Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1897-07-15

But day by day the noble band grew
they were imprisoned, but compliance
not; they were jeered, but needed not
they were egged, but went on; they
were stoned, but turned not back.
While the palaces were closed, tbs
doors of the patriotic masses were open
and by 1860, their number was so great
as to change political conditions.
Again, after the Civil War, it was
found that our Industrial and CONNER
cial institutions were undergoing a
change. The spirit of concentration
and enlargement, which is shaping the
civilization of the century, was every
where active. Little shops gave way
to great factories; little stores to great
establishments; little railroads to great
lines. Everywhere there was CONSOLE
dation, and legislation was passed by
nearly all the States to further the for
nation of corporations. In this way
limitless money could be concentrated
in one establishment, as it could not
well under partnership In one sense,
this movement was benefcial it tended
to cheaper production and in many
ways increased the convenience of the
public, and believe that it is yet des-
tined to be a blessing to the world.
But it brought with it unforeseen evils,
for which tho world had made no prep
aration.
First-The process of crushing out,
or consolidating, was carried so far
that in time many OF the most import
ant industries were controlled by trusts
and all competition was destroyed. A
few individuals sitting in rear room
could arbitrarily fix the price of labor,
or raw material, on the one hand, and
the price of their products on the other.
They could crush on the one hand and
eXtort ON the other.
Second-So-called Christian gentle
men eagerly accepted from agents
large sums of money made by unscrup-
ulous or corrupt means, when they,
themselves, in their individual business
would have hesitated to use those
means
Third-Money means power, and
men controlling vast sums became i'm
patient of the restraint of the laws
and began to ride over them in some
cases, and to evade them in others.
Fourth--It wis found that the short
est road to great wealth was through
governmental aid, and, accordingly,
many great trusts, and the moneyed
interests made it their business to i'm
tluence government national, state
and municipal, in order to escape their
share of public burdens, and to get adj
Vantages and privileges that would
make fortunes. 1t rarely happens that
a private individual has enough interest
in any matter to either corrupt Legis-
lature or to obtain control of all branch
/ Va NilG llG uhANbEbAA
corruption that is to-day destroying
our country comes from the concentra-
ton of capital, and the alarming as
pect is that it is practiced by the men
who talk patriotism, and who stand
high in the estimation of the public.
II is idle to talk about purifying the
Government so long as men of influence
and position offer vast sums to corrupt
it. Cut off the hand that offers bride,
and you will end corruption.
We must devise some way of remOv-
ing overwhelming temptations on tue
one hand, aud of distributing among
all men the benefits and advantages
flowing from the process of concentrH-
ton. As power never limits itself, we
must find a method of curbiDg 1t.
Look at the situation. Lobbyists aud
corruptionists sit in high places and
arc counted the great men of the land.
Instead of the Government controlling
the corporations. the corporations run
the Government. Greed makes tho laws
and labor carries the burden We hear
OF assessors being bribed; city councils
being owned; Legislatures being
bought, while Congress registers the
will of the millionaires Men reach
the White House through the portals
of banks, and the higher judgeships on
a certificate from the corporations,
In no country and in no age have the
higher courts been on the side of the
people, or of liberty. They are every
where the opponents and defenders Of
that force which the time being domi-
mates the land.
Since the war the higher courts have
as rule, occupied the same position
toward the corporations and money
power that they formerly dill toward
slavery, and for thirty years they have
been regarded as cities Of refuge by the
corporations
Trading politicians made this posi-
BILE. Let me repeat that compromisers,
traders, and neutral men never correct
abuses, never found or save free insti-
buttons, and never fight for human