The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-10-05

Mr.. HOAR. And more than the whole
country had when the Constitution was
framed.
Mr.. INGALLS,. Yes-and as the Sem
ator from Massachusetts, well observes,
and I 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 $1O,000,O00 each, 1000
possess $35,O0O,O 600 each, 1900 possess
$2.COO,0OO each, 5000 people S1,0OO,00o
each, making q total of 21,000 people who
possess $50, ,25o, 100000.
Mr.. President, it is the most appalling
statement that ever fell upon mortal ears.
It is, so far as the results of democracy
as a social and political experiment are
concerned, the most terrible commentary
that was ever recorded in the books of
time - and Nero fddles while Rome burns.
It is thrown of with a laugh and a sneer,
"a as the froth upon the beer" of our
political and social system. AS said,
the assessed valuation recorded in the great
national ledger, standing to our credit, is
about $65, 5,0OOO 100000. Our population is
81, 800, 900; and by some means, by some
device, by some machination, by some,
incarnation, honest or otherwise, by some
process that cannot be defined, less than
a wo-thousandth part of our poPula::
ton have obtained possession (and have,
kept out of the penitentiary in spite or
the means they adopted to acquire IT'D of
more than one-half of the entire accumu-
lated wealth of the country.
NOT THE WORST.
That is not the worst, Mr.. President.
It has been largely acquired by men who
have contributed little to the material
welfare of the country, and by processes
that I do not care in appropriate terms
to describe - by the wrecking of the for
tunes of innocent men, women and chill
dren; by jugglery, 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 indus
try of this country is passing under the
control of organized and confederated
capital. More than fifty Of the accessories
of life today, s0itho1tt tOhich the cabin Of
the farmer and the miner cannot be lighted
or his children fed or clothed, haze passed
absolutely under the control of SyndicoteS
and trusts and corporations composed of
speculatOrs, and by means of these COM
binations and considerations competition
is destroyed, small dealings are rendered
impossible, competence can no longer be
acquired; for it is superfuOus and unnec-
essary to say that if, under system where
would be less than $1,000. 1000 persons
obtained possession Of more than half of
the accumulated wealth of the country, it
is impossible that others should have a
competence or an independence. So it
happens, Mr.. President, that our society is
becoming rapidly stratifed, almost hope
lessly stratified, into a condition of super
fuously rich and helplessly poor. We are
accustomed to speak of this as the land
of the free and the home Of the brave.
1t tOiU soon be the home Of the rich and the
land of the sLGUe.
It is no wonder, Mr.. President, that the
laboring, industrial and agricultural classes
of this country, who have been made in
telligent under the impulse of universal
education, have at last awakened TO this
tremendous condition ana are inquiring
whether or not this experiment has been
successful; and, sir, the speculators must
beware. They have forgotten that the
conditions, political and social, here are
not a reproduction Of the conditions un.
der which these circumstances exist in
other lands. Here is no dynasty; here il
no privilege, or caste, or prerogative
here are no standing armies; here are nc
hereditary bondsmen, but every atom II
our political system is quick, instinct, anC
endowed with life and power. His ballot
at the box Is the equivalent of the ballot
of the richest speoulator. Thomas Jeffer
son, the great apostle of modern democ
racy, taught the lesson to his followers
and they have prOfted well by his instruc
tion, that, under q popular democratic
representative government, wealth, cul
ture, intelligence, were ultimately nS
match for numbers.
JUST, BUT JEALOUS.
The numbers in this country, Mr.. Presi
| -
combination, and the spectators should
not forget that while the people Of thi
country are generous and just, they ar
! Jealous also, and that when discOnten
changes to resentment, and resentmen
passes into evaporation, one volume o
nations history is closed and anothe
will be. opened.
Mr.. President, the cotton product o
this country, believe, is 100000 bales.
Mr.. BUTLER. Seven million bales.
Mr.. INGALLS,. Seven million bales,
am told. The transactions of the Nev
York Cotton Exchange are 40,O0O,OO
bales, representing transactions specula
tive, profitable and remunerative, by who
some OF these great accommodations hav
been piled up, an inCOnceivable burdel
upon the energies and industries OF tn
country. The production Of coal oil,
believe, in this country, has averages
something like 20,00O,0Oo barrels in
year. The transactions OF the New Yorl
Petroleum Exchange, year by year, aver
age 2,OOO, 100000 barrels, fictitious, simu
lated, the instruments Of the gambler an
the speculator, by means Of which, thrOug
an impOst upon the toll and labor and in
dustry of every labOrer engaged in tn
production of petroleum, additional diff
culties are imposed. It is reported tina
the coal alone that Is mined in Pennsyl
vania, indispensable to the comforts Q
millions of men, amounts in its snnus
product to about $4O,OO0,OOO, Of whic
One-third is profit over and above the COS
of production and q fair return for th
capital invested. That is "speculation,
Mr.. President, and every dollar over an
above the cost OF production with fai
return upon the capital invested, ever
dollar of that fifteen or sixteen millions,
filched, robbed, violently plundered out c
! the earning of the laborers and operative
: | far Nvhn ara %o