Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1884-07-11
Danger Ahead.


Daniel Webster, 'can not long en-
dure when the tendency Of the law;
is to create rapid accumulation Of
property in the hands of the few, anG
to render the masses poor and de
pendent. - Is not property accumu
lating in the hands of the few, and
| are not the masses fast becoming
poor and dependent? The wealth OF
Vanderbilt and Gould far exceeds
that of Cresus and Marcus Aurelins.
Men are not considered very rich
whose wealth does not exceed &10,-
O00,0 Nor have those enormous
fortunes been gained by Legitimate
trade. They are the results Of spec
ulation or monopoly. Often this
speculation has been ih breadstuffs,
"corners" (Which are crimes by our
old common law, as in the case of
Armour Brothers, who made, in one
year, 81, 900, 900 by "corner" in
pork. Fully as often this wealth is
the fruit of monopoly (anOther crime
by our common law, as in the case
of the Pacific Railroads and the
Standard Oil Company.
Do we realize how rapidly wealth
is graviating into the hands Of the
few! Twenty-Five years ago the
richest man in the country was not
worth abpve $4,000, 900. When old
Stephen Girard died he was the
wealthlest man in the United States,
and he was not worth more than that.
When Commodore Vanderbilt died
his estate was estimated at $75, ,OO0,-
900, and the estate of A. 7. Stewart,
a few years thereafter, was rated at
$50, 900, 900. These we're then the
richest men in the country.
But what of the other side? Take
Boston, the center Of culture, the
pride of Puritan New England.
Consult the report Of the Massaehu-
sets Bureau of Labor Statistics. In
Boston there are 10000 women who
live. by sewing. Their average week
ly wages do not exceed 50 IS.
Paper-box makers average So per
week. Machine girls make more,
perhaps a dollar a day; but the
work induces spinal disease, and in
two years breaks them down. They
work ten hours per day. They live
on dry food, and perhaps a little
weak tea, and sleep in miserable,
filthy quarters. Steady work just
keeps soul and body together; lack
of work means either starvation, beg
gary. or shame.
Do the laws favor this? Where
is there one that opposes it? Note
the fate of bills in opposition to it
that came before Congress. If they
provide for the giving back to the
lands forfeited by pow
erful railroad corporations, they are
till they have but little
force if to compel another railroad
to provide a sinking fund to pay its
to the government,
they are so framed as to put the
matter entirely in the hands of the
When settlers attempt
to occupy certain lands claimed by
a California railroad, the Supreme
Court decided that the lands be-
longed to the railroad; shortly af-
when the State Of Califor-
mia attempted to tax this railroad for
these lands, the same court decided
that the lands did not belond to the
railroad. 1t is notorious that laws
are so framed, so interpreted and so
enforced as to favor the accumula-
ton of riches, even by unjust means,
and to make poverty the lot of the
many.
With these facts before us the
words of Webster have deep signi-
ficance. They are the expression Of
the deep conviction of the states
man, after thorough study Of his
tory. We believe that the laborer is
worthy of his hire; we believe that
superior labor should receive super
ior pay; we hold that property,
rightly won, should be held as sacred
in law as liberty or life. We know
that by the natural course of events
some earn and save more than others,
and what thus becomes theirs they
should hold lnviolable. We abhor
we believe that the work
Of the hand or head should be paid
all it will bring in a free market;
and we abhor the teachings that the
trader, the man of necessitous con-
venience, should not be reasonably |
paid but we do say that spectators,
and stock jObbers are
public robbers and legalized thieves; ;
and it is shame that the tendency
Of the law is to favor their work. 1t
threatens the prosperity Of the peo-
Pile aud the existence of our govern
ment. 1t is high time that we gave
serious consideration to the warning |
words of Webster. and that some
means should be devised to
correct these evil tendencies.--Rural
New Yorker.