Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-22
SAYS OLIGARCHY
RULES AMERICA
LINCOLN STEFFENS MAKES
DECLARATION
Noted Magazine Writer Asserts Men
Of Today Have Sold Their Souls
for GoId-offers No
Remedy

"The people Of the United States are
ruled by an olignrchy.
"six or eight men control the fnciII-
ties Of production and distribution.
"The American man In n prostitute
who has sold his soul for gold.
ave Americans think we are n great
people, but In government we nre 100
years behind European countries.
"Whnt are the remediesf I am not
offering remedies. I am simply a re-
porter chrOnicling what 1 see."--Lin-
coin Stcffena.
Lincoln Steffens, one Of the foremost
journalists of the day, is at Hotel Hay
ward with his father and mother, Mr..
and Mrs. Joseph Steffens of San Jose.
Yes, / am q journalist. That is what
1 call myself, for l am not afraid of
words. l am not reformer. 1t Is not
my place to discover the remedies for
existing ills. l only tell the world a
little about what l see.
81 am still studying government
problems and expect to see all the
cities and towns of the state before
1 leave.
There are plenty of problems in
America today, but Americans are
stupid.
"The men are prostitutes. They
have sold their souls for gold. See
those men walking past that window
those men with stopped heads and
dropping shoulders-they are prosti-
tutes, all of them. They have sold
their souls to some other fellow man
and for gold"
Who Is This Boss?
Mr.. Steffens waved his hand in the
direction of the street. He Is a small
man, with a brown beard covering an
emphatic looking chin. His eyes are
bright and intense and he speaks In
quick, short sentences that have the
ring of finality in them. He fires
verbal bombs at a rate calculated to
take the breath from one who has neg
lected to read the writings of the
muck rakers.
II know a man who controls his
state. He Is the absolute ruler of that
state and his word is law. The people
bow to him, for they have sold their
souls, but he, too has sold his soul.
When he goes to New York he must
bow. There are men to whom he Is
not much larg>w than some of the men
who have solo their souls to him.
"The men who control the capital
of America are the men who rule the
land. These men are stupid. They are
so many asses. They are like little
children who see the dishes on the
table and want to pull them off. When
they pull them off they break. They
will be the cause of their own down.
fall. They see something that they
wanted and they don't stop to con
slider what will be the result of their
efforts to get it.
Group Controls America
"In few years the corporations will
force the people to take them-not be-
cause they want to, but because they
can't help it. BY keeping on in the
blindly grabbing for the dishes they
want.
six, or at the most eight, men rule
America They control American cap
ital and they control American man
ners and morals. We think we are a
great people. In fact we think we are
the only people. In reality we are far
behind European countries in our
forms of government. A hundred
wears after foreign countries have
solved these problems we in America
will begin to solve them. 1t may be
even 200 years afterward.
mo, indeed! l can offer no remedies.
Christianity would be a remedy-not
the Christianity that we find in
churches. however, but the Christianity
that was once preached. Pure Chris
tianity. real Christianity-but that can
not be. Christianity is too radical for
America.
"Americans have sold their souls for
gold. What use have they with Chris
tianity?"
Mr.. Steffens is California man:
Like many others of the men and
women of the day who are making
their power felt by means of their pens
or typewriters, he was born in san
Francisco. Since his graduation from
the university at Berkeley in 1889 he
has been steadily writing his way into
prominence. The first three years
after his graduation were passed in
F,urope. where he made good use of his
time in study and soon afterWard ne
became a member of the editorial staf
of the New York Post. It was When
he became managing editor of NC
CIure's that he first called the atten-
tion of public men to him by his
welding of the 'muck race" During
the last year he has been little more
kind, or perhaps he has been seeking
the good in people instead of hunting
for the blotches.