The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-12-18

by every God in the calendar, that /
shall never eat from the hands of
mammon.
II want to say to you, sir, and to
the members of this Senate, that you
need not lose any sleep about a cor
poration getting it's rights. You need
not lose any sleep about unjust dis
ordinations against them. They will
take care of themselves. But rather
should our solicitude be for the man
who bears the burdens of the Gov
ernment."
This is an age when men have
gone mad in their frenzied efforts
for the dollar. This is an age when
money is placed above man; when
gold is placed above man: when gold
is placed before God; when we would
sell our souls, our Government. our
all for one bright smile from the gold
If mammon. What is money, Mr..
President, that it is held so priceless.
You cannot eat it, you cannot wear
it; your shroud has net pockets in it.
and St. Peter will not receive it for
admission into the Golden Gates.
when we look to the leading cause
for this great wealth upon the part
of these corporations and the causes
leading to their formation, to the
formation of trusts, we are compell-
ed to 60 no further than Republican
authority itself, and take the sworn
testimony of Mr.. Havemeyer, the
great sugar king, who has gone to
his reward, be it good or bad. who
has gone to that land and that cline
where St. Peter does not take sugar
in his,'' and where money is of no
value"
Herecalled Mr.. Havemeyer'sstate-
ment before the industrial commits
sion, that 1.-THE tariff is the mother
of trusts"
Under the operation of the sys-
tenn of government" he said, fifty
one men in the United States, multi
nillionaires, if you please. have
amassed a total fortune Of $685.
100000. Of this .6fty-one John D.
Rockefeller, the old king of the
world. leads with $500, 900. 900; An
drew Carnegie, the steel king of the
world, follows with half this
amount"
The Secretary of Commerce and
Labor has calculated, he said, that
all of the property owned by SO, ,0O0,-
900 American citizens is ;$107, ,000,-
100000, so that these fifty-one citi-
zens own one thirty-ffth of the en-
tire wealth of the nation.
"What an alarming concentration
of wealth; what an alarming concen-
tration of power" he declared. "In
this day and time money is king;
money is god. Without it the doors
of opportunity are closed; the doors
of society are shut. Yea, even in
some instances the doors of the
church do not welcome so enthusias-
tically the man in rags and tatters
as the man with millions. Now shall
this condition continue? How shall
this Government be saved? One way
and one way only, that is to kill, de-
stroy. the sources of all this evil. the
trusts"
He explained that his bill would
not permit corporations to sell their
products in one part of the country
at less price than they sell such
products in another part.
What is needed to-day by the
trust magnates or this Union in or
der to make them respect the law
and obey its solemn mandates he
said, is that they be treated liae Or
binary felons; is that the strong arm
of the law be laid against them just
as it would be against horse thief
or any one else charged with crime.
Land them in the penitentiary, place
felon stripes, the doxology of mis-
spent life,' upon them and you will
see the trusts are busted and the peo-
pie will get relief. All, sir, one
trust magnate in the penitentiary of
the United States, one trust mag
nate with felon stripes, one trust
magnate as a living example and OBJ
ject lesson that the law is greater
than any man, that the law is above
and beyond us all, that the law pro-
tects the weak and Furnishes the
strong alike, would be the most
wholesome example that could be
set in this Republic to-day"
He declared that while he is an
alarmist he is not an Anarchist or
Socialist.
There is too much gold," he de-
clared, there is too much glitter;
there is gloss; there is too much of
tinsel, and | say, sir, that unless
times and conditions change it will
not be long before the American
statesmen will be wearing knee
breeches with brass buckles and
powdered wigs and bowling down to
semi-royalty."
He spoke of the great expenses of
the Government.
Our President" he said, "and |
speak of him in the most respectful
terms, besides his salary of $50, 1000 a
years, and | say that is not exces-
sive, is paid by this Congress $25, 1000
a year for travelling expenses, and
approximately $4,000 annually for
living expenses. All, Mr.. President.
this is enough. This is unreasonable
The President of the United States
has five children, believe. 1t is true
that he should live in accordance
with the dignity of the position he
occupies---the greatest Executive
upon the face of the earth---but, Mr..