Page:Jay Fox - Amalgamation (1923).pdf/7

Rh men that were working under cover and discharged them. When goaded to the limit of their endurance by the soulless corporations the workers struck. A private army recruited by the bosses from among the criminals and thugs of the slums and fully equipped with modern implements of murder was let loose upon them with orders to kill. Police, militia, and mounted cossacks were generally on hand to help the private gunmen terrorize the workers and drive them back to their slavery.

Not satisfied with their domination of local political and commercial life, where they are absolute masters despite our democratic form of government, the industrial monarchs have succeeded in corrupting our State and National Governments, over which they hold sway as absolute as any monarch that ever ruled the ancient world. A hundred years ago it was said by the wisest students of social economy that under our "democratic" form of government it would be impossible for a group Of rich men to get control of the government. Time has shown that little is impossible to the possessors of wealth. Men without wealth succumb to its influence. Lofty principles are fine but they don't supply their champions with the necessities and comforts of life. The masses without organization and economic education are misled by the press, to vote for the men selected by the money power. All politicians seek to curry favor with the capitalists who have the money to reward them. The politics of this republic are run by men who have made politics a profession, a means of gaining a livelihood, and their ethical code is so elastic it permits them to accept money from whatever source it happens to come. This is because the interests of the capitalists are served in every branch of the government. To all intents and purposes the Government of the United States is a branch of the associated industries. Whatever the industrial monarchs desire it to do, it does; even to the plunging of the people into a bloody war. An illuminating commentary on our democratic form of government is the fact that in every presidential election since 1860 the successful candidate has been the one with the largest campaign fund—furnished by the masters of industry.

Likewise the control of our educational institutions has passed into the hands of the industrial monarchs. Every university in the country is ruled absolutely by the corporations who furnish the funds, for its upkeep and expansion, and they see to it that nothing is taught