New-York tribune., 1885-08-15
States in comparison with little cheap reputa-
tion as an administrative reformerf
hyTLNONOPOLY UNTRUTHs

Here Ia call by the Autobiography League.
headed Our principles anti-monopoiy. We adyo-
cate and will support and defend the rights OF the
many, against privileges for the few. Corpo-
ratons the creature of the State shall e controlled
by the State Labora and capitalallies not enemies,
Justice for both" These be grand professions.
Ono begins to wonder that any wrong or sorrow Is
left in the State which has the benefit OF such a
| league And yet there seems to be no realized
Improvement so far. The call for q convention
to meet at Albany. September 8. begins by assert
ing that this q has been the tendency OF the past
twenty years. that the rich growing richer and
the poor poorer" IL that is the it is strange
that the millions of voters. who have at least as
much intelligence as the gentlemen who issue TINS
CALL have been voting against their interest all
this time.
The trouble is that the statement is not true. A
very few of the rich are growing richer, but
great many more are growing poorer. Within the
past four years, particularly, the number OF
millionaires who have become paupers.is remark
ably large The general tendency Of events has
been to deprive the rich of riches. There has been
O great shrnknge in the wealth of those who have
much property in anv form. The few who counted
their wealth by the hundred millions have lost
tens of millions each the larger number who were
called millionares have lost hundreds of thou
sands and some are In their graves some in jail,
some are objects of charity and some are at work
again for their daily bread. All the time, riches
take WINGS" just as they did in ancient days.
IL is equally false that the poor are growing
poorer. When one looks back five years. ten. ff-
teen. twenty, or twenty-five years. at each and
every point he finds that the rate Of wages was
generally lower than it is now and that the cost OF
living was higher. He finds at each past date that
| In had iaa In fha SAVINGS hanks
than they have now. and owned fewer homes and
fewer farms, wLie the wealth Of the rich was more
colossal and moro secure What single merchant in
the land can be named who has amassed OF is at all
likely to aInass such q fortune A. L. Stewart
here there real estate who rivals the late
John Jacob Astor in accumulation of wealth
What railroad manager In our day has amassed
anything like the vast estate which Commodore
Vanderbilt left to his heirs about nine years ago
But one can name who have gone into bank
ruptcy And one can point out thousands of work
ing people who have acquired homes of their own
within the past ton or twenty years.
1t would be suspected that an association which
begins by announcing n palpable untruth as the
basis OF its appeal should offer to the people only
useless or harmful remedies. Hence 1t appears that
this socalled league. when 1t attempts to enumerate
its past services, aflrms that it has done several
il has been instrumental in creating Railroad
Commission and Bureau OF Labor Statistics. mat
is IL has saddled upon the people two new sets OF
officials to be fed. and neither has yet done single
thing to MAKE its creation of any use to the public
One. ut oil events, is used notorousv and palpably
as a political machine. and there is ground for
suspicion that the other is to be used in the
same way. IL is boasted that the so-called league
has abolished the system of contract labor in
prisons That H. it has compelled honest people to
earn more. IN order to support the criminals
who were formerly compelled to earn enough for
their own support. The blessings of anti-monopoly
consist IN putting new burdens On the people-two
new boards, and small army of convcts. by all
means, let the league meet in convention. and con-
slider whether it Is not possible TO fasIen upon the
public some other set OF parasites or paupers under
the pretenco OF defending the rights OF the many
against privileges for the fow."