New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-05
CHAPTERS OF UNION PACIFIC
IN WHICH AN ARTIST AND HIS SUBJECT
CHANGE PLACES. 5

m WHICH AN ARTIST AND HIS SUBJECT
CHANGE PLACES. 8
Boston, December 4.
TWENTY wears ago this last October . writer
.. an Westminster Review thus described q
-.nt,.man then very well known to the pub
LA hut since grown into q much wider fame:
.ne was q broker, and q broker is almost oy
,.ture = gambler. perhaps the very last pro-
sessiou suitable for q railway manager. In cnar-
.ctrr he was strongly marked by his disposition
er silent intrigue. He preferred, as a rule. 10
orrrate ON his own account, without admitting
other persons into his confidence, and he seemed
never to be satisfied except when deceiving every
one as to his intentions. There was . rcnin-
isceuce of the spider In his nature. lie spun
huae webs in corners and in the dark, wnion "erc
el6om strong enough to resist a serious s'rain AZ
the critical moment. 1t is scarcely necessary 70
.v that he had not q conception OF a moral
prtnciph." tel a..
The picture Is strongly drawn, but win .ne
free hand of an artist; an arast wno' "i'h
abundant means, fine tastes and high SOCIAL posi-
.,op had no need to hamper his pencil wi1n any
.snidration Of material interest. he was sun
'.-.s,y ;ndepandent to be able to disregard te
pacouian maxim to treat ones enemies as .nough
- richt some time be friends and ones friends
~ though they might some tune DC enemies
S..~,ver he was discussing a question OF morals
IN which II is possible to interest the puonc only
~ vioorous treatment with the illustrations OF
S~+,.its and the spice Of personality. Added to
r.. ,ndivtdual force Of a striking, almost sensa-
.cnsI literary STYLE and a popular reputation for
~Lnin.Ntv holiness and steadfast adhesion 10
.--,uson this artist had in the discussion OF a
~.:,.co-morsl question the prestige of an ancestry
80. Through four generations as opponents OF
-. h..t Thought and highest standards OF pohu-
-.-.,i.r in the country. There was a fourlolo
-. "a IN. blow given to the broker ana
.mh,.r ane last man suitable for railway man.
ager. u.r.r Pev;ewn
- III 1850 the same writer considering In
.orr.c,ion with certain transactions In railway
~...r.uent then under review. tne pon'0"i
a-m.,Ezation toward which they tended saio
aNodern society has created a class OF aruhciai
..,r.a vbo hid fair soon to be the masters Oh
their creator. 1t is but a very lew years ein0
,h. existence of q corporation centrollhg d ie"
~n,11isps of dollars was regarded as a su"Jec' .
crave sup.ehension, and now this country al
r.adv contains single organizations wnlcn w'eio
a pow.r represented by hundreds OF MILLIONS.
rbese bodies arc the creatures Of single States, Dun
in New-York, In Pennsylvania, in Maryiand' In
New.Jersey. and not in those States alone eney
are already establishing deeponsms whloh no Spa
modic popular effort will be able to shake on.
Everyvhere and ct all tunes, however, they L.
Iu.t,st. ,,e truth of the old maxim of the oom-
mon law that corporations have no souls. .
The system OF corporate life and corporate power
as applied to industrial development is yet in its
infancy. 1t tends always 20 d~eyelopment-ai-
WAYS to consolldation-it is ever grasplng new
powers or insidiously exercising covert influence.
Even now the system threatens the central gov
eminent. The Erie Railway represents a weak
combination compared to those which day by day
are consolidating under the unsuspecting eyes oil
the community A very few years more and we
shall see corporations as much exceeding the
Enc and the New-York Central in both ability
and will for corruption as they will exceed
those roads In wealth and in length OF iron track.
We shall see those great corporations spanning
the continent from ocean to o~cean-single con-
solidated lines, not connecting Albany with
Buffalo or Lake Erie with the HUDSON, but uniting
the Atlantic and the Pacific, and bringing New
York nearer to San Francisco than Albany once
was to Buffalo. Already the disconnected mem
ben Of these future eviathans have built up
States in the wilderness and chosen their at
Sorneys Senators of the United States. Now
their power is in its infancy in a very few years
they will reenact on o larger theatre and on a
grander scale. with every feature magnified, the
scenes which were lately witnessed on the narrow
stage of a single State. The public corruption is
the foundation on which corporations always de-
pend for their political power. There is a natural
tendency to coalition between them and the low
est strata Of political intelligence and morality
for their agents must obey, not question. They
exact success and do not cultivate political mo-
rality. The LOBBY is their home, and the lobby
thrives as political virtue decays"
This, too, is free-hand drawing, with a touch Of
pessimistic prophecy. The ~pessimism has not been
fully realized, but otherwise the forecast has been
almost literally fulfilled.