The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio; or, Glimpses of Pioneer Life

by N. E. Jones

As stated by Hon. Brisben Walker, the institution “quickly became a political power; established branches and agencies throughout the country to control votes; spent money freely for political corruption;” and when it went down, was reported in 1839, by a committee of its own stockholders, to have given “such an exhibition of waste and destruction, and downright plundering and criminal misconduct, as was never seen before in the annals of banking.

“Thirty millions of its loans were not of a mercantile character, but made to members of Congress, editors of newspapers, politicians, brokers, favorites, and connections.” And it continued to rule until the will and wisdom of President Jackson put an end to the great monopoly. He removed the government deposits, prevented a re-charter, and in 1833 made a statement to Congress, giving the grounds on which his action was based toward the bank, saying “it was for attempting to control the elections, producing a contraction of the currency, and causing general distress.” The funeral went off quietly, with but few mourners, and the American people were liberated from the bondage of aggregated wealth, and Ohio obtained a lease for a number of prosperous decades. But the war of the Sixties came, and moneyed combines grew in power and audacity, until many persons expressed fears for the laws, labor and liberties of the common people.

Taking into consideration the small number of wealthy persons among the great mass of the people, it is rather remarkable that so many patriotic men in this country, from the days of Washington up to the present time, have expressed emphatically their fears for the welfare of the republic should it fall under the destructive power of concentrated and organized wealth.

President Jackson declared it was “better to incur any inconvenience that may be reasonably expected than to concentrate the whole money power of the republic in any form whatsoever, or under any restrictions.” He had seen the arrogant influences under all the restrictions law could give, and gave the warning statement that what he saw were but premonitions of the fate that awaits the American people should they be deluded into sustaining institutions of “organized wealth.”

President Lincoln said, at the close of the sanguinary struggle: “It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood; ... but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of the country. As the result of war corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people, until all wealth is aggregated into a few hands, and the republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicion may prove groundless.”

These and other prophetic warnings carry with them a vast degree of thoughtful solemnity, due to our knowledge of man and the signs of the times. When the successful candidate for office is made to depend upon the size of the campaign fund, and party success more or less assured in proportion to the length of figures beyond a dollar mark, the liberties of the common people are fraught with danger, if not already destroyed.

Wherever the corrupting influence of money has been permitted to enter politics, it has become more successful than just and salutary announcements, and has been used aggregatingly by the wealthy in amounts sufficient to secure their own interests, regardless of party lines or the welfare of the public. This may appear severe in statement, but it is nevertheless true to the experience of one who has seen nearly four score years of our republican form of government. The writer would gladly soften the roughness with charity, had he ever witnessed a compensating virtue or redeeming excuse for permitting the money power to run the government, make the laws and rule the people.

So great is the apparent fear, too, by the money power that the government may pass into the hands of the common people, and those less than multi-millionaires may aspire to political preferment, that organized leagues are spread over the entire Northern states, like political fly-traps, with plenty of the “sticky stuff,” in order to hold the ignorant and indifferent to the support of the rich and their party alliances. The organization of wealth for increasing its influence on legislation, or other purposes, under the title of “The National Business Men’s League,” is not looked upon in any very commendable light by the average American, and has been pronounced “unsavory” by many honest men.

“The promoters of this league,” says Senator Quay, “invokes a class against the masses and all other classes. No league of business men, based upon wealth, can erect a government class in this country. In the United States Senate we have millionaires and business men enough to serve all legitimate purposes. Senators are needed who have no specialties, but who will act for the interests of the country in gross, without special affinities.

“The people most deserving of a representation, and most in need of legislative protection, are the farmers, the small store-keepers, the artisans, and the day-laborers, and I stand by them, and against this ‘league.’ I go into the barricades with the bourgeoisie and the men in blouses.