Rutherford B. Hayes: Wealth in the Hands of the Few

Rutherford B. Hayes: Wealth in the Hands of the Few

▪ Primary Source
      

      Unlike most of his fellow Republicans, President Rutherford B. Hayes held an unsympathetic attitude toward the trusts. This was one of many issues that caused Hayes to lose the support of portions of the party early in his administration. Having left the White House in 1881 after only one term, Hayes retired to his Ohio home and occupied himself with enlarging his library, fulfilling numerous speaking engagements, and working for humanitarian causes. His concern over the power of concentrated wealth is illustrated by the following passages from his diary; they were written in 1886 and 1887.

      January 22, 1886. Friday. How to distribute more equally the property of our country is a question we (Theodore Clapp and I) considered yesterday. We ought not to allow a permanent aristocracy of inherited wealth to grow up in our country. How would it answer to limit the amount that could be left to any one person by will or otherwise? What should be the limit? Let no one receive from another more than the law gives to the chief justice, to the general of the Army, or to the president of the Senate. Let the income of the property transmitted equal this, say $10,000 to $20,000. If after distributing on this principle there remains undistributed part of the estate, let it go to the public. The object is to secure a distribution of great estates to prevent accumulation.

      January 24. Sunday. The question for the country now is how to secure a more equal distribution of property among the people. There can be no republican institutions with vast masses of property permanently in a few hands, and large masses of voters without property. To begin the work, as a first step, prevent large estates from passing, by wills or by inheritance or by corporations, into the hands of a single man. Let no man get by inheritance or by will more than will produce at 4 percent interest an income equal to the salary paid to the chief justice, to the general of the Army, or to the highest officer of the Navy—say an income of $15,000 per year or an estate of $500,000....

      March 17. Wednesday. I go to Toledo to attend the celebration of St. Patrick's Day by Father Hannan's people. I shall talk to the text, "America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," with special reference to Father Hannan's motto "Religion, Education, Temperance, Industry"; and this again in behalf of such measures and laws as will give to every workingman a reasonable hope that by industry, temperance, and frugality he can secure a home for himself and his family, education for his children, and a comfortable support for old age.

      March 18. Thursday. At Toledo yesterday and until 1 P.M. today. At Father Hannan's St. Patrick's Institute last evening. I spoke of the danger from riches in a few hands, and the poverty of the masses. The capital and labor question. General Comly regards the speech as important. My point is that free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of the people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age....

      March 19. Friday. No man, however benevolent, liberal, and wise, can use a large fortune so that it will do half as much good in the world as it would if it were divided into moderate sums and in the hands of workmen who had earned it by industry and frugality. The piling up of estates often does great and conspicuous good. Such men as Benjamin Franklin and Peter Cooper knew how to use wealth. But no man does with accumulated wealth so much good as the same amount would do in many hands.

      March 20. Saturday. The funeral of General Devereux (at Cleveland today) was largely attended. With General Leggett, General Barnett, and General Elwell, and many others of the Loyal Legion—those named as honorary pallbearers—saw and heard all that belonged to the impressive funeral. The leading traits of General Devereux were unusual tact in dealing with all sorts of men and all sorts of difficult questions, courage, and integrity. The president of the New York Central, Mr. (Chauncey M.) Depew, introduced me to Cornelius Vanderbilt. I could not help regarding him with sympathy. One of our Republican kings—one of our railroad kings. Think of the inconsistency of allowing such vast and irresponsible power as he possesses to be vested by law in the hands of one man!

      March 26. Friday. Am I mistaken in thinking that we are drawing near the time when we must decide to limit and control great wealth, corporations, and the like, or resort to a strong military government? Is this the urgent question? I read in the (Cleveland) Leader of this morning that Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden lectured in Cleveland last night on "Capital and Labor." Many good things were said. The general drift and spirit were good. But he leaves out our railroad system. Shall the railroads govern the country, or shall the people govern the railroads? Shall the interest of railroad kings be chiefly regarded, or shall the interest of the people be paramount?

      May 12. Wednesday. On the labor question, my position is: 1. The previous question always must be in any popular excitement the supremacy of law. All lawless violence must be suppressed instantly, with overwhelming force and at all hazards. To hesitate or tamper with it is a fatal mistake. Justice, humanity, and safety all require this. 2. I agree that labor does not get its fair share of the wealth it creates. The Sermon on the Mount, the Golden Rule, the Declaration of Independence, all require extensive reforms to the end that labor may be so rewarded that the workingman can, with temperance, industry, and thrift, own a home, educate his children, and lay up a support for old age. 3. The United States must begin to deal with the whole subject. I approve heartily of President Cleveland's message and so said at the great soldiers' meeting at Cleveland.

      February 25, 1887. Friday. As to pensions I would say our Union soldiers fought in the divinest war that was ever waged. Our war did more for our country than any other war ever achieved for any other country. It did more for the world, more for mankind, than any other war in all history. It gave to those who remained at home and to those who come after it in our country opportunities, prosperity, wealth, a future, such as no war ever before conferred on any part of the human race.

      No soldier who fought in that war on the right side nor his widow nor his orphans ought ever to be forced to choose between starvation and the poorhouse. Lincoln in his last inaugural address—just before the war closed, when the last enlistments were going on—pledged the nation "to care for him who hath borne the battle and for his widow and his orphans." Let that sacred pledge be sacredly kept.

      December 4. Sunday. In church it occurred to me that it is time for the public to hear that the giant evil and danger in this country, the danger which transcends all others, is the vast wealth owned or controlled by a few persons. Money is power. In Congress, in state legislatures, in city councils, in the courts, in the political conventions, in the press, in the pulpit, in the circles of the educated and the talented its influence is growing greater and greater. Excessive wealth in the hands of the few means extreme poverty, ignorance, vice, and wretchedness as the lot of the many. It is not yet time to debate about the remedy.

      The previous question is as to the danger—the evil. Let the people be fully informed and convinced as to the evil. Let them earnestly seek the remedy and it will be found. Fully to know the evil is the first step toward reaching its eradication. Henry George is strong when he portrays the rottenness of the present system. We are, to say the least, not yet ready for his remedy. We may reach and remove the difficulty by changes in the laws regulating corporations, descents of property, wills, trusts, taxation, and a host of other important interests, not omitting lands and other property.

Source: Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, vol. 4, Charles R. Williams, ed., 1924, pp. 261-262, 277-278, 286, 312, 354-355.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hayes, Rutherford B. — ▪ president of United States in full  Rutherford Birchard Hayes  born October 4, 1822, Delaware, Ohio, U.S. died January 17, 1893, Fremont, Ohio  19th president of the United States (1877–81), who brought post Civil War Reconstruction to an end… …   Universalium

  • History of the United States (1865–1918) — The history of the United States (1865–1918) covers Reconstruction and the rise of industrialization in the United States.At the conclusion of the Civil War, the United States remained bitterly divided. Reconstruction and its failure left the… …   Wikipedia

  • Reconstruction Era of the United States — In the history of the United States, the term Reconstruction Era has two senses: the first covers the entire nation in the period 1865–1877 following the Civil War; the second one, used in this article, covers the transformation of the Southern… …   Wikipedia

  • Native Americans in the United States — This article is about the indigenous people of the United States. For other indigenous people see Indigenous peoples by geographic regions Native Americans …   Wikipedia

  • Winchester in the American Civil War — The city of Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area were the site of numerous fights during the American Civil War as both contending armies strove to control that portion of the Shenandoah Valley.BackgroundJohn Brown s RaidTies between… …   Wikipedia

  • Reconstruction era of the United States — In the history of the United States, Reconstruction refers to the time between 1863 and 1877 when the U.S. focused on abolishing slavery, destroying the Confederacy, and reconstructing the nation and the Constitution. Reconstruction is also the… …   Wikipedia

  • Ku Klux Klan — KKK redirects here. For other uses, see KKK (disambiguation). Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan rally, Gainesville, Florida, December 31, 1922 …   Wikipedia

  • United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …   Universalium

  • performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …   Universalium

  • United States Constitution — P …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”