Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-01-22
mr. snerman-I saId SPECTATORS.

Solomon in all his glory, but they toll not.
neither do they spin"-yes, they do spin
This class, Mr.. President, am glad to say, IS
not confined to this country alone These
gigantic accurnulations have not been there
suit of industry and economy. There Would
be no protest. against them IL they were.
There is an anecdote floating around the pa
pers. speaking about beer. That some gen
tleman said to the keeper of a saloon that
he would give him recipe for selling more
| beer, and when he inquired what it was, he
| said: "Sell less frOth" Laughter II the
miIIionaires and spectators of this country
are the froth upon the beer OF our system,
| the time has come when we should sell more
beer by selling less froth. [Lasghter.l
The people are beginning to inquire
/ whether, under "a government OF the people,
by the people and for the people," under a
system in which the bounty of nature is sup
| piemented by the labor of all, any citizen
can show a moral-yes, or legal-title to
| 500, 100000
Some have the temerity to ask whether or
| not any man can show clear title to SlOO-
| 10000. There have been men rash enough to
| doubt whether, under a system so consti-
| tuted, by speculation or otherwise, any citi
zen can show a fair title to SlO,OOO,OOO, when
| the distribution per capita would be less
| than 81 600. If were put upon my Uofr dire
/ 1 should hesitate before admitting that in
the sense of giving just compensation and
| equivalent, any man in this country or any
| other country ever absolutely earned mil
lion dollars. l do not believe he ever did
| What is the condition to-day, Mr. President,
| by the statistics? l repeat that the people
| are not Anarchists; they are not Socialists
| they are Communists; but they have sud
denly walked to the conception Of the fact
that the bulk of the property of this country
| Is passing into the hands of what the Senator
from Ohio, by a euphemism, calls the "spec
| ulatOrs" of the world.
WEALTH Distribution.
table has been completed for the pur-
| pose OF showing how wealth in this country
| Is distributed, and it is full of the most
startling admonition. 1t has appeared in
| the magazines; it has been commented
| upon In this chamber. 1t has been the
| theme of editorial discussion. 1t appears
from this that there are In the United States
200 persons who have an aggregate of more
| than $40 900, 900 each, and there has been one
| man, the Midas of the century, at whose
| touch every thing seemed to turn to gold,
| who had acquired, within less than the life
| time of a single Individual out of the aggre-
gate of the National wealth that was earned
by the labor of all, applied to the common
| bounty of nature, an aggregate that exceeded
| the assessed value of four of the smallest
States in this Union.
Mr.. Hoar And more than the whole
| country had when the Constitution was
| framed.
| Mr.. Ingalls, Yes-and as the Senator from
| Massachusetts well observes, and l thank
| him for the suggestion-much more, many
times more than the entire wealth of the
| country when it was established and
| founded. Four hundred persons possess So,
100000 each, 1000 possesses 55,OO00OO each,
1000 possesses 100000 each, 5000 people
81 600 each. making total of q 900 people
| who possess SS6, ,250, 900, 900.
| Mr.. President il is the most appalling
statement that ever fell upon mortal ears.
| 1t is, so far as the results of democracy as
| social and political experiment are con-
| cerned, the most terrible commentary that
ever was recorded in the book of time-and
| Nero fddles while Rome burns 1t is thrown
| off with laugh and a sneer, "as the frOth
| upon the beer" of our political and social
| system. AS l said, the assessed valuation
recorded in the great National ledger, stand
| ing to our credit is about S65 90 OOO, 600
| Our population is 81, 5000 and by some
means. by some device, by some machina-
tion, by some incantation, honest or other
| wise, by some process that can not be de-
| fined, less than two -thousandth part OF our
population have obtained possession (and
have kept out of the penitentiary, in spite of
the means they adopted to acquire it) Of
more than one half of the entire accumulated
| wealth of the country
NOT THE WORST.
That is not the worst, Mr.. President. 1t
has been largely acquired by men who have
contributed little to the material welfare OF
the country, and by processes that do not
care in appropriate terms to describe. By
the wrecking of the fortunes OF innocent
men, women and children, by juggl lery, by
bookkeeping, by financiering, by what the
Senator from Ohio calls speculation" and
this process is going on with frightful and
constantly accelerating rapidity. The entire
industry of this country is passing under the
control of organized and confederated cap
itaL More than fifty Of the necessaries OF
life to day. without which the cabin of the
farmer and the miner can not be lighted OF
his children fed or clothed, have passed alb
solutely under the control of syndicatcs and
trusts, and corporations composed OF specu-
lators, and by means of these combina-
tions and considerations competition is
destroyed; small dealings are rendered
impossible; competence can no longer be
acquired, for ii is superfuous and unneces-
sary to say that if, under a system where
the accumulations distributed per capita
would be less than $1,000, $1,000 obtained
! possession of more than half CT the accu-
mulated wealth of the country, it is impos
sble that others should have a competence
or an independence. SO it happens, Mr..
President, that our society is becoming rap
idly stratifed, almost hopelessly stratifed,
into condition of superfluousy rich and
helplessly poor We are accustomed to
home of the brave. 1t will soon be the home
of the rich and the land of the slave.
1t is no wonder, Mr.. President, that the Ia
boring, industrial and agricultural classes of
this country, who have been made intelli-
gent under the impulse of universal educa-
ton, have at last awakened to this tremen-
dous condition and are inquirng whether or
not this experiment has been successful,
and, sir, the spectators must beware. They
have forgotten that the conditions, political
and social, here are not a reproduction of
the conditions under which these circum-
stances exist in other lands. Here is no
dynasty; here is no privilege, or caste, or
prerogatve; here are no standing armies /;
here are no hereditary bondsmen, but every
atom I'm our political SYSTEM is quick, in
stinct, and endowed with life and power.
His ballot at the box Is the equi' alept of the
ballot o. the richest speculatOT. Thomas
jefferson the great apostle of modern De-
mocracy, taught the lesson to his followers
and they have profited well by his instruc
tion, that under a popular democratic rep
resentatiTe government wealth, culture, in
telligence were ultimately no match fol
numbers
JUST But JEALOUS.
The numbers in this country, Mr.. Pres
dent, have learned at last the power of com
bination, and the speculators should not for
get that while the people OF this country art
generous and just, they are Jealous also, anc
that when discomfort changes to resentment
ana resentment passes into exasperaIIon
one volume of a nations history Is closed
and another will be opened.
Mr.. President, the cotton product of thii
country, believe, is 900 bales.
Mr.. Butler. Seven million bales.
. Mr.. Ingalls,. Seven million bales, am told
The transactions Of the New York CottoI
! Exchange are 10000 900 bales, representing
transactions speculative, profitable and re