COMMERCIALISM AND CORRUPTION.
Commercialism, the trade spirit, is the dominant spirit of the age, moulded largely by the desire to become rich. Mr. Gustavus Myers, author of the “History of Tammany Hall,” in the New York Independent of Jan. 17, 1901, tells us, and proves it, “that at the root of many of the evils inherited or ‘foisted upon cities, states, and the nation, lies that ‘sinister, powerful, all-pervading force in politics ‘known under the generic term of commercialism.’” Mr. Myers points out instances of this in New York’s history through the last century. From dealing with legislatures it extended to the “debauching of ‘voters.” The men who did this were “commonly known as respected and respectable, the leaders of public opinion, and some of them of the exclusive ‘society of the day. Millions upon millions were ‘paid in bribes to the legislature in Albany.’” Take, for instance, the assembly of 1885. Of the one hundred and twenty-eight members it was said to be established as a fact that ninety-four were open to “influence,” of one kind or another, and that seventy-five per cent. of these stood ready to sell their votes for money on any bill in which they were not otherwise interested. What is this source of corruption?—Purely that of commercialism. At every session of the Legislature, from the year 1799 to the present, as we have shown by instances and references, the saturnalia has been going on unceasingly. Mr. Myers thus speaks of the new “boss” system which has largely superseded the “lobby”:— It is common knowledge that corporations of all kinds contribute lavishly to the campaign chests of both parties with the tacit understanding that such a token will find for them grace in the eyes of the “boss.” As one railroad president is said to have remarked recently upon making a political contribution of $100,000: “I like the ‘boss’ system. It saves one so much time and trouble when you want to arrange matters.” And we are told that this spirit, this “double ‘conscience,’” “well-nigh pervades the entire union.” An editorial in the same issue of the Independent indorses Mr. Myers’ facts, and declares it to be “the appalling truth that the wickedness of bribery and wholesale stealing from taxpayers for the benefit of the few, lies almost wholly at the doors of men who move in what are called the ‘well-to-do’ or ‘exclusive’ circles. It lies at their doors to-day, and it has lain there from the beginning of human government. . . . The sources of infamy in civic affairs are rich and powerful classes who could, if they would, make the cities in which they dwell honorable and fair to behold.” And all this emphasizes the truth of God’s Word that we are living in the last days, and that the end is at hand. Read Isaiah 59 and 2 Tim. 3:1–5, and see the fulfillment of both to-day.