agent's office to pay the balance. The agent made out a receipt for one
hundred dollars, the balance due, and passed
it over, together with the cancelled mortgage.
The "honest dollar" friend picked up the mort-

63

gage and glanced over it with a smile of satisfaction. His eyes rested on the name of the
mortgagee, and he exclaimed, "Dog gone me,
this is payable to Mr. Abraham Isaac Ikleheimer, the gentleman for whom I have been
at work for the past year. I tell yon he is an
honest man, because he wants a poor man's
dollar to be just as good as the rich man's dollar. Now I will give you some of the same
good sound money he gave me." He counted
out fifty dollars, placed it on the table, gathered up his receipt and mortgage and started
for the door. The agent called to him and
said, very politely, "You seem to have made a
mistake. You have given me only fifty dollar." "Oh, no," said "sound money," "it is no
mistake at all. Mr. Ikleheimer told me that
one dollar of 'sound money' was worth two
dollars of 'unsound money,' so he paid me one
hundred and fifty dollars for my year's work,
whereas I used to get three hundred. So
of course fifty dollars settles the hundreddollar balance on the mortgage because the
money he let me have when I gave the mortgage was not 'sound money.' I t was only silver."
"Now, old covey, come off the perch and
come down with that other fifty dollars, or I'll
have you locked up."
"But—but—" tried to reason "sound
money."
"Oh, to the devil with your arguments. It's

m
the money I want. You talk to me as though
I were a fool." So the poor bewildered fellow
counted out another fifty dollars and walked
out into the street, the tears in his eyes, for
he had set his heart on carrying home a new
bonnet and gown for his wife, and shoes for
the little ones, and some nuts and candies to
gladden their innocent hearts, but alas! these
hopes were all destined to be dashed to the
ground.
Then he walked sadly over to the court
house to pay his taxes. The amount was
twenty dollars, and he expected to pay it with
ten. But the tax-gatherer glared at him and
muttered something about the lunatic asylum. Now he goes to his grocer to pay his
bill, and it is twenty dollars, and not a cent
less of his "sound money" will suffice to pay
it.
He gets a hair-cut and shave at the barber
shop, and it is the same old price. He goes to
the hotel for dinner and the price is just the
same. He owes his lawyer for drawing up the
mortgage and goes to pay him, and it takes
five dollars, the old price. Then he takes the
train home, and the fare is three cents per
mile, just as it was in the days of free silver.
He takes out his pencil and a piece of paper
and figures out the result of the day's business as follows:
Started out with one hundred and fifty dollars in "sound money."

•\

C. S. BRICE.

Paid
Paid
Paid
Paid
Paid
Paid
Paid

mortgage
taxes
grocer
lawyer
hotel bill
barber
railroad fare .

Total
Balance on hand

$100.00
20.00
20.00
5.00
75
.35
3.75
$149.85
.15

Then he said, "I think I have been a blamed
fool on the money question. If we were not
on a free silver basis the account would have
stood this way:
Year's work
Paid mortgage
Paid taxes
Paid grocer
Paid lawyer
Paid barber
Paid hotel bill
Paid railroad fare

$300.00
100.00
20.00
20.00
5.00
35
75
3.75

Total
Balance on hand

$149.85
150.15

Then the account would have gone on as
follows; Spent for wife, $18.75; spent for
children, $27.40; spent for self, $11.50; total,
$57.65; on hand for a rainy day, $92.50.
The "unsound money" would have carried
joy and comfort into the home; the "sound
money" robbed it, and left the inmates with
nothing to cheer them and gladden their
hearts.
The trusts, the wealthy corporations and
the plutocrats control all the money in the
country and the people are paying them interest on it. Seventy million people are all

60

the time working, providing they can get
work to do, for these institutions and rich
men, and for what do they labor? To get a
small, a very Infinitesimal portion of this
money to use for the purpose of paying interest to the rich man, taxes, rents to the
wealthy landlord, and to buy coarse clothing
and food. So the question with the almost
seventy million laboring peopile is not "How
much of this or that commodity can I purchase with a dollar?" for they have no dollars,
but the question which concerns this class of
people is "How much of my labor or my commodities does it take to buy a dollar?" It is
the dollar, dear friends, we are trying to buy.
It now takes twice as much wheat, twice.as
maay pounds of cotton, twice as many days of
labor to purchase a dollar as it did before the
demonetization of silver. The sound money
fanatic tells us that now we are on a single
gold standard basis, a dollar has twice the
purchasing power it formerly had. I grant
them this. Let us see how it works. The rich
man's dollar (for we must not forget that the
poor man hasn't the dollar, and is all the time
working for it) will purchase just twice as
many days' labor as formerly. I t will buy
twice as many bushels of wheat, twice as
many pounds of cotton, twice as many tears,
twice as many nights of toil of the poor sewing woman, twice as much misery, twice as
many drops of blood.

67

But after the poor man has given double to
get the dollar, he finds that his interest on
his mortgage to the rich man is the same, all
his debts remain the same, his taxes are the
same, his beef, his oil, his coal, and nearly
everything he has to buy remain at the same
price, because they are controlled by trusts.
Thus it can readily be seen why the plutocrats
want to demonetize silver. To do so doubles
the value or purchasing power of every dollar
in the hands of the rich man. And it doubles
the value of every mortgage and every bond
which he holds.
But the plutocrat who understands why he
is a gold-bug does not dare to give the real
reason, because he knows that all his deluded
"sound-money" followers would rise up from
the shrine of Moloch, where they are bowed,
and in their fury at finding out what fools
they have been making of themselves, they
would help to overthrow plutocracy.
One of the most remarkable papers yet issued by the gold-bugs is one emanating from
the White House, bearing the signature of
Grover Cleveland. In this letter, addressed to
some Chicago gentlemen, he sounds the bugle
blast and raises the black flag of plutocracy,
and cries "On to battle." The people are
ready to meet the hosts of Shylock, headed by
this strutting Goliah, and fight them to a
finish.
In this ponderous production Mr. Cleveland

68

attempts to array the wage-earner against
the farmer by suggesting that if the farmer's
productions were enhanced in value, under
free silver, it would not enure to the benefit
of the wage-earner, because he would have to
pay more money for what he bought of the
farmer. This statement is fallacious for two
reasons:
First, because his wages would be increased
in proportion to the enlargement of the volume of currency.
Second, because his wages would be increased in a certain ratio to the increase in
the farm products which he would have to
purchase, and the amount he would gain
when it comes to paying fixed charges, such
as rent, taxes, official salaries, interest on municipal, State and National bonds, interest
and principal on his own individual indebtedness, would far more than compensate him
for any small loss he might sustain on the increased cost of farm products.
Here is a clause in the President's letter,
which should be preserved in the archives at
Washington as the greatest curiosity of this
wonderful production. It reads as follows:
"If reckless discontent and wild experiment
should sweep our currency from its safe support, the most defenseless of all who suffer in
that time of distress and national discredit
would be the poor, as they reckon the loss in
their scanty support, and the laborer or work-

69

ing man as he sees the money he has received
from his toil shrink and shrivel in his hand
when he tenders it for the necessaries to supply his humble home."
This would be a most comical, laughable,
farcical statement, were it not on a serious
subject and, made with such ponderous dignity. Gro to the workingman and tell him
that his dollars will "shrink and shrivel in his
hand," and then let him unclasp his hand and
allow you to see what is inside of it, and you
will find, Mr. President, the hardened, calloused marks that show the horny-handed son
of toil, but not a dollar will you find. It was
squeezed out of his hand long ago by the sleek,
well-fed millionaire, and if it ever shrinks and
shrivels at all, it will do so in his soft, jeweled
hand.
Such a statement coming from the President of this country is enough to make the
poor shudder. Oh, the pity of it! Oh, the tragedy of it! The single gold standard is the
stronghold of plutocracy, the powerful bulwark behind which it is intrenched. Free
men, sons of sires who bled for liberty, this
is a goodly land, which our fathers have given
us, but we have surrendered it to old plutocracy, our worst enemy. In numbers and patriotism we far outnumber the robber host.
So let us go forth, storm the enemy, rout him
from his intrenchments and repossess the

land,

Our total indebtedness is
$40,000,000,000.00
Our annual interest is
2,400,000,000.00
We pay per capita each year in interest
34.28

The wealth producers, who are the laborers
of the nation, pay this enormous sum each
year, and to whom? To the American Plutocracy.
What have they out of which they are to
meet this annual interest?
Corn
Wheat
Other cereals
Wool
Cotton
Total

,

$537,000,000
213,000,000
450,000,000
22,500,000
175,000,000
$1,397,500,000

This lacks over a billion dollars paying our
yearly interest.

GHAPTEE VIII.
MODERN BRIGANDS.

Years ago in the old country there were a)
class of men called brigands. In this country
the same class were called highway robbers
They were banded together for the purpose o^
theft and plunder. They usually met then
victims on the public highways and compelled
them to give up a portion of their belongings,
They were a continual terror to the State and
a menace to society. Large rewards were of
fered for these outlaws, and they were hunted
down like wild beasts and shot on sight. If
captured they were hanged or garroted with
little ceremony. This sort of brigandage has
been almost effectively crushed out of existence. In place of the old-time brigand, who
lived in the mountain fastness and was the
hated and hunted of all men, we have the modern brigand, who lives in the most gorgeous
palaces, and revels in the most costly luxury
and splendor, and possesses riches beyond the
dreams of avarice. He is courted and feted
by society and honored by the State.

72

It will be well to notice the points of difference as well as the points of resemblance
between the modern brigand and the ancient
brigand, his prototype. The ancient brigand
produced no wealth himself, but lived off of
the fruits of other men's industry; so does
the modern brigand. The ancient brigand
lived by robbery and plunder so does the
modern brigand. The ancient brigand often
divided a portion of his booty with the poor,
the modern brigand sometimes gives a small
portion of his stealings to charity. The ancient brigand defied the laws of God and man,
so does the modern brigand. But here the resemblance seems to cease, and we will look
at the points of dissimilarity.
The ancient brigand robbed the wealthy,
the well-to-do. The modern brigand robs the
poor. The ancient brigand took only a small
portion of the store of the rich, the modern
brigand takes all the earthly possessions of
the poor. The ancient brigand took his plunder openly on the highway, the modern brigand
gets his by stealth, by "ways that are dark
and deeds that are foul." The ancient brigand
sometimes held his victim until some friend
would pay the booty for his ransom. The modern brigand robs his victim of his last dollar,
appropriates the home that shelters him, confiscates his lands, and then sells him and his
children, into perpetual slavery.
The ancient brigand was ostracized by so-

73

ciety, anathematized by the Church and hunted by the State. The modern brigand is lionized by society, made a "pillar in the church"
and a hero by the State. The ancient brigand
took only enough for his support, and left
all the world free. The modern brigand takes
all that the laboring people have, and forces
the world into slavery.
The ancient brigand never took life unless
compelled to do so in self-defense, the modern
brigand murders men, women, innocent children and helpless babes, alike without any excuse or reason in the world except for personal
gain.
But why go further in examining the points
of difference? You are already convinced that
the modern brigand is a thousand times worse
than his ancient brother, and you are even
now saying he ought to be hanged, burned at
the stake, or drawn and quartered. Be careful, dear reader, what you say, for you are
talking about the American plutocrat. He is
the modern brigand. If you think too loud
you will be called an anarchist. The modern
brigand has the courts, the rich fashionable
churches, the military and many high officials
who are ready to do his bidding and uphold
him in all that he does. If the people should
try to reclaim, even a small proportion, of
what this old robber has taken from them,
they would be arrested and imprisoned by the
courts, frowned upon by high officials, shot

74

down by the military and denied a burial by
the aristocratic churches.
Let us examine and see what inroads modern brigandage has made into our country.
We are paying to the robber brigands $2,400,000,000 a year interest, tribute money, that
we must pay in order to buy our peace. This
is $34.28 each for every man, woman and child
in the land. Every dollar of this must be paid
by the producing classes, and not a penny by
the rich, idle consumers. We have been paying this levy and getting along by rigid economy. Eecently the brigands held a council,
however, and decided that it would be more
profitable to them to own all the land, all the
manufactories, all the railroads—in fact, to
own absolutely everything in the broad land,
and reduce the people to a condition of serfdom. So they decided to destroy one-half the
people's money, and they did so. Now it is
just twice as hard to pay the tribute as it
formerly was. It takes twice as much of the
people's products and labor, but the annual
dole must be measured out for the brigands
now have everything under mortgage, and if
the people fail to pay the interest, they have
courts, sheriffs and soldiers ready to dispossess the nation.
The total amount that we are due these brigands is forty billion dollars. This is a per
capita indebtedness of a fraction over five hundred and seventy-one dollars and forty-two

75

cents. It was a simple and easy matter to double the amount of the total indebtedness and
annual interest. It only required the destruction of one-half the money with which the
people had to pay. They destroyed it, and
now the people have to pay in wheat, cotton,
corn and the various agricultural products,
and also by labor in the mines and factories.
Since the destruction of the people's money
it takes just twice as much corn and wheat
and twice as much labor to pay the interest as
it formerly did. In other words, by the stroke
of a pen, the robbers increased our total indebtedness from |40,000,000,000 to $80,000,000,000, an increase in our per capita indebtedness from 1571.42 to $1,142.84, and the
annual per capita interest from $34.28 to
168.56.
The brigands fondly hoped that the people
could not bear this increased burden, but
while it caused widespread suffering, the direst poverty, and the greatest destitution, they
have gone on making sacrifices and half starving, so they could meet the annual interest.
Eecently the brigands have held another council and proposed to take away from the people
all the silver money they yet have in circulation, all the silver certificates, greenbacks,
Treasury notes, etc. This will take away almost two-thirds of the money yet left in circulation. They not only propose to destroy this

76

money, but for every dollar so taken from the
people and destroyed they propose to issue to
themselves bonds, payable, principal and interest, in gold, and compel the people to pay
them.
We will reckon the burdens as being doubled again. Then we would owe the brigands
$120,000,000,000, which would make our per
capita indebtedness $2,285.68, and our per
capita annual interest would be increased to
$137.12. They propose to leave in circulation
only the gold which was on Oct. 1,1894, $500,126,248. This is a per capita circulation of
only $7.12. This is the amount theoretically
in circulation. The amount of gold actually
in circulation is not over $3.50 per capita. Of
this sum the plutocrats have at least eighty
per cent., so if this last robbery is carried out
as planned, the almost seventy million people
will have a per capita circulation of seventy
cents in gold to pay a per capita annual interest of $137.12, and a total per capita indebtedness of $2,285.68.
This is modern brigandage, upheld by the
law and made respectable by society and the
plutocratic churches. Will the people forever
submit to be thus robbed or will they rise up
and retake their own? The greatest of the
modern brigands is perhaps the Standard Oil
trust. It is estimated that it has robbed the
people within two weeks of $50,000,000, yet
this old brigand is endeavoring to dodge its

77

taxes. It has become so powerful and has defied the law so long that its arrogance and impudence are almost intolerable.
In this connection I quote an interesting article from the New York "World" of April 20.
"BLACKMAIL AND NO TAXES.
"How many of us understand f 50,000,000?
To nearly all the people of this Republic it
means seven ciphers and the figure five. I t is
wealth beyond the common wit of man to
grasp. Working night and day for twenty
years, without pause for food or sleep, one
man might count it all; twenty men could not
count it in a year. It is a sum that means
food, clothing, comfort to whole areas of this
country; its loss, its taking away means the
present pinch of want to thousands.
"In the last two weeks the Standard Oil
trust has forced up the price of oil until its
profits are believed to have reached $50,000,000, the sum which none of us can count
in twenty years. This money will be paid at
last by the poor, a dollar from one, two dollars
from another, perhaps only fifty cents from a
third. These will be losses easily understood
and heavily felt. This is the blackmail of modern industrial power.
"In these same last two weeks this same
Standard Oil trust has calmly said that it will
fight the law, will not pay the tax on incomes,
and will try to smash and break down what

78

the people have set up. The man who earns
f5,000 will pay his $20 tax and say nothing;
the trust that squeezes $50,000,000 from the
poor in two weeks will pay nothing.
"The man who can stop this sort of thing is
Eichard Olney, Attorney-General of the
United States. The man who can force Eichard Olney to do this is Grover Cleveland, President of the United States."
And the "World" might have added" that if
the Attorney-General does not do so,and if Mr.
Cleveland does not force him to, the people
ought to demand that they both resign. But
these rich trusts can violate the law with impunity, and they and all the other brigands
can defy the law and refuse to pay taxes, but
the poor man with a humble cottage, or the
small farmer with his forty acres of land and
a horse and a cow, cannot escape, but must
contribute toward the support of the government. The rich brigands are unwilling to pay
taxes to uphold the government after it has
enriched them.
These brigands rob the people and then the
military comes in and protects them and helps
them to retain their booty, and after the disturbance is all over, they sally forth and force
the people to pay taxes to support the soldiers
who are ever ready to shoot them down. The
brigand has no conscientious scruples. He is
a robber and thief by birth, choice and profession. He has no respect for the law and no

79

sense of right and honor, so when it becomes
necessary to avoid the payment of taxes he
"perjures himself like a gentleman." Two of
New York's millionaires have just shown the
world to what lengths a modern brigand will
go to keep from disgorging any of his ill-gotten gains. Again I quote an editorial from a
leading New York daily:
"THE OATH OF THE GOULDS.
"White lies are not considered heinous offenses. But they are sometimes so much off
color as to take upon themselves a'very somber hue.
"In the hearing over the Goulds' tax assessment yesterday, Edwin Gould and Howard
Gould testified that they owned no property
in New York, were not residents here, but
voted in Westchester county, and paid taxes
there. Howard Gould further swore that he
holds no securities in this city and has no
bank account here.
"It may cause some persons to wink the
other eye when they hear that the Goulds are
not residents of New York, and, so far as this
city is concerned, are in a condition of pauperism here. But, then, there is a wide difference
between a tax assessment of ten million dollars and one of about half a million dollars.
A greater difference, indeed, than there is between a white lie and a regular highly colored
whopper."

80

Here are these two millionaires taking the
pauper oath.
His Satanic majesty in his most devilish,
fiendish moments could not conceive of anything one-half so diabolical. The days of the
modern brigand are numbered. His arrogance and blind stupidity to the tempest that
is brewing are evidences that the day of doom
draweth nigh. Let the people once fully realize that they have been, and are now being,
robbed of such vast treasure and they will be
driven to frenzy, and then in terror the poor,
bewildered brigand will cry for the rocks and
mountains to fall upon him and hide him
from the wrath of his victims.

A CONTRAST.

There are many trusts in the country, and
the amount of their capital is fabulous. The
cattle trust has a capital stock of $13,000,000;
the salt trust, $20,000,000; the whiskey trust,
135,000,000; the cotton oil trust, $42,000,000;
the lead trust, $45,000,000; the sugar trust,
$75,000,000; the tobacco trust, $30,000,000,
and the Standard Oil trust has one man among
its organizers who is said to receive as his annual dividend $6,000,000. It is estimated that
the combined capital of all the trusts in the
United States amounts to more than $1,000,000,000. These enormous aggregations of
wealth exert immense power for evil, and are
manifestly antagonistic to the general welfare. They increase prices on the necessaries
of life. They reduce the wages of workingmen. Thev control production. They lessen
the demand for labor. They throttle the competition in trade and manufacture. They
monopolize the wealth of the land. They bribe
and corrupt our legislative bodies. They dominate both the Democratic and Eepublican
parties.
Si

CHAPTEE IX.
EASTER MORNING.

On Easter morning we are supposed to celebrate the resurrection of the Saviour. As a
matter of fact, the origin of the custom had
no connection with the resurrection of Christ,
but we so celebrate it and rejoice because this
great Keformer, this true Friend of the Poor,
rose from the dead and triumphed over the
oppressions of the money power, the persecutions of the proud and haughty.
We celebrate the day with new Spring
suits and Easter bonnets; but, dear reader, do
you realize that if Ohrist should come to our
modern Easter service in one of our fashionable city churches, that the ushers would refuse Him a seat and hustle Him out of the
house, calling him a "crank." There would be
a smart craning of necks and a great shaking
of ornaments, feathers and flowers on the new
Spring bonnets, but no one would open the
door of his pew and invite the Saviour in.
On this Easter Sabbath morning I started
82

83

out to see how the Saviour was worshipped
in the great money-getting metropolis, New
York City. The air was cool and bracing, the
rays of the sun bright and invigorating. On
the fashionable thoroughfares there were
throngs of well-dressed people, wending their
ways to the churches. Occasionally I met &
poor, tired, haggard woman, a wretched, careworn man, but no one stopped to speak a
cheering word to them, nor were they even
given so much as one sympathetic look.
A poor, wretched old woman sat on the
curbstone at a street corner looking pleadingly into the faces of the passers-by, holding out
an emaciated, palsied hand, but no one
stopped to drop a penny in it. They did not
have time to do so. They were going to worship the Saviour, who had died and risen from
the dead so that the burdens of poverty might
be lightened and the poor and rich placed on
an equal footing.
A wretched little beggar boy, who carried
two crutches, sat upon the door-step of a
brown-stone mansion. He was wan and
weary—so weary, weak and hungry that he
had to sit down and rest. The owner of the
mansion, with his wife, richly attired, dazzling with jewels, came out, their sumptuous
carriage rolled up, and the arrogant plutocrat crabbedly commanded the little waif to
get off the steps, threatening to call a policeman if he did not do so. He did not see the

84

pained expression in the child's features or
catch a glimpse of the tears as they trickled
down the poor, hollow cheeks. Oh, no; he had
no time for these things; he was going with
his rich, proud wife to Easter service on this
beautiful Easter morning to worship the
risen, triumphant Saviour.
I entered one of New York's most magnificent churches. The people poured in in
throngs. There were great banks of flowers,
the music was distressingly grand. The minister preached a sermon on the Eesurrectionand told of the beauties and joys of Heaven.
It was cold, formal, iand as chilling as death.
I looked everywhere for the Christ, but He
was not there. I went to a number of fashionable churches, but I could not see Him. I
inquired for Him, but people stared a t me,
calling me a crank.
Finally, I went out upon the street, now
wellnigh cleserted,and at a little distance I saw
a group of three. A man with long, flowing hair
and the most benevolent face I had ever seen,
and the same old lady and little boy I have
already described. And I looked more intently, and, lo! it was none other than the
Saviour whom the people in the great
churches were seeking, and here He was with
these two beggars. He had just given to each
a glass of cold water, and now He was taking
out of a basket some loaves and fishes and luscious-looking fruit. Then He sat down and

85

told them the beautiful story of the Cross, and
at its conclusion he took each by the hand
and said: "Come with Me, and I will share
with you My home. And you shall never hunger or thirst again, and I will dry the tears
from your eyes and take all the pain away
from your hearts, and you shall be at rest."
As He went along the street, leading the two
wretched outcasts, the worshippers were coming out of the churches; the}^ look at Him,
laughing derisively and saying, "poor old
crank."
From the daily papers the author has
clipped the following scenes of Easter morning.
"Between those two hours Easter Sunday
was compassed. Between those two hours the
parade of fashionables, the parade of peox3le
who would be fashionable and the parade of
people who owe everything to dressmakers,
tailors and florists, proceeded up and down
Fifth Avenue.
"The women were well dressed. There was
nothing extravagant—except always the bills.
The one thing noticeable to the observer who
is not fashionable was the number of wings
about them. There were wings to their little
bonnets. Angels themselves, why did they
need wings? There were wings to the lapels
—'lapels' is masculine, but that's the only
word to describe it—there were wings to the
lapels of their corsages. There were wings

86

everywhere—their gowns, their coats, everywhere. They were indeed angels, with wings
spread for flight, hut sweet enough for this
earth.
"Barring the ornamentation of these hats
and gowns, which turned the Avenue into a
kaleidoscope of ever-changing color, these
women adorned themselves with flowers* The
wonder was where so many violets came from.
The "modest violet" had plainly been ravished
from her remotest corner.
"The splendor of the service at St. Patrick's
Cathedral was equal to an}^ previous endeavor in the direction of Easter worship. Great
crowds poured in at the several big entrances
steadily from 9:30 until 11 a. m., when the
celebration of solemn pontifical mass was begun. The edifice having filled by this time,
the doors were besieged by many hundreds
for whom there was no accommodation.
"Archbishop Corrigan was the chief celebrant of the mass. He had many assistant
clergymen, and he wore the gorgeous Columbian vestments of white satin, embroidered
in gold, made especially for use a t the great
national celebration of over two years ago.
"The mass was celebrated amidst magnificent floral decorations similar to those always characterizing the adornment of the Cathedral on Easter Day. The altar was profusely dressed in Easter lilies bound with
pink and Nile-green ribbon. The sanctuary

87

was prodigal in its display of lilies, palms,
other plants and pink roses.
"In old Trinity Church the observance of the
day began at 6 a. m. with the celebration of
the Holy Communion, followed by another an
hour later, and one in German at 8 a. m.
Morning prayer was at 9:30 a. m. In the high
celebration at 10.30 a. m. the music was most
elaborate. Upon the altar were masses of
white roses, callas, field daisies and lilies,
slashed here and there with strips of green,
and directly behind them the tall white tapers
and the background of heavy ferns. On each
side of the altar stood three huge masses of
hydrangea. Along the chancel steps were a
few lilies and ferns. The services were conducted by the rector, Dr. Morgan Dix, assisted
by the vicar, Eev. J. N. Steele, and the curates,
A. W. Griffin and J. J. Eowanspong. Dr. Dix
preached."
Trinity Church, be it remembered, is the
one owning so many rotten, foul tenement
houses, where the tenants were compelled to
live in dirt and filth and pay high rent to fill
the coffers of the church until the city authorities, moved to pity, compelled the church to
better provide for the welfare of its tenants.
This it would not do until after a legal struggle.
I do not make these comments to in any
way reflect on the good work done by the
churches, but I am endeavoring to show that

88

plutocracy, like the deadly canker worm, has
entered the hearts of the people, and we are
"money mad," and, for the most part, have departed very far from the teachings of the Man
of Galilee.
In the midst of all this gayety, this splendid
display of money, other scenes were being enacted. Tragedies in real life:
There were two parades Easter Sunday
that contrasted strangely.
One came in with the gray of the morning;
the other with the sunshine. One was the
parade of fashion, of wealth, of youth and
beauty of this great city. The other of poverty, misery and starvation.
Everybody saw the one, but only those who
took part viewed the other. In New York
there are charities and charities. Great buildings some of them are housed in. Armies of
clerks putter away at great ledgers. There is
an air of bustle to everything. The needy are
attended to—sometimes—but the bread to
keep life in the body isn't stacked up behind
the great safes. The pinching cold isn't warded off by warm garments which fill the
shelves. There is red-tape on every hand. I t
stretches from the corners of the rooms to the
ceilings and across every way. I t winds about
the movements of the slowly moving clerks,
and binds, Oh, so tightly, the open hands that
do not need it. Well-meaning folks are in
charge, but the one whose stomach is empty

89

might perish before the aid sought is forthcoming.
At the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway is the Vienna Bakery. A Mr. Fleischmann owns it. He is rich. From 9 p. m. until
2 a. m., hundreds of employees are busy in the
great basement turning out thousands of
loaves of bread and rolls hot from the great
ovens, to be sent all over the city and out of
it.
As early as midnight, sometimes—and Easter eve it was earlier—a little knot of men began to gather at the corner of Broadway by
the bakery. As usual, they were in black.
Curiously enough, there is nothing white
about their appearance except their faces.
As their numbers increased each arrival
took his place on the line that began to
stretch out to formidable proportions. There
were tall men and lesser ones, and on their
faces was that look of hopelessness, vacancy,
if you like, which born of despair seems always part of those who think of hunger as an
every-day occurrence.
One couldn't seem to see where they came
from. Up from the side door to Broadway
the line stretched, and then on for a block up
Broadway. ISTot a word was spoken, or ever
is, for that matter; silent, piteous, with a
gnawing at their stomachs, this parade of the
hungry began to slowly move as the bakery
door was opened at 2 a. m., and Max, the big

90

foreman's assistant, began to hand each man
as he- passed a loaf of bread. As soon as
received, no wolf could be quicker with a bit
of meat, and off into the darkness that Easter
procession scurried. Some with the loaf under the tattered coat, so that the owner might
not be tempted to eat it before he reached
home and the hungry ones.
A big policeman stood on the corner, but
they didn't need his service. The last comer
took the last place on the line. I t wouldn't
be well for him to have tried to get ahead of
any one. Starving men won't stand any nonsense. Once in a while one of the men would
return to the line after getting a loaf, and
the second was never refused. "If a man
needs two he can have them," said the baker.
"The Lord forbid that I'd refuse."
Eagerly, earnestly, desperately they pushed
along in Indian file until shortly the line,
which had been standing for hours, turned
the corner of Broadway and reached up past
Grace Church for a block and a half, had all
been served. Out of the blackness of the doorways across the street and up and down
Broadway hobbled the lame and the crippled
who had been unable to maintain their place
in the line of weary waiters.
Have you ever seen real poverty?
Have you ever seen husbands and fathers of
families who day after day are facing starvation?

91

Have you ever gazed upon a solemn column
of five hundred men who have not a penny
with which to provide for their little ones?
You have read of cases of destitution. You
have read of the tidal wave of hard times
which last year threw out of employment
many, many thousand men. And you have
read how during this season of great distress
the "World" distributed through its Free
Bread Fund more than a million loaves of
bread to feed the starving poor of the East
and West sides.
Go any night at midnight to the corner of
Tenth Street and Broadway and you will find
that this is true. You will see such a sight
as you have never seen before in your lives.
If you go at 10 o'clock you will see perhaps
half a dozen beginning to form the line of
eager waiters* If you arrive at midnight you
will see 150 men. If at 1 o'clock perhaps 300
men, and later on, when the bakery door is
thrown open, you will see double this number.
If ever there was a real, practical, worthy
charity in this world, it is the charity of
Fleischmann, the baker. For a long time it
has been his custom to distribute in the early
hours of the morning each day all of the
loaves of bread that his great bakery has left
over from the previous day's baking. He does
not advertise this, and indeed he does not
have to, for the poor, the real suffering, starving people have found it out. All the long

92

dreary nights this same shivering, trembling
line of people can be seen, and Mr. Fleischmann knows that no man will stand all night
in front of his bakery door waiting to carry
home a loaf of bread unless he needs it.
And so this Easter parade shuffled along,
while Miss McFlimsy was dreaming of her
new gown and bonnet, and with the daylight
came the other parade of fashion, frivolity
and wealth, the latest gowns and millinery.
Creations of Worth and Felix fluttered by.
All the colors of the rainbow, all the textures
imaginable. Some with the thought of the
day's meaning, some with the lightest of chatter on their lips, that parade passed by. And
the contrast!
Many of these men once had prosperous
homes, but plutocratic greed has swallowed
them up,and now they are helpless, hopeless.
Down at the Jefferson Market Court there
were other tragedies in real life. A long line
of criminals, some hundred or more, stood
waiting to hear their doom. There were old
men and old women, young men and young
women, boys and girls. The gray hairs of
age in the long procession were closely followed by the golden locks of youth. There
were cases of drunkenness, prostitution, affrays, brawls, theft.
Borne of the faces I saw were sad, pathetic,
but most of them were hard and brutal, All
were full of hopeless despair.

93

One little fellow, ragged and dirty, was
charged with stealing a loaf of bread. His
only defense was starvation. "Five dollars
and costs," coldly responded the judge.
A very old woman, perhaps seventy-five, was
charged with being drunk. She had no defense except wretchedness. "Ten dollars and
costs," was the metallic reply.
Several women between the ages of twenty
and forty were then driven in like sheep to
the slaughter pen. They were charged with
soliciting men on the street. Their faces
showed that they had no defense, except that
they had been driven to this calling by poverty. "Ten dollars and costs in each case,"
coolly remarked his honor.
There was a great contrast between the dinner enjoyed on this Easter Sunday by the
plutocrat, who never earned a dollar, and
that enjoyed by the plain working man, who
earned the plutocrat's wealth for him.
THE PLUTOCRAT'S DINNER
MENU.
Little Neck Clams.
Clear Turtle Soup.
Planked Delaware Shad, Cucumbers.
Breast of Spring Chicken, Fresh Mushrooms.
Spring Lamb, Mint Sauce, Fresh String Beans.
Sorbet.
Roast Snipe, New Asparagus.
Lettuce and Tomatoes, Camembert.
Strawberries and Ice Cream.
Coffee.

94
WINE LIST.
Sauterne.
Amontillado Sherry.
Pontet Canet.
G. H . Mumm's E x t r a Dry.
Cliquot, Yellow Label.
Cigarettes.
Liqueurs.
Cigars.

THE WOBKINGMAN'S DINNER
MENU.
One loaf of bread.
"Water.

Once more allow me to present the contrast
which shows the ever-deepening, widening
and dangerous gulf between the rich and the
poor. The first description is taken from the
New York "World/' and is as follows:
Victoria, Queen of England, is said to be
very particular about her bed, and to have
a deep-rooted objection to changing from one
couch to another. Her bedroom is a very simple, unpretentious one, and almost any woman
in the land can boast a sleeping apartment
quite as good as that of the Queen of Great
Britain and the Empress of India. The heavy
bed, with its canopied top and curtains
for keeping all draughts from the royal sleeper, several chairs, a thick warm rug, a great
table of carved mahogany, some good pictures, including a portrait of Prince Albert,
complete the apartment in Buckingham'Palace in which Her Majesty slumbers.
Mrs. S. Van Eensselaer Cruger, who is Ju-

95

lien Gordon in the literary world, has one of
the most artistic bedrooms in America. The
crowning glory of the room is the bed, which
is a representation of a swan. Each feather
is exquisitely carved in the white enameled
wood by hand, and the proportions are wonderful in their exactness.
A canopy of white silk falls from the tall,
slender neck, adding to the beauty, concealing none of the lines in carving. The coverlet is of rich white satin, covered with filmy
lace.
Mrs. Cruger has pillows on her pretty bed,
and these have day slips of satin much befrilled with lace. The monogram on the coverlet and pillows is done in white, and there
is not a touch of color about the whole affair.
The color scheme of the room is dull pink.
The walls, carpets and hangings are of this
exquisite tint. The dressing table, with its
quaint chair, the framing of the tall chevalglass, and the carved woodwork of the Colonial
mantelpiece are of glistening white enameled
wood. A few choice watercolors and bits
of rose-flecked china give a homelike look to
the room.
LIKE A PINK SHELL.

Lillian Eussell rejoices in a sleeping apartment which suggests nothing so, much as a
great, pearly, pink sea-shell. Her little single
bed is of brass, but scarcely a trace of the

96

glittering metal can be seen, so" much of
mother-of-pearl has been used. Not only to
inlay, but to coyer the pillows and bars, has
the gleaming substance been used. The draperies are of white silk bolting-cloth, painted
in pink morning glories and delicate arbutus
lined with palest pink satin. Soft white lace
oyer pink satin forms the covering for the bed
and for the hard, round bolster, and falls on
both sides almost to the white velvet carpet.
The dressing-table is of pink enamel, inlaid
with wreaths and Cupids of mother-of-pearl,
with faint traces of gold. The oval-shaped
mirror is framed in a wreath of costly morning glories.
The hand-mirror is of mother-of-pearl, set
with jeweled monograms. All of the brushes
and toilet belongings are of gold and exquisite,
shiny, pearly-like substance.
The dressing-chair matches the toilet-table
in color and ornamentation. It is a quaint
little affair, with cushions soft as down. There
is no back,of course, so that the maid can brush
Miss Russell's golden curls with all ease and
despatch, but the arms are broad and curving,
and upon these the singer rests her dimpled
elbows and avoids much of the fatigues of toilet-making.
I will now give a description of the bed occupied by a poor working girl, honest and virtuous, who has been out of employment for
several weeks.

in

#

COLLIS P. HUNTINGTON.

97

A plank slab, a little straw and one ragged
old blanket.
I hope the reader will pardon me for inserting tl\e following incident, but it is an apt
illustration of the profligate use of money in
the midst of starvation. Mr. Tree, the gentleman referred to, is an English actor, whom
the American plutocrats have been running
after, and who goes back to England with a
goodly sum of money earned by the American
laboring man:
"Just as the Paris was about to sail last
Wednesday Beerbohm Tree, the English actor,
made frantic efforts from the rail to attract
the attention of Clarence Fleming, who acted
as his American representative, and who
was strolling down the pier.
" <Oh, Fleming," shouted Mr. Tree, when he
got his manager's attention. T v e come away
from the Waldorf and forgotten to pay my
bill/ he said, with a pathetic lisp. 'Come on
board so I can give you the money.'
"Fleming hurried to the gang-plank, but
was told that he could not go aboard. A
friendly Custom-House officer helped him to
Mr. Tree. Then the actor discovered that he
had no money with him, and a hurried search
began for Acting Manager Watson, who carried the funds. Watson was finally located,
and just as the gang-planks were being hauled
in, Fleming dashed ashore, clutching a comfortable wad of bills.

98

"Fleming made his way to the Waldorf, and
after a conference with the cashier, left with
receipted vouchers for $1,000, which was the
amount of Tree's hotel bill for ten days."
Think of this, ye toiling, starving people,
One thousand dollars for ten days' hotel bill,
And this money was all earned by yon. I
would reflect upon the intelligence of my readers if I offered further comment on these
deadly contrasts. In them may be read a startling lesson.
No one need be a prophet to see what these
things portend. The overthrow of plutocracy
is inevitable. Let us pray t h a t it may be
speedy.

The plutocrat's dinner cost
$6.25
The laboring man's dinner cost
.05
Mr. Tree paid for ten days' board at the Waldorf.. 1,000.00
The workingman pays for ten days' board
2.50
The daughter of plutocracy's bed is worth
10,000.00
The daughter of the workingman sleeps on a bed
worth
5.00
99

6HAPTEK X.
BLIND FOLLOWERS.

In 1864 President Lincoln made the following prediction:
"The money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices
of the people until all wealth is aggregated
in a few hands."
Could he live to-day he would see the fulfillment of his prophecy. Nearly all the wealth
has been aggregated in a few hands, and the
money power is now industriously engaged in
working upon the prejudices of the people
and using every artifice to delude and deceive
them.
So far it has been quite successful, and how
much longer these tactics will be availing
remains to be seen.
The cunning of plutocracy equals the ingenuity of the devil. For thirty years it has
kept aflame the sectional bitterness engendered by the War.
In the North there has been a vigorous and
100

im
persistent waving of the bloody shirt, while
in the South it has been the race problem,
"nigger supremacy," as we call it down there.
In the North the shibboleth has been, "vote
as you shot." In the South it has been, "down
with the carpet-bagger and Yankee."
All these years the people of the two sections have been ready to fly at each other's
throats' politically, while the money power has
urged them on.
There is one discovery which I have recently made, that is perhaps worth mentioning.
All the plutocrats have a perfect understanding among themselves. They have no sectional bitterness, no political prejudice. Politics with them is a matter of business. They
support political parties for the return they
expect to get in dollars and cents. They
care not whether the Democratic or Republican party wins, so long as both parties favor the money power.
No one in this country really cares anything
about politics, except the politicians who are
seeking the boodle, which is supplied by plutocracy, and the people, the toilers, the wealthproducers of the nation, who are all the time
voting just as the money power wants them to.
At every election they vote for men who
will rivet more closely upon them the fetters
of slavery.
The plutocrats, the class for whom all laws
are enacted, care not a whit for politics,

102

Every four years there is a great commotion
throughout the country, and the Democrats
nominate a candidate for President, and the
Eepublicans nominate a candidate, and then
both parties go to plutocracy and say, "We
must have campaign funds with which to make
this fight." They get the money, and then the
loud-mouthed campaign orators go out to harangue the people, and each abuses the other's
party, and says the leaders are the meanest
men on earth, and that the members of the
party are all .too corrupt to occupy even a
humble place in one corner of His Satanic
Majesty's Kingdom, and they proceed to wave
the bloody shirt on the one side in the wildest
alarm, while the followers on the other side
shout at the top of their voices, "Nigger, nigger!" and when the people are all worked up,
almost to a frenzy, the wily old plutocrats get
together and determine which candidate must
be elected, and at once go to manipulating and
wire-pulling, so that they can accomplish their
purpose.
They arrange with the leaders for certain
financial legislation in the interest of capital,
and then dine at Delmonico's, and over their
costly wine and cigars they chuckle about
what fools they are making of the people.
All this time the poor, deluded voters are
howling themselves hoarse, carrying torchlights, beating tin-pans ? blowing horns, and
making fools of themselves in general, think-

103

ing that they are patriotic and are doing great
things for their country. They are blind foL
lowers.
The leaders make all the noise and flurrjj
they can, and the voters fall into the process
sion. They allow thmselves to be misled bj)
false issues'and blinded by foolish prejudices.
Year after year they have gone on voting
the old party tickets, never thinking, never
caring, saying, "The nominee of my party is
good enough for me." Until now thej
look around in a dazed sort of way and a s !
stupidly, "Where are we at?"
It is clear to any thinking mind that botli
of the old parties are the friends of plutocracy
The leaders—a great many of them—are un«
der plutocratic influence. Both of the old parties go to the money power for campaign
funds, and put themselves under obligations
to plutocracy at the very outset.
But a great tidal wave of reform is sweeping
over the land, and the people are not quite
such blind followers as they have been. They
are beginning to think for themselves, and
understand that the great beating of drums,
mounding of tom-toms, blast of trumpets and
blazing of torches are a ruse to lead them away
from the real issue and make them become
the celebrants of plutocracy's triumph over
labor's downfall, and the laboring man has
been the chief rejoicer at his own funeral,
not realizing what it all meant.

10!

Heretofore workingmen have been known
to nominate candidates for office who were
friends of labor, but on election day they
would refuse to yote for their own candidates
and cast their ballots for the candidates of
plutocracy.
Then the heads of labor organizations will
tell the men that they must not go into politics as an organization. At the banquet recently given in the city of New .York to John
Burns, M. P., the labor leader of England,
Mr. Gompers, who was then at the head of
the Federation of Labor of America, warned
the assembled laboring men against going into
politics. But when Mr. Burns, the brainy
leader and true friend of the workingman,
spoke, he said that the only way to get relief
is for the laboring men to go into politics. Of
course he was right, and of course Mr. Gompers and every other intelligent man knows
that Mr. Burns spoke the truth.
There was a time in this country when the
workingman was as good as the capitalist, and
was so treated, but to-day capital is placed
above labor, and the man who toils to produce the wealth is no more—nay, not
half so much—in the eyes of the plutocrat as
the ox or the horse.
He is only wanted so long as his services
are useful and his vote is needed, and then he
is turned out to tramp and starve, or beg of
his more fortunate fellow-workmen.

105

Although capital has been placed above labor, thus reversing the laws of God and every
principle of justice and right, the poor, deluded laboring classes have gone on, blindly
following the bustle and noise kept up by the
hirelings of plutocracy.
Lincoln had a different notion about labor.
He thought that it was prior to, and higher
than, capital, and that capital should be dependent on labor, instead of labor having to
bow to capital. I can do no better than to
quote his words:
"Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as
a possible refuge from the power of the people. In my present position I could scarcely
be justified were I to omit raising a warning
voice against this approach of returning despotism."
"It is not meet nor fitting here that a general
argument should be made in favor of popular
institutions. There is one point in this connection not so hackneyed as most others, to
which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort
to place capital on an equal footing with, if
not above labor, in the structure of government."
"It is assumed that capital is available only
in connection with capital; that nobody labors
unless somebody else owning capital, somehow by the use of it, induces him to .labor.
Labor is prior to, and independent of capital.
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and it could

106

never have existed if labor had not first existed."
"Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the highest consideration."
"No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty. None
less inclined to take or touch aught which they*
have not honestly earned. Let them beware
of surrendering a political power which they
already possess, and which, if surrendered,
will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix
new disabilities and burdens upon them till
all of liberty shall be lost."
The people have already surrendered their
political power into the hands of the trusts
and money-changers, and the question now is,
Will they still follow blindly until all their
liberty shall be lost?
If the workingmen band together, they are
called anarchists; if they strike for living
wages, it is called mob violence.
When has the military been sent out to
compel greedy, grasping plutocracy to do its
duty by labor. Never. How often have soldiers been sent to shoot down and maltreat
strikers and compel them to submit to the
demands of capital. Always when plutocracy asked for it.
So far have we departed from the principles
above declared by Lincoln that a daily paper,
published in a great city largely populated by

107

workingmen, recently gave utterance to the
following remarkable sentiment:
"When the communistic cry of bread or
blood comes up from the laborer, we should
administer a decoction of strychnine in quantities amply sufficient to meet the emergency
in every case that neither bread nor blood
will disturb them hereafter."
And the pity of it is that such sentiments
as these can be expressed here in this land
of the free and home of the brave, without
causing one word of comment among the
workingmen. But the time is coming when
such red-mouthed minions of plutocracy as
the man who wrote these anarchistic utterances, as well as the arrogant monsters whom
they serve, will cringe and bow before the
workingmen of America.
Labor is prior to and above capital. I t
possesses a dignity which capital does not.
Let us no longer crawl upon our bellies and
lick the dust at the feet of capital, but let us
rise up like men and make capital our servant.
Labor created capital, therefore labor is the
rightful master, and capital should be the obedient servant.
Workingmen of America, be no longer blind
followers, but be the flower and chivalry of
the land.

In his farewell address to the American people Andrew Jackson, commenting on the evils
of the national banking system, said:
"We are not left to conjecture how the
moneyed power, thus organized and with
such a weapon in its hands, would be likely
to use it. The distress and alarm which pervaded and agitated the whole country when
the Bank of the United States WAGED WAE
UPON THE PEOPLE, in order to compel
them to submit to its demands, cannot yet be
forgotten.
"The ruthless and unsparing temper with
which whole cities and communities were oppressed, individuals impoverished and ruined
and a scene of cheerful prosperity suddenly
changed into one of gloom and despondency
ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory of the people of the United States. If
such was its power in a time of peace, what
would it not have been in a season of war,
with an enemy at our doors? No nation but
the freemen of the United States could have
come out victorious from such a contest; yet
xos

109

if yon had not conquered, the government
wouid have passed from the hands of the
many to the hands of the few; and this organized money power, from its secret conclave, wonld have dictated the choice of yonr
highest officers and compelled yon to make
peace or war, as best suited their own wishes.
"The forms of yonr government might, for
a time, have remained, bnt its living spirit
wonld have departed from it."

CHAPTER XL
THE IMPREGNABLE INTRENGHMENT.

There is no question but what plutocracy
has gained a stronghold in this country. It
is thoroughly intrenched, well fortified and
ably defended.
To those who love liberty; to those who
hope to see the highest state of civilization
attainable; to those who want to see such a
condition of society as will bring the greatest
good to the greatest number, the momentous
question to-day is, " How can we dislodge the
money power?"
As pointed out in the preceding chapter, one
of the great barriers which stand in the way
is the blind following of the people. Men
who are half-starved will walk up to the polls,
gaunt, ragged, hollow-eyed, with visions of
roofless homes, cheerless hearthstones, despondent wives and wretched children in the
background of their mental vision, and some
well-dressed plutocrat will shake hands with
them (the only day in the year when he would

in

notice them at all), pat them on the backs, and
place tickets in their hands, and the poor fellows feel so much flattered that they are the
most eager men you see on election day to
vote in the interest of plutocracy.
Again, the money power has a strong ally
in the owners of large manufactories and commercial establishments. Here the owners
give the men to understand that their positions depend upon how they vote. Thus I
have seen thousands of honest, intelligent,
free-born American citizens driven to the
polls like cattle to the slaughter house and
compelled to vote against their own interests,
their convictions and their consciences.
Most of them had dependent families or
relatives, and the thought of seeing the wolf
at the door held such terrors for them that
they did the bidding of plutocracy, shutting
their eyes to the future. For a poor home and
a frugal living for a little while they were
willing to sacrifice all of the future years.
I t was the old story of Esau selling his
birthright for a mess of pottage.
Plutocracy has unlimited capital at its
command. It has nearly all the wealth which
has been accumulated on this magnificent
continent; therefore the money power can
spend millions of dollars every four years to
carry the election, for will it not get such
legislation and such an administration of the
law as will enable it to get back all the money

112

it pays out, with interest compounded ten
times oyer?
Plutocracy sends its literature into every
home, it employs the best and brightest political speakers.
I t owns nearly all the great daily papers
of the country, and many of the weeklies.
The papers continually teach false economic
and political doctrines.
In New York Oity some of these papers are
openly anarchistic. They have advised plutocracy to ignore and violate the income tax
law and refuse to pay taxes upon incomes.
They say that this law ought to be stamped
out of existence.
One of the most noted examples of the plutocratic organs (is /perhaps the New York
" Sun." I t is the ardent and faithful champion
of plutocracy as opposed to the people. And
yet it claims to be a Democratic paper, and to
love the principles of government as laid
down by Jefferson and carried out by Jackson.
W h a t a farce it all is? Nay, not a farce,
but a tragedy, for the people have been misled until they have forgotten what democracy
really is, and, although plutocracy has been
substituted for democracy in all except the
name, they go on believing that they are still
clinging to those principles for which the
Revolutionary heroes fought, which Jefferson
BQ ably expounded and Jackson so faithfully

W. K. VANDERBILT.

113

defended, and Lincoln so fully embodied in
his life and shadowed forth in his death.
I had a conversation the other day with the
editor of one of the New York dailies, and he
said to me:
"Many of us are compelled day after day
to write editorials supporting financial policies which we detest. We must support plutocracy in order to keep our positions."
" The papers here differ politically on the
surface, but when it comes to the money question they are all agreed. Most of them are
owned by Wall Street, and of course they do
the bidding of their masters."
I have talked to a great many newspaper
writers in New York City, and am firmly convinced that at least seventy-five per cent, of
them are opposed to plutocracy in all of its
forms and favor almost, if not quite, every
plank in the Omaha platform of the People's
party. Yet the power of plutocracy is so
strong that they are compelled to barter their
thoughts, their very individuality, for bread.
Men have said to me something like this:
" Oh, as an individual, I favor the free coinage of silver, the abolition of national banks,
and the government ownership of railroads,
telegraph and telephone lines, etc., but as an
editor I favor the single gold standard, the extension of the power of the national banks,
and am opposed to government ownership
and control of anything."

114

I have asked them why they thus stultify
themselves, and it was always the same old
answer, " I t means bread, and we cannot afford to do otherwise/'
The following are the words of John Swinton, delivered before the New York Press Association in response to a toast, "The Independent Press":
" There is no such thing in America as an
independent press, unless it is in the country
towns. You know it, and I know it. There
is not one of you who dare express an honest
opinion. If you express it, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I
am paid $150 per week for keeping my honest
opinions out of the paper I am connected
with. Others of you are paid similar salaries
for doing similar things. If I should permit
honest opinions to be printed in one issue
of my paper, like Othello, before twenty-four
hours my occupation would be gone. The
man who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets hunting for another job. The business of the New
York journalist is to distort the truth, to lie
outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the
feet of Mammon, and to sell his country and
race for his daily bread; or, for what is about
the same thing, his salary. You know this,
and I know it; and what foolery to be toasting an 'independent press/ We are tools,
and the vassals of rich men behind the scenes.

115

We are jumping-jacks. They pull the string
and we dance. Our time, our talents, our
lives, our possibilities, all are the property
of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
There.is no weapon sharper or more effective than ridicule. This is employed by the
plutocratic papers to great advantage. They
represent all the reformers as having long
whiskers, wheels in their heads? and hayseed
in their hair. They caricature the leaders,
and keep at it so continually that the people
soon come to look on all persons who are
dissatisfied with present conditions, and who
want to exchange the old regime for better
things, as cranks. These tactics to-day hold
a terror for thousands, and keep them in the
lines of the two old parties.
Another stronghold of plutocracy is its
power to ruin financially millions of men if
they refuse to vote as the money power dictates. Take the farmers of the country, and
their farms are nearly all under mortgage,
and the humble homes of the wage-earners
are in the same condition.
If a voter thus situated shows signs of disloyalty to the money power, a trusty agent
is sent to wait on him. Usually it is the local
banker. He writes the recalcitrant voter a
very polite letter requesting him to call at
the bank. The voter does so, and the banker
invites him into his private office.

116

When comfortably seated the banker proceeds as follows:
" My dear sir, I know that you are a patriotic citizen, a very conservative man, and
friendly to good government, and as the bank
feels especially interested in you, I took the
liberty of asking you to call.
" I have heard some rumors to the effect
that you were getting these new-fangled ideas
into your head, but I trust that such is not
the case, for I am sure that you want to belong to a respectable, high-toned party, and
you cannot—no, really cannot—my friend, afford to join this new' party.
« Why, dear me, they are all a lot of cranks,
and if they should get control of the government, the bankers of Wall Street, and especially the bankers of London, would lose
confidence, and there would be universal ruin
and our bank would have to call in all of its
loans/'
He has grown so pathetically eloquent during this recital that the tears are standing in
his eyes. The farmer leaves the bank, knowing that if he votes for either of the old parties his mortgage will be extended for another year, but that if he does not do so it
will be foreclosed at once and his family
thrown out of a home. The struggle is a
hard one, but he yields at last, and on election day votes the ticket handed him by the
banker.

117

The impression is all the time being made
that all those that have broken away from
the old parties and joined the People's party
are disappointed office-seekers and generally
a disreputable lot.
In the East a full-fledged Populist from the
South or West is looked upon as a great
freak,
American people want to be respectable;
oh, most respectable, and therefore they do
not want to be placed in the same class with
the wild-eyed, long-haired and whiskered and
foam-flecked-lipped Populists.
They would rather be respectable than right.
They would rather be respectable and be
slaves than to bear the scorn and ridicule and
be free.
Bespectability!—oh, such respectability—
God save the mark. It is the respectability of
the devil. I t is the respectability which crucified
Jesus Christ. He was the greatest reformer
of all the ages, and because He came preaching a new regime He was hunted by Herod
while yet a babe in arms.
Because He preached the rule of the people
and opposed the rule of plutocracy He was
hounded through life by the money power.
Because He dared to tell the plutocrats that
they were thieves and liars, "whited sepulchers full of dead men's bones," He was called
a crank, an impostor, a hypocrite, a madman,
and even a devil.

118

Because He went into the Temple and
scourged the money-changers, they became
more bitter in their persecutions, until at last
with their money they bought his life and
stood around and scoffed and jeered while He
died upon the cross.
Jesus Christ preached liberty and freedom.
He placed labor above capital; He advocated
the overthrow of plutocracy and the rule of
the people, and for these causes He incurred
the displeasure of the money power and was
put to death.
To-day we are fighting the same battle, and
if Christ were here upon earth now the American plutocrats would crucify Him. We have
reached the greatest crisis of all the ages,
and now we are about to witness the triumph
of the principles for which Christ died nearly
nineteen hundred years ago, or else to see the
final ending and going up in smoke of that
beautiful dream of the philosophers of all
the ages, the " Brotherhood of Man."
Another powerful ally of plutocracy are the
fashionable Churches. These are eminently
respectable, and are always arrayed on the
side of the money power. They could not afford to go into a movement started among
the people. Oh, no; they have made too great
an improvement on the teachings of Christ
for that. He, indeed, came to the poor, the
despised, the friendless, but your modern aristocratic Church could not afford to follow his

119

example. If He were here now and should
go into one of these purse-proud, haughty
churches, as he did when here on earth, condemning plutocracy in his scathing language,
the congregations would be shocked.
Such Churches as these are always opposed
to reform, and stand in the way until the very
last moment.
Of course, this does not apply to all
Churches nor all ministers. Many preachers
are doing good work in the ^cause of humanity,
and as the crisis approaches nearer and nearer they will be found on: the side of the people
just as Christ was.
Judging by past events recorded in history,
it seems evident that the great battle which
Christ commenced is soon to be fought to a
finish. The crisis seems to be present all over
the civilized world. People everywhere seem
to realize intuitively, if not otherwise, that we
are living in a great epoch, one which will
mark the future of this country for weal or
for woe.
Plutocracy, after having thoroughly intrenched itself, has sent out its hordes of vandals and overrun the land and driven the people to the very last ditch.
Now they are brought to bay and turn upon
their oppressors.
Have they courage and patriotism enough
yet left to win the battle? Yes, they have,
for the God of Justice fights for them.

120

The breastworks of plutocracy will be
scaled, and as Christ scourged the moneychangers from the Temple at Jerusalem, so
now will the people drive plutocracy from its
last intrenchment and bury it to be resurrected no more.

PBOPOSED

CONSTITUTIONAL
MENT.

AMEND-

Precluding Private-Property-Eight Carried to
Absurd Infinitude.
Now Approved by t h e Veteran Lawyer, Judge and Sena,
tor, LYMAN T R U M B U L L .

No citizen, nor resident, nor investor in any
or all States, Territories or District, comprising the United States, shall be permitted to
possess, in all kinds of property, an aggregate
value of more than One Million of dollars;
which sum shall be the limit of private proptray in or for any individual, joint-individual,
guardian, trustee, or other form or device of
private estate ownership, or reserved for each
inheritor or legatee. And whenever or wherever such private ownership or holding or reserving shall be found to exceed the limit
above named, the excess shall al be condemned as a public nuisance and a public
peril, and be accordingly forfeited into the
United States Treasury. And the States, etc.,
shall, each and all, enforce this Amendment
by necessary or penal legislation; failing
which, Congress shall so enforce it.

6HAPTEE XII.
SLAVERY.

There are tens of thousands of people yet
living who remember the time when this entire country was ablaze with excitement over
the question of human slavery. The greatest,
the bloodiest, fiercest war ever fought was the
one which resulted in the overthrow of this
damnable institution.
The story of this momentous struggle has
been told ten thousand times in story and in
song; and whenever the camp-fire is lighted
those who wore the blue and those who wore
the gray tell over for the hundreth time of the
hardships, the hairbreadth escapes, the deeds
of valor and acts of unselfish heroism.
Once each year, in almost every city, the
people come together, and amidst the strains
of patriotic music and an abundance of good
cheer, celebrate Lincoln Day. They rejoice
that such a lover of his kind, such a champion
of the poor, enslaved, benighted negroes was
given to the world.

123

Eloquent addresses are delivered by eminent orators, and those who thus yearly meet
believe that they love the memory of him
whose name has been made sacred by the
prayers and tears of the liberated slaves.
They annually engage in self-gratulatory
thoughts and retrospections as they contemplate the spectacle of the black men of the
South enjoying their precious freedom.
I t seems that it never once occurs to these
people that slavery has not been abolished
in this country; that the negroes of the South
are not free, but that they are in a worse,
a more galling bondage than they were before
the war.
Under our benign constitution they are
made free and equal, but as a matter of fact
they are not free. Before the war, a sturdy,
healthy negro was worth from one to two
thousand dollars, and it was to the owner's
interest to see that he was well fed and well
cared for, so that he would be capable of performing efficient services; and he was also
warmly clad, and when overtaken by sickness,
the best nurses and physicians were obtained,
and everything was done to bring about a
speedy recovery.
If, perchance, he died, the master gave him
a respectable coffin and a decent burial, and
perhaps shed his tears upon the new-made
grave. If the slave left any children, he could
die in peace, feeling assured that they would

124

be well fed and clothed, so that they wonld
grow np to make strong and nseful servants.
They could be bought and sold like so many
cattle or sheep, and the family ties were thus
sometimes broken up, and some most pathetic,
heartrending scenes were witnessed.
The thought of human slavery was so revolting that a wave of indignation started in
the North, which swept over the country and
finally culminated, in the overthrow, of this
detestable institution of human slavery.
Not only is the negro in a state of slavery
worse than he knew before the War, but
the masses of the white people are also in
bondage. They are in no better condition
than the negroes are.
They are all slaves together, slaves to the
money power—the American plutocracy.
Then it was human slavery, now it is industrial slavery. Then there were only about
three million slaves; now there are more than
fifty millions Then slavery existed only in a
small number of States; now it is confined
to no State or section of the country, but can
be found in every nook and corner of the
Union.
Then there was a large section of the country to champion the cause of the slaves; now
they must fight their battles alone.
One of the remarkable features of the late
war was that the poor white men of the South
could be induced to fight to continue the in-

125

stitution of slavery, when they themselves
were in almost as bad condition as the negroes; and to-day we witness the same inexplicable anomaly of a large portion of the industrial slaves vigorously engaged in forging
the fetters, not only for their brethren, but for
themselves.
The object the South had in view was to
build up a slave-holding aristocracy, and to
accomplish this end, the slave-holders were
aided by those whom the negroes sneeringly
called "pore white trash." The purpose of
the money power is to build up a moneyed plutocracy, and in the furtherance of this purpose
it is aided by the laboring men whom the plutocrats refer to as "servants" and "dogs."
To-day we need the emancipation of the
slaves a thousandfold worse than we did in
1862. The evils of slavery as it then existed
were few as compared with the crying evils
of to-day. The suffering then endured by the
slaves was inconsequential when compared
with the widespread misery of to-day.
The slavery we now endure is taking into
its grasp the labor of the people and confiscating their homes. I t is driving men to suicide,
to the madhouse, to the highways to tramp.
It is driving women to the workhouse, "to the
streets and the dens of prostitution.
In the mills of the North the white slavewife works by the side of her slave husband.
In the cotton and cane fields of the South the

126

white and black slave wives toil in the same
fields together by the sides of their slave-husbands, where their slave children, half-naked
and half-starved, creep about like little old
men and women, so young in years, so old in
misery.
Only a few years in the future, if there be no
change for the better, I see the slave-husband
at the blazing forge, stripped to the waist,
hammering the red-hot iron, his slave-wife
upon the other side of the anvil, also naked
to the waist, plying stroke about with her
husband, as he directs her where to strike, and
the merry ring of the anvil is answered by the
discordant cries and pitiful wails of their
newborn babe, as it lies near by wrapped in
swaddling clothes.
I see the neat little farmhouses razed to the
ground, and thousands of acres of land, which
once were owned by small farmers, now converted into vast estates owned by a single
money baron, and the former freemen and
owners of the soil will be serfs and vassals.
I see the gulf between the rich and the poor
ever widening and deepening, until all are
either plutocrats or slaves.
The middle class in this country was formerly larger than both the capitalistic and
wage-slave classes combined; now the wageslave class is larger by almost five millions
than both the other classes combined.
Soon the middle class will entirely disap-

127

pear, the plutocratic class will be small in
numbers, but mighty in power, and the remainder will belong to the wage-slave class.
These are not the imaginings of a diseased
brain, or the fancies of a romancer, but they
are logical conclusions to be drawn from the
inevitable trend of events.
We need an Abraham Lincoln to direct the
slaves of America who are now groping blindly in the dark. They feel the scorpion stings
of slavery's lash which plutocracy is plying,
but there is hardly an outcry. They bear it
in sullen silence.
But occasionally some poor woman, with
a starved babe on her breast, lifts her tearful
eyes and pours out the pleadings of her broken heart to Him who also felt the scourge of
plutocracy upon his innocent shoulders and
the cruel crown of thorns on his Godlike
brow, and some day—ah, some day—-the God
of Justice will pity and answer.
If Abraham Lincoln were alive to-day, he
would champion the cause of the people, and
then plutocracy would heap scorn, persecution
and vituperation on the man whose name and
memory it now pretends to revere.
As a matter of fact, when he was assassinated the plutocrats secretly rejoiced,
for in his death they were rid of their
most dangerous enemy. If he lived now plutocracy would scoff him, maltreat him, despise him.

128

Many of those who now celebrate his natal
day would secretly plot his destruction. If he
lived in this year of grace 1895, and should
give utterance to the same sentiments which
he expressed in 1864, the plutocrats would
say: "Poor old fellow, he is in his dotage.
He has outlived his usefulness. These sentiments might have been countenanced thirty
years ago, but they have no place in our advancing civilization."
There is still left us the right of suffrage,
and we have it in our power to throw off the
yoke of slavery and make capital the servant
of labor. If the people who feel the weight
of overpowering burdens, who already hear
tKe clank of slavery's chains, will only vote
together, they can easily wrest this land from
the robber money barons. They can free
themselves, and their children, and future
generations will rise up to sing their praises
and call them blessed.
If they fail to act now, the time will surely
come when plutocracy, grown arrogant, insolent and wellnigh all-powerful, will take
away the right of franchise, and then there
will be no hope short of a world-wide revolution, which will stain every rood of ground,
every blade of grass and every nodding flower with the crimson blood of human victims.
I>t us heed the warning while it is called
to-day, for "the night cometh when no man can
work."

/

GEORGE GOULD.

In 1865-6 we owed public debt, $2,845,000,000; indiyidual debts, none. About $60 per
capita in circulation.
As a result we bad prosperity and happiness.
Four millionaires.
No tramps.
In 1895 our piiblic debt is $1,000,000,000;
other debts, $40,000,000,000. About $10 per
capita in actual circulation.
Eesults:
Adversity and misery prevail.
Four thousand millionaires.
Four million tramps.
129

6 H A P T E E XIIL
THE CANKER WORM.

"Our legislatures have been bought and
sold till we think no more of it than the buying and selling of so many cattle and sheep
in the market. Monopoly is a danger compared with which slavery is small indeed."—
Henry Ward Beecher.
However much we may try to disguise the
fact, we cannot blind ourselves to the political corruption which threatens our institutions. Our nation is reeking with bribery,
fraud and corruption.
Legislators, Congressmen and Senators sell
their political virtue, their personal integrity,
just as openly and shamefully as the abandoned strumpet sells her body to every licentious brute who happens to possess the
price.
So notorious, so shameful have become
these corrupt practices, that good men^shrink
from accepting public office. In the better
days of the Republic it was an honor to hold

181

office, but now almost every official is looked
on with, suspicion. If lie is not known to be
corrupt, or, in common parlance, a "boodler,"
lie is always suspected as being open to tlie
reception of a bribe.
So degenerate have we become, that even
after a man is known as a "boodler" he is allowed to remain in office, and society is always ready, with outstretched arms, to receive him.
In the days of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln the American people justly
prided themselves upon the record which our
statesmen had made as being pure, honest and
courageous.
But the spirits of these great men must
weep over our modern degeneracy. To-day
we have the reputation of being the corruptest nation under the sun in our political methods. To show that even foreigners have observed how our lawmakers have prostituted
themselves, I quote from the letter of a French
nobleman, the Marquis De Castellane, who recently visited this country:
"Washington is the cradle of the political
Constitution of tke United States. I t is there
that the nation has its guardians, from the
general-in-chief to the private soldiers. The
President of the Eepublic is almost as powerful as an absolute king, vetoing the decisions
of the House, which is elected by the suffrage
of all, choosing his Ministers at will, govern-

132

ing, if need be, without any contradiction,
against the will of the majority of the representatives. The Senate is essentially corrupt,
and therein consoling to Frenchmen who have
known the secret history of Panamist politics.
The deputies are without authority, without
position; a class of employees recognized to
be, unfaithful beforehand by those who appoint them. They live in the noble city of
the severe lines, side by side, for a few months
every year, eager in greediness, uniquely preoccupied in the tariff question; for all American politics has no other object than the
raising and the lowering of tariffs, every State
making at its own pleasure its laws of defense and of social morality.
"Every one sells himself there, consequently
every one is bought, and when an American
wishes to hurl an epithet of scorn at the head
of one of his compatriots, he says 'he is a
politician/ so that not only Senators and
Deputies are neither considered nor respected;
they are not even regarded. They do not
count; they are passed in silence; they are
'anybodies/ as we say in France.
"They tell you freely in Washington that
such a Senator has received 12,000,000 francs
from American refiners to vote an import
duty on foreign sugars. Another has received
as much from the proprietors of the silver
mines of Colorado that he may vote the Silver
bill, which obliged the State to buy from them

133

every month several million bars of silver,
when silver was worth half as mnch ^as the
gold with which this same State was obliged
to make its payments.
"These people at least have a high idea of
their value. They do not sell themselves for
a plate of lentils. The extent of their venality
is so great that their compatriots themselves
do not refuse them a certain admiration.
"Public office in the United States is regarded as a factory in which the directors sell
the products at a more or less remunerative
rate. The citizens consider them a necessary
evil to which one must accustom one's self."
*
#
*
*
*
"And I ask myself in leaving the city of politicians if the shadow of the great and honest
Washington will not rise suddenly some day
and condemn this exotic society which might
be capable of destroying his immense work
if it found such a course to its personal interest!"
In this country lobbying has become a profession. Indeed, I ought to class it with the
fine arts, for the expert lobbyist is certainly
an artist in his line. Many Senators and Congressmen, when they fail of re-election, remain
in Washington the remainder of their lives
and engage in lobbying for a livelihood.
Thousands—yes, millions—of dollars pass
through the hands of these professional lobbyists, which is used as a corruption 'fund to

134

bribe Senators and Congressmen. This money is furnished by the trusts, the combines
and the rich corporations.
This system of bribery is one of the evils
of plutocracy. Political corruption has built
up plutocracy, while plutocracy has developed
corruption and bribery, until they have become a part of our institutions.
We have reached the point in the history
of this great, free country when plutocracy
can pass any measure it wants, and can defeat any proposed law which is inimical to
its interest.
The corruption fund, on which it can ever
draw, is wellnigh inexhaustible, and the sums
which it is enabled to offer to each corruptible
Senator and Congressman is so great that it
would dazzle the eyes, turn the brain and satiate the desires of a Midas. To the bribe-taker
it means wealth, splendor, power and luxury
beyond the dreams of the most fastidious.
Plutocracy can well afford to thus lavish
upon the unfaithful servants of the people
sums of money to make them rich, for each
dollar so invested will bring back a hundred.
The sugar trust, if reports are to be believed, has bribed Senators and Congressmen,
spending large sums of money, and has all the
while been robbing the people of the fruits of
their labor, piling up colossal fortunes for
the owners of the stock in the trust. Yet the
the men who are at the head of this trust, and

135

whose corrupt practices are well known, are
among the honored, celebrated men of th<j
nation.
The public conscience has become so cal«
loused, that these corrupt practices seem tq
make no impression upon the minds of thq
people. We have grown so accustomed to
all sorts of public scandals and the betrayal
of the people by their chosen trusted servants,
that we are not shocked when some new rev
elation of infamy is made. Nay, we are hardlj
even surprised. We read the details in tlw
daily papers;, there is a little gossip and speculation, and the whole affair is forgotten.
Eecently the President and his Secretary
of the Treasury sold sixty-two and a half million dollars in bonds for nine and a half million dollars less than they were really worth.
They would have brought on the open market
a t the time the sale was negotiated the sum
of nine and a half million dollars mora than
they were sold to the syndicate for.
Some of the newspapers made quite a stir
about it for a few days, the knowing ones
winked, slyly remarking that some one received a good "pile," the laboring people
grumbled, but soon the high-handed robbery
was forgotten, and we go on blindly groping
in the dark waiting for some other enterprising official to swindle the American people
out of a few more millions,
The New York "World" is constantly ask-

136

ing, "Where did Croker and Piatt get their
money?" Why not go up higher, and ask
what Cleveland and Carlisle did with it?
There onght to be an investigation to see what
became of the nine and a half million dollars.
The people of this country have to bear the
loss, and they have the right to demand that
they be not robbed by STAR CHAMBER proceedings, but that if they must be robbed by
these money barons, that it be done in the
open, where they will have a chance to fight
for their lives.
The deadly canker worm has entered the
heart of the body politic, and we are cursed
not only with bribery and its consequent train
of evils, but we have high officials who are impure, licentious and bestial.
The city of Washington is foul with impurity. The government departments are reeking
with prostitution.
The committee rooms of the House and Senate are often the scenes of poker games and
bacchanalian revelry.
There is a bar-room at each end of the Capitol—one for the Senators and other for the
Congressmen. Here our law-makers can imbibe all the "fire water" they have money to
pay for, and here the members of the demimonde, both white and colored, are welcome
visitors. From these national saloons our
legislators are often carried in various states
of intoxication.

137

The rotunda and the corridors of the Capitol swarm with lobbyists and corruptionists.
Some of these are women of a most unsavory
character. The very fact that the influence
of such women is brought to bear upon any
piece of legislation is enough to damn it and
prevent its passage.
The very atmosphere is corrupting, and the
great wonder is that so many of our chosen
representatives maintain their honor and integrity.
If plutocracy rules much longer there will
not be a leaven of honesty left. The rank,
noisome weeds of plutocracy will choke out
patriotism, and it will die of strangulation.
Plutocracy and dishonest government go
hand in hand. The two are inseparable.
If plutocracy is not crushed it will most surely corrupt the whole nation. If our law-makers are corrupt, if they accept bribes, if they
can sell their honor and betray their constituents, how long will it be before the people,
seeing all this, will become a nation of knaves?
The deadly canker worm has entered the
6hurch, and to-day we have the form and semblance of religion without the spirit of Christ.
We build, indeed, costlier churches; the spires
reach higher toward the cerulean blue; the
floors are covered with softer, richer carpets;
the pews lined with more dainty velvet; the
organs are more magnificent; the choirs sing
for a higher price than of yore* but all is cold

138

and formal. There is little of the spirit of
the Christ to be found.
If He were on the earth to-day, the purseproud, plutocratic Churches would unite in
having Him convicted for being a common
tramp.
We do not love the Christ who said: "The
birds of the air have nests and the foxes have
holes in the ground, but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head."
We do not love the Christ who tramped,
footsore and weary, about the country, with
no place He could call home.
We do not love the Christ who went into
the field on the Sabbath day and gathered
the heads of wheat in his hands and rubbed
out the grains and ate them, because he was
hungry.
We do not love the Christ who taught that
every man should toil for his daily bread.
We do not love the Christ who hated plutocracy, and came to the poor and lowly and
dined with sinners.
We do not love the Christ who wept over
dead Lazarus and healed the lepers, the blind,
the palsied.
No, no! We have wellnigh forgotten the
real Christ, and in His stead we worship a
Christ of our own making.
The Christ we have created is a cruel Christ.
He permits a few to grind the life out of
the many.

139

He hates and despises the poor and condones the sins of the rich.
He loves the haughty and proud, and hates
the fallen and helpless.
He invites into the churches the rich, the
fashionable, and scorns the poor and oppressed. He has prepared a heaven for the
aristocratic money barons, and has consigned
to hell, or to some other place of suffering,
the down-trodden and wretched.
This is the Ghrist of the plutocrats, for the
God they worship is a money god.
Oh, spirit of the living Ghrist! come remove
this deadly canker worm from the heart of
our nation, from the souls of our people, and
in its stead give us thy spirit, which will ever
breathe the fatherhood of Grod and the brotherhood of mam

A t the rate a t which the farmers of this
country are being forced from their farms
by foreclosure and execution sales, it will
not be half a century before nearly every
farmer will cease to own the land he cultivates, and be a tenant at will of a landlord,
like the cotters of Scotland or the poor peasants of Ireland.
That is what contraction and a specie-basis
system of money will do in every instance.
Shall the process be continued until one per
cent, of the people own all the property? Already nine per cent, own about two-thirds of
all the property of the nation, and it will not
take them long to obtain the other third, and
then reduce the number of owners to one per
cent. It can and will be done under the present financial system.
That is slavery, pure and simple, which is
the inevitable result of poverty; poverty is
the inevitable result of low wages and the
low price of products; low wages and this low
price of products are the inevitable result
of a scarcity of the medium of exchange, and
a scarcity of medium of exchange is the
logical result of unwise financial laws. Hence
it is that the freedom or slavery, the happiness or misery, the prosperity or adversity,
the contentment or desolation, the civilization or barbarism, of a people depends entirely upon the laws of a nation.—Charles
Howell, in "Civilized Money."

6 H A P T E E XIV.
NOT CHARITY, BUT JUSTICE.

"The mistakes of the best men through generation after generation has been the great
one of thinking to help the poor by almsgiving and by preaching of patience or of
hope, and by every other means, emollient or
consolatory, except the one through which
God orders for them, justice."—Buskin.
In every great city there are charity organizations, and good men and pious women
devote much of their time to the collection
and distribution of money among the poor
and helpless. The Churches give away large
sums in charitable work. Individuals contribute a great deal of money to the starving
poor.
It would be impossible to even approximate the amounts thus spent each year. It
takes a small army of employees to carry
on the work of charity.
Thousands of families are now subsisting
partially or wholly on charity. The number
141

142

is not decreasing, but is eyer on the increase.
As our country grows and develops, as we
build more magnificent homes and costlier
churches, as railroads and telegraph lines
keep reaching out and exploring new fields,
as our commerce grows, it seems that we
would have fewer objects of charity, until
by and by there would be little use for charity at all. Such, however, is not the case,
for within the shadows of the costly homes,
the splendid churches, the abjectly poor are
multiplying at a frightful rate. Thousands of
people haye starved in America within the
past twelve months; tens of thousands are
now suffering for want of bread; millions
have not the ordinary comforts of life.
Yet there is no famine in the land. We
have no pestilence, which has prevented the
farmers from producing their usual crops.
We have had no universal drought, wliich
has burned up all the cotton, the corn, and
other cereal products.
We have had no murrain which has killed
all the cattle.
We have had no cholera to destroy the
. hogs.
We have had no pestilential disease to take
away all the sheep, yet the people are starving, and must be fed out of charity's spoon.
The granaries are bursting with wheat;
the bins are filled with corn; the stock-yards

143

are overflowing with cattle, hogs and sheep;
the fields of the South have been white with
cotton—an abundance everywhere throughout the entire country. Of it we can say, as
was said of the Promised Land of Canaan,
"It flows with milk and honey." Notwithstanding all this, the people are starving.
Soup houses have been established for the
poor. Cheap lodging houses have been provided. Parks have been opened up, filled with
trees, birds and flowers, where the poor can
go and carry their scrawny, sickly little children. Free bath-houses have been provided
for the poor, and now free places of amusement are being talked of.
Millions are annually spent to provide food
to keep them from starving, and yet they are
famishing, falling by the wayside, and dying
all around us.
I t seems that charity has not been a success. Would it not be wise to study the
causes of its failures and seek a remedy?
I do not believe that we need or want all
this so-called charity. Indeed, I do not think
it is charity at all. It is simply the price
which plutocracy annually pays to maintain
itself in power. It is the very small pittance
it doles out to the people it has robbed.
If the money had not been taken away from
the people they would not be reduced to such
a pitiable state, and it would not be necessary for the rich to contribute to their sup-

1U

port. There is plenty and to spare in this
great country of all that goes to make up human happiness; then why should it be necessary for such a large portion of the human
family to subsist on the crumbs which fall
from Dives' table?
It is not charity we want, it is not charity
we need. What we want, what we need, what
we ought to demand and what we must have
is JUSTICE. Yea, the justice which guarantees to every man the fruits of his honest toil,
justice which protects the weak against the
strong, and prevents the powerful robber
from appropriating that which the laboring
man has accumulated through years of toil.
Justice, which will give to every man employment and reasonable compensation for
what he does, and after his day's work is done
and he lies down to sleep, a justice that will
guard the day's earnings, however scant they
may be, and prevent the thief, who will not
work, from coming a t the hour of midnight
and robbing him.
Under the reign of plutocracy a few robbers steal the earnings of the people, take
all they have, and leave them penniless, and
when they are starving they give back a, few
pence in charity to buy crusts of bread to
keei) life in their poor, miserable bodies.
Such charity as this is the charity of tEe
devil, which would keep his victims alive, so
tKey could endure torture for a while longer.

J. PIERPONT MORGAN.

145

Away with such charity. It is a mockery,
a delusion and a snare. It is a blot on our
American civilization.
It is an insult to
God.
The charity we want is the charity of the
heart. The charity we want is the charity
of Christ, which offered to every man a just
reward for his labor.
The charity we want is the charity which
will take from the robbers that which they
stole from the people while they were sleeping, after their hours of toil, and restore it
to its rightful owners.
Oh, charity! charity! What farces are perpetrated in thy name; what hypocrisy; what
crime. Our modern charity permits a _Vanderbilt to erect a fence around his Fifth Avenue mansion costing forty thousand dollars
while the people are starving. It permits a
minister of the gospel to wear at his church
service on Christmas Day a pair of sandals
worth ten thousand dollars, while within a
stone's throw of his church a family of six
persons were living for two days on twenty
cents' worth of soup bones.
It is a charity which enables an Astor to
spend forty thousand dollars a year to put
new flowers each morning on his wife's grave,
while thousands, just as good as she, lie in
the potter's field, without a slab to mark their
resting places.
A charity which makes it possible for the

146

daughter of a Vanderbilt to give a birthday
party at which one of the cakes was worth
over two thousand dollars, while people on
the next street were starving.
A charity which converts happy homes into
wretched hovels, turns respectable garments
into filthy rags, changes smiles into tears and
laughter into weeping. God pity the people
who are cursed with such charity.
It is our charity which sends millions of
dollars to the heathen, and for what? To teach
them charity, for does not the Bible say, "The
greatest of these is charity"?
Yes, we will teach them the charity which
will open saloons, fill gambling hells, people
almshouses and establish brothels.
We will give them a charity which will
lead to theft, suicide and murder.
We will show them by our charity how the
strong may rob the weak, how a few may accumulate all the wealth and enslave all their
fellow-men.
However horrible this picture may seem,
this is just the charity we teach them.
Oh, we are sick and tired of all this pretended charity. The farce and sham have
been carried far enough. It is high time to
call a halt.
Our fathers, when they gave us this land,
did not suppose that we would degenerate
into a nation of paupers. But this seems to
be where we are drifting.

147

First we are slaves to the money-power
until all our wealth has been confiscated, and
then we become paupers, receiving a small
pittance at the hands of those who have
robbed us, and we in turn must all the while
continue to labor for them.
This country is becoming a great poorhouse, where a nation of tramps labor for
a coterie of plutocrats.
The richer the country becomes, the more
paupers we have, and the more servile they
are, for all the wealth for which thy toil
flows into the coffers of the rich and becomes
a weapon in the hands of the money-changers
for making more paupers.
How long will the people be fooled, cajoled and hoodwinked, and be satisfied with
the crumbs which fall from the table of Dives
when they themselves, by infinite toil and
suffering, produce each choice viand and
every tempting delicacy which enrich his
groaning board, around which sit the favored
of plutocracy, while those who labor to make
the banquet so brilliantly gorgeous lie at the
gates of the greedy Shylock, eating "the dirty
crumbs which fall from the table, while the
dogs of the rich man lick the sores caused by
ceaseless toil and exposure.
Take away yoxir charity and give us justice.
Justice! Justice! The cry goes up from
thousands of crushed, broken hearts.

Peter ©ooper, of New York, one of the most
intelligent and successful business men America ever produced, discussed the colonial
money as follows:
"These colonial notes being adopted by all
the colonies led to an unexpected degree of
prosperity, so great that when Franklin was
brought before the Parliament of Great Britain and questioned as to the cause of the
wonderful prosperity growing up in the colonies, he plainly stated that the cause was
the conyenience they found in exchanging
their various forms of labor one with another by the paper money which had been
adopted; that this paper money was not only
used in the payment of taxes, but, in addition,
it had been declared legal tender. I t rose
two and three per cent, above the par of gold
and silver, as everybody preferred its use. One
of its advantages was its security against
theft, as it could be easily carried and hidden,
on account of it having no bulk, as all"kinds
of specie must necessarily have. After Franklin explained this to th^ British Government

149

as the real cause of prosperity, they immediately passed laws forbidding the payment of
taxes in that money. This produced such
great inconyenience and misery to the people,
that it was the principle cause in the revolution. A far greater reason for a general uprising than the tea and stamp act was the
taking away of the paper money."—Congressman John Davis,

OHAPTEE XV,
THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF WEALTH.

The author has no intention of intimating
that the twelve millionaires whose cuts appear in this volume are really worse than
other men whose sole aim in life is to amass
wealth at whatever cost. They are only
human, and are prompted by motives of greed
and selfishness.
Those who belong to the plutocratic class
are not so much to be censured as our unjust,
unwholesome and pernicious laws, which
make plutocracy possible.
A study of the physiognomies of the
" twelve apostles" will fail to reveal any evidence of superior mental ability, and certainly no traces of philanthropy. The only characteristic which stands out in bold relief is
that which distinguished Shyloek of old, as
well as all the modern Shylocks—the burning
desire to gather into their coffers all the
wealth possible, to rob their victims of the
last penny, to demand tHeir pound of flesh,
and, wKen they have shed the last drop of

151

blood, to cast them ont by the wayside to
rot and die.
With no especial qualities of goodness to
distinguish these followers of Moloch from
the rest of mankind, and with no distinctively
great or superior mental characteristics, we
cannot refrain from pausing and asking the
question, " W h y have these people been so
richly blessed, so highly favored, while the
toiling masses are poorly paid, half-clad, and
half-starved?"
There are in this country to-dav twelve men
who are worth one billion dollars, enough to
give every man, woman and child in the land
a little more than fourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents per capita. The annual interest on this sum at seven per cent, would be
seventy million dollars, which is one dollar
for every living soul in the United States. I t
is ia sum almost twice as large as the entire
amount of gold theoretically in circulation in
this country.
While there are twelve men in this country
who are worth one billion dollars, there are
four thousand and forty-seven families who
own one-fifth of the wealth of this nation.
Again the question arises, " W h e r e did they
get it?"
They never produced one dollar of all this
wealth, they never labored to earn an honest
penny, and have acquired it by grinding the
faces of the poor, by robbing them of their

152

daily bread, and have been secured in their
stolen booty by laws passed by perjured lawmakers.
Nearly all the apostles of wealth are pretended followers of Jesus of Nazareth, and
occupy high places in the Church, and exert
great influence in the State; yet, unlike
the apostles of old, who had in their ranks
only one Judas, these apostles of the God of
Luxury and Avarice are nearly all Judases,
ready to betray the Saviour for gold; but, unlike Judas, they feel no remorse of conscience,
and after they have robbed God's children
they do not go off and hang themselves, W t
sit down like human vultures over the rotting
carcasses of their prey and gorge themselves
with their ill-gotten booty and plunge their
long, bony fingers, like the talons of some unclean bird, into the heaps of gold which they
have piled up on all sides.
While they are thus engaged in living off
of the life-blood of the nation, our lawmakers
and courts are ever seeking some new avenue
through which these human hyenas of modern society may more effectually carry on the
robber warfare against their fellow-men.
The Supreme Court of the United States
has recently decided that it is unconstitutional for these men who have grown wealthy off
the toil and life-blood of others, to pay a
miserable, beggarly two per cent, on their
incomes above four thousand dollars.

153

In the great cities like New York and Chicago we find them making false tax returns,
and very few of them pay, comparatively
speaking, any taxes at all. In their methods
they are upheld by the Churches, the courts
and the military, and when pauperized labor
dares to raise its head and beg for a few more
crumbs for the starving women and children,
the ministers from their pulpits advise the
use of gatling guns, the military is ordered
out, and blanket injunctions are issued^
and the courts decide that the leaders in the
clamor for bread are guilty of contempt of
court, and they are sent to prison and branded as felons. Such a course is driving the
poor deeper into poverty. I t is filling the
slums to overflowing, and bringing upon those
whom Christ came to lift up from poverty
and suffering the appellation of "trash," "vermin," and "sewer rats."
These money-mad plutocrats are so blinded that they cannot see on every hand the
evidences which threaten their overthrow.
They are so deaf from listening long to the
clink of gold that they cannot hear the muttering thunders which portend the coming
storm. At every sign of danger and God's
displeasure they harden their hearts, and will
not consent to release the people from bondage and, like Pharaoh and his hosts, they
will be swallowed up in the Bed Sea of the
people's wrath.

154

If they will not consent to give back to the
people some of their hard earnings of which
they have been robbed, the time will come
when the people, lashed to fury, will rise np
in their anger, and take back, not a portion,
bnt all.

" That prices will fall or rise as the volume
of money be increased or diminished is a law
that is as unalterable as any law of nature."
—Prof. Walker.
"If a government should contract a debt
with a certain amount of money in circulation, and then contract the money volume
before the debt was paid, it would be the most
heinous crime a government could commit
against the people."—Abraham Lincoln.
"Liberty cannot long endure in any country where the tendency of legislation is to
concentrate wealth in the hands of a few."—
Daniel Webster.
155

CHAPTER XVL
H O W PLUTOCRACY ENSLAVES.

When we have "great financial panics," as
we are pleased to call periods of distress,
stagnation and want, we are prone to console ourselves with the thought that the world
in all ages has been subject to these so-called
panics, and that they are a sort of necessary
evil. Indeed, it has all along been the province of plutocracy to keep the people blinded
and deceived, so that they will not study the
true causes of these periods of distress.
It is the purpose of the author, in this chapter, to point out the cause which has led up
to the world's great panics, and to suggest a
remedy, which, if applied, will effectually prevent them.
I take it that Mr. Garfield stated an axiomatic truth when he said that "Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is
absolute master of all industry and commerce." I t is equally true that a large volume of money means high prices for land,

157

labor and products, while a small volume of
money means low prices for land, labor and
products. This being true, it necessarily follows that to double the volume of money in
circulation will double the price of land, labor and products, while to divide the volume
of money in circulation will divide the price
of land, labor and products, or will, in other
words, reduce the price of land, labor and
products one-half. Another proposition equally tenable is that if you destroy one-half of
the volume of money in circulation, you
double the purchasing power of t h a t which
remains.
Keeping these principles well in mind, we
will show how plutocracy produces panics,
and how the masses are being enslaved.
The inoney-power of the world mastered
this question and understood these truths
ages ago, and we have but to unfold the pages
of history, and there to read the whole story
in unmistakable language.
First let us study the history of ancient
Rome. Without the use of either gold or silver, Rome became mistress of the commerce
of the world. Her people were the bravest,
the most prosperous, the most happy, for they
knew no grinding poverty. Her money was
issued directly to the people, and was composed of a cheap material—copper and brass
—based alone upon the faith and credit of
the nation. With this abundant money sup-

158

ply she built her splendid Pantheon and
her magnificent courts and temples. She
fought her battles and extended her domains,
improved her agriculture, distributed her
lands among the people in small holdings,
and wealth poured into the coffers of Eome
from every busy mart of the world.
This was all done on fiat money, that had
no value except legal value, but which was
full legal tender money.
At the commencement of the Christian era
the legal tender money of Eome amounted
to about $2,000,000,000, and all of it was in
the hands of the people, in the various avenues of trade and the industries, and was a
per capita sufficiently large to do all business
on a cash basis. But here the money power
commenced to get in its work. Copper and
brass were demonetized and gold and silver
substituted, and the volume of money reduced from |2,000,000,000 to |200,000,000.
During the process of contraction population dwindled, the arts, learning, commerce
and prosperity took their flight. The once
proud, free and prosperous people were reduced to a condition of abject serfdom. Because of a lack of a proper medium of exchange
the price of labor, lands, and products fell;
the lands were sold for taxes, and were soon
concentrated in a few hands; the masses sank
to the lowest depths of degradation, while the
favored few amassed fabulous fortunes.

15S

Prior to the fall of Borne 1,160 rich families,
many of them with an income of a million
and a half dollars yearly, owned practically
all the wealth, while those whose industry
and thrift had made it the proudest nation in
the world- were mere serfs. The consequences
of this terrible crime could not long be averted, so when attacked by Alaric, in the year
401 after Christ, Italy could find none to resist, and Eome fell.
Another striking illustration is found in
the history of England, just prior to, during
and immediately following, her war with
France in the latter part of the last and beginning of the present century. For a number of years before the commencement of that
war the gold supply of England had not been
sufficient to meet the demands of trade and
commerce, and the condition of affairs in
Great Britain were at a low ebb. She went
through a terrible financial disaster, terminating in the crisis and panic of 1797, which
brought the nation to the brink of ruin and
forced the government to suspend specie payment. This led to the issue and use of irredeemable paper money to an enormous
amount, thus turning adversity into prosperity. War had been declared with France;
immense armies were in the field, with not
a dollar to pay the expenses. But under the
benign influence of an abundant supply of a
full legal tender paper currency the next

160

eighteen years of the war were the most glorious and most prosperous that Great Britain had ever experienced.
During this period the people enjoyed general and unexampled prosperity, oyer three
million acres of unimproved land were
brought into cultivation, and the exportation
of manufactured cotton goods increased in
volume from |35,000,000 in 1801 to $135,000,000 in 1822.
The land-owners rapidly increased in number, and they tilled the soil, reaping abundant fruits to compensate them for their toiL
But no sooner had the war ended and the
smoke of battle cleared away than this same
old grasping money-power began to clamor
for a contraction of the currency and a resumption of specie payments. In 1816 silver
was demonetized, and in 1820 a bill passed
Parliament that full resumption of specie payments be restored in May, 1823. So the contraction of the currency began, and the awful
consequences can never be written. The effect of this extraordinary piece of legislation
was soon apparent, for the industries of the
nation were paralyzed and commerce almost
destroyed. Prices fell rapidly, that of cotton in particular sinking in three months to
half its former level. Mortgages were foreclosed by thousands, and the owners of the
soil became serfs. There were in 1822 165,000
land-owners; in 1861 the number had been

GEORGE M. PULLMAN.

161

reduced to 30,000, and now half the Kingdom
is owned by not more than a dozen men. It
was the same old story of the money-power
enslaving the masses for the purpose of enriching, a favored few.
Now, let us look a t the financial history of
our own country, beginning at the close of
the late war, and we will see the same cunningly-devised schemes of the money-power
to contract the circulating medium, and thus
enrich the few at thejexpense of the nation's
toilers.
At the close of the war there was in actual
circulation about $2,000,000,000 among 35,000,000 people. Ancient Eome had this
amount a t the time the money-power began
its system of contraction. History, it must
be remembered, repeats itself, and in the
language of Patrick Henry, we "have no way
of judging of the future but by the past";
therefore it may be well to bear in mind the
similarity between the causes which produced
the fall of ancient Eome and those which
now threaten the downfall of our Eepublic.
It is one of the great and inexplicable phenomena that the business men should be arrayed against the farmers, who constitute
forty per cent, of our population, when the
mercantile and commercial interests are
wholly dependent on the agricultural prosperity of the country; but the fact that they
are so arrayed is another proof of the truth

1G2

of the inspired utterances of Lincoln, when
he said that "the money-power will endeavor
to prolong its reign by working upon the
prejudices of the people, until all of liberty
is lost."
That the people of this country may fully
understand whither we are drifting, the author
gives a comprehensive review of the financial
wreck and ruin wrought in this country since
the close of the war.
Of course, the money-power pursued its
old-time tactics—the same which produced
the fall of ancient Borne, and the same which
reduced the masses of Great Britain to serfdom.
It was the old, old story of a contraction
of the circulating medium. This began in
1867.
In 1866 there were only 500 business failures of this country, but in 1867 the effects
of contraction began to be felt, and there
were 2,386 failures in business, with a total
loss, to creditors of f 86,218,000.
In 1868 there was withdrawn from circulation and destroyed f 473,000,000, resulting in
2,608 failures, with a loss to creditors of
163,774,000.
In the year 1869 there was withdrawn from
circulation and destroyed 1500,000,000, and
as a consequence there were 2,799 failures in
business and a loss of |75,000,000. In 1870
there were 3,551 failures, involving a loss ol

163

188,272,000. Wages now began to perceptibly decline, men and women were thrown
out of employment, and men began to seek
work and were first called "tramps."
In 1871 |35,000,000 of the people's money
was destroyed, and we had 2,915 failures, entailing a loss of 185,250,000. In 1872 only
|12,000,000 were destroyed, but the business
of the country had become demoralized by
reason of a destruction of the currency, so
that the business failures increased to 4,069,
with a loss to creditors of $121,058,000.
In the year 1873 came the demonetization
of silver—the greatest crime of all the ages—
and although the destruction of the paper
issue in this year amounted to only $1,609,000,
the business failures reached the appalling
number of 5,183, involving a loss of $228,499,
000, throwing out of employment over one
million men, who began the tramp for bread.
In 1874 the sum of $171,579,445 were destroyed, and as a consequence there were 5,832
failures, with a loss to creditors of $155,239,000.
In 1875 $40,817,418 were withdrawn from
circulation, resulting in 7,740 failures, with
losses of $201,060,000.
In 1876 there was withdrawn from circulation and destroyed the sum of $85,000,000,
and there were 10,000 failures in business,
with a loss of $300,000,000 to creditors.
In 1877 the failures reached 12,000, and

164

so on down they have gradually been on the
increase, until the year 1893, they reached the
enormous number of SIXTEEN THOUSAND
SIX HUNDEED AND FIFTY, and in this
glad year of grace 1895 they will probably
reach 25,000 in number.
The only hope of success the money-power
has is to work on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few
hands, and then, indeed, will the Eepublic
be destroyed. This can: be done by the contraction of the currency, and the people can
be fooled as they bow down and worship
"party."
All thinking people realize that we are
drifting toward monarchy and serfdom unless we change the course of the "ship of
State."
Plutocracy has always enslaved by reducing the medium of exchange, and if the people would conquer plutocracy they must do
so by increasing the circulating medium, so
that there will be a sum sufficient to transact
the business of the country on a fair and
equitable basis.
Contraction means misery, hunger, ruin.
.Expansion of the currency means prosperity, happiness and joy.
Which shall it be?
The voters of America must decide.

Gommenting on the spirit of party worship,
Washington, in his farewell address, says:
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of
revenge natural to party dissension, which in
different ages and countries has perpetrated
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads a t length to
a more formal and permanent despotism. The
disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security
and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some
prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation
on the ruins of the public liberty."
#
#
#
"It opens the door to foreign influence and
corruption, which finds a facilitated access
to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and
will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."
#
*
#
"A fire not to be quenched, it demands a
uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into
flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume,"
tm

CHAPTER XVII.
PRINCES AND PAUPERS.

If the great masses of the common people
of this country could, for one night, look upon
the tinsel show and gaudy display of wealth
on the ^ne hand, and the poverty, degradation, the squalid misery on the other, there
would go up such a protest against existing
conditions that our lawmakers would be compelled to grant relief.
The recent weddings among the millionaires have served to demonstrate the fact
that there is a wide, inseparable gulf between
the plutocrats and the people, and that it is
ever widening and deepening.
Such a profligate expenditure of money
when there is such suffering abroad in the
land can only happen in a diseased condition
of society, and is always a forerunner of national decay.
At one of these recent weddings the floral
decorations alone cost sixty thousand dollars,
and within an arrow's flight there were thou186

167

sands and tens of thousands suffering fotf
bread.
The plutocrats of America are money mad,,
and, after having accumulated practically all
the wealth, they are looking to Europe for
titles. What a spectacle to see a fair young
girl sell herself to some broken-down old scioi?
of nobility for the sake of an empty title.
Miss Vanderbilt recently married a lisping
foreign dude, so that she can be called duch*
ess, and for the title she paid ten million doL
lars.
The time has come in this country when
brawn and brain, worth and merit, do noi
count. It is only money—money and high<
sounding titles.
Indeed, our plutocrats are so in love with
royalty that many of them are taking up their
abodes in Europe and transferring their millions earned by the toilers of this country to
where they can be near the titled fops whom
they so much love to ape.
The following lengthy account of the PagetWhitney wedding is taken from the New
York "World," and is reproduced here to
show the follies and extravagance of plutocracy. Indeed, it should be called crime, for
it is nothing less. When we consider the manner in which the plutocrats acquired their
money, and take a look at the wretched victims whom they have robbed, it can only be
calJed crime of the deepest dye:

168

WEDDED TO RAKE MUSIC.
Mr. Paget and Miss Whitney United at St.
Thomas's in Tasteful Splendor.
NORDICA, DE BESZKE, FRANKO THERE.
Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Lamont and Mr. Herbert Honor ExSecretary Whitney by Their Presence.
NEW YORK'S SOCIETY SEEN AT ITS BEST.
The President Speaks at the Breakfast, and the Happy Pair
Go to Coventry, Conn.

The wedding of Almeric Hugh Paget to
Miss Pauline Whitney at St. Thomas's Church
yesterday was a notable event. The most
beautiful women in New York and the capital
graced it. President Cleveland and Cabinet
officers honored it; the bridegroom's sisters
and brother had crossed the ocean to attend
it.
Socially, it was a triumph, for the four
walls of the church held the very best people
—the most exclusive. That is, of course, always gratifying to a young bride and bridegroom. The management of the wedding was
perfect.
From a pictorial point, the interior of the
church was charming, with its effects of white
and green. From an artistic point, the music
was superb. What else, when Nordica and De
Keszke sing and Franko fiddles?
The gourmet's palate was mightily tickled
at the wedding breakfast, and the display of

169

presents delighted those who love jewels and
plate.
So, the most sincere friend of Mr. and Mrs.
Almeric Hugh Paget can only wish that their
lives will be as beautiful and as happy as
their wedding.
SOCIETY'S EVERY ANIMOSITY BURIED.

The wedding was the more enjoyable because it gave rise to no heartburnings. For
the moment, all the cliques in society who
dearly hate each other forgot their jealousies,
were cordial, or pretended to be cordial, that
they might all add to the happiness of William C. Whitney, and of his daughter, and of
his new son. As they passed out of the
church, Mrs. Willie K. Vanderbilt could have
laid her shapely hand on the shoulder of her
former brother-in-law, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Yet another thing added to the joy of this
wedding: The bridegroom, young Paget, was
an Englishman of noble blood, as they call it
over there. Henry VIII., who, by the by, had
several weddings, knighted his ancestor. The
head of his family is a Lord Anglesey. Lady
This and the Marchioness That call him cousin. His relatives are in favor with Victoria,
and his brother is a friend of the Prince of
Wales.
ONLY THE JINGOES SAD.

Yet noble blood was not bought and sold
at this wedding, as it has so often been bought
and sold. Young Paget, poor, came to this

170

country and made money. He went west,
grew up with Minnesota, and helped Minnesota to grow up. Now he's rich. He met Miss
Whitney on a voyage-to Europe. They fell
in love. They were married.
It was a wedding that was sad only to the
jingoes. There was Whitney, ex-Secretary,
who called this country's new navy into existence; there was Herbert, Secretary, who is
nourishing the navy and adding to its
strength. -And there was an Englishman marrying another American heiress.
War with England? You can quarrel with
your cousins, but how is a man to fight with
his sister's husband!
The first of the invited to arrive at this fine
and propitious wedding were the police. Having no cards, these stalwart guests were not
admitted to the church. Indeed, it was their
duty to see that no one without a ticket got in
the church. Their only other duty was to
keep women, who blindly ran to see, from under horses' hoofs. There were sixty-five policemen under Acting Inspector MoOullough*
They did their duty nobly. If you doubt it,
try to say "no" to a woman. And if you're
brave try to say "no" to a woman who is not
invited to a wedding, and has set her heart
on seeing that wedding.
A WORD PICTURE OF THE CHURCH.

The church doors were thrown open before
11 a. m. Many guests, invited within, were

171

waiting for that, and in they hurried. They
saw the church in all the glory of its decorations before there were other glories of mantau-makers and tailors to distract their attention. They saw:
Four arches of huge white chrysanthemums
that spanned the central aisle and the pews
on either side of it. A gate of chrysanthemums cutting the central aisle into two—the
entrance to the pews reserved for the most
intimate friends, the most distinguished of
those bidden—a gate always guarded by a St.
Peter in fine clothes, one of the ushers.
They saw the pillars decked to the capitals
with white chrysanthemums and their green
leaves, the balconies decked with white chrysanthemums, the reading desk buried under
Easter lilies, the chancel and the altar half
hidden by delicate and lofty palms and white
chrysanthemums. There was a riot of chrysanthemums, a foaming flood of chrysanthemums.
Besides, the very first comers could feast
their eyes on the ushers, arrayed in the purple and fine linen of the modern Solomon—
frock coats, satin ties, collars that threatened
the apple named after the ancestor of Mr. and
Mrs. Paget and every one else, and patent
leathers. These ushers were Jared Howe and
Crawford Livingston, of St. Paul; Winthrop
Eutherford, who is equally at home on the
golf links; Henry Payne Whitney, the bride's

172

brother; H. iMaitland Kersey; John C. Furman, James M. Waterbury's brother-in-law,
and William Cutting, Jr. The boldest of them
was Mr. Eutherford. He wore a pink shirt,
and his spats were white.
THE MEN ALL LOOKED ALIKE.

The ushers soon had their hands full. Some
had their arms full. From a long, an unending line of carriages alighted hundreds of
women, who entered the church. The men
who escorted these women, the unfortunate
men who work for them, their wives and
daughters, the toilers of Wall Street, whose
hands are calloused by clipping coupons, who
labor for hours signing checks, who are
doomed to organize banks and reorganize railroads, are not worth talking about here. Every one of them looked like the other one's
elder brother. They had all been to their
barber's, all wore shiny top hats, all wore
frock coats, all tried to wear happy expressions. They were oases in a desert of millinery; black spots on the sun of fashion.
But the women, young and younger—for
there were no old women there. There were
matrons, there were maidens. Paris for the
moment must have given the apple of beauty
to the matrons. To a man the gowns were
bewildering.
Careful observation would
prove that fashion this year cares most for
a woman's torso,

m
A FOREST OF AIGRETTES

These women's heads, almost every one of
them, were adorned with aigrettes. There
was a forest of aigrettes, enough aigrettes
for the Shah of Shahs, who wears one of diamonds, and for all his ancestors and all his
sons. That, be kind enough to observe, is
saying a great deal.
These aigrettes sprang from bonnets that
no man can describe. Then these women wore
tippets—tippets of priceless furs, of ermine
and sable, of the fur of the silver fox and of
the seal; and they wore capes of lace and
satin and jet and rich embroidery. But all
their skirts were plain enough. Now, each
woman was dressed quietly enough, nothing
glaring, nothing out of taste. But seat 900
women in a church, with their aigrettes, their
bonnets, their tippets, their capes, their diamonds in full view, their plain skirts out of
sight, and the effect was dazzling.
All these women knew each other, and as
they walked down the aisle they nodded and
smiled and beckoned and kissed hands. But
they saved some of their smiles for the ushers.
For were not the seats nearest the chancel
more precious for the instant than rubies?
But oftenest these smiles were wasted, for the
St. Peter opened not the gate of chrysanthemums.
THE TRIUMPH OF A BEAUTY#

One young woman in a violet velvet dress

174

would not be refused. For full two minutes
she stood at that gate cajoling its saint, while
the women nearest her laughed and encouraged her. She made little moves. She knitted
her arched eyebrows, she showed her white
teeth—and the gate was opened to her, triumphant.
The pews were all occupied; millionaires'
daughters filled the aisles, and their sons
were being crushed against the walls and pillars, when Dr. George W. Warren, the church
organist, began to play a prelude.
No one listened to it. Every woman was
watching the last arriving guests. Among
them were the women most remarkable for
their riches or for their beauty.
Mrs. John Jacob Astor, Mrs. Willie K. Vanderbilt, Lady Oolebrooke and Miss Paget, the
bridegroom's sisters, were the objects of polite curiosity.
IT WAS JUST LIKE THE OPERA#

The whispering grew louder, and it never
for a single moment ceased, while, hidden by
the palms, Mrs. Garnm and the choir sang
Weber's Bridesmaids' Chorus; while Miss Winant, accompanied by the harp, sang an air by
Handel; while Mrs. Gamm sang Torrento's
"Show Me Thy Ways;" while Edouard de
Eeszke sang Eossini's "Stabat Mater;" while
Mme. Nordica sang the "Ave Maria," with
the violin obligato by Franko; while Franko
played a solo; while ISTordica and De Eeszke

175

sang "Le Crucifix;" while Nordica sang BachGounod's "Ave Maria."
All this while the flutter of conversation
that often *arose above whispers stirred the
air, which was heavy then, with the commingled odor of perfumes. You would hear: "Ah,
De Beszke! Lovely, isn't it?" or "Ah, Nordica!
What a voice!" But no one listened to the
music. I t was quite like the opera, save that
there could be no encores.
ENTER, THE PRESIDENT.

Just before noon Grover Cleveland, a very
old friend indeed of Mr. Whitney and President of the United States, walked down the
aisle to the front pew among the family. The
900 women raised their lorgnettes and looked
through them at him. The President wore a
frock coat, dark trousers and brown gloves.
He appeared grave. Looking neither to the
right nor left, and escorted by two ushers,
he walked hurriedly to the place reserved 'for
him.
In a little while after him came Mrs. Daniel Lamont on an usher's arm, and behind
her the Secretary of War, trim, dapper and
smiling, nodding here and there to his acquaintances.
Ten minutes later Secretary of the Navy
Herbert appeared. He has a gray chin whisker, like Uncle Sam's, and lacks the metropolitan polish. It was gossiped around the

176

church that one of the ushers, not knowing
Mr. Herbert, tried to seat him in a side aisle.
ENTER, THE BRIDEGROOM^

At last the bnzz, buzz of yery small talk
ceased, and eyery one looked straight ahead
at the chancel steps. For the bridegroom
had appeared there from the yestry, supported by his elder brother and best man, Gerald Paget, The bridegroom wore the inevitable frock coat, dark trousers and patent leather shoes. His white satin necktie was tied
with studied carelessness. He wore no
gloyes.
THE BRIDAL PROCESSION^

Bishop Potter, Bishop Leonard, of Ohio—
a great friend of the Paynes (Mrs. William G.
Whitney was a Miss Payne)—and the Key.
Dr. John Wesley Brown, rector of St. Thomas's, took their places in the chancel. They
were to celebrate the ceremony. The choir
began to sing the Wedding March from "Lohengrin/' the organ accompanying, and the
bridal party entered. Instantly eyery one in
the pews nearest the central aisle arose.
Lucky, indeed, were those who sat in the galleries, for when the people in the central pews
arose, they shut the bridal procession from
tie yiew of all others on the floor of the
church.
They, howeyer, are hereby informed that
the ushers walked first in the procession.

ANDREW CARNEGIE.

177

Then came four very young girls carrying
baskets of white roses and lilies of the valley.
They were Miss Dorothy Whitney, the bride's
little sister, and her three cousins, the Misses
Katherine Barnay, Laura Whitney and Frances Bingham.
To insure the perfect happiness of all women who read this, it is necessary to pause
here and state, on the authority of a dressmaker, that the four little flower girls wore
dresses of white mousseline de soie, with
fichus of gauze trimmed with lace, white
gloves and soft-plumed hats.
THE BEWILDERING BRIDESMAIDS,

Following the flower girls walked the
bridesmaids, a group of stately young women.
Each wearing a gown different in color from
the other, one seemed to see youthful beauty
through a prism. "Two by two, dressed in
yellow, white and blue," as the old nursery
rhyme jingles, the bridesmaids walked. They
were Miss Azuba Barnay, the bride's cousin,
who wore yellow; Miss Emily Vanderbilt
Sloane, in rose color; Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt's daughter, in
white; Miss Beatrice Bend, in violet; Miss
Susie Dimock, another cousin of the bride,
in turquoise blue, and Miss Edith Blake
Brown, in pale green.
These bridesmaids wore plumed hats of velvet, such as one sees on the heads of Henry

ITS

of Navarre and the Due de Guise in pictures
of their time. The bridesmaids carried muffs.
The effect of the sight of the bridesmaids upon
the men in the church was bewilderingly
pleasant. The women, calmer, looked at the
bridesmaids and then at each other and said:
" Worth made those dresses, my dear."
THE BRIDE ON HER FATHER'S ARM.

Last of all in the procession to the altar
came, of course, the bride, leaning on her
father's arm. Her dress, which has been so
often described, was fit for a princess, and
even a man could see that it fitted her fine
figure to perfection.
"Look at that veil; it cost a fortune," the
women whispered as she passed.
It was very credibly said that the train of
Miss Pauline Whitney's bridal dress was just
a little longer than the train of Miss Consuelo
Vanderbilt's bridal dress, and that Miss Whitney wished it to be so, and insisted upon it.
However, that is mere detail. Miss Whitney, leaning on her father's arm, was the
picture of happiness. She was radiant. She
was entirely self-possessed, too. She laughed
and chatted with her father as they walked,
he looking at her smilingly.
When they reached the chancel steps, the
ushers, the flower-girls and the bridesmaids
separated and took up positions on the steps
on either side.

179

The bridegroom came forward, and Mr.
Whitney, releasing his daughter's hand from
his arm, placed it in the arm of the man so
soon to be her husband.
SILENCE DURING THE CEREMONY.

The ceremony began, and for the first time
the polite chattering ceased.
" Who giveth this woman to be married to
this man?"
Mr. Whitney took a pace or two towards
the altar.
" I do," he said, in a clear tone and distinct.
In the silence the bridegroom's responses
were audible over half the church. So were
the bride's for that matter. Gerald Paget,
who seems to keep his wits about him under
trying circumstances, handed over the ring
with admirable promptness. People nodded
their heads approvingly as Almeric Paget repeated:
" W i t h this ring I thee wed, and with all
my worldly goods I thee endow."
The words meant something.
The choir sang the nuptial hymn. The ceremoney was soon ended. The bridegroom tucked his wife's arm in his and started up the
aisle. Mrs. Paget retained the self-possession
that Miss Whitney had exhibited. The bridesmaid to whom she had confided her huge bouquet of roses and lilies of the valley when the
origan began to play Mendelssohn's Wedding

180

March for the procession out of the church
was lost in happy reflection. Mrs. Paget
smiled, nudged her and brought her back to
this world, took the bouquet and went on
with her husband.
A LEAF FROM THE PATH.

Behind them walked William 0. Whitney
alone. He seemed dejected as he was leaving
the church.
After Mr. Whitney in this bridal recessional went the flower girls, then the bridesmaids.
The ushers had split into pairs, so as to keep
the aisle clear. That was thoughtful, for
many women, forgetting themselves in their
eagerness for a last glimpse, were standing on
the seats of the pews. Some even climbed over
the partitions between the pews and called to
their friends: " Come up here; here's a better
place."
Such a thing has not happened in New
York since the young Earl of Craven married
Miss Bradley-Martin in Grace Church.
LEAVING THE CHURCH.

Two ushers walked in front of Grover Cleveland, on whose arm was Mrs. Lamont, as he
left the church, and two behind him. Then
came Secretaries Lamont and Herbert, and
then the kin of the contracting parties, Lady
Colebrook and Miss Paget, under the wing of
their brother Gerald.

181

The people left the church in an amiable
mob, admiring the method in which the ceremony was conducted.
" Charming, eh?"
"Such music; divine!"
" How well she looked!"
Such expressions could not but be overheard, for the aisles and the doors were long
the pews nearest the central aisle arose,
blocked by the slow-moving throng. The
police at the entrances gently urged them
along. Some of the police touched their hats
to one man in the crowd. He was a very old
political friend of William C. Whitney. He
was Eichard Croker. With him was Mrs.
Croker, a handsome woman.
THE CROWD PLUCKED THE FLOWERS.

While the aisles were blockaded a woman
thoughtlessly plucked a chrysanthemum from
one of the arches. She set a bad example.
Scores of women followed it. They soon
stripped the bases of the arches of their flowers, and so rudely did some pluck them that
the white leaves were strewn on the floor like
snow. Mr. Whitney intended to send the
chrysanthemums to the hospitals, but his
guests did not know that. A strange desire
for the wedding chrysanthemums seemed to
seize some of them. They plucked, not one
flower, but bunches of them. One of the sexton's assistants jumped on a pew seat and

182

cried: " Ladies, yon must not take chose flowers." But that did not restrain them. The
same passion for those flowers possessed the
women who stood on the sidewalks waiting
for the church to empty its guests. The women on the sidewalks begged their luckier sisters for the chrysanthemums. One girl, who
might have been a seamstress, approached a
woman dressed in yelyet.
"Madam," she said, "will you please give
me one of those flowers?"
" I will not," said the woman in velvet. A
young man overheard. He took the one chrysanthemum he had plucked and gave it to
the girl.
And she went away happy.
WHAT APPEALED TO THE EYE.
APPEARANCE OF THE BRIDE AND HER FATHER
AND THE GOWNS.

Every one in St. Thomas's Church yesterday exclaimed as Miss Pauline Whitney
walked up the aisle with her father, "What a
lovely bride!" Then the ex-Secretary came in
for his share, for on a second look the comment was, "What a distinguished-looking
pair!"
Those in the front pews—Grover Cleveland among them—who looked down at the
bride, saw a sweet young face of oval form
with a tinge of pink on the cheeks, clear gray
eyes, regular features and a peculiarly pleas-

183

ant expression.
On the fluffy dark hair
brushed away was a coronet of orange blossoms. In her hand was a bouquet of bride
roses fringed with lillies of the valley, and
trailing down the skirt from up on the waist
at one side a long garland of orange blossoms.
Her bridal gown was of the very richest
white satin and quite simply made, fitting to
perfection. In the back it was of the princess style, while in front the waist and skirt
were distinct, though this was not noticed
under a crumpled girdle. The sleeves were
simply enormous to the elbow and then became close. The collar was of point d'Angleterre, and there was a fall of this lace over
the sleeves.
To many of the women the problem of the
cost of the magnificent point lace veil she
wore presented itself as she passed. There
were tiny roses and garlands in its meshes,
and, covering, as it did, the train of tremendous length, became a thing of beauty.
No more variegated bouquet could be culled
from the rosebud garden of girls than that
composed by the bridesmaids. They were in
turquoise blue, buttercup yellow, pale green,
violet, white and rose—the shades of the rainbow, and in delicate tints. Moire poplin was
the material used for the costumes, and the
skirts were full, the sleeves bouffant, with
just a bit of rare lace on them and the cor-

184

sage. There were some sable bands on the
skirts and edges of the waist. A bit of it was
on the velvet hats as well, and a touch on the
skirts, and nodding plumes on both.
The new Elizabethan ruff was to the fore,
tn this case it was a fanciful affair of gauze
combined with a flecking of fur. Miss Whitney gave all the girls handsome brooches,
and these they all wore.
Among the other notable costumes were:
Lady Colebrooke, of England—Dark-red
velvet, trimmed with gold.
Mrs. John Jacob Astor—Purple velvet, witK
bonnet to match.
Mrs. Van Eensselaer Oruger—Black satin,
with black velvet bodice, trimmed with rose
silk and lace.
Mrs. Henry F. Dimock—Plain yelloAV moire,
with lace.
Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish—Dove gray veh^et,
trimmed with fur, and bonnet to match.
Mrs. C. S. Brice—Violet velvet, with fur.
Miss Brice—Brown velvet.
Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt—A very rich
costume of black dotted brocade, with jet
trimmings.
Mrs. Sloane—Violet velvet.
Mrs. James P. Kernochan—-Royal purple
velvet, with fur and lace.
Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt.—Black brocade, with small bonnet, trimmed with a vivid
red tip.

185

Mrs. William Jay—Brown cloth, with velvet, and small hat to match.
Mrs. Edward N. Tailer—Black satin brocade, with jet.
But it is useless to particularize further.
MB. CLEVELAND'S TOAST.
HAPPY LITTLE SPEECH AT THE BREAKFAST,
MR. PAGET RESPONDING

Mr. and Mrs. Almeric Hugh Paget had
scarcely more than set foot in the dwelling
of ex-Secretary "Whitney, at Fifth Avenue and
Fifty-seventh Street, whither they were rapidly driven after the wedding,when the bridal
guests arrived. They received congratulations in the grand Fifth Avenue drawingroom, while an orchestra played.
It was not long before the bridal breakfast
was served, and the small tables, all gorgeous
with blossoms, were scattered in close proximity over the big hall, the little study, the
great dining-room, the handsome library, the
cozy reception-room and the grand ball-room.
All these were necessary, as there were six
hundred or more guests.
On the end of the platform, built in the
great semi-circular bow-window at the western side of the ball-room, sat the bridal party.
Directly behind them, was a great bank of
bright blossoms.

186

The menu was:
Pot an Feu en Tasse.
Oliyes.
Celeri.
Amandes.
Oeufs Brouilles aux Truffes.
Irroy '89.
Oarre d'Agneau a la Bourgeoise.
Pate de Foie Gras a la Gelee
Cailles Egyptiennes.
Salade Florentine.
Johannis.
Glace.
Turban Annanes.
Gateaux.
Bonbons.
Cafe.
President Cleveland sat at Mr. Whitney's
right. Lady Colebrooke, Mr. Paget's sister,
was on the left. President Cleveland arose
when the coffee came and made one of the
neatest little speeches of his life—so every
one said. He wished the newly-married pair
all future happiness. He had known the
bride from the time she was a little tot, and
was conyinced of Mr. Paget's sagacity by his
selection of a wife. Nothing could have deprived him of the satisfaction of being present at the marriage of the daughter of his old
friends, and his only regret was that Mrs.
Cleveland was not present to behold the happy pair, to whose health and prosperity he
gave the toast.
The bridegroom arose to respond. He said
afterwards that he committed to memory one

187

of the brightest little speeches in the world,
but he forgot it. Nevertheless, he did very
well. He cracked a joke, but nobody laughed.
It was a very good joke, too. He said that
although he had lived in America several
years he found himself now for the first time
more than half an American. The failure of
everybody to appreciate this did not deter him
from making appropriate remarks in conclusion.
The bride retired to put on her going-away
gown. When she came back all the ladies
remarked on her fine appearance. The dress
was made of cadet blue cloth, and trimmed
with chinchilla.
I t was on the 4 p. m. train of the New York,
New Haven & Hartford that Mr. and Mrs.
Paget finally lost sight of an odd collection
of old shoes and a few hundred pounds of
Carolina rice. Then they had President Clark's
fine special car, No. 100, all to themselves.
They are to pass two weeks at Mrs. Dimock's grand country place at Coventry,
Conn
GEMS OF EVEBY KIND.
FORTUNES IN THE WEDDING GIFTS, SOME OF
WHICH ARE YET TO BE OPENED.

An astonishing array of bridal gifts was
shown to the friends of Miss Pauline Whitney Monday afternoon, at the Whitney residence. Mr. Whitney has arranged to divide

188

among his children their mother's splendid
jewels. Miss Pauline Whitney's share of
these was displayed with the other jewels.
These comprise a very high tiara in a lattice design, with huge diamond pendants, a
diamond necklace, in a pattern of overlapping
circlets, five diamond hairpins with globe
heads, a diamond ribbon, composed of a solid
succession of diamonds two yards long, a
diamond and sapphire collarette of large,
oval sapphires, surrounded with brilliants, a
large flower brooch and other fine jewels.
Colonel Payne presented his niece with
three rows of big pearls, second only to the
string collected by W. K. Vanderbilt in former years for his wife, which she has recently
presented to the Duchess of Marlborough.
Other gifts were:
Mr. and Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan—A ruby
and diamond bracelet.
Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt—A long
diamond-leaf pin.
Miss Alice Paget—A blue enamelled heart.
The Barney children—A pearl and climond ring.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Whitney—A pin with
one white diamond and two yellow diamonds.
Earl of Listowel—Brooch of sapphires and
diamonds.
William C. Whitney—Splendid collar of
pearls and diamonds.
Harry Payne Whitney and Payne Whit-

189

ney—A little gold chain necklet, on which
quivered a large diamond and emerald.
Mr. and Mr. Claries W. Bingham—A magnificent opal and diamond collar.
Lady Paget—A diamond rose, with leaves.
Lady Honoria Cadogan—Ruskin's "Seven
Lamps."
William Cutting, Jr.—Two silver bonbon
baskets.
Charles F. Crocker—Large silver tankard,
W. H. Corning—Gold picture-mirror.
Mrs. S. Van Rensselaer Cruger—Tall glass
and gold vase.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Croker—Large silveredged mirror.
Roland Colebrooke—Silver ink-stand.
President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland—
Large two-handled centerpiece.
Lady Colebrooke—Gold-headed stick.
Miss Elsie Clews—Two small oval silver
dishes.
Miss Susie Dimock—Pour old silver saltcellars and spoons.
Mrs. J. H. Davis—Gold heart-shaped box.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dimock—Large silver
centre-basket.
Mrs. Chamberlain—A silver dish.
Mr. Robinson—A fan.
Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor—A large
silver vase.
Mrs. Astor—Four silver salt-cellars and
spoons.

190

Mrs. Henry Bentinck—A silver lamp.
Miss Beatrice Bend—A silver oval openwork dish.
Ethel Brown and Edith Brown—A picture.
Mrs. Geo. H. Bend—A silver cigarette case.
Mrs. Charles H. Brayton—A pearl carved
box.
Francis Bingham—A silver lamp, with iron
for hair.
Elizabeth Bingham—Silver and glass vase.
Harry Bingham—Gilt and bine paper-cntter.
Oliver Bingham—Silver cologne bottle.
William Bingham—Glass bottle.
Miss Aznba Barney—An empire lamp.
Joseph Leiter—A large openwork silver
centerpiece.
Secretary and Mrs. Daniel Lamont—A
painted fan, with pearl sticks.
Miss Mary Leiter and Miss Nannie Leiter—
Large, ronnd silver dish, with cover.
D. O. Mills—A silver bread basket.
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Martin—Three big
silver openwork baskets for the table, one
being of immense size.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer—A watch
set with rubies and diamonds.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Wadsworth Bitchie—A silver tray.
"N. Eeid—Four gold openwork dishes.
Mrs. Bandolph—A silver box, with miniature in top, set with rhinestones.

191

Lady Suffield—Six silver fruit knives.
Mrs. Shepard—Two oval gold plates.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sloane—An old bine
and gold clock.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Barney—A silverframed, heart-shaped mirror.
Frederic O. Beach — Silver and glass
liqnenr bottle.
Mr. Baldwin—A silver-framed mirror.
Miss Alice Blight and Miss Edith Blight—
A silver vase.
Mr. and Mrs. Heber Bishop—A silver cup,
with cover.
Mr. and Mrs. I. T. Burden—An openwork
oval silver dish.
Mrs. Edward Bing—Two silver candlesticks.
Perry Belmont—A small tortoiseshell and
silver clock.
Mavroyeni Bey—Two oval openwork silver
dishes.
Columbus C. Baldwin—Silver and Bohemian glass vase.
Frederic H. Betts—A silver fruit stand,
grape pattern.
Miss Helen Brice and Miss Kate Brice—A
fan, with three queens' heads.
Mrs. Chamberlain—A silver-covered dish.
Count Sierstorpff—A fan with pearl and
gold sticks.
George Vanderbilt—A large silver centerpiece, with two handles.

192

William K. Vanderbilt—A feather fan,
with ivory sticks.
Mr. and Mrs. Orme Wilson—A silver loving
cup.
Mrs. James Whitney—A complete outfit of
silver knives, forks and spoons.
Dr. and Mrs. W. Seward Webb—An engraving, a copy of one of Meissonier's paintings.
Chauncey M. Depew—A silver tea set.
Lady A. Paget—Two silver candlesticks, a
silver tray, one dozen mother-of-pearl knives
and forks.
The unmarried Pagets—A silver-mounted
ressing bag.
The Rev. Mr. Scholto Douglas—Four silver
gilt dishes.
Minnie and Arthur Paget—Silver tea and
coffee set, four pieces.
Colonel Paget—A silver-gilt vase.
Eeginald H. Dyke—Two silver candlesticks.
Henry Bentwick—A lamp.
Sir Everard Doyle—A silver plate-heater.
Sir Edward Birkbeck—Silver-edged blotting-book.
Hugh Cameroi^—A silver pencil.
Hon. Mrs. Ward—£10.
Lady Sophia—Silver links.
Countess of Essex—A silver box.
Sir Edward and Lady Colebrooke—A silver
centerpiece.
Miss Annis—Silver ink pot.

A CONTRAST.

A W O R K I N G GIRL'S B E D .

P R I C E $5.00.

PICTURE FROM L I F E ,

N E W YORK PAPER.

193

Mr. jfeall—Blotter.
Mr. and Mrs. William Butler Duncan—A
silver ink pot.
Mrs. E. Cole—A fan.
Mrs. Otis—A silver lieart box.
Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord—A fan
and a parasol.
Charles Raoul Duval—A silver flask.
Mrs, Endicott—A silver box.
Mrs. William Edwards—A pearl crown
brooch.
Mrs. Barton French—Silver-capped glass
bowl.
Moreton Frewen—Gold pencil and seal.
Mrs. Ogden Goelet—Old fan.
C. W. Gordon—Fifteen volumes of Victor
Hugo in English.
Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge T. Gerry—Big silver bowl and spoon.
John L. Gardner—Picture by J. L. Smith.
Walter Gurnee III.—Old silver pepper caster.
Miss Gurnee—Silver coffee pot.
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh J. Grant—Silver box,
with enamelled top.
Miss Gurnee—Two glass and gold cologne
bottles.
James T. Gardiner — Two
oval-shaped
dishes.
Augustus C. Gurnee—A silver bowl.
Thomas F . Gilroy—A gold-mounted scent
bottle.

194

Jared Howe—A set of books.
Janet Henderson—A heart-shaped silver
tray.
William F. Harrity—A bronze Napoleon.
Mr. Haven—A silver coffee pot, cream, sugar and tray.
Groold Hoyt—An old silver box.
These and a great many more articles were
displayed with the bridal gifts. There are
still boxes and hampers apparently without
end a t t h e Whitney residence containing gifts,
the opening of which has been delayed on account of the wedding preparations.
Let us look on the other side of the picture
for a moment, and see the deadly contrast. I
give it to my readers in the language of a
little street waif:
"It's dis way," he said; "in de summer we
kin always sleep in de park, but when winter
comes we got ter get inside. On de Bowery
dare is lots o' lodging houses what charges
ten cents fer a bed. Well, dey get all de
rooms filled at dat price every night, an' when
dat's done dey lets us fellers sleep in de chairs
aroun' de stove in de office. Some hotels
charge five cents for a chair, but ones de
cheaper element patronizes only charges one
and two cents. One cent jus' gets a plain
chair, but two cents gets a cushion wid it.
Any man can almos' rustle a cent, but when
he can't de hotel men sometimes gets good
an' lets him have a chair for nothing. Fin'

195

trouble in sleepin' in the chairs? Well, I
should say not, young feller, after we sleep
on de park benches all summer, we wouldn't
know how to go about sleeping in anything
else."
I was told that one house on the Bowery
rents out flye hundred chairs a night at three
cents, while another disposes of three hundred at flye cents, and scores of others dispose of hundreds at one cent.
About four or five years ago there was a
dive on Water Street vhere men went and
for ten cents they could get a pint of stale
beer, and a bunk with a woman—outcast
wretches oyer whose souls the blasts of hell
had blown so fiercely that they had been
transformed to fiends. And yet this is called
a Christian land and a civilized government.
Eead the following and tell me if all is well
in this country:
FOKTY-SIX THOUSAND LOST WOMEN
IN POTTER'S.
THE

G R A V E TO W H I C H T H A T N U M B E R
ANNUALLY.

GOES

Baltimore, Oct. 15.-—At the session to-day
of the National Social Purity Congress, Mrs.
Edholm said:
*
" Of the 230,000 erring girls in the country,
over half have been snared or sold into their
lives of shame.
" Their average life is five years. Forty-six

196

tnousand are carted out to Potter's Field
every year. Over one hundred American
homes have to be desolated every day to recruit the ranks of shame.
" I s n ' t it time that somebody is trying to
save these girls from falling into those dens
of iniquity? Twenty million Christians can
rescue 230,000 erring girls, or surely the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a failure."
If we will destroy plutocracy and take the
reins of government out of the hands of the
money power and restore them to the people
and return to the honesty and simplicity of
our forefathers, then we will not have the
prince and the pauper jostling each other on
our streets, and palaces and hovels will both
give way to comfortable American homes,
and we will have "peace on earth and goodwill toward all men."

THE PANIC BULLETIN, ISSUED MAEOH
12, 1893, BY THE NATIONAL BANKEBS ? ASSOCIATION TO ALL NATIONAL BANKS.
Dear Sir: The interests of the national
bankers require immediate financial legislation by Congress. Silver, silver certificates,
and Treasury notes must be retired and the
national bank notes, upon a gold basis, made
the only money. This will require the authorization of from |500,000,000 to f 1,000,000,000
of new bonds as a basis of circulation. You
will at once retire one-third of your circulation and call in one-half of your loans. Be
careful to make a money stringency felt
among your patrons, especially among influential business men. Advocate an extra
session of Congress for the repeal of the purchase clause of the Sherman law and act
with the other banks of your city in securing
a large petition to Congress for its unconditional repeal, per accompanying form. Use
personal iinfluence with Congressmen, and
particularly let your wishes be known to your
Senators. The future life of national banks
as fixed and safe investments depends upon
immediate action, as there is an increasing
sentiment in favor of government legal-tender oaotes and silver coinage.

OHAPTEE XVIII.
THE PEOPLE TRIUMPHANT.

" Trnth crushed to earth will rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
While error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies amid her worshippers."
In the midst of the conflict which is now
going on, which is being waged so fiercely by
the money power, the people grow weary of
the struggle, and many of them fall by the
wayside dispirited and heartbroken.
The burdens they carry are so heavy, the
night of darkness seems so long that they are
almost ready to say there is no hope.
Let us not be discouraged, dear friends, for
we know that on our side we have humanity,
truth, justice, God. We know that if we only
continue, steadfast and faithful, we will in
the end come off more than conquerors.
Therefore, let us not be discouraged, let us
not become faint-hearted, for the prize for
which we contend is worth all the sacrifices
198

199

we can make, for it is the emancipation of the
human race.
True, we fight against powers and principalities, against might and bigotry, against
all forms of oppression, but at the close of
the day the white flag of freedom will be unfurled to the breeze oyer the ramparts where
the black piratical flag of plutocracy now
floats. We have not gone so far but what the
battle may yet be fought out on constitutional ground and won by constitutional methods,
It need only be a war of ballots.
The people can win a decisive victory in
1896. If they will be wise and unite undei!
the Stars and Stripes, on whose ample folds
is written "a government of the people, for
the people and by the people," they can gain
the victory, and there need be no bloodshed.
But if the people do not soon unite and
w^rest this country from the rule of plutocracy
there will be such a revolution as the world
has never known. We must support a party
wiiich declares a relentless war on trusts and
monopolies, a party representing the people
and antagonizing plutocracy.
Give us a graduated income tax which will
take a larger and larger per cent, of a man's
income as it increases, until all beyond a certain amount goes back to the State.
In other words, it ought to be made impossible for a few men to obtain all, or nearly
all ; of the wealth, and those who have been

200

robbing the people for years ought to be compelled to disgorge a portion of their stealings.
Let there be a stringent law against trusts,
and let this law be vigorously enforced. Let
the government own all the railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, and let the municipalities 'own the street railways, the waterworks, the electric lights and gas. Prohibit
alien ownership of lands. Abolish national
banks, and let all money be issued by the
government. Give us the free and unlimited
coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1, and supplement the amount so coined by the issue of
Treasury notes by the general government, so
as to give us a circulating medium of fifty
dollars per capita. Drive our unfaithful servants out of office, abolish lobbying and
cleanse the Capitol.
Can all these things be done? Most assuredly they can. The remedy is plain, the
way is easy, if the people will only act in concert.
Of course, the plutocrats, in both the old
parties, will be united, as they have always
been, and will get up a sham battle over the
tariff and other minor issues, and thus endeavor to divert the minds of the people from
the greatest question which has ever confronted us. They are waging, and will continue to wage, war on the people, yet they
fondly hope to hoodwink enough voters to
win another campaign.

201

All that millions of ill-gotten gain can do
will be done to bribe and corrupt the people.
The sugar trust, the beef trust, the leather
trust, and hundreds of other trusts—the great
corporations, the Shylocks—will pour into
the coffers of the two old parties such vast
sums of money that great streams of corruption will flow out in eyery direction, carrying
their poisonous yirus into every city, town
and hamlet in the land.
After the campaign is over, and the mephitic bubbles upon the fetid bosom of the
streams have burst, the stench which the foul
and nauseous gases will leave behind will
start a train of evils which will be the inheritance of future generations.
The money barons have only to win a few
more campaigns, and then they will purchase
just the legislation they want, and the people
will be robbed of all the land, because they
now have most of it under mortgage, and all
of liberty will be lost. When this is accomplished, Shylock can keep all his money, for
he need not pour out such vast sums as a
corruption fund, for he will have already
achieved his purposes.
Under the most recent piece of legislative
robbery there has been a loss in property values to the Southern States of $90,284,580. In
the Central and Western States there has
been a net loss of $111,655,252, while the
Western group have sustained a loss of $210,-

202

671,153. Thus this vast area of country has
been compelled to sacrifice the sum of five
hundred million dollars to the greed of Shylock. This shrinkage in value has taken place
within the past year.
While this has been going on, the pmtocrats of New York and the East have had the
value of their holdings increased under the
single gold standard by $337,800,753. This
is only a slight foretaste of what is in store
for us. These purse-proud plutocrats have
grown so greedy that they have determined
to possess all the wealth of this country, and
they have learned that it can be accomplished
by manipulating the finances.
A few more administrations like Grover
Cleveland's and the robbery will be complete.
While this great shrinkage of value has been
going on, and the wealth has been concentrating in the hands of a few, the President has
loaded upon the shoulders of the laboring
people a bonded indebtedness of one hundred
and sixty-two and a half million dollars, to
say nothing of the millions of dollars interest,
and these bonds are held by the plutocrats,
and the people, who are half-starved and halfnaked,/must toil and suffer as never before in
order to pay this additional levy of tribute
to the modern brigands.
Did the Egyptians ever grow less rigorous
in their punishment of the Israelites when
warned repeatedly by the Lord; did they ever

203

abate one jot or tittle of the grievous tasks
imposed? Did the slaveholders of the South,
when they heard the muttering thunders of
war, become less arrogant? Oh, no. In every
instance the burdens were increased, the
tasks were doubled, the arrogance and intolerance became more unbearable.
We cannot hope for mercy from our rich
masters; they have no thought of lessening
our burdens. Even now, as hunger stalks
abroad in the land, they sit at sumptuous banquet tables and plot other robberies and plan
other schemes to complete the subjugation of
mankind.
They are shrewd and cunning; they understand the people whom they are robbing, and
know that they will not believe all these
things, even when they are told to them, and
that they will never rise up in rebellion until
driven by hunger and desperation. They calculate that the voters can be fooled for another twenty years, and that by that time the
spirit of Americanism will be crushed, and
that the people will be so humiliated, so poor,
so wretched, so helpless, t h a t they will never
dare to strike for freedom, but will go on sinking lower and lower, until they are only sodden, sullen serfs.
But, on the other hand, the spirit of liberty
has been aroused, and burns anew in thousands of hearts, and the blazing torch is being passed from hand to hand, and carried

204

from home to home, warning the people of
their danger and preparing them for battle.
The spirits of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln have returned to earth, and
are fanning the smoldering embers of freedom which lie upon the altars of the people's
hearts, and some night, while the plutocrats
are drinking and revelling, darkly plotting
against the people, these embers will suddenly leap into flames of patriotism, and the
spirit of 1776 will animate the common people, and they will throw off the golden yoke
of tyranny and refuse to longer remain in
bondage.
The struggle will yet grow fiercer. The
night of doubt and uncertainty will yet become more gloomy, the cries of distress and
wretchedness will be more heartrending, and
the oppressions and sufferings more appalling. People will not see, they will not believe, until the burdens they bear crush all
spirit of partisanship out of their hearts.
But beyond this we can look; yes, steadfastly, hopefully, for we can see the breaking of the dawn, which will usher in a more
perfect day. The first rays of the sun which
is rising to light the new era are already
visible to those whose faces are turned to the
East, and soon they will be glinting the tree
tops and gliding gracefully down into the
valleys to chase away the shadows of the long
night. Soon we will catch the sparkle of the

205

dew upon the mountain tops and get a whiff
of the fragrant wild rose and thorn as their
nodding branches dip into the cool waters of
the purling streams.
The reign of plutocracy will be ended, and
we will witness the era of peace and prosperity. We are liying in the greatest epoch of
the world's history, one which marks the future for the weil or woe of mankind. Prophets
and seers of old looked forward to it. Jesus
Christ preached its coming. The toilers of
the world in every clime, in eyery land, haye
an instinctive feeling that their burdens are
soon to be lifted.
The reign of the money god is enacting its
last scene and preparing to exit, to be followed by the broader spirit of Christianity and
brotherly loye, which is to rule oyer the new
earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness. The
prophet Isaiah said of this new era which is
about to dawn on us:
" A n d they shall build houses and inhabit
them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat
the fruit of them. They shall not build and
another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; . . . they shall not labor in yain
nor bring forth for _ trouble; . . . the
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and
the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

The United States Monetary Commission
says: "However great the natural resources
of a country may be—however genial its
climate, fertile in soil, engenious, enterprising
and industrious its inhabitants, or free its institutions' if the yolume of money is shrinking and prices are falling, its inhabitants will
be overwhelmed with bankruptcy, its industries will be paralyzed, and destitution and
distress will prevail."
Hume says: "Falling prices and misery
and destruction are inseparable companions.
The disasters of the Dark Ages were caused
by decreasing money and falling prices. With
the increase of money, labor and industry
gain new life."
206

APPENDIX A.
ALIEN OWNEKSHIP OF THE LAND W E
LIVE I K
In this year of grace 1895 would it not be
well to see what is becoming of the soil for
which our fathers spilled their blood? We
find the land about all gone—that is, the title to it. The land, of course, remains in the
same place, but the title to a great part of
it is held by the English aristocracy and other
foreigners, whose consent for Americans to
occupy the land of this country can be obtained by what the supposed owners consider
a fair rental. If those whose favorite tune is
" T h e land of the free and the home of the brave"

would post themselves as to whom the land
belongs, they might not feel so patriotic regarding it.
Enormous tracts of land all along the
Northern Pacific to Montana and across to
California, not only of public domain, but
207

208

of habitation of settlers, have been made oyer
to English syndicates, of which Lord Brassey
is a central figure. Already the British have
breweries and cattle-raising ranches; now
they are monopolizing the land and lumber.
Viscount Scully is a large holder and wirepuller-in-chief. The greatest of the English
holdings, and the persons interested, are
these:
The Texas Land Union—3,000,000 acres.
Interested peers: Baroness Burdett-Ooutts,
Earl Cadogan, the Duke of Beaufort, William
Alexander Lochiel Stephenson, Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Beaudon, the Duke of Butland,
Ughtred J. Kay-Shuttleworth, M. P., and Enid
Ethel Cadogan (maid-in-waiting to the Queen).
This syndicate owns whole counties in Texas,
and tens of thousands of persons pay it rentals.
Sir Edward Beid—2,000,000 acres. This
is a syndicate which owns land in Florida
only. It includes the present Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Eandolph Churchill and Lady
Lister Kaye.
Viscount Scully—3,000,000 acres. His lordship maintains an elaborate system of bailiffs.
Syndicate No. 4—1,800,000 acres. This syndicate has all its holdings in Mississippi. I t
includes the Marquis of Dalliousie, Viscount
Cholmondeley, Viscountess Cross, Lady Gordon and Lady Biddulph.
Marquis of Tweeddale—1,750,000 acres,

209

Phillips, Marshall & Co., London—1,300,000
acres. This firm has the whole peerage for
its clients.
The Anglo-American Syndicate, London—
750,000 acres. The funds of widowed peeresses are largely invested here. The lands
are in the South and West.
Byran H. Evans—700,000 acres. Mr. Evans resides in London. His lands are in Mississippi.
The Duke of Sutherland—125,000 acres.
The British Land Company—320,000 acres.
This land is all in Kansas.
William Whalley—310,000 acres.
Mr.
Whalley is the Squire of Peterborough.
The Missouri Land Company—300,000 acres.
This operates a Missouri domain, and has
headquarters at Edinburgh.
Bobert Tennant—230,000 acres. This is
all farming land. Mr. Tennant lives in London.
Dundee Land Company—247,000 acres.
Lord Dunmore—120,000 acres.
Benjamin Newgas, Liverpool —100,000
acres.
Lord Houghton (in Florida)—60,000 acres.
English Land Company (in California)—50,000 acres.
English Land Gompany (in Arkansas)—50,000 acres.
Alexander Grant, London (in Kansas)—35,000 acres.

210

Syndicate No. 6—110,000 acres. This syndicate includes members of the English nobility. The land is in Wisconsin.
M. Elfenhauser, of Halifax—600,000 acres.
The land is in West Virginia.
Syndicate No. 1—50,000 acres. This is a
Scotch concern, and its land is in Florida.
I t is claimed that fully 20,000,000 acres of
American land are thus owned by great landowners in England and Scotland. This does
not include the Holland Syndicate, which
owns 5,000,000 acres of grazing land in Western States, nor the German Syndicate, owning 2,000,000 acres in various States.
The absentee English landlords have introduced a system of extracting rents by agencies
and bailiffs. A committee of American tenantry presented a memorial to London owners of land, setting forth the ruin that stared
the farmers in the face. As a result Baroness
Burdett-Coutts was mild, but the Duke of
Sutherland played the historical role of his
family.
As "he who owns the land of a country also
owns the people of that country," our boasted
freedom is seen to be a delusion, and the War
of the Revolution a lamentable failure.

APPENDIX B.
A EEMAEKABLE INTEKVIEW.
The people of this country have but little
idea of the power and aims of the men who,
from this place, are controlling the politics
of the United States. The power of money,
concentrated and managed by brains, is very
great, but never was it as daring and ugly
as it is to-day. Your correspondent met at
a social gathering a few days ago one of the
men who had returned from Washington,
where he had been to consult about the pending bond issue. He was full of his mission
and praise for President Cleveland.
"I think," said he, "Mr. Cleveland is the
greatest President we have ever had at the
head of this government. We never had a
man so fearless of politicians or the people
as he is, and the good part of it is, that while
he is fearless of them, the politicians are all
afraid of him."
"That is true; but is it not also true tKat He
has about ruined his party?"
211

212

"Certainly he has, but it is better for the
country that he has. The Democratic party
has served its purpose. All that clap trap
that Jefferson invoked 100 years ago about
equality and about the masses and classes, is
the veriest nonsense now. Sensible men know
there is not one word of truth ir it, and the
people here are getting tired of it. What this
country needs now is a stronger government
and more protection to the rights of property. This everlasting twaddle about equal
rights has played out, and rich people get so
disgusted with it that they go to Europe
where they never hear such stuff except from
Socialists and Anarchists."
T H E BISMARCK OF AMERICA.

"Why don't they remain there?" your correspondent asked.
"Well, they prefer to come back, and I guess
there is no law to prevent it. A man with
money can live where it suits his fancy, can't
he? But I tell you it is getting better here.
Mr. Cleveland is a man of iron nerve. He is
the Bismarck of America, and if I had my
way he would be emperor. He virtually now
has assumed full control to protect the public honor. The Senate and House have cowardly shrunk from their duty, and Cleveland
is equal to the emergency. He is not haunted
by any fear of his constituents; he takes hold
like a lion, and when they don't do what he

213

wants them to do, he does it anyway, and
they dare not interfere with him. Where is
there a President in the past that has had
the courage to do that?"
"But does not his course very much depress the country?"
"That is all nonsense. This is the same
twaddle we hear on the other side from the
Socialists—men who have nothing, or having
a little, think they have some right to shape
the policy of the government. We have let
these ideas run wild in this country until it
is time to call a halt."
"But would there not be danger of a revolution if this were done?"
"There is more nonsense, my friend. The
hand that signed the contract for bonds over
the heads of the would-be leaders in Congress
can write out an order that would call out
the standing army that would soon scatter
any such revolution. I look for some such
kicking, but when it comes it will be just what
we want; and from that day on this will be
a stronger government and one where the
demagogue will have but little power."
"Then I understand you favor a monarchical government?"
CLEVELAND HAS A COAT OF ARMS.

"Not exactly that, but I favor a stronger
government than we now have and more
aristocratic. The foolish prejudice we have in

214

this country all follows from the teachings of
that old Socialist, Jefferson. We have as good
blood in this country as there is in England.
The Cleveland family has a coat of arms, and
he is very proud of it. I t is true it never was
much use to him until he got rich. That is
one good feature about aristocracy. Whenever you haven't the money to maintain your
rank, you hibernate like a bear or alligator.
Sometimes it passes one or two generations,
and then the family get wealthy again and
they have a right to choose all the good deeds
of their ancestors and ignore all the bad ones
in making up their records."
T H E EAST WANTS A MONARCHY.

"Are there many people in ~New York who
hold these views?" we asked.
"There are. Many of the rich people think
as I do all over the East. They are the men,
too, that put up the money to elect Cleveland
and to nominate him, and will have a hand in
electing his successor, and he will be on Cleveland's line, and you need have no doubt of it.
Then let the 'galoots' kick if they dare, and
we will make this government what we want
in short order, and cease to be bothered by
this annual disturbance of blockheads called
Congress, sent here as representatives of the
people. What nonsense! Even common people are getting tired of that."
"Then you believe that the majority of the

215

rich men in the East believe in a monarchical
or aristocratic government for this country ??)
"I do. Pray tell me what country is there
in the world to-day that is not governed by
the aristocratic class? All over the world they
lead in society, business, religion and especially governmental matters. In this country
we have been trying to reverse this general
rule under the teachings of that old demagogue, Jefferson. Our Eastern people have
always had more confidence in Hamilton, but
our ancestors were overrun by a flood of onegallows fellows, and Jefferson's ideas prevailed. We are going to make Hamilton our
model in the future, and look out for a strong
government, where the man who pays the
taxes will furnish the laws. We are for free
trade and a gold basis."
The above is taken from a letter in the Atlanta "Constitution" from its regular New
York correspondent.

APPENDIX C.
OBJECT LESSON!
Here is the story of one year of the gold
standard.
It is a story told in figures—figures furnished Tby the sworn officers of the various
States of this Union—a story the truth of
which there can be no gainsaying.
The advocates of the single gold standard
continue to assert that the "average financial
condition of the farmers is improving all the
time." The statement was made in the vain
hope of demonstrating to the people of America, and particularly to the people of the
South, that they are growing richer under
the operations of the gold standard.
There is a very simple and a very easy way
to ascertain the exact facts concerning this
point, and the facts are here presented. It
is, indeed, a lesson of the gold standard. The
table of figures presented here is one which
anybody can understand.
I t shows the
216

217

change in the property valuations of the different States of the Union from 1893 to 1894.
And in showing this it presents what might
be termed an official history of the operations
of the single gold standard in a single year.
I t demonstrates, more clearly than any argument could, the fact that under the operations
of this system, which has been in full force
within the past year, the people have sustained great losses, and that the money centers have shown great increases in valuations
at the expense of the people's prosperity.
FORTY-THREE STATE OFFICIALS TESTIFY.

The official figures from forty-three States
and Territories are presented. In one or two
of the States of the Union the fixing of property valuation is arbitrary on the part of the
State, and is made only once in five years.
This is the case in Michigan, for instance. In
Rhode Island and Connecticut there are no
returns of property for taxation—at least, no
figures showing such returns could be obtained from the proper officers of the State.
Of the others, only North Dakota and Delaware are missing.
The figures presented are from the official
reports of the auditors and comptrollers of
State in forty-three States and Territories.
Of these forty-three, only twelve show an increase of property valuations. The remaining thirty-one show almost uniform decreases.

218

the total increase for the twelve States is
$337,800,753. Of this amonnt $235,883,482
comes from New York alone. Seventy per
cent, of the entire increase in property valuations, as shown by these official returns,
comes from the great money center of the
Union, and seventy per cent, of the remainder
comes from the two States of Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts, each of them strong financial centers. The total increase in the remaining nine States is only $30,822,092.
FIVE HUNDRED MILLIONS DECREASE.

Thirty-one States—and in using the term
States several Territories are included—show
a falling off. The total decrease in property
valuations of those States is $500,185,790.
This falling off is widespread. There is no
overwhelmingly large change in a single
State, as is shown by New York, but the decrease is uniform all along the line.
In other words, the only large increases are
at the big money centers—New York, Boston
and Philadelphia—and the territory immediately contributory to those places in which
the money has been congested and where the
stringency in currency and the corresponding
shrinkage of values are not felt.
There is an object lesson in the map which
accompanies this table. It shows vividly how
this change in values has affected the different sections of the country.

219

WHAT THE MAP SHOWS.

The portion which is shaded includes New
York, New England and the middle Atlantic
States. I t is that section which has profited
by the results of the gold standard. Of the
States in this section, New Hampshire and
Vermont, which are largely manufacturing
States and which contain no large financial
centers, show a slight decrease. Every other
State shows a heavy increase. Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania—all of them show a profit on the right
side of the ledger.
The net increase for this section is $312,110,555.
Coming to the Southern States, we find
slight increases in North Carolina, South
Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.
There are decreases in all of the o t h e r s Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West
Virginia.
The slunrp has fallen fearfully heavy in
the South.
The figures show that the net decrease of
valuations, or net wiping out of property, in
these States is $90,284,580.
Only two of the Western and Middle States
show an increase; they are Minnesota and
Missouri. The map which is here drawn
throws these States in the central section, in
which also are Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa

220

and Wisconsin. Here the net decrease is
1111,655,252.
With the exception of Missouri and Minnesota, not a single State or Territory west of the
Mississippi shows an increase. The blow
which has been struck at the interests of that
section is as severe as the blow which has been
struck at the South, and it is felt everywhere.
California, Wyoming, Washington, Utah,
South Dakota, Oregon, Oklahoma, Nevada,
Nebraska, JSTew Mexico, Montana, Kansas,
Idaho, Colorado, Arizona—every one has felt
the terrible blight, and has felt it bitterly.
The result is that the net decrease of property
valuation in that section is $210,671,153.
T E L L S I T S OWN STORY.

The table tells its own story.
There is little need of further explanation
—in fact, the table and the map make the explanation seem superfluous.
The devastation has been wrought in one
year. It is but a beginning.
What a continuation of the ruinous gold
standard would bring to the great mass of
the people of this country can be realized only
after a study of this map and this table, and
the knowledge that it is but the beginning.

F I G U R E S DO NOT L I B .
1893.
State.
$
Alabama
260,172,590
Arizona
28,468,183
Arkansas
173,526,484
California . .'. . ..1,216,700,000
Colorado
238,722,417
Florida
102,965,406
Georgia
452,644,907
Idaho
33,000,000
Illinois
847,191,516
Indiana
1,302,004,669
Iowa
565,857,799
Kansas
356,621,818
Kentucky
706,799,076
Louisiana '.".'. . . 250,045,503
Maryland
524,056,241
Maine
270,812,782
Massachusetts .2,791,582,144
Minnesota
642,903,651
Mississippi
160,949,527
Missouri
994,589,787
Montana
127,548,175
Nebraska . . . . . 194,733,124
Nevada
26,178,060
New Hampshire. 274,816,342
New Jersey . . . 768,295,274
New Mexico . .
43,630,240
New York
4.038,058,949
North Carolina . 261,717,727
Oklahoma
15,029,927
Ohio
1,752,990,930
Oregon
168,088,905
Pennsylvania . . 3,115,320,549
South Carolina . 170.242,261
South Dakota ... 136,032,840
Tennessee
3 3 8 , 7 3 J .726
Texas
886,175,395
Utah
117,505,375
Vermont
176,051,365
Virginia
466,945,118
Washington . . . 285,634,246
West Virginia . 222,218,154
Wisconsin . . . . 654,000,000
Wyoming
32,356,801

1894.
Increase.
$
$
243,171,677
27,061,974
171,965,480
1,205,918,000
208,905,279
104,246,969
1,281,563
429,012,923
28,000,000
824,651,628
1,275,435,377
556,412,766
337,501,722
696,220,342
251,091,348
1,045,845
529,138,103
5,081,862
272,319,370
1,506,588
2,815,883,621 24,301,477
648,759,254
5,855,603
159,058,436
999,951,960
5,372,173
118,850,892
183,717,498
23,628,720
269,683,799
774,398,332
6,103,058
41,128,620
4,273,942,431 235,883,482
262,927,119
1,209,392
14,830,495 . . . . . . . . . . .
1,742,662,115
150,399,383
3,162,114,251 46,793,702
173,508,269
3,266,008
128,046,765
319,822,197
867,814,305
99,542,472
175,132,912
464,038,922
228,356,572
220,007,407
600,000,000
29,198,041

Decrease.
$
17,000,913
1,406,209
1,597,004
10,782,000
29,817,138
23,631,984
5,000,000
22,539,888
26,569,292
9,445,033
19,120,096
10,578,734
.

1,891,091
.. .•
8,698,083
10,015,626
2,544,340
5,132,543
2,501,620
199,432
10,328,815
17,689,522
7,986,075
18,909,529
18,361,090
17,962,903
918,453
2,906,196
57,277,674
2,210,747
54,000,000
3,158,760

The Official Record of the Value of Property Returned for Taxation in 1893 and 1894—Five Hundred Millions Missing from
the South and the West.
221

FINANCIAL REFOEM.
The following statement of indebtedness is
doubtless within the bounds of conservatism.
We call especial attention to this table, and
suggest that it be held for further reference:
The following table shows the debt of the
nation partially classified:
Total steam railway debt
Total stock issued (railroad)

. $6,000,000,000
5,000,000,000

Total
Making, in round

$11,000,000,000
figures

$11,000,000,000

The stock issued counts as a debt, because it demands dividends.
Street railroads of the country
Telephone companies
Water, electric power and gas (estimated). .
Other quasi-public corporations
Total

$200,000,000
5,000,000
200,000,000
11,000,000
$11,416,000,000

New York "Financial Review" of 1890 estimated indebtedness of merchants at
$5,000,000,000
Individual families
400,000,000
Life insurance in force
3,500,000,000
Benevolent associations, fraternal orders. . 6,000,000,000
Total

$26,316,000,000

Private Corporations and Individuals.
Real estate mortgages
$6,000,000,000
Crop liens (estimated)
350,000,000
Chattel mortgages (estimated)
300,000,000
National bank loans and overdrafts
1,986,058,320
Other bank loans and overdrafts
1,172,918,415
Other private debts, about
1,191,023,265
Total

. .$37,316,000,000

Public Debt.
United States (estimated)
States
Counties
Municipalities (estimated)
School districts (estimated)
Making a grand total of

$1,000,000,000
228,997,389
145,043,045
1,000,000,000
40,000,000
$39,730,040,434

222

223

These statistics have all been gathered from
official tables, except where estimates are
made, and where estimates are made have
been taken from high authority npon these
questions.
This volume of indebtedness will average
at least seven per cent., and entail an annual
tribute of $2,781,000,000. When we consider
that all this interest must in the end be paid
with the products of labor the true situation
of the people will begin to be understood.
But when we compare this vast aggregate
of indebtedness with the possibilities of its
payment the absolute enslavement of the people is fully disclosed. The real object of financial reform lies in such measures as will enable the people to rid themselves of this enormous burden of debt. To this immense sum
of tribute must be added the entire aggregate of taxation, which would run the grand
total beyond four billions. We will omit the
question of taxation, since that is an annual
tribute, which cannot be avoided. The products of agriculture are as follows:
Corn, 1894
Wheat, 1893
Other cereals
Wool
Cotton

$537,000,000
213,000,000
450,000,000
22,500,000
175,000,000
$1,397,500,000

Here we find that the entire fundamental
crops of the farmers will bring but one-half of

224

the interest tribute demanded of the people.
How is the balance of this interest to be met,
and how will the principal be liquidated under present conditions are not easily answered. The only method through which it is possible to accomplish this desired end is to
increase the volume of money in circulation,
thereby raising prices, and make one bushel
of wheat or one pound of cotton or one day's
labor pay twice as much debt and interest as
they do at the present time.
To do this is the one great object of financial reform, which, in our judgment, must
come at once, or the people will become bankrupts.—From the "National Watchman."

THE UNITED STATES AFTER ONE YEAR ON A GOLD BASIS.

•

nf*

**

'*'

:

4 1 ^ " • *

HERE IS AN OBJECT LESSON WORTH STUDYING.

The beauties of the single gold standard—for the money centers ?

APPENDIX D.
INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS.
Partial List of Trade Combinations and Coalitions Achieved or Attempted, and of the
Commodities Covered by Them in the
United States.
I.—LIGHT, HEAT AND POWER.

Boilers for house heating.
Candle-makers.
Coal: anthracite, bituminous.
Coke.
Electric: carbon points, 1885; candles, 1888;
electric goods, national, 1887; lighting,
1882; light fixtures, national, 1889.
Gas: illuminating and fuel, local, sectional,
national; fixtures, national; pipes, 1875;
natural.
Gasoline stoves, 1894.
Governors of steam boilers.
Hot-water heaters, 1892.
House furnaces, 1889.

226

Kerosene, 1874.
Kindling wood, Boston, 1891.
Matches: international, 1894.
Paraffine.
Petroleum and its products, 1874.
Eadiators, steam and hot-water, Western,
1891.
Steam and hot-water master fitters, national,
1889.
Stearine.
Stove boards, zinc, national, 1890.
Stoves and ranges, 1872.
Stoves, vapor, national, 1884.
II.-CHEMIOALS.

Acids, acetic, citric, muriatic, nitric, sulphuric,
American, 1889.
Alkaloids.
Alum, sectional, 1889,
Ammonia, 1889.
Bismuth salts.
Boracic acid.
Borax.
Chloroform.
Drug manufacturers.
Iodoform, 1880.
Lime, acetate of, 1891.
Mecurials: as calomel, corrosive sublimate,
etc.
Paris green, 1889.
Potash: bichloride of.
Quinine, international, 1893.

227!

Eochelle salts.
Saltpetre.
Santonine.
Soda, bichromate.
Strychnine.
Ultramarine.
Vitriol, 1889.
III.—METALS.

Aluminum, national, 1888.
Barbed wire, 1881.
Brass: sectional, 1884; rolled and sheet, sheet
German silver, copper rivets and burrs, copper and German silver wire, kerosene oil
burners and lamp trimmings, and brazed
brass tubing.
Copper: cold, bolt, rolled, sheet, 1888; ore,
Lake Superior, 1879; international, 1887;
bath-tubs, boilers, sinks, and general ware,
1891; wire.
Iron: founders; galvanized, national, 1875;
malleable, national, 1882; nuts, 1884; ore,
Atlantic coast, 1886, Michigan, 1882, Southern, 1884, Northwestern, 1887, Lake Superior, 1893; pig, Eastern, Southern, 1883, national, 1889; pipes, steam and gas, 1884;
wrought iron, 1887; structural, national,
1881; tubes, 1884; wire-cloth, national, 1882.
Lead: pig, pipe; sheet lead, 1888; white, national, 1884.
Mica, national, 1887,
Nickel,

228

Quicksilver, California.
Silver and lead smelters.
Silver mines, Colorado, 1894.
Steel: armor-plate, Bessemer beams (in existence nearly thirty years), castings, 1894;
galvanized; rails (see Traffic and Travel);
rods, United States, 1888; rolling mills.
Tin: jobbers; American, national, 1883.
Zinc.
IV.—SOME OTHER INSTRUMENTS AND MATERIALS OF INDUSTRY.

Alcohol.
Axes and axe poles.
Belting, leather, rubber.
Blankets (press), American Paper-makers'
Felt and Jacket Association.
Bobbins, spools, and shuttles, 1886, for cotton,
woolen, silk, and linen mills.
Bolts, 1884.
Boxes, wooden, local, 1885; Western and
Southern.
Bridge builders: Eastern, 1886; Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, 1889.
Butchers' skewers and supplies, Western,
1889.
Carpet yarns, Eastern, 1889.
Cash registers, national, 1890.
Celluloid, lythoid, zylonite, Eastern, 1890.
Chains, national, 1883.
Cordage: rope, twine, 1875; national, 1890.
Corks.
Cotton duck, national, 1891*

229

GJotton-seed oil, national, 1884.
Creels, for cloth and woolen mills, national,
1893.
Damasks, Pennsylvania, 1886.
Emery wheels, national.
Felting.
Fiber, indurated, pails, bowls, measures,
water coolers, filters, etc., national, 1888.
Files, 1875.
Firebrick, 1875.
Fish oil, menhaden, New England, 1885*
Forge companies, national, 1889.
Glass bottles; beer, United States, 1884.
Glass:flint, Western, 1891; crown, cylinder,
unpolished; international, 1890; window,
1875; sectional, national, international,
1884.
Glass, plate, Underwriters, 1894.
Glue.
Gutta-percha.
Hardware manufacturers, 1884.
Label printers.
Leather: belting, national; board, national,
1891; hides, Northwestern, 1888; morocco,
Eastern, 1886; patent, national, 1888; sole,
1893; Tanners' Association, 1882; Oak Harness Leather Tanners, national, 1890.
Linen mills, Eastern, Western, 1892.
Linseed oil: local, 1877; national, 1887.
Manilla, international, 1887.
Oil: lubricating, 1874; for curing leather;
menhaden; safety burning oil for miners.

230

Paper: local, sectional, national; bags, Eastern and Western, 1887; book and newspaper; boxes, national, 1883; cardboard, 1890;
flour sacks, 1887; straw; tissue, 1892; wrapping, Western, 1878, Eastern, 1881; writing,
national, 1884. Papermakers' Felt and
Jacket Association, national; rags, Eastern,
1883; wood pulp, Western, 1890; New
York, Eastern, 1891.
Pitch, national, 1887 or earlier.
Planes, carpenters'.
Pumps, national, 1871.
Eubber: belting, 1875; electric web goring
(for shoes), national, 1893; gossamers, 1887;
hose, 1875; importers, national, 1882; manufacturers, national, 1882; stamps and stencils, national, 1893.
Sandpaper, emery and emery clotli, flint, garnet, ruby, sand clotli, national, 1887.
Saws, national, 1890.
Scales.
Screws: macliine, 1887; wood, national, international.
Sewer pipe, 1875.
Sewing machines, 1885.
Sewing machine supplies, New York and New
England, 1883.
Spirits.
Straw braid.
Straw-board, 1887.
Tacks, 1875.
Talc mills, New York, 1893,

231

Tar, national, 1886.
Teasel, national, 1892.
Textile manufacturers, Pennsylvania, 1886—
embracing dress goods, ginghams, upholstery goods, woolens, yarns, chintzes,
worsted, damasks.
Tools, edge, American Axe and Edged Tool
Company, national, 1890.
Turpentine, Southern, 1892.
Typefounders, national, 1888.
Washers, 1884.
Watch-cases, 1886.
Well tools, for oil, gas, and artesian wells,
1889.
Wood, excelsior, shavings for packing, national, 1889.
Woodenware, 1883 or earlier.
Wood-working machines, 1891.
Wool felt.
Wrenches, 1875.
V.—TRAFFIC AND TRAVEL.

The Eoad, Horse, and Wagon.
Bicycles, United States, 1893. Board of
Trade formed to regulate prices.
Bicycle tires.
Bridge builders, 1886.
Buggy pails, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Carriage builders, national, 1884.
Carriage hardware, 1884. .
Harness dealers, manufacturers, national,
1886.

232

Liverymen's Associations, local, 1864.
Paving: asphalt, 1886; brick, Western, 1892;
pitch, national, 1887.
Eoadmaking machines, Western, 1890.
Saddlery Association, national, 1891.
Saddle-trees, Indiana, Missouri, 1892.
Wagons, local, 1886.
Wheels, Western, 1889.
Whips, national, 1892.
Shipping.
Canal-boats, 1884.
Cotton duck, sailcloth, national, 1888.
Ferries, New York and Brooklyn.
Lake carriers, hull pool, 1886.
Lake Dock Trust.
Marine insurance, 1883.
Naval stores.
Ocean steamers: European, Asiatic, and
American; German steamship companies,
1894; North Atlantic Steamship Association.
Pilotage, New York, San Francisco.
Steamboats: in the Cincinnati and New Orleans trade, 1884; forwarding lines along
the Hudson Eiver, 1891.
Eailroads and Transportation, etc.
Oar axles, 1890.
Car springs, steel, national, 1887.
Cars, freight and cattle.
Elevators, grain, local, Western, 1887.
Express companies.

233

Locomotives: national, 1892; boiler flues,
1875; tires, national, 1892.
Eailroad: pools, freight and passenger, sectional, national; Eastern Eailroad Association of 800 railroads, to fight patents.
Steel sleepers, 1885; steel rails, national.
Street railways, local, sectional.
Telegraphs, Western Union, 1851.
Telephones.
VI.—BUILDING.

Asbestos, for paints, roofing, steam-pipe and
boiler coverings, 1891.
Beams and channels, iron and steel, national,
1875.
Blinds: Northwestern, 1885; national, 1888.
Brass, gas, plumbing, steam, water goods,
1884.
Brick: local, sectional, 1884; Chicago, New
York, New Jersey, Washington (State);
pressed brick, 1890.
Cement: Mississippi valley, 1883; Eastern,
1884; Northwestern, 1884.
Cornice makers, national, 1884.
Doors: Northwestern, 1885; national, 1888.
Fire engines, including hook and ladder
trucks, hose carriages, heaters, carts, stationary pumps, and other supplies, 1892.
Fire insurance.
Glue, national, 1894.
Gypsum, stucco, Eastern, Northwestern, 1884.
Hinges, 1875,

234

Lime, Western, 1883.
Lumber: Calif ornia pine, 1883; California redwood, 1883; Chicago; Mississippi valley;
Northwestern, 1880; Pacific coast, 1883;
pine, Southern, 1890, Eastern, 1891; dealpoplar, 1889; Puget Sound, 1883; yellow
pine, Southern, 1890, Eastern, 1891; dealers, national, 1878.
Nails: Pennsylvania, 1875; Western Association, 1882; Atlantic States Association,
1883.
Paint.
Plaster, national, 1891.
Eoofing: felt; iron; pitch, Vermont, national,
1887.
Sanitary pottery.
Sash, doors, and blinds, national.
Sewer pipes, national, 1884.
Stone: brown stone, Lake Superior, 1890,
New York, 1884; cut-stone, quarry owners,
Western, 1892; freestone; granite, national,
1891; limestone, rubble and flag, Illinois,
1884; marble, Western dealers, 1885; Vermont marble quarries, 1889; sandstone,
New York, 1883.
Structural steel.
Stucco, 1883.
Varnish dealers, national, 1888.
Wall paper: national, 1879; international,
1882.

235
OTL--FARM AND PLANTATION.

Agricultural implem'ts mfrs., dealers, 1891,
Binders, Harvester Trust, 1883.
Churns, 1884.
Corn harvesters, national, 1892.
Cotton bagging, 1888.
Cotton presses, local, 1892.
Drain tile, Indiana, 1894.
Fencing, barbed wire, national, 1881.
Fertilizers: 1888; guano; menhaden oil, New
England, 1885; phosphate, South Carolina,
1887; Florida, 1891.
Forks, national, 1890.
Harrow manufacturers, national, 1890.
Harvesting machines, national, 1883.
Hay presses, national, 1889.
Hay tools, Western and Northwestern, 1884.
Hoes, national, 1890.
Horse brushes, prison-made, 1889.
Jute grain bags, national, 1888.
Mowers, national, 1883.
Pails, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Paris green.
Plows, Northwestern, 1884.
Bakes, national, 1890.
Eeapers, 1883.
Scythe-makers, national, 1884.
Shovels, national, 1890.
Snath manufacturers, national, 1891.
Threshing machines, national, 1890, 1891.
Twine, binding, 1887.
Vehicles.

236
VIII.—SCHOOL, LIBRARY AND COUNTING-ROOM.

Blank books, 1888.
Envelopes, 1888.
Lead pencils, 1878.
Lithographic printers, national, 1892.
Novels (paper-covered "libraries"), 1890.
School books, national, 1884.
School furniture, national, 1892.
Slates and slate pencils, national, 1887.
Subscription books, local, sectional, 1892.
Typefounders, national, 1888.
Typewriters.
Writing paper, national, 1884.
IX.—SHOOTING MATERIALS.

Ammunition, 1883.
Arms, 1883.
Cartridges, national, 1883.
Dynamite
Fireworks, national, 1890.
Gunpowder, national, 1875.
Guns, 1883.
Shot-tower companies, national, 1873.
X.—FOR THE PERSON

Barbers' National Tonsorial Parlor Company, organized to establish barber-shops in
all the large cities of the United States,
1890.
Buttons.
Clothes brushes, prison-made, 1889.
Coat and cloak manufacturers: New York,
1883; Chicago, 1893.

287

Collars and cuffs, New York, 1890.
Gotton: Fall Kiver; Southern mills, 1881;
thread (spool cotton), 1888.
Dress goods, Pennsylvania, 1886.
Furs.
Ginghams, Pennsylvania, 1886.
Gloves, New York.
Hats: fur, 1885; woolen, national.
Knit goods: New York, 1884; Western, 1889.
Jewelers, national.
Laundries: Chicago; Chinese Laundry Union,
New York City, 1889; St. Louis, 1893.
Pocketknives, national, 1892,
Bibbons, national, 1892.
Eubber boots and shoes, national, 1882.
Sealskin, national, 1892.
Shirts: Troy, New York City, 1890.
Shoe: manufacturers, national, 1887; retailers,
New England, 1885; national, 1886.
Silk: manufacturers, international, 1888; sewing, national, 1887; ribbon, 1884.
Trunks, national, 1892.
Umbrellas, Eastern, 1891.
Watch: manufacturers, makers and jewelers,
national, 1886; National Association of Jobbers of American Watches and Cases, 1886.
Woolens: manufacturers, 1882; worsteds,
yarns, Pennsylvania, 1886.
XL—SPIRITS AND TOBACCO, ETC.

Beer, United States Brewers' Association,
1861, local in most of the larger cities;

238

great combination of breweries bought up
by English capitalists; St. Louis, Chicago,
etc., 1889-91.
Champagne, New York City, 1889; France,
1891.
Meerschaum pipes, New Jersey, 1892.
Soda fountains, 1890.
Spittoons, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Tobacco and cigars, local, sectional, national,
1882; cigarettes, 1890.
Waters, mineral, national, 1889.
Whisky and "domestic"—or artificial—brandy, rum, gin, and cordials made in imitation
of the genuine.
Wine growers, California, 1889.
Wine and liquor dealers' associations, local.
XII.—DOMESTIC SUPPLIES.

In General.
Candles, coal, furnaces, gas, oil, matches,
ranges, stoves, etc. (See Light, Heat and
Power.)
Carpets: Eastern, 1885.
Chairs: cane, 1889; manufacturers, Western,
1880; seats, perforated, national, 1888.
Furniture: national, 1883; Chicago manufacturers, 1886; retailers, New England, 1888;
national, 1893.
Haircloth, Rhode Island, 1893.
Oilcloth, table and stair, Oilcloth1 Association,
1887.
Pails, fiber trust, national, 1888.

239

Soap, national, 1890.
Upholsterers' felt.
Upholstery goods, textile manufacturers,
Pennsylvania, 1886.
Window shades, 1888.
The Kitchen.
Boilers.
Bottles.
Brooms, 1886.
Brushes, scrubbing, prison-made, 1889.
Chopping bowls, woodenware, national, 1884.
Grockery, national, 1883.
Fruit jars, 1891.
Glassware, 1883.
Hollowware, prison-made, 1888.
'Keelers, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Kettles, prison-made, 1888.
Lamp chimneys, 1883.
Measures, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Pans and pots, prison-made, 1888.
Potato mashers, woodenware, national, 1884.
Pottery, yellowware, national, 1889.
Sinks, copper.
Stamped-ware, national, 1882.
Tinware, national, 1883.
Water coolers, filters, pails, fiber trust, na=
tional, 1888.
Water pails, woodenware, national, 1884.
Woodenware, national, 1884.
Laundry.
Borax.
Glothes pins, New York, 1888.

240

Clothes wringers.
Soap, national, 1890.
Soda, 1884.
Starch: Western, 1882; national", 1890.
Washboards, New York, 1888.
Wash tubs, woodenware, national, 1884.
Washing machines, national, 1891.
Water tubs, fiber trust, national, 1888.
Zinc, sheet, 1890.
Dining-room.
Butter dishes, 1886.
Glass tableware, 1889.
Platedware.
Silver-plated ware.
Silverware, national, 1892.
Table cutlery, national, 1881.
Table oilcloth, national, 1888.
Tables, extension tables, national, 1893.
Parlor.
For carpets, furniture, upholstery, etc., see under "In General," above.
Mantel lambrequin, wool felt, 1888.
Music, books and instruments, Boston, New
York, ©hicago, ©incinnati, 1892.
Organs, local, sectional, 1889.
Parlor frame manufacturers.
Parlor furniture, Western Association, 1886.
Pianos, local, sectional, 1889; national, 1893.
Piano covers, wool-felt, 1888.
Picture frames, 1890.
Bugs, Eastern, 1885.

241

Table covers, wool-felt, 1888.
Tapestries, Eastern, 1885.
Bathroom.
Bath tubs (see Copper).
Sanitary-ware, 1889.
Sponges, Florida, New York, 1892.
Bedroom.
Chintzes, Pennsylvania, 1886.
Looking-glass: international, 1890.
Spring beds, national, 1890.
Wire mattress; Northwestern, 1886; national,
1890.
XIII.—FOOD.

Bread, biscuit, crackers, local, sectional, national.
Butter, local, 1889.
Candy, local, national, 1884.
Canned goods: Western, 1885; national, 1889;
California canned fruit, 1891.
Cider and vinegar, national, 1882.
Coffee, Arbuckle trust, 1888.
Corn-meal, Western, 1894.
Cotton-seed oil.
Dairy Association, national, 1893.
Eggs, local.
Fish: England, 1749 and before; New York
and New England, 1892; salmon, Alaska,
1891; salmon canners of the Pacific coast,
1893; sardines, Eastern, 1885; international,
1890.
Flour: United States, National Millers' Association, 1883; winter wheat mills, national,

242

1888; spring wheat mills, 1889; rye flour,
local, 1891; flour-mills of Utah, and Colorado, 1892.
Food Manufacturers' Association United
States, 1891,
Fruit: bananas. Southern, 1888; Galifornia
fruitgrowers, 1892; cranberries, Gape God,
1888; Florida, 1889; foreign fruit, New
York, 1884; Fruit Trade Association, New
York, 1882; fruit growers of the Eastern and
Middle States against commission merchants, 1887; preserves and jellies, Western, 1883; American Preservers 5 Company,
1889; prunes, California; strawberry growers, Wisconsin, 1892; water melons, Indiana,
South Carolina, 1889.
Grape growers, Northern Ohio, 1894.
Grocers: wholesale, retail; local, sectional, national.
Honey, local, 1888,
Ice: local, sectional, 1883; artificial, Southern,
1889.
Lard refiners, Eastern, 1887,
Meat and cattle: beef, mutton, pork; Butchers^
National Protective Association; Chicago
packers; Intermountain Stock Growers' Association, Utah, 1893; International Cattle
Bange Association; Live Stock Association,
1887; Northwest Texas Live Stock Association, 1878; Western Kansas Stock Growers'
Association, 1883; Wyoming Stock Growers'
Association, 1874.

243

Milk: local, sectional, 1883; condensed milk,
New York, Illinois, 1891.
Oatmeal, 1885.
Olive oil.
Oysters, local, 1890.
Peanuts, 1888.
Pickles, national, 1891.
Produce: Produce commission merchants,
eight large cities—North, South, East, West,
1883; West, 1888.

Eaigins, California, 1894.
Eice mills, Southern, 1888.
Salt: rock; English Salt Union, 1888; international, 1889; Canada, 1891.
Sugar, 1887. Glucose, national, 1883; international, 1891.
Wine, California, 1894.
XIV.—MEDICAL, SURGICAL, ETC.

Artificial teeth, 1889.
Castor oil, 1885.
Cocoa-nut oil, American importers, 1881.
Coffins, National Burial Case Association,
1884.
Dental machines and supplies, United States,
1889.
Drugs: importers; druggists, retail, sectional,
national, 1883; wholesale, sectional, national, 1884; Canada, 1874; manufacturers, national, 1884.
Ergot, 1891.
•Glycerine, New York, 1888.

244

Life insurance, 1883; national, 1891*
Patent medicines, national, 1884.
Peppermint, local, 1887.
Quinine, 1882.
Tombstones, local, Brooklyn, Chicago, 1891.
Vaseline.
XV—MISCELLANEOUS.

Athletic clubs, 1893, to reduce charges made
by prize fighters for exhibition.
Baseball, national, 1876.
Billiard tables and furniture, 1884.
Bill posters, United States, Canada, 1872.
Dime museums, national, 1883.
Newsdealers, 1884; newspapers, Associated
Press, United Press; sectional, national.
Photographers, national, 1889.
Playing cards.
Printers, show and job, 1893.
Racing trust, jockey club, 1894.
Retailers, 1891. Small retail storekeepers of
Kansas City protest against mammoth department stores.
Safes, national, 1892,
Theatrical trust, Interstate Amusement Company, Springfield, 111., 1894.
Warehouses: Brooklyn, 1887; national, 1891.
Paper mill t r u s t

AGAINST PLTJTOGRAGY.
"The wage system is endurable only when
contrasted with absolute bondage!"—Horace
Greeley.
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the
hells of the poor. . . . The revolution is
a work of the unknown; call it good or bad,
as you yearn towards the future or the past."
—Victor Hugo.
"No other person will rule over me with my
consent. I will rule over no man."—William
Lloyd Garrison.
"Rich men make, while the poor obey the
law."—Goldsmith.
"Gaesar would not be a wolf, if Eomans
were not sheep."—Shakespeare.
"Hereditary bondsmen know you not. Who
would be free themselves must strike the
blow."—Walter Scott.
. "While the patient will suffer the cruel
will kick."—Wendell Phillips,

TESTIMONY.
"It is real gouu uu ma in cases 01 actual want
whenever it shows itself in the city or country,
but the best meal for a regular tramp is one
of lead, and enough of that to satisfy the
most craving appetite."—New York Herald
"All we owe a tramp is a funeral."—The
Eev. Dr. Theodore Kugle, of Hoboken.
"If anybody is not exactly a member of
some philanthropic society, it would be best
for him to mix strychnine or arsenic in what
he gives to the tramp. This causes death within a short time, and will serve as a warning
to other tramps to keep away from the neighborhood."—Chicago Tribune.
"Give the workingmen and strikers gun-bullet food for a few days, and you will observe
how they will take this sort of bread."—
Thomas Scott, President of the Pennsylvania
Kailroad.
"Hand grenades should be thrown among
the workingmen who demand higher wages.
That would be a good lesson for them, and
their fate would be a warning to other strik*
res."—Chicago Times.
246