The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-14

Jacob Actor died in the City of New York: and his estate was counted at dazed at the resplendent glory of such opulence. Under the tariff legislation of a radical Congress millionaires to- day are numbered by thousands, This tariff, which was enacted to meet the exigencies of war, has enriched, 1t is said, about 10 per cent of the popula- tion of the United States by exactinR tribute from the other 90 per cent. How .paltry the fortunes of stephen side the enormous wealth % of william 1iY H Vanderbilt. When he died a few years ago h cleft an estate Valued at $200, ,00o, 900. Think of 1t! Can you grasp it? Do not your minds stagger immeasura6le? John D. Rockefeller is estimated to be worth $1,000, 900, ,000 and is said to be the richest man sing ly in the world, while llis unfortunate 65cther; 6GS William l.nht5 |; worth only s4oO,- queathed to his children immense pos sessions rated at S150,000, 900. Russell Sage is reputed to be worth $100, ,000.- 900; Philip Armour about $50,000, 900; and thus the count goes on.
 You have read of the mines of King Solomon-of the wondrous treasures there hidden away from the face of man: but what were these treasures in comparison with the fortunes of the
 
 travagant fiction of Alexander Dumas. where the Count of Monte Cristo. es- vaping from prison, went to an island cave. in obedience to the direction of a and gems and sapphires and rubies and diamonds and precious stones valued at millions, and. thus equipped with these prlncely means of ven- geance. returned to Paris a verltable demigod amongst men,. to punish his enemies and bring ruin and disaster upon their hopes and aspirations, their plans and enterprises; but what was bis fabled fortune in comparison with the estates of the Goulds? Aladdin, castles and palaces and retinues and countless gold and lavish personal adornrhents to spring out of the earth, and could do many other extraordinary and supernatural things by aid Of his lamp and his conJurinE hand; but Rookefeller's s1,000. 100000 can buiIa more royal palaces and more impreg- nable castles, can employ more ser articles for personal ornamen tation than all the extravagant creations of Aladdin's lamp--even with an electric light in 1t.
 Do not misunderstand me. am not inveighing against the acquisition of wealth. Riches when properly em- ployed are blessings. It Is not money, but the love of it that the Bible de- clares to be the root of all evil; still I can not refrain from saying that wrong in our legislative enactments when one, man, in an ordinary lifetime, can accumulate a hundred or more million dollars. These Fortunes which under tax laws of the Republican Par. ty, which make offensive discrimina- tions against the poor, which nourish monopoiies and trusts. and which en- and bonds. but in the very necessities of life, under so.called contracts" for future delivery" where there is no intention to receive the commodity on the one hand or to deliver 1t on the in price according to the fluctuations of the market. This is not legitimate speculation, but gambling In It's most entieing and pernicious form,
 These are questions in which the people are interested.
 Five empires, at least, have risen and in the drama of the worlds history have fiourished. fallen. and passed away. They are the Assyaian, the the Roman empires. One after the other they arose and grew in great ness. power. and glory until the few oppressed the many. and then these tsred e ana and Tsant crSmbes ru so
 When Egypt went down. 2 per cent of her population owned s7 per cent of her wealth.
 When Babylon went down 2 per cent. of her population owned all of her wealth.
 The people were starved to death.
 When Persia went down I peN cent. of her population owned all the land.
 When Rome went down IS00 men owned all the then known world.
 There are 40,000,000 people in Eng land, Ireland, Scotland. and Wales. but 100000 people own all the land in the United Kingdom.
 For the last twenty years the United States has followed rapidly in the footsteps of these old countries; so cent. of the wealth of this opulent new
 Millions of acres of the public do- main have been donated by Repubii- can Congresses % railroad corpora
 1t is evident that in twenty-five years, at the gait we are going, there will be in this American Union none other than tenant farmers and our country itself will be In a condition similar to that of Ireland today, owned and managed by foreign landlords cursed by Landlord absenteeism."
 Louis XVI and his bride, the beau tiful Marie Antoinette. were sent to
 
 the guillotiEe for simply neglecting the welfare of their needy and hungry subjects. While the king and queen were feasting at court, certain bread merchants of Paris got up a corner on breadstuffs and produced the hiss toric bread riots" of France. These disturbances precipitated a revolution. Hearing a noise in the street before his palace at Versailles. the king re- marked: "A mob in the street. A courtier replied: No, sire; not a mob. prophetic. The dragons teeth had been sown for years In the soil of la an abundant harvest of armed men, on hill and in plain, on rock and in dale; and when that fearful moment, big with the fate of mighty nationality, did come-when the black flag waved night and day from the great towers rose up in moment. as one man, from their vineyards and olive groves to resist oppression. They drenched their country in blood, brought about the Reign of Terror, overthrow the mOncrachy. and executed their royal rulers. The patient and long'suffering French peasants. when once aroused in their madness and fuIy fought nKe incarnate demons from hell.
 I pray we may never again have oc- casion to resort to arms in this country to redress any grievances: Etill we can not disguise the fact that we find these very corners of frequent occurrence amongst us.
 Philip Armour. for instance, and other heartless speculators like him. by touching a telegraphic button m all over this broad land to buy up our surplus corn, wheat, and meat, to