The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1899-06-02
A NATIONS DANGERS.
Dr.. Talmagc Eloquently Fortrays
the Country's Destiny.
Monopoly the OyershadouinG Curse
of Our Land-NihIIism an Evil
POver-Infdelity a Source
of Weakness.
copyright. 1893, by Louis Klopsch.l
MaShinEtOn.


Washington,
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, so
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 a week in which for four days our
national capital was pageant and all
| that grand review and hammered 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 q
| funeral or wedding. The Bible leaves
no doubt on this subject. In pulpits
and on platforms and in places of pub,
lie concourse l hear so many Of the
|
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-
tiaIs; not mausoleums, but carpeted
| altar; not cypress, but orange bios
SONS; not requiem, but wedding march;
| for "thy land shall be married.
propose to name some of the suitors
who are claiming the hand of this re-
public. This land is so fair, so beauti-
full, so aff1uent that it has many suitors,
and it will depend much upon your ad-
vice whether this or that shall be ac-
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. Ills 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
y h.
vania for long time monopoly decided
everything. If monopoly favor a law,
it passes; if monopoly oppose law, it
is rejected. Monopoly stands in the
railroad depot putting into his pockets
in one year $2OO,000,OO0 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
tons 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 a 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 a certain railway
company had obtained a donation of
public land. It was found that 13 of
the senators of that state received $175,-
900 among them, go members of the
lower house of that state received be-
tween SIS 5000 and $4,000 each, the gov
ernor of that state received $50, 900, his
clerk received $4,000, the lieutenant
governor received $4,000, all the clerks
of the legislature received $1,000 each, |
while $4,000 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 |
it is not so laundering as it used to be, |
and therefore not so easily exposed or |
arrested. l 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.
l have nothing to say against capi |
talists; a man has a right to all the
money he can make honestly. l have
nothing to say against corporate as
such; without them no great enter
prise would be possible, but what do
say is that the same Drincin1es are to
be applied 10 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 I take from you your
property without any adequate COM
pensation am thief, and if 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
Unite5 States proposes to take the
wealth of 60,000,000 or 70,oOO, 900 of peo-
pie and put it in few silken wallets.
Monopoly, brazen-faced, iron-fin-
gered, vulture-hearted monopoly, Of
fers his hand to this republic. He
stretches it out over the lakes and ur