Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-04-22
The ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.

At this writing it does not occur to
us who first used the expression, s'the
almighty dollar"-nor does it matter in
the least who was the author of the
phrase-it has long since been canon
lied in the literature of the times, and
all admit that it would be difficult to
coin an expression more vividly indica-
tive cf t.iS animating spirit of the age
in which we live.
There is, confessedly, in the term
''the almighty dollar large ingredi-
ent of playful irreverence which ad-
mits of no question and is shoclxingly
apparent when the terms, THE AL
mighty God" and the almighty dollar"
are placed in juxtaposition, but they
should be placed in close proximity to
enable the reader to comprehend the
force of the term as applied to the dol
lar.
Throughout Christendom the dollar
has more devout worshipers than the
omnipotent God. Indeed, it is to be
doubted if there is in all recorded his
tory more than one in stance where the
dollar, in a national policy. was re-
quired to take second place or a still
lower rank as compared to the station
of the gods In fact, Lycurgus, some
centuries before the days of St Paul,
gave the Spartans to understand that
''the love of money is the root of all
evil" Lycurgus is dead, and st. Paul is
dead, but the dollar is not dead The
temples of Mammon are more numer-
Gus than ever before in the worlds
history, the god is worshiped more de-
voutly and his devotees are numb bered by
millions, and nowhere is the idolatry
more repulsive and debasing than in
Christian (?) lands, and to such an ex-
tent has the debauchery proceeded in
the United States that the term ''the
almighty dollar" tamely expresses the
national degradation the worship has
fastened upon us.
This debauchery is universal; no class,
calling or profession has escaped its
contamination. 1t is a national dis
grace. It's defilements are seen in every
community. 1t pollutes the national
mind, poisons every fountain of thought,
and humiliates, shames and mortifies
the few who, like the immortal three,
would not fall down and worship the
golden image the king had set up.
The worship of 1.-The almighty dollar"
is fruitful of all things detestable in ma
tional life. 1t is the prolific source of
envy, jealousy and pride. 1t creates its
aristocracies, all along the line, from
| rag-pickers in their dens to the million
aires in their palatial homes The wor-
ship of ''the almighty dollar breeds
suicides and murders, and every vulgar
vice known to Sodom. 1t is licentious
and lustful to a degree that ten thou
sand homes, however beautiful their
exterior, are within like whited sepul-
chers, full of all manner of uncleanness;
and still the worship goes forward, and
the soulless, heartlcss devotees, with
blind and desperate eagerness, crowd
around the shrine of their god like wild
beasts at lick.
In the January Magazine attention
was called to the announcement made
by Thomas G. Shearman, of New York,
that seventy persons had succeeded in
securing 81, roo, 900, 900 of the wealth of
the country
In the January Forum the same gen.
tleman reiterates his statement; and in
further replying to the question, "who
owns the United States?" says: 'One-
half Of all the national wealth is owned
by 10000 families, and that three-fourths
of it is in the possession of fewer than
$50, 900 families.
The term almighty" means all pow
erful, omnipotent, irresistible. The
wealth of the United States expressed
in round mum bers is S62, 900, 600, 600. The
population of the country is 63, 600. 600
divided into families of five each, and
we have II, soc, 600 families. Mr.. Shear
man says that $40, 900 families" have
secured one-half of the wealth of the
country-S31, 600, 900, 600, an average of
$775,000 each. Again, he says that
'fewer than $50, 900 families have in
their possession three-fourths of the
wealth of the country-S46, 500, 600 900.
an average of S1s6, 900 each AS re-
suit, if $50, 900 families have secured
SAG, 500, 900, 900, there remains S15, 50O.-
600, 600 for H. $50, 900 families, which
would give an average of 81, ,255 each.
Tabulated, the showing is as follows:
25O 600 families at sls6 600 eacn SAG, 500 900
12,350,o0O families at l,255 each, $1,000 ol0,OOo
1',6Ooeoo families. Total. 1920 600 900
But it may be profitable to extend
the analysis a stage further. If the
wealth of the country, s62, 600, 600, 600.
is divided by the population, the aver
age amount per capita would be S9s4 12.
But according to Mr.. Shearman's esti-
mate, 250,000 families or 1850. 900 per-
sons have secured three-fourths of the
wealth of the country, $40, 500, OOo, 600.
or S37, 200 per capita, while u. $50. 600
families or 6l, ,750. 600 persons, have the
remaining one-quarter of the wealth.
or S251 per capita
Such figures suggest to Mr.. Shear
man the coming of a billionaire. one
man who will have one thousand mil
lions of 1.-The almighty dollars He
says:
The least that can be said is that
there are seventy American estates that
average $50, O90,O 900. During the year, by
the consolidation of two estates, one in
dlvldual has become worth at least
S2o0,000,O00 The evolu-
ton OF such enormous fortunes. abso-
lutely inconceivable forty years ago as
an American possibility, naturally leads
us TO look into the future and to ask
how far this concentration of wealth
may go, and whether the existing hun
dred millionaires foreshadow the com
ing billionaire. Is he coming? When
will he come? What effect will his COM
ing have upon society? Unless some
great change takes place in our finan-
cial or social system, the Millionaire is
certainly coming and at rapid speed.
The billionaire is coming with rapid
speed, and will get here on time, unless
some great change takes place in our
financial q or social svSfern What
changes can be wrought in either the
financial or social system to head off
the coming of the Millionaire?
Is it proposed to take the almighty"
out of the dollar? disarm it, deprive it
ofits power and subject it to restraints?
Is it proposed to put stop to the wor-
ship of the dollar? destroy its temples