The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-04-01
New yorx nmes.[

Judging from what is commonly said
concerning Mr.. Jay Gould, the Father
of his Country might as well have spared
himself the trouble of n birthday. There
is no doubt that Washington meant well,
and that he worked hard to establish free
government in North America but his
work has lasted only a century. aud Mr..
Gould is now on the point OF completely
and forever destroying it.
There was q time when Mr.. Gould,
viewed as financial phenomenon, was
comparatively little larger than mans
hand but he has since darkened the
whole heavens with his .baleful shadow
So long as he was supposed to be merely
engaged in making fortune the public
cared little about him, but he has now
thrown off the mask, and Is seen In the
act of seizing not only the supreme
power of the Nation, but all our powers,
our bodies, and to o large extent our
souls. Controlling, as he now does, the
telegraph system Of the country, vast
lines of railways, md two, il not three,
of the newspapers belonging to the As
ISOLATED Press, he has the standingSplace
from which he can not merely ruin, but
utterly upset, the free Government that
Washington and his associates estab-
lished
If we may believe all that is said Of
Mr.. Gould, he already controls no one
knows precisely how many trunk lines OF
railways, and he can at no very distant
period control every trunk line Ill the
country. He can depress the stock of
this road or "bull" the stock of another
so as to make millions of dollars. and he
can do this every week in the year. With
the means already at his command he
can readily and rapidly gain possession
of every great line of railway connecting
the East with the West and the North
with the South. Being thus master of
the railways, he can levy tolls ut his
pleasure, and receive revenues greater
than those of any existing government
With such untold millions i'll his posses
sion there will be no possible combina-
ton of capitalists or patriots that can
worst him.
To the control of the telegraph lines
AIR. Gould is now said to be determined
to add the control of the Associated
Press, and it is popularity believed that
by the purchase of one more newspaper
he will achieve this end. He will thus,
to large extent, control what has been
the free press of America. The news
papers will print only such news as he
allows the telegraph wires to carry, and
will express his opinions with the same
fidelity now exhibited by the Tribune
and World. Mr.. Gould can thus elect
the next President, even without incur
ring the expense of buying the nominal
ing conventions. He can have one of
his representatives nominated by the
Republicans and one by the Democrats,
so that whatever may be the result of the
election his candidate Will be elected.
He will likewise pack Congress with men
who will be thoroughly subservient to
him, and can thus etfectually prevent
any legislation which might interfere
with his plans. There would still remain
the Supreme Court, but no one will sup
pose that he will long permit it to retain
its independence.
When the day arrives that shows us
Mr.. Jay Gould controlling the three
branches of the National Government,
the railroads, telegraphs, and press of
the country, he will be the autocrat of
America as truly as Alexander Is the au-
tocrat of Russia He will sit in his, pri-
vate office and dictate Legislation at his
pleasure, and levy indirect taxes for the
benefit OF his personal pocket. The peo-
pie will be entirely helpless. The press
will be silent, and the expression of any
opinion hostile to the wish of Mr. Gould
will be punished, not by imprisonment,
death, or any of the violent methods
practiced by military despots, but by
the swift and sure financial ruin of the
rash victims. The plutocrat will not
need to surround himself with an army !;
but he will govern none the less despoti-
cally under the forms of laws. He can
crush out any industry in a single day,
and reduce whole provinces to beggary,
and he can reward his supporters with a
magnificence which no Roman Emperor
ever exhibited. In that day Mr.. Jay
Gould will own about fifty millions of
slaves, whose slavery will be as real, if
not as apparent, rs that of the four mil
lions of Southern negroes before tho re-
bellion