The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-03-17
Mtecel ellaneu1rs.
AN EXTRAORDINARY LETTER.


The New Secretary Of the Treasury, MIR. Win
dom, ON the Power of MOnOpOlIeS the En-
slavement Of the Press, and the Means o
suppressIng Public Wrongs.
Senate Chamber, Washington |
February 10, 1881. !
! The Hon L. o, Chitenden, President Ma
tionaI Anh Monopoly League:
Ny DEAR SIR-I deeply regret that
official duties of an imperative character
prevent the acceptance Of your kind in
vitation to address the meeting at Cooper
Institute on the 2lst inst. Until to-day
I hoped to be able to arrange my bust
ness 80 as to attend the meeting, but
find it will be impossible.
The purpose of your League, as un
derstand it, is not to wage war upon
corporations or individuals, but conced-
ing to all their just rights, to demand
full protection for the rights of the citi
zen against the abuses and aggressions
of corporate power, and to insist upon
tie enforcement of those principles OF
law and natural right de fined by the Su,
preme Court Of the United States. In
this effort you have my most hearty
sympathy and cooperation, Your cause
il just, but in such a contest you grapple
with giants. Do not underrate the pow.
or or the skill of your antagonists. Wise
and conservative Counsels will alone SO
cure success. You must be as prompt to
conCede rights as you are determiL ed in
demanding them. No agrarian or COM
munistic spirit must find place in your
proceedings. The character of the men
who compose your organization gives as.
surance against danger on this point
Constitutions, natural rights, and the
spirit of our institutions are on your
side. IntrenChed behind these, and
fighting for the right, you cannot fail.
Corporate power has done much to de-
velop our country. For it's good deeds |
freely accord 1t full credit. As an instru-
ment to execute the will and serve the
interests of the public, it is Of inCalcula.
BILE value but as the imperious ru er Of
the people it ia most cruel and velent.
less tyrant. Kept within the limits of
proper restraint it is an invaluable ser
want of the public. Unrestrained by
the force Of law and public opinion it
will prove a most dangerous master.
The individual citizen is impotent to
contend with this gigantic and rapidly
growing power, Governmental author
ity, State and nation, alone is competent
to restrain its aggressions and correct its
abuses. l have long foreseen that the
time would come when the people would
be compelled to invoke the exercise of
that authority for their protection. re.
peat 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 exer
else powers which neither Congress nor
any of our State Legislatures would dare
to exert-powers which, if exercised in
Great Britain would shake the throne to
its very foundation. These men may at
any time, and for any reason satisfacto
ry to themselves, by stroke Of the pen
reduce he value of property in the
United States by hundreds of millions
They may at their own will and pleasure
disarrange and embarrass business, de-
press 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 p"
Two men who WELD this stupendous
corporate power have grown wiser with
the passage of events. Hitherto they
have been apparently content to absorb
and control the great industrial and ma
terlal interests Of the country, by mo
nopoly of the channels and implements
of transportation, but recently new and
alarming conditions are presented They
know full we'll that if the people can
freely communicate with each other,
they will see the dangerous tendencies
of this power, and organize to restrain
it. Hence, in order to lay deep and sure
foundations for the maintenance of their
power, and to defeat the efforts of the
people to curb it. they have now seized
upon the channels Of thought. Look at
it a moment. One man, who controls
more miles of railroad than any other in
the world, and who is almost daily add,
ing new lines to his colossal combination,
now also controls the telegraphic sys
tenn of the United States and Canada,
and is reaching under the sea to grasp
that of Europe. Not content with all this,
and determined that no instrument of
commercial and political power shall
elude his grasp, he is las | learn) also the
owner Of three out of the seven newspa.
pers which constitute the Associated
Press, through the agency of which the
news is distributed over the entire Coun.
try. He may at any time secure the
fourth pap-r, which will give him abso
lutte control over the news which the
people shall receive. When that takes
place what will be our condition? What
chance will the people then have to re-
sist the encroaChments of corporate
powerP How shall they even Communi.
cate with each otLer on the subject
What opportunity will there be for a fair
discussion of these questionsP The daily
news, supplied to the myriad of news.
papers, must first pass under the super
vision of one or two men, who represent
the Associated Press, and who are ap.
pointed by it's owner. They will have
full authority, and doubtless will be re-
quired to suppress, add to, or color the
information thus sent out as may best
serve the interest, the ambition, or the
malice of the man to whom they owe
their places. Hence the twenty millions
Of people who read their morning pa
pers at their breakfast tables will daily
receive just such impressions as this one
man shall choose to give them. Public
men and affairs, and business interests
and movements, will be seen in the col