The Commonwealth. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1911-1914, 1913-04-04
THE PASSING
OF J.P. MORGAN

The king of American financiers, j.
Pierpont Morgan, died in Rome March
81. 1t is not recorded whether he took
any of his millions with him, so we
assume he left them behind.
The king of financiers is dead; but
the kingdom goes on. Others will step
forward and fill the place of the dead
money-king; the Juggling of stocks and
bonds will proceed just the same; the
gambling in the products of labor will
not cease.
J. P. Morgan lived luxuriously. His
working day was from 10 to 8. But
his work was non-productive; he was
huge parasite on the back of the
workers. They, foolish people, toiled
from eight to ten, twelve and some
times more hours day to provide
the sponduliks for J. P. to juggle with
in the four or five hours day that
he played at working. Some day the
workers are going to get sense enough
to work only four or five hours day
themselves and then the ]. P. Nor
gans will take a back seat.
]. P.'s office hours were short and
when he had finished business no one
dared to approach him with sugges-
tion of more. He went aboard his
yacht and cut his connections with
his office until the next day. The mis-
cradle workers who provide the where
withal for the upkeep of such luxuries
as steam yachts and choice cigars
and affinities, after their heavy
grind crawl home to tenements and
snacks without any sort of convent
ence not to speak of comfort And
how long are they going to stand for
it? Just SO long as they like to keep
Shaving away to make wealth for high
financiers. They can stop it all when
they choose to unite at the ballot box
and take over the country for them
selves, instead of subjecting them
selves to money kings.
What more appropriate place than
Rome for the money king to end his
days in?
Rome, that was once the capital of
an empire that contained sixty mil
lions of slaves; the money king WELD
ed almost unlimited financial control
over sixty millions of wage slaves in
America.
Rome, the city that in Ciceros time
had scarcely 1000 proprietors out of
a population of 100000. The city
in which the historians tell us there
were $4,000 wretched garret lodgings
and only 1870 homes" Where six
men owned the half of North Africa.
What an appropriate place for the
money king to die in, whose money
operations and capitalist system are
rapidly bringing this country to the
same condition. This country where
Simons tells us thirty billions OF
wealth are manipulated by less than
a score of individuals. This country
where the people are rapidly losing
their homes and crowding into tene-
ment districts because they are so ex-
plotted by the money kings that the
people have not enough money to pro-
vide themselves with homes.
Rome, that reveled in the blood of
the working class. Augustus in the
document annexed to his will, men,
toned that he had exhibited 5000
gladiators. Titus, the darling of the
human race" butchered thousands of
Jews. In Trajan's games 10000 men
had to fight, and in Claudius' sham sea
fight 10000 men fought each other.
Besides the rivers of blood shed in her
wars. What an appropriate place for
the money king to die in, who made
much wealth directly out of the bloody
civil war; and whose huge manipula-
tions in railroads must bear at least
some share of responsibility for the
deaths of tens of thousands of work
ers killed on the railroads while he
was the financial boss of these com
panies.
Yes, Rome was the right place for
Morgan TO die in.