LAND MONOPOLY. 663 



which appear to be supreme; it disregards equally public 

 opinion and the interests of States in which it has agents." 



The same influence exists in this country. There is a 

 powerful combination whose influence is more powerful 

 than the government, because it dictates who and what the 

 government shall be. The New York Tribune says * ' the 

 banks can, at a single day's notice, act together, so that 

 no act of Congress can resist their decision. " A writer in 

 Blackwood? s Magazine says: 



"We behold, in tangible form, a power so terribly 

 strong, that, with a touch, it can paralyze armies. We 

 behold it gradually weaving around us a net, from which 

 it is impossible to escape, and claiming with a stern accent 

 which brooks no denial, a right of property in ourselves, 

 our soil, mir earnings, our industry and our children. To 

 its influence we can trace most of the political changes, 

 which perplex mankind, and which baffle explanation. 

 The wisest of our statesmen have tried to check its advance 

 and failed." 



This is the money power. It has its head in the 

 national banking system, which dishes out the money as 

 it sees fit. Its arms are the thousands of combinations, 

 called "corporations" and "trusts." This' is the great 

 Upas tree that is breathing poison on every fabric of our 

 political and social structures; This is the condition that 

 the immaculate and discerning mind of Abraham Lincoln 

 saw when he said: 



( ' Yes, we may all congratulate ourselves that this cruel 

 war is nearing its close. It cost a vast amount of blood 

 and treasure. The best blood of the flower of American 

 youth has been freely offered upon our country's altar that 

 the nation might live. It has been indeed a trying hour 

 for the republic. But I see in the future a crisis approach- 

 ing that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the 

 safety of my country. As a result of the war corporations 



