The Labor enquirer., 1888-01-07
THE GOD MONEY.
lcoatlnued nom nrst paxe.l

the public not a myth. is it neces-
sary to give the road to it to se-
cure its servicesa
Railroad management is not
Imore difficult than was our great
war; yet salaries of from FIVE to
ten thousand dollars procured
competent service, and ''therebels"
for far less obtained, it will be
admitted, respectable service.
Would higher salaries have secured
for either better service1 Is money
the only motive for work3 We
buy a president for $4,000 year,
might we not railroad president
for that sum7 And would he not
be all the more efficient for the
public, if he were forbidden spec
ulations2
1t is very true, as the professor
says, that, like the laws ofgravita-
tion, the laws of political economy
are inexorable. He who violates
them must suffer, however excel
lent his intentions. But does it
thence follow. that those learned
in these laws and skilled in their
application shall be permitted to
SO use them as to create a power
dangerous to society.
1t is but justice to add that
there are evidences in the closing
pages of his book that after all he
is not quite satisfied that his pluto
crat Us thc-innocent and useful
being he has described.
A friendly critic comes to his
relief, declaring. THE accumula-
tioa of great wealth byindividuals
the author does not hold to be
wrong. \ = He holds that
the power of wealth in the state
should be restrained by check and
guaraRs. A plutocracy might
be far wy<set than an .aristocraoy,
ID nc in the world, he says,
is a danger of plutocracy so
formidable as it is here. Its nat
ural opponent is a republican
democracy, and experience al
ready shows that the serious con-
test is between the plutocratic and
democratic forces. Wealth by
cunning combinations, can destroy
the guarantees of liberty; it can
buy legislatures to make the laws
and bribe courts to interpret them,
and muzzle the press to silence
exposure. But this is only to say
that the people do not choose hon
est and fit Legislators. The rem
edy is with the people, and it is a
sure and final remedy, except in
one contingency, which is that the
people themselves are corrupted,
and then, of course, popular govt
ernment, in its real sem Sc expires.
But does not the critic here
take from the professor the very
ground upon which he stands, or
has the professor himself COM
mitted ha1-ka,1s If plutocracY is
so dangerous to society why Gre
ate it or permit it to arise1 Why
not stamp out the kindling fame
rather than wait and then
vainly struggle with the con-
suming conAagrationa Does not
history teach that democracy in
vain contends with plutocracy, ex-
cept in special jun ctures, at long
intervals and amid the throes of
revolution1 And when the catas-
trophe comes can W complac Gently
excuse ourselves in proclaiming
the people corrupt "a corruption
which we have necessitated. For
the cravings of hunger stiHe |
honor.
The professor is learned in his |
science and there is in his book |
much of value. But the worship |
of mammon, here and now, needs
no stimulation; certainly not at |
the expense of the "old preju-
dice" ecclesiastical or otherwise,
in behalf of the weak and lowly-|
of the under dog in the fierce
struggle of life.
There is, indeed. something
higher than the laws of graspine
selfishness.
Even in this materialistic age. |