Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1881 — HIS MAJESTY JAY GOULD. [ARTICLE]

HIS MAJESTY JAY GOULD.

n« fmcmsi <rf (New Tork Times.( Judging from what is commonly said concerning Mr. Jay Gould, the Father of his Country might as well have spared himself the trouble of a birthday. There is no doubt that Washington meant weU, and that he worked hard to establish free government in North America; but his work has lasted only a century, and Mir. Gould is now on the point of completely and forever destroying it There was a time when Mr. Gould, viewed as a financial phenomenon, was comparatively little larger than a man s hand; but he has since darkened the whole heavens with his baleful shadow. So long as he was supposed to be merely engaged in making a fortune the public cared little about him, but he has now thrown off the mask, and is seen in the act of seizing not only the supreme power of the Nation, but all our powers, our bodies, and to a large extent our sonls. Controlling, as be now does, the telegraph system of the country, vast lines of railways, and two, if not three, of the newspapers belonging to the Associated Press, he has the standing-place from which he Can not merely ruin, but utterly upset, the free Government that Washington and his associates established. If we may believe all that is said of Mr. Gould, he already controls no one knows precisely how many trunk lines of railways, and he can at no very distant period control every trunk line in the country. He can depress the stock of this road or “bull” the stock of another so as to make millions of dollars, and lie can do this every week in the year. With the means already at his command he can readily and rapidly gain possession of every great line of railway connecting the East with the West and the North with the South. Being thus master of the railways, he can levy tolls at his pleasure, and receive revenues greater than those of any existing government. With such untold millions in his possession there will be no possible combination of capitalists or patriots that can worst him. To the control of the telegraph lines Mr. Gould is now said to be determined to add the control of the Associated Press, and it is popularly believed that by the purchase of one more newspaper he will achieve this end. He will thus, to a large extent, control what has been the free press of America. The newspapers will print only such news as lie allows the telegraph wires to carry, and will express his opinions with the same fidelity now exhibited by the Tribune and World. Mr. Gould can thus elect the next President, even without incurring the expense of buying the nominating conventions. He can have one of his representatives nominated by the Republicans and one by the Democrats, so that whatever maybe the result of the election his candidate will be elected. He will likewise pack Congress with men who. will be thoroughly subservient to him, and can thus effectually prevent any legislation which might interfere with his plans. There would still remain the Supreme Court, but no one will suppose that he will long permit it to retain its independence. - When the day arrives that shows us Mr. Jay Gould controlling the three branches of the National Government, the railroads, telegraphs, and press of the country, he will be the autocrat of America as truly as Alexander is the autocrat of Russia. He will sit iu his private office and dictate legislation at his E leasure, and levy indirect taxes for the enefit of his personal pocket. The people will be entirely helpless. The press will be silent, and the expression of any opinion hostile to the wish of Mr. Gould will be punished, not by imprisonment, death, or any of the violent methods practiced by military despots, but by the swift and sure financial ruin of the rash victims. The plutocrat will not need to surround himself with an army; but he will govern none the less despotically under the forms of laws. He can crush out any industry in a single day, and reduce whole provinces to beggary, and he can reward his supporters with a magnificence which no Roman Emperor ever exhibited. In that day Mr. Jay Gould will own about fifty millions of slaves, whose slavery will be as real, if not as apparent, as that of the four millions of Southern negroes before the rebellion.