The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1901-01-10
BISHOP
POTTER
Talks On Decay OI OuF
Public Life
-
PAINTS MOST
DARK PICTURE
Talks About Popular Belief N
Corruption Of Public
Men


psuApgtpnlA. Jan. 10 Bishop Pollei
| !, his address at the academy u noa''
last night seid
"Sobody who hos followed the his'op
loi this republic can be iuseusIble To u''
epormous change in the relation Of th'
popnlation u this land 10 iis great bus
| lnsss centers. Two leading cities OF IN
,erior slze In the state 10 which hye'
during the last decade have actually lost
in population, and the communities sur
rounding them have lost still more large
Its. The growth, on the other hand ol
1.-TWO or more large centers Of population
Of America is enormous. These arc
startling facts in our history. In other
words, the drift Of the most active men
snd the youth Of the land for education
al or other purposes is increasingly to these
great centers. More than ever they
strike the note, more than ever they set
the pace.
~ want 10 speak ~ you about the
relations Of such factor ss this to
committees In our municipal and nation
al life, which ought 10 be remembered.
One Of these believe 10 be the curious
decay in that life, whether II is national
or municipal Of the influence and power
Of the individual That great political
revolution which began in France, which
had Tor its masters Rousseau and the
rest, stood for the emancipation Of that
older world, Tor the freedom Of the indi-
yIdual lie and mind.
"There has been at work during the
the last ~ years in the United States
prominently, / think, certain great ten.
dencles toward Capitalization Of power.
You see Il in the domination OF capital,
In honest aggregations Of money, which |
makes II possible Tor three or four in
diyiduals in the back OF some hama to
create In an half an hour conyulsion
10 the financial markets Of the world,
"You see II In the concentration and
organization Of the great industrial en-.
terprises which have startled the world,
not alone with their enterprises, but
with their genius and ability.
1.-THE di fiieulty in modern life ia with
the organized forces that touch the In.
dividual life They are w great and 20
rich aud ~ many handed that for tie IN
dlyldual 70 stand up against them 10
something more than ordinary courage
will dare TO attempt. That is the whole
tendency Of our modern life.
"As the result Of It conviction has
come TO pass, which exists widely not
only In snch communities as yours and
mine, but all over thls land. that there |
does not exist man who s not a
parchasabe man.
About yeas ago there came into my
study In New York some one whom I had |
never seems stranger, whose name upah |
hi' card did not recogul1e and whose
errand conld not divine.
Sir "said he, "I am from sach |
ard such a part OF the country. la that
part OF the country fierce political
campaign is now in progress. Ono OF
your eleny III WAS In a territory and not
In a oiiyl Is attacking from the pulpit
the moral character ami moral s.auilrds
~ a gentleman, candidate there for a
very high ofhce whom ! represent.
Ito showed him thc door
The appealiug la,, '4 that from the top
TO the bottom of oor sp,,ial structure
the Judge apou the hcu,h the legis.ator
In the halle OF legislation, the magistrate
Ia the law courts aud the policeman ON
his heai, a,e all followed by the great
majority ol the people 10 ls. purchase.
able men. That such asuspic,un should
exist Is liseli dishonor 80 decp aud
damnng that no community ought Co. Ia,
s.llmg To rect iu it ior an hour