San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-10-02
THE MONEY POWER.

Inc most impressive IacI no" Gull
spicuous in the affairs of meu is the
power of money. Living in this time
of invention, and of the miraculous
accumulations of wealth that result
from the saving of labor, We are apt
to lose sight of the truth that we are
living in an age without parallel in
the history of the world. Former
ly the minds of men were engaged
with religion or learning or politics,
aud man was second or third rate
consideration with the race of man as
a misconceptions there have always
been to the rule.
Power was formerly the end, aim
and purpose, and money an incident;
now money is the chief end of man,
and power is its inevitable incident.
Religion which in the olden times,
engaged the best thought of the
ablest minds, is to the same
class OF minds of our day, a matter of
small concern. The great man of to-
day relegates religion to the good wife
and the girls. and gives his entire
time, mind and energies to the accum-
ulation of money. And this superior
mental power continuously and per-
sistently directed by the making and
saving of money, has wrought Won
ders, when we come to glance at re-
results. Recent figures disclose that
half the wealth of more than 60,000,-
600 of people, is in the hands of $4,000
men.
Five thousand of our rich men are
worth 81 100000 or over. The first
A stor died worth s., 000, 900; his family
now holds $3.50, 100000. Half a
dozen Americans are each worth
800, 900 900, and two hundred others
are each worth $50, 900, 900 or more.
The average earning of wage workers
is but 800 per annum. These figures
are simply startling. If we look to
the causes they are various. The new
invention; industry; our
mines improved commerce ten
dency to peace among natiOns-all
these account in large measure for the
of wealth, but they do
rot account for two other prominent
factors in the situation, viz: the I'M
improved pay of labor, and the per-
of acquired fortunes. These
two latter considerations are I'M
dou btedly due to the political
power of money. Able rich men
nave combined to formulate laws
tor the protection of capital and i'm
potent abor has not combined TO pro-
tect itself, and in the nature of the
case cannot so combine. Capital hires
brains to attend legislatures and
shape the laws labor can hire no
one; it is absent from the legislative
hall, or if a representative is present
he is liable to the seduCtiOns of gol-
den elOquence.
A question arises between employer
and employe. Money loses. The
case is taken up; labor can not follow,
and the case goes against the weaker
PARTY; precedent is established, and
becomes a club with which to beat
the heads of the next appealing en-
ploye, and so laws accumulate against
the poor.
CORPORATIONS become the Custodians
of individual wealth. The rich man
dies and leaves au estate invested
in the securities of great corpora
ton. The heirs have little or no bus
mess ability; could not perhaps sue
cessfully run a tamale stand, but
their wealth is well managed and
Yields a princely income to people
who wear out useless lives in ennlu,
and leave the estate unimprOved to
other incompetents whose interests
are again managed by hired and su-
perior intelli gence. The corporation
is comparatively new creation III
business, and in one sense has abso-
lutely grown greater than its creator.
Its origin was municipal, coming from
the necessity of local government
thence it grew into orders, colleges
and universities. and finally into
business bodies, but it never be-
came immortal or indestTuctible
till it reached American soil and
here under the vested right theory.
the creature may defy the sovereign
state to take It's life. The unruly, or
desperate or bad poor man, may be
locked up or hung, but whoever hears
Of punished corporation? TheOret-
ically it may forfeit u franchise, but
as rule the legal power to dea! with
| a corporation is a dead letter. No in
dividual can afford the fight, and pol
| iticians "stand i'm with the big purse
so that officers rarely touch the dan
| gerOus topic. The corporation has
! come to be a serious menace TO the
stability of our institutions.