Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-04-14

airy, paid from the income of the four
hundred million Vanderbilt dollars,
invested in gild-edged monopolies, has
always been ample. Chauncey Depew
is now the representative of those
$40O, 900, 900 on the floor Of the United
States senate.
In 1892, when Mr.. Depew happened
to be addressing the interstate COM
MERGE commission in the interest of
the Vanderbilt railroads, he spoke
tremendous truths, which were recent
ly quoted approvingly by Senator
Chandler of New Hampshire, the one
eastern Republican who gives evidence
of being able to see beyond his nose.
Mr.. Depew, speaking of 1.-The men of
small capital, the firm Of little means,
composed generally of young men
whose friends, believing in their en-
ergy, enterprise and honesty, have ad-
vanced money that they may go into
business very pertinently and forci-
bly, says:
"Just see the frightful competition
they have to contend with. This great
concern, with its enormous capital,
goes into town and, in order to get
the business, to crush out its weaker
competitor, will undersell him, and,
because of its vast business is able to
undersell him. He cannot help him
self.
Every one of these small men has
to go to the wall. It's mere question
Of time when this big firm will abb
sorb and ruin them ALL"
Later on Mr.. Depew said that "in
five years from today there will not be
an Independent business man in any
large or in any considerable place in
the United States. Every business will
be in the hands of a strong, conscii-
dated organization, which is called a
trust. 1t will destroy all opportunity
for Independent energy or eompeti-
ton, or for that rise of young men
which, we have boosted, has been one
OF the great opportunities of this coun-
try"
In signed statement, Senator Chan
der comments upon the foregoing ut
terances of Mr.. Depew:
"These opinions, being Mr. Depew's
deliberate judgment when he was a
railroad president, of course, will lead
him, now that he has abandoned Dri-
vate business and engaged wholly in
RI hpnOmQ a 1padnr
in the opposition to the enormous
trusts and monopolies which are now
being formed all over the United
States, and which will soon crush
out individual enterprise.
1.-THE GREAT DANGER is THAT
TRUSTS AND MONOPOLIES, WITH
THE MONEY POWER PRESSING
THEM FORWARD, WILL TAKE
POSSESSION OF THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY AND LEAD IT ON TO DE-
FEAT IN 1900"
Senator Chandler is slightly mis-
taken as to the nature of the danger
confronting the country. TRUSTS and
monopolies, with the money power
urging them forward" have already
taken possession of the Republican
party; and the danger-to which the
people are fortunately awaking-is
that they will buy, bully and bamboo
,zle through another Republican vic
tory, and thus fasten trust and monop-
oily control upon the nation.
Senator Depew has not responded
to the Macedonian cry of Senator
Chandler. Senator Depew realizes that
the episode is a great joke on him,
and will keep still until the public
stops laughing.
When Mr. Depew so truthfully de-
scribed the growing evil Of trusts, he
was adroitly arguing in favor of the
legalization of railroad trust by the
passage of the pooling bill. Depew's
argument was that trusts are en-
abled to crush out competition through
special rates and secret rebates given
them by the railroads; that railroads
give these special raths to trusts be-
cause of the keen competition among
railroads; and that IL the railroads
were allowed to form trust, and pool
all of their receipts, there would be no
longer any incentive for special rates
to the big trusts, and the small fry,
having as good railroad rates as any
body, would be able to maintain their
independent existence.
While all that Mr.. Depew said re-
garding the trusts was true, and while
he knew it was true, he was not talk
ing for the purpose Of hurting the
said trusts, and he never will.
The speech Of Mr.. Depew quoted by
Senator Chandler was the special plea
of the paid attorney of the railroad
trust, and no one knew its fallacies
better than Mr.. Depew himself. If
the railroad pooling bill had passed,
the trusts would not have been in
iured in the least, for the reason that
many of the railroad magnates are
financially interested in trusts, and all
of the rest could be induced to be-
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