The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1906-06-22

to how it shall be used. For man
can produce and accumulate wealth
by his industry of brain or hands,
in making goods, or in finding a
market for them, in service material
or in service intellectual or spirit
ual. One may weave a piece of
cloth or he may organize business.
One,is industry as truly as the 9TH
er, and should be paid for accord
ing to just standards.
But in the consideration of the
evils caused by the possession of
great wealth let us also think of the
good that can and is being done.
Take Andrew Carnegie as fair ex.
ample. He possesses three hundred
millions of dollars, which he has
accumulated from the commo on
stock during the early part of his
life. But unlike some men he is
now desirous of spending all that
he can in the advancement of all
the good that can be done with
wealth. His sole object is to get
rid OF his wealth before he dies,
which he will be able to accomplish
if he is given a few more years of
lite. He says that it is a disgrace
for q man to die rich, and that he
will die poor but happy man if
given ten years more of life.
His method of doing good is to
build schools, colleges, hospitals,
churches, and libraries. It -is the
right and only method that all men
should adopt who believe in the
advancement of the moral, intellec.
tual, and physical development of
the human race. For it is in these
things that our only salvation lies.
We must educate the ignorant to
their needs, We must elevate our
morals so that we will lead better
lives. And we must take care of
our physical health if we wish to
compete with the destroying ele.
mer1ts of nature. You cannot sug-
gest; better method for the ad-
-ancement of charity. There are
many among the rich who have
adopted this method.
The harm that is being done by
the rich in buying up juries, court
decisions, delaying justice>and Jug
glinaswith legislatures sdone by a
small clique. We Call them the
wolves of finance. They represent
the evils and the black sheep of the
fock>r These rich men reckon their
wealth by adding up the face val
ues of their stocks and bond certif-
Gates and are able to evade the pay
ment of taxation upon the shoulders
of honest men.
We however must not condemn
the possessors of these fortunes,
but the system by which they were
able to obtain them. Wemust con-
demn those who originated this
system. We must condemn our
selves, for the laws which permit
the operation of the present system
are the results of our own labor, the
product of our own minds. Our
laws are at fault, and we make the
laws. If this was not 80 we would
not hear of Rockefeller, Rothschild,
Vanderbilt Gould, Hartman, Hill,
Schwab, Addicks, and many others
of similar unsavory records.
Why do our laws permit any one
man to control the oil, iron, lead,
coal, sugar, and land of the world?
Why do they enable few to control
the natural resources?
On the other hand there are two
sides to the question, as President
Roosevelt has brought out in his
celebrated "Muck Rake" speech. He
says: "The eighth commandment
reads Thou shalt not steal It does
not read Thou shalt not steal from
the poor man. It reads simply and
plainly, Thou shalt not steal No
good whatever will come from that
warped and Knocked morality which
denounces the misdeeds of men of
wealth and forgets the misdeeds
practiced at their expense; which
denounces bribery, but blinds itself
to ~blackmail; which foams with
rage if a corporation secures favors
by improper methods, and merely
leers with hideous mirth if the cor
poration itself is wronged. The only
public servant who can be trusted
honestly to protect the rights of the
public against the misdeeds of a
corporation is that public man who
will just as surely protect the cor
poration itself from wrongful ag-
gression. = If a public man is will
ing to yield to public clamor and
do wrong to the people of wealth OF
to- rich corporations it may be sci
down as certain that if the oppor.
tunity comes he will secretly and
g., ~ uolx, 1r wro>or ~ thu ~, III; - /; :,