Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-11-29

sions. 1t Withdrew with much petu-
lence and irritation its passes and
"civilities" from Senators, Congress-
men. and all other functiOnaries, Ma
tiOnal and State, thus at once breaking
with all of the friends, and the only
real or valuable friends the realr roads
had ever had, and the very friends they
needed most in such crisis. This let
loose the foodgates. This order of Mr..
Cassatt's came along with the consid-
Grafton of the Gillispie resolution, and
mark the change. Not friend was
left. The walls fell so rapidly and SO
dangerously about the head of Mr..
Cassatt, that he fled to Europe. The
investigation went on. What had
been considered the most genuinely
to be admired railroad in this country
was shown to be honey combed with
looters and grafters, who held the pub
lie by the throat and made it deliver.
No important shipper could get cars
VI uAU1I no oOOOOCd
to the demands of these highwaymen.
"Rotten to the core'' was the verdict
here, and what was worst of all, this
graft and brigandism was traced to
the very door of Mr.. Cassatt. Not
into his hands, but into the hands Of
bis son. and the public believed with
his knowledge and consent. The limo.
light was too much for him. He could
stand it no longer and he soon sicken-
ed and died, his friends said of a brOk-
en- heart. He had met bis Waterloo.
in bis attack on the press. and his for
mer friends. those in Congress, in Ma
tional Office outside, and those of the
States. His road inaugurated the
giving Of passes to these people and
having known that such a concession
had been of inestimable value to 1t, 1t
seemed the achme of folly to break
down the only barrier which lay be-
tween him and the enemy be had been
so long warding off. But be abandon
ed in rude, if not insulting way, bis
friend the Press land he withdrew at the
same time in equally as obnoxious a
manner the passes from every pocket in
the United States. 1t may have beer
wrong to have placed them there, blu,
he should have been the last to with
draw them, for the good of his railway
He should have forced the law to take
them away, and it is safe to say that
the law makers who enjoyed them
would have been slow to abolish them
When the r0ttenness of the Pennsyl
vania became known public confidence
was indeed shaken. People began tC
wonder in what sort of an age we were
living.
About that time graft and rotten
ness began to manifest itself higher up.
The government departments were
found to be rotten. All know that no
administration seeks to discredit iteeli
but something had to be done. -Four
men were sent to the penitentiary fl. I
defrauding the government In the P.O
Department, only one in every one hun
dred, we were told, who should have
gone. But these examples suficed to
caution others, and things visibly i'm
proved. But this had its effect on
public confidence, and again shook
Prosperity. Thus have events pro.
crossed, widening and deepening, but
always with the same result, always
finding the thing Investigated Rot.
ten to the core"
Then came the capital Investigation
In Pennsylvania. A State affair it IL
true, but an indication of conditions
everywhere aud an example of the re.
snlts of unbridaled power. That build
ing had cost four millions. 1t looked
all right ON the outside; but the in
side was rotten. The furniture and
fittings had cost nine millions. Public
confidence in Pennsylvania was shaker
to Its foundation. and 1t was in NO
shape to be tempered with. After
hundreds of examples every one nau.
seous and diseased, the street car sys
tenn of New York broke of its owl
weight. 1t was so rotten that 1t fell
without apparent cause. This occurr.
ed SO close to the nerve center" of Fl.
nance that conformation began to be
written on every face. People ran to
the repositories for their money only
| to find it was not there. This brought
to light the mode of conducting trust
companies. The Knicker booker fell ia
ruins drawing down with 1t National
bank and spreading trouble far and
near. The rest of the history is too
recent for repetition, as to how tt e
trouble has been and is being met.
But these cond itions shock con-
fidence everywhere. People loaded
with stocks said to be not as goou as
gold, but better, because they promised
great returns, began to "liquidate, u
that is to sell them. They were found
to be unit as basis of credit. worth
less when placed on the market, and
as no money could be borrowed on
them, they were sold for whatever they
would bring. This caused a panic
among persons holding that class of
property. Every body Was selling AID
few buying, 81 that their wares sunk
to unheard of depths. Morgan, Rock.
efeller, Hartman and OTHERS tried TO
get their shoulders against the wheel.