The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-11-23
WORDS or WARNING.

wealth into the hands OF one man or
few mon, to WELD its concentrated
power for them and get the benefit Of
that concentration on their behalf. This
concentration u wealth has been stead
lily going on and rapidly increasing.
To-day the 'ailroad corporations Of the
United States own property that is esti-
mated to be worth $500, O0O, 900! The
figures convey no conception to the
mind, for no imagination is able to form
an image Of that enormous wealth They
are estimated to earn yearly 500, 600, OOo.
No wonder that they can buy Legisla-
lures and courts and Judges, II it be
necessary. And this enormous concen-
tration Of wealth. 5000, 900, 900 every
year, Is in the hands and r,.,der the con-
troll Of comparatively small number OF
men. A few years ago--I do not know
how II il now-aix men, I think IL was,
met once month at Long Branch to
determine automatically how much coal
should lie taken out Of the mines Of
Pennsylvania and carried to the markets
OF New York. In the hands Of those
six men the control Of the fuel Of our
metropolis WAS left. To-day four
men combining together can deter
mine what shall 10 the price Of car
riagc, and therefore what shall be tho
Price Of breadstuffs in the nfetropo-
liz of New York. To-day one or two
men actually do control the price Of our
light. A halkscore Of men, a. many -
you can count on your two hands, can
to-day control on the Atlantic coast the
price Of our fuel, the price Of our
breadstuffs and the price Of our light.
When the light, the bread and the fuel
Of great scot ion Of the nation is con-
trolled BY dozen men, how far are we
from oligarchy? These great railroad
corporations control our State Legis.a-
lures, in many places our judiciary and
our cou t. Of justice. They a'e able to
exercise controlling influence to-day
in the Senate Of the United States, and
probably, also. in the House of Repre-
sentatives. Every Senator who has
been added to the Senate list within
the last four or Ave years, l he
lieve without exception certain
IL with few, IL any-is inter-
ested in railroad corporations. The
brakeman stands upon the end of the
car and turns his brake, working his
ten or twelve hours day. Occasionally
his wages are held back, as they were
two years ago by one Of our great rail-
road corporations, for month or two,
in order that dividends may be paid to
the stockholders. and that the monopo-
lists Of the stock market may profit by
speculation. While he is working at
these wages he sees men growing rich
% such q rate that one railroad king
accumulates SOC, OOO, 900 in = score OF
years, and another seventy. odd millions
in twenty-nine or thirty years. No
wonder he grows discontinued. The
time Is coming, fellow-citizens, when
this question must he met and solved
by us. Either our railroad corporations
will control our country, or our country
must control the rail Dad corporations.
When once that issue is fairly present
Cd, 10 that the whole American people
shall see il, the whole American people
will not think twice in order to record
their verdict.
The inevitable result OF this concen-
tration Of wealth is the combination Of
labor and resulting strikes. One quar-
ter of our workers are engaged in work
ing for wages under the employ Of cap
italists. What il the relation between
these wage-workers and capitalists !?
The old political economy had nothing
wiser or better to say to us on this sub
iect than this: Labor is commodity :
capital is to go into the market and
hire the labor at the cheapest possible
price. That is, man is but coal, to he
bought at the lowest price. Onc-quar-
YER Of our population are in market, to
be hired by the day, the week or the
year At the lowest possible figure. All
the selfishness OF capital il arrnycd to
bear the labor market. to depreciate
and depress wages. All the selfishncss
Of the laboring population is arrayed to
bull the labor market, to appreciate
and increase the value of wages.
And capital on one side and la
Dor on the other are arrayed in arms,
one against the other, in = perpetual
state ofchronic unquietness, ever and
anon breaking out into open war. II
there is in modern scientific thought no
better solution of this great problem OF
tho relation Of labor ana canite' than
this: IL this i the latest word that
Christianity he's 70 say for this problem
then the inevitable result 10 the con-
tinuance Of strikes until the bitter end.
And, what tho end shall be, who can
tell. Since capital is already concen-
tration for the purpose Of getting labor
cheap, labor will concentrate to make
labor dear. Inevitably labor will com.
bine to say first-We will not work ;
and then-let the fires that blazed
from Chicago 70 Pittsburgh only three
or four years ago show MS what the
possible dangers Of the not-far-off future
are.
/ believe Christianity has better
solvent. deny the axiom Of political
economy; declare it to he pagan, and
unchristian, and unhumnn, and unphil-
osophical The time is coming when
not capital shall hire labor, but labor
shall hire capital; when not money
shall he master and man the servant,
but man shall be the master and money
the servant. The time is coming when
toll and labor, hard-handed labor il
may be, and blackfsted it may be, and
sweaty of brow it may be, shall stand
st the topmost ladder Of American
honor, and money shall lie its servant.
How that blessed day is to be brought
about, who can tell? am here, ! told
you in the beginning, to ask questions,
not to answer, but that time will be
hastened on by laying broad and deep
foundations, by teaching the great mass
Of the American people probity, aud
self-tlenial. and honesty, and inte.li.
gence, and-I nm almost inclined to put
it ut the topmo / virtue of them all
temperance. By . long, SOW process
Ut may take years. the time shall be
when We shall have no such financial
Pope in America as jaw Gould.
CONVICTION AND DEATH.
Such i the Inevi able o. ti.~ Is raj Wiancr,
In the IHited states.
Trnt Ri In