Wichita eagle., 1889-05-14
JAY GOULD TALKS AT LENGTH.
The Railway Magnate Warns Up ant
Expresses His Views on Va
rious Subjects.

cent Centennial, George Washington
the amassing of wealth, and other mat
tiers. Bishop Potter, of New York, nav
ing made some remarks derogatory tC
millionaires, and praising the good old
times of 1889, Goulds attention was
called to them. 1T viii astonish you
parhaps," said Mr.. Gould, "when l say
that have given less attention than
should to this matter to which the good
bishop of New York attaches so much
Importance. Candidly, have all l can
do to take care Of my vast interests-to
hold my own with the world. With me
it is a constant struggle on all sides to
maintain what believe to be my rights.
| While | have not read all that
Bishop Potter has said, | think that !
understand the drift of his remarks,
because l have heard other good
men talk very much IN the same way.
If / am not mistaken, he would have us
believe that in Washington's time men
were greater and purer; that the affairs
of state were administered with much
more propriety and care than they are
| today.
''1f I remember my history correctly,
| Washington had many mlsgivlngs as to
| the future of the nation he had founded
| He passed through many stormy scenes
with prominent members of congress as
we'll as his own cabinet. He didn't find
anything to suit him. His farewell adj
dress is charged with forebodings as to
| the future. He, too, was quite wrong
on some moral questions. He was a
| slave holder, for example. We must not
forget that men who snone in Washing
| tons time as great and prominent figures
would hardly be noticed among the army
of reasonably able and prominent men
In this great siXty-million nation of ours
| today. Among a few dozen states
men it would not be difficult for
men like Hamilton, jefferson and the
later Adams to rise to the highest levels
of popular appreciation. Great men
Were few, just as the population was
sparse, and very few big men made
great show. OF course, this question as
to the standard Of political morals. is
one more or less based upon individual
estimate. 1t is not thing that can be
settled by books or the rule of three. 1t
is not fixed standard but in my hum
bic Judgment, we have as pure and
noble men in public life and trade today
as ever have been born and developed in
any country on the face of the earth. |
have travelled more or less in Europe, !
have studied political methods there; [
have always come back to America bet
ter satisfied with our system of govern
ment, with the safeguards that prevent
anarchy and protect the rights of the
people. poor and rich. To be sure we
have outbreaks of anarchy, such as at
Chicago, much as we have other out
breaks on great occasions, such as our
recent centennial"
you need not, then, Mr.. Could" said
the interviewer, accept the belief that
we are becoming nation OF plutOcrats
and that men of vast wealth are a
source of danger to the perpetuity of our
constitutional government"
Indeed ] do not" ard the brown eyes
opened widely. Il have made what
money / possess by hard work. While
it may not be the general impression,
owe all my success to unremitting labor
entirely. Work is the only thing that
will succeed in America. In some of
the monarchies of Europe, wealth, an
cestry-'blood' if you like-will make
q man: will put him in a position of the
greatest prominence, but in this country
industry alone can bring men to posi-
tons of trust and financial supremacy,
can make them great or rich. And be-
sides, remember than neither blood nor
inherited wealth creates Ststesmen
here.
You do not regard the accumulation
Of wealth itself as dangerous
lon the contrary, SO long as the mon
ey is kept i'll this country | regard its
concentration in certain localities or in
the hands of individuals as Of the great
est benefit to the nation. Where men
accumulate fortunes and take the money
out of the country it is a serious injury:
bat a corporation which creates capital
that is to remain here and keep in mo-
ton our circulating medium is a benefit
to the whole country. l am somewhat
familiar with most Of the railroad inter
estS in this land"
Even Mr.. Gould smiled. ''Only few
days ago a friend sent me book pub
lished in this city in 1880" In that
volume l find an argument, carefully
prepared, showing how useless it
would be to attempt to main
tain a railroad over which cars
could be propelled by steam.
Tho author discusses at great length,
affirmatively and negatively, the qUes-
ton whether it will be better policy to
draw trains upon the projected railways
by mules or by steam engines. The bur
den of the argument is certainly IN favor
of the mule.
''Of course all this is silly to us now:
but when we recall that only fifty-nine
years ago such matters were seriously
discussed in scientific books we see that
the people of today are better prepared
to do their own thinking We won't al /
L.
That was only fifty-nine years ago. Why
then DO we sigh for the political science
of a century past:
Has man. as he has developed under
our splendid, our glorious civilization
grown less self-respecting less pure, more
venai: Would Bishop Potter tell US that
men in public life are mostly careless,
small. petty, penurious, purchasable
creatures: All. he takes the pulpit into
the job lot, too, as special pleaders for
cannot agree with DR.. Potter. | don't |
think SO badly of my fellow-men, and |
I'm not called an Abou Ben Adhem.
1--WE must also recognize the fact that |
the railroads have done something for !
this country. Now what is a railroad? |
1t is commercial enterprise created to do |
business in q business way. Ii men |
grow rich (for all the 'plutocrats' were |
once poor and build railroads and the |
railroads prosper, who is benefited: Are |
not the people at large the real gamers: /
1t IS generally idle TO give money to the |
poor. The benefit is only temporary, !
and the reaction makes the recipient /
more wretched than he was before. The /
noblest ambition that man can have Is /
10 devise q successful scheme for /