The Indianapolis times., 1934-03-17


DY common agreement of historians the out
- standing socio- economic achievement of the
last seventy-f1ve years in our country has been
the creation of the American plutocracy from
Jay Gould and Andrew
BY equally unanimous agreement of realistic
scholars we have paid a tremendous price for
this product
Our natural resources have been wasted
shamelessy. Productive industry has been
wrecked by the scandalous robberies conducted
by the mogulS OF speculative finance
fatal milestone mas been hung around the
necks OF our railroads through the ruthless stock
watering and speculative methods of past gem
Grafton Even honest and efficient MANAGEMENT
today finds it difficult to make reasonable profits
as result of this octopus of past mismanage-
ment
Learning nothing from sad experience, our
present generation CT speculative bankers have
applied the same methods to our electric
utilities.
Social income has been diverted from mass
purchasing power into the pockets of a few
who either waste their incomes, invest them in
unneeded capital plant and dubious speculative
enterprises, or withdraw them from all active
participation in economic endeavors Thus ignor-
ing the consumer, they have diminished sales and
brought about a condition which threatens the
holding up of the whole capitalistic system
WIDESPREAD misery has prevailed among
w the mass of Americans more than half of
them living below the level Of health and de-
cency during most of the period since the Civil
war
All of this has been thought worth while It
has been regarded as not too dear a price to pay
for the creation of a small exclusive group of
great constructive geniuses, socially charming
devoted to the arts, and standing above the vul-
gar crowd in taste and culture as a mountain
peak towers over a dismal swamp The senior
Rockefeller once declared with apparent earn
estness that:
Il believe the power to make money is a gift
Of God to be developed and used to the
best of our ability for the good of mankind
Having been endowed with the gift possess, I
believe it is my duty to make money and still
more money, and to use the money I make for
the good of my fellow man according to the die
tates of my conscience"
OF like sentiments was George F. Baer presi-
dent of the Philadelphia and Reading Company.
He thus answered correspondent who begged
him to show some consideration for the lives
and social rights of oppressed miners:
The rights and interests of the laboring men
will be protected and cared for by the Christian
men to whom God has given control of the prop
erty rights of the country. Pray earnestly that
right may triumph, always remembering that
the Lord God Omnipotent still reigns."
THIS whole set of socio- theological assump-
L tionS is rudely challenged in a important
new book by Matthews JoSephson on The Rob-
Der Barons" (Harcourt, Brace So. He tells the
story Of the rise and methods of the leading
American capitalists since the Civil war
The very fact that his book is brought out by
most reputable publisher is evidence that the
depression has given courage to the publishing
world. That is the latest choice of the Book
of-the-M Month Club is an expressive indication
Of the changing temper of the times
He spreads before us in great detail the
familiar story Of the rape Of American industry,
transportation and mining by speculative finance
and Of the wasteful orgies associated with the
social amenities of this group.
We are familiar with the story of American
railway development after the Civil war Rail
roads were looked upon more as an instruments
for stock gambling and immediate financial
profits than as a means of transportation
1t required about half century to transform
the Erie Railroad from a gambling enterprise
into transportation system. Most of the other
roads were only different in degree of financial
rapine.
OF the early business and financial giants"
only few like Carnegie, the elder Rockefeller
and the elder Morgan had any truly constructive
vision. Carnegie and Rockefeller built empires
OF steel and OIL while Morgan endeavored to
curb waste and loot through railroad combina-
ton.
Yet, even with this trio we paid frightful
financial and social price for their economic con-
sribution.