The Washington times., 1894-06-07
THE MAN WHO KNOWS IT ALL.

THE MAN WHO KNOWS IT ALL.
Mr.. @. P. Huntington, one of the magnates
OF the Pacific railroads, was in the city yes
terday, and for aught We know to the con-
trary he may be here still. In fact, it is alto
| gether probable that ne will consider the
national capital a healthy place to sojourn
in for several months to come. The Pacific
] railroads will have to make some sort Of shift
| toward settlement OF their indebtedness to
the government by January next, and bills
are now pending in both houses of Congress
to effect an extension ofthe time for payment Of
the debt and at an Insignificant rate OF inter-
est AL these measures are conceded to be
exceedingly favorable to the corporations.
| Mr. Huntington no doubt feels every conf
dence in his ability to cope with the govern
ment in his endeavors to make a settlement
satisfactory to himself and those he repre-
sents, and II he can put of the payment ofthe
| principal for ninety-nine years and juggle for
| q low rate OF interest he and his heirs to the
third genera ton can live comfortably on the
proceeds until aerial navigation supersedes
| railroads.
But the great lion in his path is the labor
| unions. He don't like the idea OF the strong
men helping and befriendinc the weakest,
| Notwithstanding the words Of the Master,
'Inasmuch as We have done it unto one of the
least of these ye have done it unto me. !"
Demagogues also are his aversion, by that
meaning, no doubt, any one who disa-
grees with him. He also thinks there is
nm unpbiIoconbico1 boct;l;ty og,inct tho rich
His remarks, given in an interview, are SO
filled with many OF the exploded theories of
the old political economy that we cannot re-
frain from giving the following extract there
from:
1.-The worst source Of trouble in this country Is
the labor unions. They could do enormous
amount of good instead of evil II they would
only proceed along right lines Instead Of help
ing and befriending the weakest they are en-
gagged in trying to tear down the strongest They
would reduce all to dead level of inferiority.
Political demagogues are also responsible for
great deal of the unrest and disquiet now per-
vading society For my own part, sympathize
with the laboring man. have toiled as hard as
any of them in the severest forms Of manual ex-
ertion, often crowding two days work into one.
There ought to be a better understanding and
more sympathy between the employer and the
employe. There is, too, a foolish kind of hostil-
ity against the rich, feeling Of envy that is ut
terly unreasoning and illogical Were 1t not for
the expenditures of the wealthy the poor would
have no occupation. The luxuries of the rich
are the existence of the poor. In the natural
order of things some men will acquire wealth,
and when this ceases TO be the case civilization
will be at an end"
That he sympathizes with the laboring man
is not to the point. We have too much OF
that maudlin sympathy which sheds croco-
dile tears while imposing burdens greivous
to be borne and fattening on the labor of the
poor.
But the crowning glory-if we may so termit
of his ignorance is where he says, "Were it
not for the expenditures of the wealthy the
poor would have no occupation" This fall
lacy has been exploded so often that it seems
like a waste of time to make any ex-
PLANTATION. In a nutshell it is comprised
in this: Labor is prior to and above capital;
labor first created capital" which ought
to be self-evident. But to make it more
plain, we will refer to his own scheme
for refunding the Pacific railroad loan. This
amounts to something like 800. 0.000. 600,
secured from the government, which
means the people, and represents just that
much hard WORK. Now had not the people
advanced this large sum to the railroad COM
pany it is extremely probable that Mr.. Hunt
ington would have no occupation. But he is
not content with the use Of this money for
some thirty years, but his efforts are directly
in the line OF keeping the people out Of this
money indefinitely in order that the poor
may have some more occupation"
That some men will acquire great wealth in
the natural order of things is most true, and
it is true because some men are more shrewd,
more cunning. and more unscrupulous than
others, and because the laws place higher
value on property than on humanity. But
that civilization will be at an end when JUS
tice, equity, and peace prevail! is a 1amnable
heresy.