Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-04-19
THEN AND NOW

In the great sweep of feeling that
has been engendered all over the coun.
try by those to whom President Roose-
welt refers so aptly as "the men with
the muck rakes," all sight of proper
ton has been lost 1t is so easy and
such a popular act to swing onto the
reform" parade and take up the cry
that the world is all wrong, that the
agitators' ranks are being increased
speedily and the radicals are forging
their way into every walk of life.
But a sane view of the real facts as
to how the world stands would change
a great many minds. 1t is hard, how
ever, to stem the tide of flood of pub
lie opinion when it's watchword, no
matter how senseless may be the
theory, is Justice for an" 1t is hard
to analyze every phase Of life and
daily business, but it is easy to COM
pare figures. And if the army Of agi-
tators could be induced to calmly sur
vey the ground, keeping their mouths
tightly closed the while, they would be
surprised TO learn that they are crying
calamity when there is no calamity.
The Washington Post, in recent
well written article, treats the import
ant subject as follows:
During the political campaigns of
E1S96 and 1900 radical orators dwelt
much upon the concentration Of wealth
in the hands of the few.
ut was evident in the bad times
succeeding the memorable panic in
1893 that the per capita of currency
was at minimum and that the pur-
chasing power of money had greatly
increased
"In the sense, therefore, that those
who owned cash in large amounts
were few in number, and that the cur
rency they held possessed greater pur-
chasing power, there was actual con-
centration of increased value in the
hands of the few, and the orators
statements were correct. Since 1898
the process which produced the finan-
! cial conditions of the period from 1892
/ to 1898 have been steadily reversed,
and IN the last six years the currency
of the world and that of this country
! has steadily increased in amount. The
products of the mines, the fields and
/ the forests, of the furnaces, the mills
and the factories, the laborer's work,
the artisans skill, the farmers crops
| and the stockman's cattle, have all
brought greater prices, while the pur-
chasing power of money has steadily
! fallen. The few rich may have grown
richer, but millions of poor men have
| become independent and thousands OF
men formerly struggling have become
wealthy. Hard times do concentrate
values in the hands Of the owners OF
money, but general prosperity destroys
! that undesirable and dangerous condl-
l5tion.
.The prosperity since 1898 has made
numerous classes of men independent
+, financially-mer manufacturers,
brokers, planters, farmers, all OF them
energetic in affairs; readers, thinkers
men vino have real, live interests IN
the country's progress who know
their rights and are ready to maintain
them. Again, the workingmen OF the
country are fully aware that there is
ample demand for labor, at good
wages, all over the country, and do not
|. feel dependent upon one or dozen
corporations bankers or employers for
| the means to buy their daily bread.
Prosperity has lessened the power OF
the rich and vastly increased the pow
er of the middle and poorer classes.
| Instead of concentration of wealth, 1t
is now diffusion of wealth, and in the
years to come, for decades of the near
| future, the purchasing power OF money
will be rid Of the danger resulting from
the concentration of money in the
hands of the few.
General prosperity lessons the pow
er of money 1t reduces the influence
of the few and increases the independ-
ence of the many"
Who can deny the truth OF these
statements? Go into the factories,
/, stores, shops-go any place where la