Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-03-16
LAeOR'S CAUSE.
CONTINUED from page ~

the country. They are accommodating
20 the extent of 1t being a burned and
ii We are to believe their own utter
ancos Il curse TO their future we'll
being. Andrew Carnegie breads to die
rich less he dies disgraced and he is
attempting to relieve himself by build
ing libraries. He, up to date. has
failed ~ spend the earnings of the
SJCo,v0oGtD he possesses. His $500, GEO.
800 of steel securities bring him an in
come OF more than $150O0,0C0 Il year,
Of mere than $4,000 for every day in
the year. Our friend Rocllerfeller re-
ceives wages something like $1,000 an
hour from one end of the year to the
ether. and Notwithstanding this fact
the price of oil is continually increas-
ing i'll cost to the consumer. The divl-
iend of the Standard Oil corporation
during the year 1902. was ~ per cent.
and it WAS charged by one Of the Bos-
ton dealers that from the fact of the in
HatiOn of the stocks of this company
the Al Ter cent. represents dollar for
dollar of every legitimate dollar under
living this plant. Oil since that time,
has almost doubled in price as charged
teh consumer. The public can imag-
the the dividends possible for 1894 to
Mr.. Eockcrfeler and associates.
In this money mad age, the a"e of
scheming and finn fam games, the age
of wild speculation. even the United
States mails are friudulcntiy used to
advertise these gold brick and other
iawleSs schemes that are devised to
fleece the people of moderate means.
The courts of our country are kept
busy in exposing the rascally methods
of these illegitimate concerns. Many
of our better class of citizens. inClud-
ing our churchmen. statesmen and
jurists appreciate the danger of per
hitting these imHnStions to continue
and attribute the present unrest to this
matter of financial dishonesty.
A knowledge of these things is prob
ably what inspired Senator Hoar OF
asgaChusetts to say in his speech ad-
dressing the United States Senate. in
advoe HtinE his bin to regulate trusts
We are dealing with Il real peril and
net with a fanciful or imaginary dan
ger. I have been told. l have no dou0t
truly, that there is orc individual i'll
this country whose private fortune
f'iii'uhtt' soiiiC sNtti'' "s " q Niitt
sand million dollars. There are Others
WHO are said to reckon their fortunes
by the hundred million. Now suppose
it be true that the fortunes to which l
nave referred have. as l believe. been
accumulated almost wholly within a
period Of 20 years. suppose they hap
pen to pass. to a single heir. Is there
anything to render il unlikely that il
one of these vast fortunes has grown
from Il hundred thousand to IL hundred
million or u thousand million in -
years, that if the coIntry grows as
we cXrrct. still more if it grows aS ""
Hil think possible. that in the hands Of
the n"Ht ioSscGscrs in another 30 or 30
years he hundred million may become
Il hundred thousand million OF the
thousand million a thousand thousand
million. Cannot the capital that car
control all the petroleum in the Coun-
try hy AMI by control al! the coal? Can
it not control the railroads and the
ocean carrying trade? Can it not buy
W and hold in on" mans grasp the
agricultural and grazing lands Of now
and great states. and the coal mines
and silver mines and copper minesP"
commenting cditorially on this sub
jeCt of Senator Iloar's, the Boston
Globe goes on to say: The power Of
consolidated wealth has already ac-
comrlished wonders in America. If Il
increases ana is exercised without anv
lega! :"St-aint who can forcteIl future
results? Surprising these hundreds of
millions get into the hands Of II tIcgcn-
crate. What irrcrarahlo damage might
ensue. IN INSCRIPTIONS heir could
easily Go what it has often been sl1e-
Cested Russell Sage can Io that is he
could rC2arGple his profits if he sud-
denly Withdrew his call fund from the
money market and c;lusn q rnrio. Cpl,-
two OF tire" leading banks have IS
many mi, ,linaS out on call as has Mr.
Sage. and 1t is claimed mt this limo
in financial circles that Mr. Sage n-9ys
second fiili" to the Vanderbilt family
in the matter Of r"1d>- money to n1oa.
any kind Of a str;nEeucy that nav
arise. The concentration ANA power of
wealth is steadily progressing. In the
days of competition there was a con-
staRt strugEl" between different mon
eyed interests to overthrow each othnr
Now the monopolistS do not fight or5.
another but pool their issues. Cor
soiida;ioI in business is steadily rojn-
on creating sentrate mnnonolies. arI
the largest OF these are nov. in tha
hands of Messrs. Morgan. RockcfeIlor
and their associates"
These monopolies include the oil. an
thracite coal. tinplate. wire and stcaI
trust. the best iron mines. and lake
fleet. ocean liners. the important rail-
reads divided into half dozen cor
solidated groups. and the leading banks
Of New York and Chicago. The profits
made from street ears and tnIenhoro
monopolies IN one CITY are invested in
the same mo'.o2olles il other cities m.
til many of these properties have fallen
into a few hands. Is it strange car
templating the cementing together of
this mighty force and using it in the
interest of the privileged few. Some