Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-07-28
RULERS OF AMERICA

Union AQVOcdte OF 81. raul, mas
brought out some good thoughts
editorially. If credit is given to
the "a men, who were named as
rulers, for the prosperity en-
joyed in this country then they
should also take on the response
bility of the depression, the
newspaper maintains. The article
follows:
Just two years ago, James W. Ger
ard, ambassador to Germany under
the Wilson regime, crashed the head
lines of every great newspaper in the
land with his list of men who rule
the United States. He named ga
strong, silent men" who actually
ruled the nation by their wise coun-
sci, business sagacity and strict APP
plication of business principles.
Gerard's list was distinguished by
the fact that he did not list single
clergyman, educator, soldier, scientist,
author. engineer, inventor. or member
of a learned profession among the
leaders. His entire list consisted Of
industrialists, bankers and financiers
men who had money to hire sol
diers, chemists, congressman, thugs,
artisans, engineers and common Ia
Dor to do their work for them. These
were in the opinion of Mr.. Gerard,
the real rulers of the nation. These
were the GA whose master minds
shaped the destinies of America and
made it rich and great while other
nations. less favored with leadership.
wallowed in the sloughs of poverty.
Yet, it was not by money and
credits alone that these men dOmin-
ated the country, according to Mr..
Gerard. These men rule by virtue
of their ability" he said. They are
themselves too busy to hold political
office but they determine who shall
hold such Office"
Time flies. The ga rulers of Amer
lea have had two years in which to
do their stuff. There are over u
million workers idle; thousands of
banks have closed with resultant
losses of millions; thousands of fac
tories have not turned a wheel for
more than a year; billions are being
spent to feed the hungry, and a gen.
eral stagnation grips the nation they
ruled by virtue of their profound
ability as money changers.
If Mr.. Gerard told the truth when
he gave these "a bankers and finan-
ciers credit for all the prosperity
America has enjoyed in the past two
decades, then by the same token he
must concede that responsibility for
the present depression and wide
spread human misery rests on their
heads.
Let it be remembered that Mr..
Hoover turned to these great captains
of industry in 1929 when the first
storm clouds gathered on his political
horizon. He called in the MELONS
the Morgans, the Rockefellers, the
Schwabs. the Atterburys, the Fords,
the Willards and their vice presi-
dents. He sought their advice and
cooperation. He called upon them to
maintain the existing wage scale and
further exacted promise that no one
WOulu Dc ldlu OIL LII the CV0HC d CTISlS
occurred. Labor was asked to refrain
from striking, and Labor has yet to
repudiate that pledge. But the great
engineers of fortune, the makers Of
prosperity, the dictators of govern
mental policy-those strong silent
men who are too busy to hold polit-
ical office-were the first to violate
their pledge, and the first to ask for a
dole through the Reconstruction FL
nance Corporation!
1t may be unkind to refer in 1892
to the statements which stirred the
nation in 1880 and inspired so many
editorials lauding the master minds
of America. Yet, no one has come
forward with an apology nor sane
explanation why these Ga dominant
figures have utterly failed to offer
workable solution of the problem of
unemployment want and starvation.
They picked Mr.. Hoover! they named
his cabinet; they manipulated affairs
by which Congress was filled with
stuffed shirts and leather-lunged ora
tors, and they shaped the policies of
government.
And the national deficit is over two
and half million dollars,