Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-07-06
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same power to regulate commerce,
and another granted power 'to es-
tablish post-roads," could either pur-
chase orcomiemn under its powef Of
emmett sdosnain, die interssate iail-
roads !, Tor and on behslf of ne HDv-
ernraent, and itseH cary for*aEi
Ethe whole railroad transportation Of
the country, in the interest of the peo-
pie, and for the people, inst as it
carries the letters and newspapers of
and for the people, and in their in
terest.
In our judgment, the latter course
should be demanded by the labor of
the country. Such course will free
at once anil forever, cdmrsereer from
the ty1an,W and! oppressionA of 1c0r-
porations, whose power and greed
and corruption are SO rapidly increas-
ing, as to enable them within our
lives to defy the Government itself,
and make it q slave, to- their aggran-
dizement, as it has already done with
labor and commerce. To this course
suggested for the government to pur-
sue, of course there will be objections
found; but there is no other safe
course with as few objections, in my
juag,nent. ~ O. w
'Bnt which ever course the govern
ment may elect to pursue, there is
commanding necessity, that it act at
once and vigorously. 'A''"4
Aggregated or associated wealth in
in any republican government is a
continual menace, and when the only
purpose of associated wealth is to
aggrandize itself by leyyipg exactions
upon the commerce VI the country,
the menace becomes an indirect at
tack upon the government itself.
The increase in the wealth and power
and extent Of these corporations,
subsisting upon the blood of the
national labor and life, is so unpar-
alleled and startling, that, it of itself
admonishes the true patriot, that we
have warmed serpent to life in the
national bosom, and that he must be
destroyed or rendered harmless, lest
it stings and poisons the nation to its
death.
l am older than all railroads in this
country-years older, and yet 1 am
not old. In 1880, there were less
than. Twenty-Five miles of~reilroads,
withsa capital Of less than s50D, GOO:
Now, within fifty-two years, in one
half century, we have hundred
thousand miles of railroads, with. an
estimated capital of more than
S., 900, ,O00,0 900, two-thirds of which
is either owned, controlled or man.
aged by that distinguished patriot
Jay Gould, and his cahal of less than
twenty mensl The lines of road man.
aged by this power are trans-conti-
mental, extending from the Atlantic
/ to the Pacific ocean. And another
most dangerous feature in this enor-
nous increasing capital and power,
is the fact, that year by year the
owners become less and less in num-
bers. Aggregated wealth in the hands
of the smallest number, Ike other
power, is the nest unscrupulons land
4 dangerous.
Thirty years ago, within the borders
of our own State, there was not a
mile of railroad. Now there is four
thousand miles of them, with very
large capital, the amount of which is
not now before me.
Nearly all this vast stretch and
network of roads has been built and
paid fol- by public funds, raised by
direct taxation on the prosperity and
labor of the State, and now has passed
into the hands of corporations, which
have become the carriers of our COM
merce over them. One-third of all
which, so built and paid for, has gone
into the hands of this same Gould,
who, ,thirty-tiye years ago, was rat-trap
peddler in the streets of New York
from Vermont, but now, he calls his
neighbors into his palatial Office in the
same city, to count his bonds, ag-
/ gregating $73, 600, 900, while the re-
lporter stands by, to furnish the item
to the press, and publish his parting
boast, after the count was over, that
>'he had still more.
This matter of Gould's getting
possession of so large a proportion
of all the railroads of our State, all of
them heretofore competing lines across
the State, gives peculiar significance
and interest to the citizens of Mis-
; souri,, to the matters herein discussed.
1t is known that the men, or syndi-
, Gates, managing these great aconti-
mental lines of railroad, undertake 10
: manage the elections of neInbers oi
the legislatures, judges of the courts,
= in all the districts in the various states
' through which their lines run, so that
/ in such legislatures there should be
: no unfriendlys legislation to them;
2 none in favor ofthe people, THAT by
: the courts, no decision should bt
5 rendered against their extortions
= none in favor of the people. The
e means used by such manipulators is
: bold and unblushing bribery, lwitl
| the money extracted from the sweat
: oflabo, and extortetl from tic heart,
e blood Of commerce. u ~l-aGFB i ]
r H. C. Lord, himself for many year,
e a president of an important railway
e a few months ago wrote: ''Is no
n capital ,realizcd through deYions way
{. and bysmeans of unjust methods
e reveling in luxury, while labor i
S comparatively unrewarded, deferred
toften unpaid and too often despised
: Is not this an era in this country, il
C which mediocrity, pride and publ
r Icorruption are holding high carnival
e4 Can railway managers accumulat
: great fortunes in half q score of year
It except at the ultimate, if not the i'm
: mediate expense, Of labor? 1t mus
=1strike every thinking mar, that til
d Epride and avsrics Of Jour country i
81 growing too rapidly and without safl
l. sufficient cause, and it will b. better t
eIput the. breaks on in time. Let m
|, readers commence, if they please, 6
/ Washington Or New York, and pros
r, ecute their investigations over an
L. through the railways, spanning thl
It continent, and connecting the water
= and commerce of the Atlantic an
re Pacific, and tell me when and whel
N public integrity has proeided agoia
is both political and financial CORFU