Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-02-14

We seek to control law-defying wealth;
In the first place to prevent It's doing dire
evil to the republic, and In the nexr place
icalism which, IL left uncontrolled, IL is
certain In the end to arouse. Sweeping
attacks upon all property. upon all men
do well or Ill. would sound the death
knell Of the republic; and such attacks
become inevitable II decent citizens per-
NIT those rich men whose lives are cor
rupt and evil to domineer In swollen
pride, unchecked end unhindered, over
the desttnies of this country. We act In
no yindictive spirit. and we are no re-
specters Of persons. II a labor union does
wrong, we oppose it as firmly as we OPP
pose a corporation which does wrong; and
we stand equally stoutly, for the rights
Of the man of wealth and for the rights
Of the wageworker. We seek to protect
the property of every man who acts hon
estly, of every corporation that represents
wealth honestly accumulated and honest
ly used. We seek to stop w~rongdoing,
and we desire to punish the ~wrongdoers
only so far as is necessary TO achieve this
end.
One Law for All.
Their are ample material rewards for
those who serve with fidelity the mammon
Of unrighteousness; but they are dearly
paid for by the people who permit their
representatives, whether in public life, in
the press, or In the colleges where their
young men are taught, 10 preach and to
practice that there Is one law for the
rich ARD another Tor the poor. The
amount Of money the representatives Of
certain great moneyed interests are will
ing to spend can be gagged by their re-
cent publication broadcast throughout the
papers Of this country, from the Atlantic
TO the Pacific, Of huge advertisements at
lacking with envenomed bitter the admin
lstration,s policy Of warning against sue
cessful dishonesty. and by their circula-
ton OF pamphlets and books prepared
with the same object: while they likewise
push the circulation of the writings and
nAnahA IF Vlan III n4k
they are misled, or because. seeing the
light. they yet are willing to sin against
the light, serve these their masters OF
great wealth to the cost of the plain peo-
pie. The books and pamphlets, the
controlled newspapers, the speeches
by public or private men to
which | refer, are usually and especially
In the interest of the Standard Oil trust
and of certain notorious railroad combina-
tons, but they also defend other midi
viduals and corporation Of great wealth
that have been guilty OF w~rongdoing. IL
Is only rarely that the men responsible
for the w~ronsdoing themselves speak or
write. Normally they hire others TO do
their bidding. OF find others who will do
1t without hire. From the railroad rate
law to the pure food law, every measure
for honesty in business that has been
opposed by these men on Its passage and
In its administration with every resource
that bitter and u~nscrupulous craft could
suggest and the command OF almost I'M
limited money secure.
But for the last year the attack has been
made with most bitterness upon the actual
administration Of the law, especially
through the department of justice. but
also through the Interstate Commerce
commission and the bureau of corpora
tons. The extraordinary violence of the
assaults upon our policy contained in these
speeches, editorials. articles. advertise
ments, and pamphlets, and the enormous
sums Of money spent I'm these various
ways give a fairly accurate measure OF
the anger and terror which our public
actions have caused the corrupt men OF
vast wealth to feel in the very marrow
Of their being. The attack is sometimes
made openly against Us for enforcing the
law, and sometimes with a certain cum
ming, for not trying to enforce IL In some
other way than that which experience
shows to be practical. One Of the favorite
methods of the latter class of assa.lant
procuring the imprisonment instead of the
fine OF offenders under these antitrust
laws: The man making this assault Is
usually either q prominent lawyer or an
editor who takes his policy from the finan-
ciers and his arguments from their attor-
neys. III the former, he has defended and
advised many wealthy malefactors. and he
knows well that. thanks to the advice OF
lawyers Ike himself, a certain kind OF
modern corporation has been turned into
an admirable instrument by which to
render II we'll nigh impossible to get at
the head of the corporation, at the man
who is really most guilty. when we are
able to put the real wrongdoer In pris on
this Is what we strive to do: this Is what
we havc actually done with some very
wealthy criminals, who. moreover. repre-
scented that most baneful of all alliances,
the alliance between the corruption OF or
ganized politics and the corruption OF high
finance. This In what we have done in
the Gaynor and Greene case, IN the case
OF the misa ppffcaticn OF funds in con-
nection with cerNfn great banks in Chi
cago, In the land fracd cases. where, as
IN other cases ltker.se. neither the high
est political sossAea nor the possession