St. Paul daily globe., 1895-06-03
AN Ex-RAILROAD MAN IN THE
ROLE OF AN ETHICAL LECT-
URER.
THINGS THE PEOPLE FORGET
CENSUS FACTS QUOTED AGAINST
CONDITIONS AS THEY En-
IST.
CONSOLIDATION OF WEALTH
Held to Be an Element OF Grave
Danger to the Safety Of the
Republic

Willard J. Hull lectured last evening
at Assembly hall under the auspices
of the local Society for Ethical Cul-
lure. upon the subject, Memorial Day
and Its Lessons" Mr.. Hull now re-
sides in Minneapolis, and is native
Of New York. For seventeen years
he was a train dispatcher on the Erie
system, but during the past six years
he has lectured throughout the coun-
try upon spiritualism, liberal religion
and sociology He is a deist and be-
lever in immortality. He is also con-
vinced of the truth of spirltuallsm.
He is an impressive speaker. His voice
is clear and full, his delivery meas
ured. calm and earnest. The st. Paul
Society for Ethical Culture was in
augurated two weeks ago by j. ).
Corcoran, w w. Cooley, Briggs Mon
roe and others.
After a review of the nature of Dec
oration, or Memorial day, and its
customary observance, Mr.. Hull con-
tinued: "Of all the siXty-five or sew
enty millions Of people among whom
these observances are generally car
ried out, how few there are VINO ap-
preciate that they are perhaps upon
the brink of a greater struggle than
the civil war. For it is impossible to
deny that our people are now in chains.
Who put them there, whether it is their
own fault. or the fault Of others, it is
not easy for one man to determine.
Il am greatly interested in the census
of 1890. This work is a genuine revela-
ton in sociology. 1t is bristling with
guide boards in the shape of facts.
will read a few of them. When the
war broke out the wealth of this coun-
try was almost equally divided between
the capitalists and the wage earners.
In 1890, thirty years later, we are con-
fronted by the amazing fact that Il
per cent of the country's wealth is
owned by per cent of the population,
and but 20 per cent Of the wealth is
controlled by 81 per cent of the popula-
ton Shallow people may disregard
these facts, but thinking men will
view them with alarm. Especially
will all men who can reflect remem-
Der. in connection with these facts that
exactly the same conditions prevailed
in ancient Rome just as that ancient
empire tottered to
ITS FINAL FALL.
"You will find the facts in Gibbon-an
exact duplication of the essential situa-
ton by which we are now confronted.
Again, seventeen of the principal states
of the South and West, with an area Of
$4,000 square miles and a population
of 22,0G0 eco, show an assessed valuation
of over $1,000, 600. Compare New
York and Pennsylvania. They have
an area of but $4,000 square miles and
a population of only 100000. The
other states have thus nine times the
area and twice the population, yet their
increase of wealth during the ten
years ending in 1890 was over $22, ,O00, 900
less than in the other two states. This
great gulf stream of wealth flows con-
Stantly from the West and South,
draining these sections for the reple-
tion of the Golfers of the East Three
quarters of the securities issued on
property in this state are held in East
ern cities, and mostly in the one city
of New York. So it is throughout the
West.
Now, this is a danger. I am not
an alarmist; far from it. 1 am not
reNolutionist, but 1 appreciate-you
yourselves must, as thinking men, ap-
preciate-that we have to face these
things, and we have to apply some
remedy before we are lost. 1 do not
wish to stir up resentment We are
simply to reason together The people
are slow, patient, long suffering They
do not rise quickly, but when they do,
LET OTHERS TREMBLE!
"All great reformations are long in
developing. The time, at last, Is
reached when conditions are ripe, and
then the revolution bursts forth full
bloom. The empire of Brazil fell asleep
one evening and awoke next morning
the Brazilian republic.
The constitutions of most states
begin, We, the people, do enact But
are the people not in danger of being
overthrown by their accredited rep
resentatives? Is this a representative
government? Where now do we find
the statesman who dares to come out
boldly in defense of the principles of
the Declaration of Independence? All
men are created equal and are en-
dowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights, among which are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap
piness.'
Il admire the magnanimity of the
American people. Like all honest peo-
pie, they are never on the lookout for
the snakes in the grass. The lagos
who have betrayed the Othellos of
history have always been insidious plot
ters. The people, therefore, scarcely