The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-02-07
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK.

among a million persons. An ounce OF
mustard seed shot discharged from an
| ordinary fowling piece is perfectly harm
loss at a distance of two hundred yards,
however expert the marksman. The
same quantity of lead moulded into a
bullet will. if accurately directed. kill a
man a mile off. The power OF united
| dollar. is illimitable. In the politics of
| tbis country it is beginning TO be per-
! ceptibly felt. There are United States
| Senators who owe their election solely
10 their wealth. When a majority OF
| hat body is constituted upon the basis
of wealth. the laws will be made to sub
serve them. No millionaire feels HIM
self thoroughly equipped who does not
own at least n great newspaper. Inc
Press of New York keeps Mr.. Gould
and Mr.. Vanderbilt out of the United
States Senate but money VIII buy al
most any newspaper-and then: Al
ready We have witnessed a daring at
tempt to purchase the Presidency.
Money is fast becoming the controlling
element in politics. Add to that the
| additional fact that there are six men IN
~tbascountry who can in one day tx the
nrice of the wheat it has required the
l1nOT Vi SiA Hin hiNh 49,
produce and YOU will begin to enquire
t.Where are we drifting - \ few
vears AGO the government was called on
to break up a combination OF unscrupu-
lous gamblers in gold and little later
| to shoot down the rioters IL, a large city
| eoaded to desperation by the tyranny OF
a rich corporation. The cost OF pfoduc-
ton no longer regulates the price OF OIL
or of bacon or of wheat. Ten men, no
one of whom yer eats an ounce OF
| pork. and who, altogether, could not
| POSSIBLY eat ten thousand pounds i'll a
YEAR. will buy and lock up a sufficient
quantity to force the price up ten dol
| lars a barrel in as many days. Does
n man in his senses suppose the time
will not come when this will produce
revolution? The cost of transportation
is regulated more by the whims, the
| jealousy, and the avarice of railway of
ficials than by the labor and material
expended in transporting passengers
and freight.
The seltishness of the very rich is
| complete. Can any n point to a sim
gle act of Mr.. Vanderbilt calculated to
Increase the happiness of the masses of
| America? To all this he would doubt
less reply, you have the right to OBJ
tain wealth.
This is another way of saying, Come,
help us destroy the liberties of the peo-
| ple." Freedom is the slowest of all
| growths. Man relinquishes power last.
The issue between the people and the
Aristocracy of Wealth must sooner or
later be met. 1t will be the severest
49, +o ,l,i,I nrn I'M fit,,fio,,c bnyn hnnn
subjected. If postponed until wealth
| has corrupted the people, the fate of
Rome is repeated if until the poor have
plundered the rich. the story of the
| downfall of Greece is retOld. One or
the other of these conditions will be full
filled unless the cause which has always,
and will always, produce these unhappy
fates is removed. This can only be
done by removing the temptation to
plumber and the means OF oppression.
The time to do this is before the evil
becomes SO great hat it is beyond the
power of peaceable remedy, when neith-
er side has the upper hand to any great
extent, and when both can be heard.
1t does not follow because certain theo-
ries cannot be reduced to practice at
one time they are impossible to execute
altogether. A people highly civilized
in a time of profound quiet can do much
that those in IA period of revolution or
an a.e of ignorance will fail TO do.
What method then can We adopt to
limit the power of wealth which will
prove satisfactory and successful?
In order TO place a limit to the power
of wealth it Is necessary to fix Il sun be-
You'd which no mans possessions shall
go. The most practicable step ever ta-
ken in this direction is the law forbid
ding Entails. The long acquiesence in
such a law is proof of its wisdom. The
rapidity with which fortunes
are made, coupled with the power OF
dev,sing them, has seriously impaired
Let us suppose another step is taken in
the same direction. and the right to be-
queath or convey by deed of gift more
than n hundred thousand dollars to /.
single person or association of persons.
is denied. In case Of intestacy limit
the portion of each her, or distribute to
the same amount. Let the residue es-
cheat to the government to be used for
educational and other humane purposes.
This restriction should be subject to the
right Of any one in his life time to cou-
vey his property by deed for any of the
purposes to which the government
might apply it after his death. Would
such a law be more than a tax on in
comes or an inheritance tax on a large |
scale? Let us examine and see how it
would work.
1t would not destroy or impair to any
extent the incentive to la
Dor and to accumulate. This a quality
inherent in some persons in fact in all
who amass by their own exertion large
fortunes. A mar could then ccumu-
late as much as he can now. The only
difference is it would be distributed |
sooner and more widely. The elder
Mr.. Vanderbilt did not add "a dollar
more to his riches because of his chill
dren nor Mr.. Girard a dollar less be-
cause he a none. If it were profita-
bic to take out of the world our pos
nine-tenthS of us would do so.
Experience shows that the majority OF
rich men virtually disinherit their chill
dren leaving them the bare use of the !
money which is ~bequeathed to grand
children whom very often they have
never seen. They are prompted to
Souioo W SiaopluS uc-Ie 10 eX-
ercise control wen after death. The
tyrannlcal spirit prompts most
men to make a will. l assert that the
fact of a limit Of one hundred thousand
dollars to each bequtst Hereafter to be
made would not shorten the pace of
avdrce an inch IN a year in the entire
Knowing that beyond a certain
I'M unt every cent accumulated would
cscheat TO the government.
men would in their lifetime aud under
Their own supervision contribute largely
20 the haInineSS of their ~fallnurs