The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-18

the usurer, in the control of wreckers
IL Is menace to freedom and to honest
government.
Ihere is no god so merciless as the
god OF gold; no tyrant SO cruel no in
fiuence so corrupting.
1t is not the fault Of the man uho
have 1t SO much as it is error of the
government which enthrones if This
ldolatry has been brought about bv
the nsidious steps which have marked
the approach of every other form of
ldoiatry. Idols were made of gold and
the idea of power was associated with
that of value. Money was made of gold
and this use enhanced its value. Then
IL was ordained that gold, being subject
70 much boarding, should circulate with
silver In the channels of trade. But the
idolators were jealous. There was not
the clamor for their god when business
could be transacted without paying
constant homage at his shrine. So it
was decreed that money could be oh
tanned only in exchange for gold. To
no other created thing was this power
delegated. 1t waxed strong for it re-
gulated values and controlled COM
merce. 1t was pleased or angry as the
high priests Of the money power
deemed essential to its own aggrandize-
ment. 1t threatened or promised.
smiled or frowned, created or DESTROYED.
according to the whins or purposes Of
the money changers in its temple. II
terrorized the public with panics, drew
them in dread and in supplication to it's
altar, and loosened its grasp on their
liberty when they appeared to have
embraced its creed.
There is nothing to be said against
gold as o metal No objection can be
raised to it as a money; except when
! it claims to be the only money 1t is
the most dangerous of all monopolies.
If the power of gold were stationary
there would not be such danger in it
as exists today. But it is not station
ary-it is aggressive.
Instead of being a servant Of COM
merce, as it was intended to be. it has
become the master. Instead of being
an agent of industry. it is the slave
driver, whose whip is felt by small en-
ployers and by all employees alike. In
stead of being an aid to man, as it was
obviously intended by the Creator, it
has become a cruel despot, aiming at
universal dominion.
In England it is proclaimed the
Messiah of Progress. In this country
it is the Prince of Peace. with a mort
gage in one hand and a bloody sword in
the other. Leaders Of political opinion
refer to it as "God-sent.''
Our government bows at the shrine
of gold and offers up as sacrifices the
manhood Of the masses. the lives Of
our soldiers, the spirit of freedom set
forth in the declaration of our liberties,
the constitution itself, and the legiti-
mate credit which springs from and is
dependent upon the only source Of real
wealth-lahor
The dry and dismal distractions of
political economy, the gold tipped in
terest Of modern Craftsmanship, have
not yet probed the wounds of this re-
public to the bottom. Disguise the
truth as we may; flatter ourselves upon
the assumption of superior ethics of
lofty purposes, of Christian char
acter-gold is the god Of this genera
ton; and the lust of covetousness in
high places is so fieree, the passion
to hoard money 50 consuming, that all
true principles of commercial and finan-
cial honesty have been subverted. and
the truths and traditions of our ma
tional history are made jokes and by
words in the halls of federal legislation.
Thera is a tendency, and it is found
in the Capitalization of wealth and
power, in trusts and in conquistadors,
in subsidy-seekers and in money sharks
of every description, to ignore the in
situations, the aims, the promises, the
retensions of this republic, to jeer at
the rules of action which belong to the
patriot and the Christian. and to main
tain the social and political structure
by reciprocal pilfering, rather than by
common efforts to do the greatest good
for the greatest number, and to build
up the commonwealth of the people.
L