SO WENT ROME by Tom Watson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 28, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 29.

SO WENT ROME.

By Tom Watson

ALL the Democratic newspapers agree that the balls, receptions, and banquets now being given in Washington by the Democratic office holders are the most costly and magnificent ever seen in this country.

Inside the White House is a blaze of jeweled ladies and gold-braided gentlemen, the sound of revelry—all the tinsel and sensuality of codfish aristocracy displaying sudden and ill-gotten wealth.

Outside, just a few blocks away, lies abject poverty, crouching amid rags and filth, and in every street is the cry of children begging for bread and strong men pleading for work. —Tom Watson.