Sauk City High School - Sauk Log Yearbook (Sauk City, WI)

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until now we find merely ruins of her prominence. As Rome fell, so also did Greece, Egypt and other ancient nations In modern times ambition has led to fall as in the case of Napoleon and to-day we find France at the verge of ruin. If such examples existed with causes almost identical to existing conditions to-day, is not the perpetuity of our nation threatened? It shows that corruption is deeply rooted in our ranks. This was not discovered however until graft had made such strides, that its work became plain and more bold, more risky, until it affected the general welfare to such an extent as to demand investigation. Then began those interesting trials, those long tiresome lawsuits, which exposed, that, altho the green foliage of prosperity seemed to prosper, beneath it lay an abyss in which all the horrors of shamefulness brooded, planned and worked, and that instead of the verdure living upon what was below it, that which was below it, extended its roots into it and was sapping its life blood. Did this begin after nineteen hundred? After the Civil War ? No, political parties existed before then, it began with Jefferson, Monroe and others but in those early days, immediately after they were freed of a tyranny, noble men like Clay, Webster and Calhounn seriously hampered all ideals not for the general welfare. But as prosperity grew, as our power increased, as our prominence began to tower above that of all other nations, grafters began to flourish unnoticed, until they rose in prominence, to threaten our nation and were beginning to be dimly visible in the shade of our rank, but the mad rush for wealth allowed these grafters to flourish, for as yet their influence was not felt. These dark forms became more and more distinguishable, their crests rose boldly into the sunlight and threatened to bring their nation to destruction. This boldness however opened the eyes, dazed, by the glitter of gold, and a wave of reform started to move, but resistance was so stubborn, bribery so powerful, that up to this time but little progress was made. How could this corruption exist, is the question. The answer is simple, yet logical, every man wanted more honor or prominence, get it by fair or foul means he would have it, and so candidates fell easy prey to the large corporations, who thru their employees, controlled elections and who contributed, liberally to the campaign funds. After such a man is elected he will either have to become a tool for the corporation which elected him or his re-election is doubtful, yes, even

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•Purttp tn -Politics ROB'T M. RIESER Che sun of the twentieth century had risen, prosperity had made immense strides, our constitution had entirely withstood the changes in our social and political methods for over a century and our advancement seemed to have been unparalleled. We were the all powerful nation of the world. We stood as a Gibraltar of righteousness, utterly impenetrable by graft and corruption, an example to all the nations of the globe, probably so prominently and eminently so, as to partly cause Russia’s awakening. But was not Rome once powerful, was not her mighty arm felt to almost every quarter of the known world. What, is she, what is left of her power ? The lost and forgotten fragments of a once prosperous nation. What caused this ? Corruption, greed, slavery and money. Many of her heroes, whose statues and busts decorated her national government chambers, were forced to be witnesses of legislation and discussions, which in their time would have meant death to the man who attempted it. We find laws existing, which were favorable to few, whose money had secured, either favorable men to make laws for them, or else they bot the representatives of the common people, to whom a hundred dollars were more than just government, who only loved money and riches because they saw the privileges of the fabulously rich of the empire. However corruption cannot rule forever, the rich man cannot prosper without the good support of his inferiors, a country cannot advance that is an instrument of slavery, and so we find Rome lost her heroic support, for as Goldsmith says: “Princes and lords may flourish and decay A breath can make them, as a breath has made, But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied,” and without her power, her dependencies fell off one by one

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impossible. This amply illustrates how corrupt our nation is, how corporations, trusts and monopolies control our government and that if corruption keeps on progressing, the next step will be the selling of our people’s freedom and rights. Now let us take a scrutinous examination of corruption brot on by parties and corporations in general. For this we need only refer to the way campaigns are supported and carried on, a very good example of which was our last presi- dential election especially on the side of the Democrats, the Republican candidate being so popular that opposition would have been fruitless. The Democrats were in the minority for a number of years, yet Democrary was supported by financial giants as Hill and Gorman as individuals and Tammany society as a body. These liberally contributed to the campaigns and especially towards the nomination of a man who would particularly favor their interests, such a man was Alton B. Parker, and so at the Democratic convention at St. Louis in 1904, with all the opposition of honest men like Bryant of Nebraska and Littlemann of Maine, the “interests” succeeded in nominating Parker against the will of the com- mon people, one of the causes of the unanimous defeat of the Democrats. As we go from large to small, from the national govern- ment to municipal government we find that the presence of graft becomes more and more prominent. Since our state will be of supreme interest to us, let us examine its standing in regard to graft, we find that it is not entirely clean, that the railroads chiefly have influenced legislation and party platforms so that investigation was averted till popular clamor has finally persuaded all grafters to give in or be forced to, hence reduction of passenger rates. As we come to our large cities, we find them infested with graft and corruption, in the hands of greed, and en- veloped in darkness. What is the cause of this ? The answer is money and ignorance of the working class, which con- stitutes the greater portion of the population of our cities, and a further fact is. that these people, being foreigners, are ignorant of our laws and institutions and so are easy prey to the corporations who probably buy votes even as cheap as fifty cents each, thus getting an administration favorable to them. So we find our cities to be controlled by corporations, as Transit companies, Street railways, Packing companies, etc..