Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-10-18
NO. 29l

of it he waged fearful strug-
gle. Every day his father was dis
sected by the lawyers, doctors, quacks,
vengeful enemies. The autopsy was a
terrible one. Experts cut up and exposed
the old man morally, physically, intellect
ually and royalty. The showing was sick
ening, but Great William never faltered.
Day after day he sat in court and heard
with stolid face this ripping open of the
secrets of his fathers weakness, vices and
delusions. A man who would expose the
deformities of father who had so
clothed him in robe of ready made
riches would not squirm about the public.
So he damns them plainly.
once asked a travelling companion on the
Pennsylvania railroad what he thought of
William H., and whether he had any
brains. ''Oh. yes; he has got brains," he
answered. ''His head is full of them, but
they are soft. They flop around inside the
shell. They are sort of bilge-water brains.''
They must have been Topping around in
Chicago; otherwise man could never
talk so recklessly as he does. He even ad-
mits crime in his reckless defiance. He
says he buys up politicians and railroad
commissioners. He talks everywhere
of 'sMy Roads, 'My Depots," 'sMy Proper
ty,' 'My Management ssMy Interests
Damn it, all of them are run on business
principles; no nonsense about it." He
seems to be a law and government to
himself. The vast and valuable public
rights given to him as a trust for the pub
lie use, though under private corporate
contract, he says, are 'mine.'' To make
these roads the property of other men, was
invaded, and in many cases injured,
under the law, of course.
Was it only that the Vanderbilt might
grow rich, opulent and at last defiant? Mr..
Vanderbilt takes the position that he has
the same right to run his railway on sell
fish. exacting principles as the private
merchant has. He forgets that his rights
come from the people when he says ''the
people be damned" He forgets that he is
public servant, not the publics master.
Six years ago the nation stood in terror
while the railway strikers raided Pitts
| burgh and other cities. In New York the
| National guard was put under arms,
and hurried all over the state to guard the
railroads. Was this done to protect what
this man calls 'my roads?" The state
was saddled with a debt to meet that ex-
pense. It was paid by the public that he
damns. Afterwards he gave to the 10000
| or 10000 employees of the New York Gen.
trail road 100000. 1t was to be distributed
among them as a reward for their loyalty
"a pittance of $3 Or 81 each. Even in
his gifts he was as niggardly as he ia in
his pay. He paid the water boy
SIG per month to earry the
water filter and act as brakeman on the
| Harlem train that filed the tunnel with
death, anguish and blood few days ago
Possibly that water-boy brakeman spends
a large part of his $16 month in riotous
living. Vanderbilt has weakness, evil
IDENTITY, for cheap things. He likes to hire
telegraph operator, single mana switch
as possible. To make them still
cheaper he doubles the work on them,
He sets out to buy politician, and he
gets cheap one. He has had SO much
experience in bribery that he pretends to
know which faction is cheapest, and gives
the anti-monopoly the palm. In this wes-
tern journey he is attended by three or
four friends and secretary. This same
secretary was once the private secretary
and sycophant of William M. Tweed, the
boss who, when the people discovered him
neck deep in crime, gave them the defiant
query: ''What are you going to do about
it?'
lThose eight words aroused public in
diguation against Tweed, and did much to
hasten his downfall. "The public be
damned" are four fatal words more de-
fiant even than Tweeds eight. Tweed died
in prison; Vanderbilt is not dead yet, but
whom the gods seek to destroy they first
make mad. They must surely be seeking
the life of the opulent defiant demi-
god, William II, Vanderbilt.
RUFUS HATCH.