The Democrat-sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1906-1935, 1906-05-24

Especial washington Letterl
~ UOS Deus vult perdere, prius
dementat," is an old Latin
W proverb which we translate
freely into "Whom the gods
would destroy they first make mad"
This saying is applicable to the trusts
in general and to the Standard Oil in
particular. The conduct of H. II. Rog-
ers when Attorney General Hadley of
Missouri was interrogating him enrag-
ed every right thinking man in Ameri-
ca and set even conservative folks to
pondering the question seriously as to
whether the trusts are more powerful
than the government John ID. Rookie
feller's play to escape service for sub
poena was mild hammered perform
ance compared to the contemptuous at
titude assumed by Rogers That is
chapter No. ! in very recent history.
Chapter No . is the open defiance of
the Standard Oil to President Roose-
velt's message to congress on the sub
jsct Here we have that vast monopo-
ly treating both Missouri and the fed
eral government with contImely and
scOrn. History frequently repeats it.
self. Some thirty odd years ago VIII
liam NJ. Tweed was at the height of his
power and lorded it over New York
city after the manner of a feudal des-
pot. The people, led by that immortal
Democrat, Samuel Jones Tilden, who
was robbed of the presidency by Re
publican raScals, rose in their might
against Tweed. When the disclosures
We're made of his stupendous thefts he
propounded the historic query What
are you going to do about it?' Well in
due course of time he had his answer
equally historic. What they did about
it was to utterly break his rower, send
him and part of his ring to the peniten-
tiary and drive the rest into exile. AS
a reward for his notable service the
people of New York elected Tilden gov
ernor and the people of the United
States elected him president. That he
was defrauded of the latter office does
ed, and elected largely because of his
heroic achievement in prosecuting
Tweed and his fellow criminals.
All this shows what n thoroughly
aroused public opinion can accomplish
and should be warning to the trust
criminals. Tweed's gang was brought
to grief by the New York state au-
thorities alone. Now the trusts are
being pursued by half the states in the
Union and by the federal government
III all these combined cannot break up
the trusts. then indeed are we in "a
woeful plight" to borrow one of Gro |
yer Cleveland's famous phrases. 1t is
not as famous as fallen into innocuous
desuetude," but il is as forcble. Mr.. |
Cleveland got late start as phrase
maker. If he had begun soon enough |
he would have ranked with the most |
famous of phrasemongers. Yes, If all !
the governments now in full cry after |
the trusts cannot break their power,
we are indeed in bad way, for it is |
susceptible of mathematical demonstra-
tion that at the present rate of absorp-
tion by the trusts in another century |
they will own all the property in the /
country. 1t is not so much the grand
total of wealth with which the masses
of the people are concerned as the fair
and equitable distribution of the same,
but we must not despair, for somehow
or somehow else the power of the trusts
will be broken and the people win rule.