Which shall rule--wealth or man?

• Position: THE 1930S FLASHBACK - Editorial - Brief article

May 31, 1930, editorial

Is the government of this country gradually being reduced to an oligarchy of wealth? Are the high places of government to be limited to those who are able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to win nominations? Is the following prophecy made by Chief Justice Ryan of Wisconsin in 1873 coming true?

There is looming up a new and dark power. The accumulation of individual wealth seems to be greater than it has ever been since the downfall of the Roman Empire. The enterprises of the country are aggregating vast corporate combinations of unexpected capital, boldly marching, not for economic conquests only but for political power. For the first time really in our politics, money is taking the field as an organized...