The herald., 1897-01-24
LIMITATIONS OF PRIVATE FORTUNES
a L.
MAcNElL, 1897

ron and empowered to be an arbitrator
, and lawgiver. His first decree was that
all debts remained should be forgiven
and, that no man for the future should
engage the body of his debtor as secur-
4 ity. The cancellation of debts was an
| extreme measure, but it's harshness was
no doubt deemed necessary for the well
fare of the community. From these and
the subsequent laws enacted by Solon,
despotism was exiled from Athens. the
weeds of anarchy Were uprooted and the
corner stone of democracy was laid.
Third-Now, let us glance over the
history of the first Roman republic and
learn the lesson it teaches. The disfn-
tegration of the republic began when
office brought wealth and prestige, and
both wealth and prestige were literally
employed in securing for this select cir
Gle a monopoly of political power" This
condition continued with slightly vary
ing changes till "civic equality and So
lidarity were alike destroyed by the con-
centration of wealth in a few hands, and
the disappearance of the small, inde-
pendent freeholder" and eliminated in
hopelessly dividing the community by
class distinctions and interests, with
their widening differences of habits of
life ard modes of thought. During the
time that Rome was extending her sway
little heed was paid TO internal social
conditions. While the wealthy were
amassing more colossal fortunes. the
small freeholders throughout the great
er part of Italy were sinking deeper into
ruin under the pressure of accumulated
difficulties Tilling the soil became un-
profitable and the hard, laboriouS HE,
| with it's scanty returns, was throWrinto
dark and cheerless relief when compared
| to the stirring scenes OF the camp or tne
ostentatious display of~the wealthy III
| the larger towns. The opportunities Tor
gaining the means of subsistence -
| booty impelled the small holders to ~
| low the eagles or to swell the proletari-
| ate of the cities.
The dangers which were sure to follow
| a civic system which produced tnese
| conditions. were seen and attacked by
many wise and far-seeing citizens ana
statesmen of Rome. The most system
attic efforts of reform were connected
with the names of Tiburius and
| Caius Gracious The RENE dies proposed
by them We're applied as palllatlVes
| rather than as a cure for the eXlstlhs
discomfort. They contained III part
| limitation on the amount of the common
| land which could be controlled or occI-
| pied by an individual. But these agra
| rian reforms of the two Gracchi had NJ
tie permanent effect. Injustice had be
| come so strongly entrenched IN power,
| and the mass of the community became
| so embittered by continued CONNECTS De-
| tween expectation and disappointment,
| that the great efforts of such eloquent
| and patriotic statesmen as FlaVlus,
! Gracchus Drusus and Cicero, failed.
| There was no room for moderate coun''
| sells in the fierce strife of Roman poll
tics. Partisanship consumed the con-
! sciences of men and they adhered 10
| party tenets and private interests with
| such tenacity that the political con-
| fict ended only with the dictatorship Of
Caesar and the downfall of the republic
in riot anarchy and blood.
| The pages of history are full of evi-
| dence to show that the strife for wealth
| and power has been from time to time
great, the oppression of one or the other,
| or of both. has been so severe that the
struggle of mankind to free itself from
the fetters has been bitter and relen--
less.
These are not enchanting pictures,
| even though we see them at distance.
! Is the canvass before us at the present
time and in our own country, more
cheerful and inspiring? Let us see our
| selves as others see us, and as we un-
doubteG,y are. Then let men reason to-
| gether and see if there is not something
to be done. and, if so, determine the wis
est way of doing it.
James Bryce in The American Com
| monwealth says of us: There is
strong plutocratic element infused into
| American democracy; and the fact that
! IL Is 6Nurely unrecOSlllZeQ III cOHstllu-
! tions makes it not the less potent and
| possibly more mischievous The inu-
ence of money is one which the people
| have always to guard against; for it as
sails not merely the legislatures but
the party machinery; and its methods
| are as numerous as 'tsey are insidious.
THE most remarkable phenomenon
of the last twenty-five years has been
the appearance, not only of these few
colossal millionaires who fill the public
| eye, but of many millionaires of the sec
ond order men with fortunes ranging
from S5000,000 to $15,0O0,000. And one
| may surmise that the equality of ma
| terial conditions. almost universal in the
last century, still general sixty years
ago, will more and more diminish by
| the growth of a very rich class at one
end of the line and of very poor class
! at the other"
He recognized in this condition a
problem which would soon become an
| important one in the discussions and
acts of our Legislative bodies He sur
| misses that these will be directed mora
against incorporated bodies than
! against individual rich men, since it is
| through corporations that wealth has
made itself obnoxious. He says that
| when one considers the irresponsible
nature of the power which three or four
men, or perhaps one man. can exercise
! through a great corporation
| the injury they can inflict on the public
| as we'll as on their competitors, the Gym
ical audacity with which they have so
| often used their wealth to seduce otIi-
cals and legislatures from the path of
| virtue, one Will find nothing unreason-
| able in the desire of the American
! masses to regulate the management of
corporations and narrow their range of
action"
| Light house beacons carry with them
more than warning of reefs and break
| ers To those who understand and heed
| them they direct to the course Of safety
! or guide to a harbor of peace. TO the
| observations of Bryce which have come
! to us from across the sea, let us add the
| prophetic words of Abraham Lincoln
! whose name and memory are held sacred
| throughout the land. He said: LAS a
result of the war, corporations have
been enthroned, and an era of corrup-
| tion in high places will follow, and the
| money power of the country will endea-
| vor to prolOng its reign by working upon
| the prejudices of the people, until all
wealth is aggregated in few hands and
| the republic is destroyed. / feel at this
| moment more anxiety for the safety of
MY country than ever before, even in the
midst of the war. God grant that my
suspicious may prove groundless."
| We may properly here note how the
wealth of the nation is now held, that it
may show whittier we are drifting. In
| 1890 the national wealth was estimate