Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-03-28
HADLEY,s PREDICTION.
Tendency of the Industrial M0noDa
oIies to Turn Americ& into
an Empire.

|
"We shall have an emperor in Wash.
ington within 25 years unless we can
create a public sentiment which viii
regulate the trusts" said President
Arthur 7. Hadley, of Yale university,
in an address delivered in the Old
South church in Boston recently. The
assertion is not SO fantastic as it may
seem, although little attention might
be paid to it, did il come from a less
thoughtful and less scholarly member
of society than President Hadley.
The emperor may not come Within 5
years; but his ultimate coming is by
no means impossible, or e improb-
able. When the great industrial mo-
nopolies are once firmly established, 1T
will not be difficult for the men that
control them to work their will in poll
tics and government. The complaint
is already made that presidential
elections disturb business, and the
question of extending the term OF Of
fee of the president is seriously ag1-
Jated. This disturbance viii become
more and more pronounced as INDUS
try and become more and
more centralized. Fundamental off
f~erences in party creeds Will increase
the uncertainty growing out OF presi-
Dental contests and consequently the
business uncertainty of the country.
| ANYTHING that disturbs business is
popularity regarded as Objectionable,
and the disposition of the trusts Will
| be to minimize this disturbance as
much as possible. The first step from
4 republic towards an empire would
PROBABLY come in the reelection OF a
safe: president to a third term A
crisis might easily arise in which this
third term would be considered nee
cssary for the preservation OF the
commercial interests of the country.
Out of this third term might as atura
" come a quasi-dictatorship, and Out
OF this dictatorship empire. 1t is not
impossible-no more impossible than
was the Transformation OF Napoleon
III. from Il president TO an emperor un-
der the belief that 1.-The empire is
peace"
The experiment with n republican
government in the United States is by
no means conclusive, although mostso1
us fancy that it is. The supreme tash
IF a republic is yet to be undertaken
1t has not vet been proved hat a re
public can perform its functions salts
factorily in the midst of a highly com
plicated civilization extending over {
large area, with diverse and often con
ficting interests. The machinery Il
very cumbersome and operates cIum
silly.
We have seen a brilliant illustration
of this in the miniature tariff war tina
the administration is conducting Wit
Russia. Nearly four years ago a tarif
bill was passed, and the secretary o
the treasury only recently got aroun'
to construe a clause relative to tn
duties on sugar. This clause was con
strued to meet the demands of ceT
tain interests. and the secretary set
tied back in his chair with the convio
lion that another load was off hi
shoulders. and that the courts nigh
dispose of the matter as they pleased
: The ink on h paper was hardly Or
. before NJ. de White. the Russian minis
ter of finance. had issued an order II
~creasing the duty on American import
of agriculture. The retaliation wa
, .Imost instantaneous NJ. de Witt
was not obliged to a congress
in session and wait until a tariff bl
discriminating against American IN
5 ports was lobbied through. He wa
4 an a position to declare war at ono
: It would require more months in thi
: country TO inaugurate such a tariff wa
than it required minutes in Russia. an
, consequently Russia is in a far bette
: position than the United States
: meet the demands of her growing IL
dustries from day to day.
, In the fight for markets centralizs
. ton in government must soon cour
: for as much as Capitalization in indu:
try, and when that Capitalization b.
: comes necessary to the men that col
r troll the great trusts. have we any rel
son to believe that they Will not exe1
themselves to the utmost to obtain it
: 1t must be remembered, too, tha
; money is everything in politics al
>. government. It is the lever hat move
4 the government, and the men that hay
this lever in their hands are the me
that can make over the form of q go
: eminent to suit themselves.-Detro
| Free Press.