The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1881-02-10
CORPORATE rEUDALISN.
An Article In . Republican NcWspa-
per Which Would be called Gem.
nsunistic In . lsTCcMback Paper
from the Chicago Tr.bunc1

Ioyulty ana the wages OF LABOR IN tine
British islands. It is q eanstic paper,
and very suggestive of the feudal Meas
which still control "she most enlight-
ened' aud "the richest nation" " 81 mod
ern times. Tie writer shows that the
"salary" Of the Queen of EngIand i
50. 600, ,OOU year that the wages q
labor are very low intlecd-almost starva-
ton wages that there Is vast INDECENT
and pnuper class. But how sbout our
own country? vandefbilts income j.
said 70 be so, 900, 900 yenr--three
times more than the salary Of the Queen
OF England and . committee Of New
York merchants have lately shown
the public the Processes BY
which the property yielding this
enormous income was acquired Mr..
ThuihHf and his associates Of the com.
mittee state tllat the New York Central
and Hudson River railroad earned IL
per cent. net last year on its g1Ossly-in-
fatad capital, and then show That IN
1867 and 1868 S47, 600, 900 were added 70
the stock of the company al the simple
cost Of white paper and prilting5
They also charge that i is in conteIn-
plation to consolidate tlis road with the
Lake Shore road, and BY this scheme -
still further "grossly initiate" its capital.
The committee declare that BY the orig
inal stock watering operation the public
nere In fact swindled ont Of $75, 600, 600,
and that this sum has gone into the
pockets Of the syndicate. The term
swindlers, rs applied 10 Che Vanderbilt
coterie, is justified by the statement ii
the committee. since they say that tho
" Hepburn" investigation resulted IN :
verdict Of "fully proven" And they
say further THAT the Hepburn recon-
mendation Of legislation could not be
carried out, because IL was found
that majority Of the Senate Estate Of
New York had been elected in the rail-
road interest. and no bill could pass
without Mr.. vanderbilt's consent !" The
correspondent Of the Tribune, who is
troubled about the salary Of the Queen
Of England and the wages Of labor and
the pa,,per class of Great Britain, would
DO well to turn his attention to home af-
fairs. II Mr.. Vanderbilt acquired his es-
tate as the Thurber committee charge
he did, his income is far less regular"
than the salary Of the Queen Of Englanf.
But this is not all. The Thnrber COM
mittce charge, ION information and be-
lief" that the railroad managers propose
to control the United States Senate rs
they contlol the Senate Of the State VI
New York, with view to the perpetna-
tion Of their "control Of the industries
Of the entire community" The COM
m,ttee well observe: "The fculalistic
tendencies Of the age are very marked,
aud unless prompt and vigorous efforts
are made to checA this rapidly growing
power it will he too late"
A philosophic observer Of our in
stitutiens remarks, in substance, that
tho people fondly imagine that they
rule, but il they will open their eyes
and look about them they will see that
few men think and act for them.
The railroad and the telegraph man.
ayers seem to be thinking and. acting
for the American people. The people
Object to their watering railroad ard tel
egraph stocks, but they water the stocks
nevertheless. and proceed to draw divi-
dcnds on them precisely as if they had
cost good labor and good money. The
people object to the destruction Of com
petition by the process Of consolidation
Of railroad and telegraph lines, hut the
business Of consolidation goes forward
nevertheless, and the consolidated lines
Le.or.ae .zao.aopolics, nth MI which tisC
name implies Of extortion and robbery.
And, with thumb to nose. managers i'm.
pertinently inquire "What are y0u
going to 10 about it ?"
As the Thurber committee intimate.
It will soon be too late to do anything
but fight about it. Is sounds very queer
the intimation that it will ever become
necessary for the American citizen to
throw away his ballot and take mp his
musket as q pretext against robbery
But what il to be done Il corporation
may coolly take from the public round
SIS. .O00, 600 at one grab? Legislate
about it, Of course lock the stable
door after the horse has escaped. But,
according to the Thurber committee,
| the public tried TO lock the door, and
found, oddly enough, that the railroad
managers had the key and refused r
give i. up. The New York Legislature
could not pass bill without the consent
Of Mr.. Vanderbilt! We arc free peo-
pie, are we This is y Government ol
laws, is it? Oh, yes; but one man
makes the lnws-in the State Of New
York! And Mr.. Vanderbilt does not
choose TO have the stable-door locked,
BECAUSE he may want to steal another
horse Seventy five million dollars Sc.
cured by watering the stock Of one rail-
road company in one State Fifty.one
millions 10 I've secured by watering the
stock ef line running through several
States! Sixty millions to be secured by
watering the stock Of the telegraph mo.
noroly How long will it take Mr.
Vanderbilt and Mr.. Gould and theil
confreres to gohble up the whole prop
crty Of the country? These monopo
lies threaten the commerce Of the coun
try, and, what il more. they threaten
the peace Of the country, for America i
OF to he relegated to y reign Of feudal
ism peaccably.