The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1882-06-28

pursued and caught the thief, who was old Of
fender, for whom the police Of New YORK were
looking at that moment. The Herald of the next
day, under the heading. How a mouse-trap
caught thief" gave his first taste OF publicity
the youth who for the next thirty years was 10 be
continually before the public, and. by a singular
coincidence. always In connection with some
kind of trap. The genius that had OWNED from
afar that the great city was full Of mice and had
contrived a trap to catch them, could not be
stolen. It's first impulse grew TO be q passion.
Brains and strict attention TO the laws of supply
and demand have made the country boy the
greaIeEt mouse-catcher Of America, and HIS traps
have become the envy of every man of feline as
pirations.
Then follows a well-prepared abridgment
of some of Mr.. Gould's finest trapping ex-
PLOTS, we'll calculated to intensity the ambi-
ton of cranks to make first-class funeral
necessary in New York. Here is specimen
taken from the magazine article:
A man who braves the heart-broken rase of So
900 OUO of men and In daylight shoots their Presi-
dent call assassin. George Washington
hanged as a spy the man who travelled the high
road as an instrument in Benedict Arnold's
treachery. We teach our children 10 execrate as
traitors the men who stood mp in a fair fight 70
divide the Union. What shall we call the man
and the men who seduce. but do not assasslnate-
Guiteaus of political economy who would over
come, not one, but ell, departments Of our Gov
eminent: who travel by night and underground
TO betrsy trusts they have invited; who. living
among us as fellow men and neighbors, loyal TO
the covenants Of society traitors TO all the ties
of honor, justice, and mercy that make the
American community possible. and the want of
which makes the Paris Commune? By what title
do these men hold their acquisitions? Private
property is sacred, but plumber must not be pri.
vate. philosopher of the Commune said
Property is theft" American self-government
must have philosophy to say, theft shall not be
property.
1t is March 10, 1882. The boy who brought his
mahogany box and his mouse trap to New York
in 1858 sits in an Office rich with plate glass and
precious woods. He opens his box, which like
him has grown. and shows a group of friends
s2S 600 OOG of Western Union stock. si2 100000 of
Missouri Pacific stock, S. OOO 600 of Elevated Rail
road stocks and bonds. $40 600 900 of Wabash COM
mon and preferred, and other stock. "Morosini."
he says, "can bring you So 600 900 more or So in
bonds and other things" This. like the Erie
restitution, was partial list Seventy-three
millions and more, accumulated by an enthusiast
work. Never before in the history of the desire
for wealth had such sight been seen. The
mouse trap mans wires told the news to the
people of two continents, and the world held its
breath.
On the same day, while the President of the |
Wabash Road, which had appropriated for, divi- |
bends to stockholders the wages due its men, was |
thus spreading out his millions, day laborer in |
the employ OF the Wabash at St. Louis, said 10 a |
reporter: 1.-THE delay in the payment of my /
wages has reduced me almost to beggary. Had
not the grocer helped me with credit in January |
and February my children would have starved" |
An engineer said: MY family were sick in Janu- /
airy. They had no doctor and no medicines |
could not get the money due me from the Wabash |
Road" An old man, who watched a crossing
an infirm old man, with a family-said: "My |
RENTS SIS a month; my groceries are SIS. This |
leaves US 81 month for clothing medicine and |
other necessaries. Ny pay is SIS a month, and |
have to wait two months for that. We are on the |
edge of starvation" 1t is a solemn truth that of
Ruskin's, that every man has to choose in this |
world whether he will be a laborer or an assassin
There are men who murder for money, but there |
must be no science of assassination.
We submit tlat such literature is well |
calculated to produce cranks and crime |
that it is essentially vicious. We submit |
further that the writer in the Atlantic
Monthly completely overlooks the real |
wrong. Jay Gould operates within the law
He has Courts, Legislatures, law and
customs on his side. 1t he perpetrates great
wrongs they have the sanction Of Courts
and Legislatures. Why not seek TO inaugu-
rate reforms at the right place? Let us have
laws that are made in the interest of the
people; Courts that are not corrupt.
Judges who can not be purchased; Leeisla-
lures who can not be bribed. What do
do we see everywhere? In Washington
laws are passed in the interest of nonopo-
lists, the public money squandered to en-
rich rings, population, theft, bribery, cor
ruption and decentralization. Look at the
Tariff Commission, created to perpetuate
tariff denominations, to rob the people In
every State Capital, when Legislature is in
session, we see, upon smaller scale, the
same Ubiquitous proceedings. 1t does no
good to lampoon the Jay Goulds and Van
derbilts; their name is legion. Legislation !
creates them, makes them possible. The
laws protect them, the Courts shield them.
They set their traps and bag tn cir game and
appeal to the law for protection. Until the
people see to it, Jay Goulds will multiply
and flourish.