The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-05-31
A NATIONS DANGERS.
D.. Talmage. Eloquently POrtrays
the cOuntry's Destiny.
Monopoly the OvershadowIng Curse
of Our Land-NihiIIsm nm Evil
POwer-InhdeIity n Source
of weakness.
[cOpyrlght. lsss, BY louis Kl0bsch.l

copyright, 1899, by Louis Klopsch.]
Washington, May 2S
In this discourse DR.. Talmage speaks
Of some of the perils that threaten our
American institutions, and points out
the path of safety; text, Isaiah 62:4:
"Thy land shall be married"
AS the greater includes the less, 80
does the circle of future joy around our
entire world include the epicycle of our
own republic. Bold, exhilarant, unique,
Divine imagery of the text. At the close
of week in which for four days our
national capital was pageant and all
that grand review and bannered process
sion and national anthems could do,
celebrated peace, it may not be inapt to
anticipate the time when the Prince OF
Peace and the heir of universal domin-
ion shall take possession Of this nation,
and "thy land shall be married"
In discussing the final destiny of this
nation it makes all the difference in the
world whether we are on the way to
funeral or wedding. The Bible leaves
no doubt on this subject In pulpits
and on platforms and in places of pub
lie concourse hear so many Of the
muffled drums of evil prophecy sound
ed, as though we were on the way to ma
tional interment, and besides Thebes
and Babylon and Tyre in the cemetery
of dead nations our republic was to be
entombed, that I wish you to under
stand it is not to be obsequies, but nup-
tials; not mausoleums, but carpeted
altar; not cypress, but orange BIOS
SONS; notrequiem, but wedding march;
for "thy land shall be married"
Ipropose to name some of the suitors
who are claiming the hand of this re-
public. This land is so fair, so beautl-
full, so affluent that it has many suitors,
and it will depend much upon your ad-
vice whether this or that shall be &C.
cepted or rejected. In the first place, /
remark: There is a greedy, all-grasp-
ing monster who comes in as suitor
seeking the hand of this republic, and
that monster is known by the name of
monopoly. His scepter is made out Of
the rail track and the wire of teleg-
raphy. He does everything for his own
advantage and for the robbery of the
people. Things went on from bad to
worse until in the three legislatures of
New York, New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania for long time monopoly decided
everything. II monopoly favor law,
it passes; if monopoly oppose law, it
is rejected. Monopoly stands in the
railroad depot putting into his pockets
in one year OO,OO0,O0O in excess of all
reasonable charges for services. Monop-
oily holds in his one hand the steam
power of locomotion and in the other
the electricity of swift communication.
Monopoly has the republican party in
one pocket and the democratic party
in the other pocket. Monopoly decides
nominations and elections-city cleo
tions, state elections, national cleo
tions. With bribes he secures the votes
Of Legislators, giving them free passes,
giving appointments to needy rela-
tives to lucrative positions, employing
them as attorneys if they are lawyers,
carrying their goods Is per cent. less if
they are merchants, and if he find case
very stubborn as well as very important
puts down before him the hard cash of
bribery.
But monopoly is not so easily caught
now as when during the term of Mr.
Buchanan the Legislative committee in
one of our states explored and exposed
the manner in which certain railway
company had obtained donation of
public land. 1t was found that 13 of
the senators of that state received $175,-
300 among them, 60 members of the
lower house of that state received be-
tween $4,000 and $4,000 each, the gov
ernor of that state received $5O,OO0, his
clerk received $1,000, the lieutenant
governor received $4,000, all the clerks
of the legislature received $1,000 each,
while $50,000 was divided among the
lobby agents. That thing on a larger
or smaller scale is all the time going on
in some of the states of the union. but
II is not so blundering as it used to be,
and therefore not so easily exposed or
arrested. tell you that the overshad-
owing curse of the United States to-
day is monopoly. He puts his hand
upon every bushel of wheat, upon every
sack of salt, upon every ton of coal, and
every man, woman and child in the
United States feels the touch of that
moneyed despotism. / rejoice that in
"a states of the union already anti-mo-
nopoly leagues have been established.
God speed them in the work of liberia
ton.
have nothing to say against capi-
talists; man has right to all the
money he can make honestly. | have
nothing to say against corporations as
such; without them no great enter
prise would be possible, but what do
say is that the same principles are to
be applied TO capitalists and to cor
porations that are applied to the poor
est man and the plainest laborer. What
is wrong for me is wrong for great cor.
porations. If l take from you your
property without any adequate COM
pensation am thief, and il a railway
damages the property of the people
without making any adequate compen-
sation that is "A gigantic theft. What
is wrong on a small scale is wrong on
a large scale. Monopoly in England
has ground hundreds of thousands of
her best people into semistarvation, and
in ireland has driven multitudinous
tenants almost to madness, and in the
United States proposes to take the
wealth of 6O,0OO,OOO or 7O,OOO,OOO of peo-
pie and put it in few silken wallets.
Monopoly, brazen-faced, iron-in-
gered, vulture-hearted monopoly, Of
fers his hand to this republic. He
stretches it out over the lakes and up
the great railroads and over the tele-
4. II. 4 ~