The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-03-09
Have His Children and His Servants
Lie For Him?
YOUNG ROCKEFELLER Is MIFFED
He Absented Himself From His Sun.
day School Class, Owing to
Certain Remarks.

New York, March 6.-Supreme Court
Justice William j. Gaynor of Brooklyn,
speaking on corporate abuses" at the
Peoples Forum in New Rochelle. scath-
ingly denounced the man who hides
away rather than go into court to tes-
tify.
Although the judge mentioned no
names, there were many in the audi
ence who construed the language as re-
ferring to John D. Rockefeller, for whom
many process-servers have been hunt
ing for weeks.
Judge Geynor, after speaking of the
bribery of legislators and government Of
ficials by the exploiters of public fran
chises and of their contempt and disre-
spect for both the government and the
courts, said:
"What would decent man here in
this community do if he heard an Off
Ger was looking for him to subpoena
him to court to testify? Would he hide
in his house and have his wife and chill
dren and servants lie and say they did
not know where he was? Would he
hurry into some other state or 90
aboard his yacht if he had one, and put
to sea to escape service? Or would he
come forward like decent man and
say: 4 am here
And If he lied or sneaked away,
would he not be condemned by the COM
munity as dishonest, dishonorable and
disrespectable? Would anyone offer him
his hand on his return? And if man
with an, overgrown fortune made out of
the abuse of public franchises does that,
is he a decent member of society? Is
he fit to mingle with honest people? No,
he is all the more contemplate and gull
ty.
"No amount of church or Sunday
school teaching can make character de-
cent or respectable. He is no better than
Hamilton, the insurance lobbyist, who
ran off to France to escape examination
before legislative committee.
"These people have been crying out
anarchist and the like against decent
people, but l say unto you that they are
the anarchists and will destroy our sys-
tenn of government if they are not
checked in their careers
'There is no prejudice against honest
ly acquired wealth in this country. 1t
is against wealth acquired by trick and
device, by the favoritism of laws, by
the misuse of public franchise which is
under the ban of honest people,"
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., absented
himself from his Sunday school class,
and did not even follow the usual GUS
tom of sending word that he would not
be present. Members of the class who
are in Mr.. Rockefeller's confidence said
he was incensed over the remarks made
by DR.. Charles P. Fagnani of the Union
Theological seminary few nights ago,
at the monthly dinner of the Baptist So
cial union.
DR.. Fagnani harked back to a sermon
delivered to his class by Mr.. Rockefel-
Ter in which the latter lauded Joseph
to the skies and commended him for his
historic first corner in corn. DIR. Fagnani
branded Joseph a "king's jackal,' and
said he should be held up to the obliquy'
of all men. He said Joseph not only
robbed the people of Egypt of their corn
but made slaves of them for king.
Young Mr.. Rockefeller read this speech
in the newspapers and confded to sew
eral members of his class his opinion
of it. He thought DR.. Fagnani had gone
out of his way to hold him up to ridi-
Guile. According to some of his friends
in the Bible class, this was his reason
for not attending the class on Sunday.