The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-09-09
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.


Carwardine, made strong and
fore eful talk, which will give food
for thought to those who are willing
to think without prejudice, serious
ly and dispassionately. Among
other things he said:
"The little fish have been swallowed
by the larger ones-they in turn have
been swallowed by the sharks-and
now the sharks have been eaten by the
wbales-and the whales are cavorting
about in the great sea of commercial in
dustry, each awaiting in turn the OPP
portunity to swallow the other. Every
industry dealing with commodity Of
living is gradually coming to he con-
trolled by a few corporations or indi-
viduals. You cannot get into some
lines of business without being com
PEELED to purchase your stocks from
these combinations who control the
price thereof Consequently there is a
rapid concentration of wealth in the
hands Of small percentage of the pop
ulation. Tho immediate and direct
cause of all the distress and discomfort
in our land is the unjust and unequal
distribution ofwealth. History teaches
us that the greatest calamity which
can befall any nation IL the concentra-
ton of it's wealth. No nation has flour
f1h 60 10
ton of wealth preceding the fall.
When Egypt went down, 2 per cent. of
her population owned 81 per cent. of
her wealth. When Babylon went down,
per cent. of her population owned all
her wealth. When Persia went down,
per cent. of her population owned her
land. When Rome went down 1900
men owned all the known world. When
the French revolution took place there
was an aristocracy of wealth and birth
on one side, and millions of half-fed,
half-clad, Impoverished toilers on the
other. Unless we mend our ways, and
the Christian conscience of all classes
of people be fully aroused to the real
state of affairs, fear that we will drift
into the same channel.
"A class of people, few in number,
are gradually becoming the actual con-
trollers of the destiny of this country.
Morerthan that-the condition of hu
man affairs will continue to decrease
that number until eventually it will
pass into the hands of the very few.
What then-an oligarchy!-in other
words, government in the hands OF a
few. Why is it that within the last
thirty years more wealth has been con-
centrated in the hands of few people
than for the A0 years which preceded
these thirty years? One answer is
found in the tendency to class legisla-
ton. Laws have been so shaped that
wealth has been legisiated out of the
pockets OF the masses into the Golfers Of
the classes. Vernsl politicians have so
manipulated their votes in municipal
councils and State Legislatures that
they have for purchasable ballot
signed the privileges of the people into
the hands Of the possessors of great
wealth. Wealth used to corrupt public
officials is wealth used in the wrong di-
rection. 1t is unpatriotic and fiendish
in its effect upon the public welfare. 1t
is blight upon the public conscience,
and destructive of our liberties. The
wrong use of wealth is indicated in
some of the methods of the modern cor
porations.
"The corporation idea has removed
the moral element from business. Men
will do things as a board of directors
that they would not think of doing as
persons. They will attend public wor-
ship, and live good lives as individuals,
but as corporation they will steal, and
rob, and lie, and bride. AS individuals,
men will be patriotic and love their
country-but as corporations they will
steal the streets of city, put false as
sessment valuation on their property,
and debauch the Legislature of their
State. AS individuals they will give
millions to the poor, but as corpora
ton they will reduce the wages of their
employees to the starvation point. The
corporation is the most perfect form of
absolute mOnarchy-and a monarchy
without a soul. Corporations with linn
itations to their power and methods may
be necessary factor in modern civili-
cation, but when corporation tramples
upon the rights and privileges of citi-
zens, keeps up its dividends by cutting
the wages of its employees to the starry
ing point, violates the law of the State
in various ways, and corrupts the polit-
ical conscience of people, then it be-
comes dangerous to society and ought
to be rebuked.
corporate power is menace to the
welfare of a community when it seeks
to evade the just assessment valuation
of its property. Not only ought the
corporation to be made to bear its full
share of the burden of the State, but |
believe in system of taxation by
which the burdens of government shall
fall upon all the people alike, and thus
cause the Weather classes to bear the
greater share of that burden in accord
ance with the principles Of equity and
justice. We ought to have a properly
regulated inheritance tax, and 1 believe