The Boise citizen. (Boise, Idaho) 1906-1910, 1907-01-25
WILL STREET
And GRHFT
Sharp Analysis Of Condition
in Money Center,
EVERYBODY IS TO BLAME
Rotten to the Core Is Verdict Of An
Investigator
EVERYBODY IS TO BLAME

Ernest Crosby contributes an article
to the current issue of the Cosmopoli-
tan on Wall Street and Graft, which
is an analysis of that temple of mann
mon and which we quote, herewith:
wall street is rotten. 1t has been
probed in dozen different places dur
ing the past few months, and the oper-
ations have revealed nothing but gam
creme. 1t was possible at the begin
ming to suppose that the particular cases
of dishonesty were exceptional, but that
theory is no longer tenable The insti-
tutions investigated stood at the head
of American finance The men impli-
Gated in the worst forms of malfeas-
ance are among the most distinguished
leaders in the Street. Every one of
them is connected with a score or more
of other directorates and firms, and the
natural inference is that these are all
run in the same way.
"Wall street is rotten-and it is most
fortunate that this is so. Symptoms of
disease are not bad things; they are
good and only good. They are the dam
ger signals that give us an opportunity
to cure. Evil conditions ought to pro-
duce rottenness They are not calcu-
lated to produce anything else; and if
by some miracle saints and heroes could
thrive in an atmosphere of gross injus-
tice, we should have to despair of the
universe Wall street is rotten for the
same reason that the Russian court and
imperial family are rotten, and that is
because unlimited power and wealth will
corrupt anybody. The Romanoff clan
has been an offense to humanity for
some centuries past, not because its
members are naturally worse than other
men, but because they have had free
access to the earnings of the Russian
people and absolute power over their
destinies. Our ruling class in Wall
street is fast advancing to the same
position of power, wealth, luxury, and
graft, and it goes without saying that
its morals have been swept away in like
manner. Why should we go on with
these Investigations? When you have
made an analysis of the water of res
voir at many different points, and it al
ways shows the presence of the same
pollution, it is a waste of time to repeat
the experiment, and it is unwholesome
work to handle an infected liquid. 1t
is impossible to put each drop in the test
tube, and it would give no more salts
flying results if we could. We know
all there is to be known about it. There
is just one thing to do, and that is to
remove the conditions which produce
the impurity.
"And first of all, each one of us is
partially responsible. We have all been
worshippers in the temple of mammon
We have all looked upon money as the
chief end of man. In our estimation,
art and literature and science and re-
ligion have to yield the supremacy to
fianace The one test of worth is, Has
he made money (Which means, Has
he succeeded in getting possession of
other peoples money! Now money
is a very necessary and useful thing, but
the handling of it, apart from preoc-
cupation for its immediate usefulness, is
not, and never has been, a noble form
of human activity The usurer, the
money lender--these are not the types
for a nation to mold its standards up
on. Money may be necessary to fertil-
ize the commercial world, but neyerthe-
less activity in the dust heap is not ideal
work
Money lending in Wall street does
not differ in character from money lend
ing in the Bowery. 1t is glorihed pawn
broking, that is all, and the great finan-
ciers who hover around bankrupt ma
tions and bankrupt trusts, and pocket
their extortionate rake-offs before they