SPECIAL PRIVILEGES DANGEROUS TO THE PEOPLE. 471 



It is fortunate, and a consolation in our troubles, that the 

 immense fortunes wrung from the masses must, at the death 

 of the holder, commence disintegrating. The hoards of indi 

 viduals of one generation will be spent by the next. If capital 

 ever becomes strong enough, it will seek to alter all this. If 

 accomplished, it will be one of the last nails in the coffin of 

 American freedom. Liberty will go out of sight forever. 



* V __^. - 5 ^Jf &amp;lt;&amp;gt;* 



We re going to have a Railroad!&quot; 



England, and other European nations, have their aristoc 

 racy of birth. We have that worst and most unscrupulous 

 of all aristocracies an aristocracy of wealth. It is com 

 posed largely of shoddyites and corruptionists ; those who 

 have grown rich out of contracts during the war, and the great 

 manipulators of fictitious stocks. These stocks are largely 

 represented in railway property. It required but the break 

 ing down of a half dozen individuals to see the whole fabric 

 dissipate and disappear as dew before the summer sun. 



The ideas and efforts of this class are as essentially 

 antagonistic to true republicanism as the Spanish Inquisi 

 tion was antagonistic to human liberty. It is not strange, 



