has been told, that this same corrupt body of men have bought legislative grants, and in some instances have bought the decisions of courts. This same corporate power has been practically exempt from taxes, while the people have been compelled to make larger contributions to supply the deficit. We see these corporations defying the government and the people, overriding laws, and refusing to obey the orders of courts. We know that they have taxed the people in charges for transportation until labor ceases to be remunerative, while the proceeds of the laborer's toil go to fill the coffers of Wall street speculators. We know that honesty and morality have departed from these men; that being possessed of vast wealth and unlimited credit to-day, they venture it all in a simple gambling operation, and on to-morrow they are bankrupt, and their creditors are ruined. We see this struggling, gambling, battling mass of men in Wall street, striving for the supremacy in financial circles, alternating from vast wealth to abject poverty, intent on sudden riches, while the people of the whole country are subsidized to supply immoral, polluted Wall street gamblers with the money with which to ply their vocation. This giant of oppression and corruption has developed itself within the last few years. It is anti-republican, and threatens the existence of the government. Its vise-like grasp has siezed the vitals of the nation. It had its origin in unconstitutional legislation; it has been supported from the same fountain. All attempts at reformation will be of no avail unless we strike at the fountain head. The watchword of all who are battling for their rights should be, "The repeal of all unconstitutional acts of congress, and a strict interpretation of the constitution by the courts." With constitutional liberty restored to the people, the abuses practised by corporations reformed, their assumed power taken from them, and all their rights and privileges defined and preserved, prosperity will again attend us, and our country will again own a happy and contented people. Having an abiding confidence that the reform being inaugurated by the farmers of the country will advance to a triumphant issue, we present this volume to the public as a humble but honest champion of the cause, acknowledging its imperfections, expecting criticisms and condemnations from the monopolists and their dependents, but asking a careful perusal and earnest consideration of the doctrine advocated. APPENDIX. A CHAPTER I. S our position on the "Legal Tender" decisions and their effect upon the finances and commerce of the country have been controverted by some of the legal men to whom we have shown our manuscript, at the risk of wearying the reader, we quote the dissenting opinions of the late Chief Justice Chase and his associates, on the points at issue in those cases, feeling assured that these opinions fully sustain us. If our views are correct as to the effect of these decisions upon the best interests of the country, and their tendency to increase the power of the combinations that now have such control over the different departments of the government, as well as the financial and commercial interests of the country, it follows that no real relief from the oppressions under which the people are suffering can be obtained until the legal tender statutes are repealed and the latest decisions of the supreme court as to their constitutionality and scope are reversed. We have claimed that those decisions were in conflict with the provisions of the constitution. Our position is supported by the opinions quoted. We have said that the supreme court of the United States was reorganized in the interests of railroad corporations and other monopolies, before the legal tender questions were re-argued and reversed. The opinions quoted sustain us in this particular. But we desire the reader to examine these opinions and determine for himself. (357) |