was made to throttle the voice of the majority.  The voice of a single man rose high and clear above the tumult; it was the voice of a Moses come to lead his people from bondage.  And that people were quick to appreciate the importance of the presence of a great leader.  The convention cast aside all conservatism and cant; it produced a platform that offered to mankind the direct and constitutional means for the restoration of general prosperity and the re-establishment of the principles of equality.

In the first struggle against the entrenched power of corruption, the new party had been defeated, not by reason of a disinclination on the part of the people to support it, but because of the coercive methods employed by the Trust Magnates.  In the momentous campaign of 1900, the vote of the people being divided, the candidate of the Democracy was elected.  He was a man of worth and was eager to do the people’s bidding.  This, however, was not productive of any good to the people, as the President had a House and Senate hostile to him.  Thrice his first Congress had attempted to impeach him, and they were deterred from carrying out their partisan measure only by the ominous demonstration of the laboring men in all sections of the land.

Now, the greatest election ever held in this country is on; the forces have met on three occasions and know each other’s methods; they know also that the result of the vote at this election will decide the future of the country—­it will continue to be a Republic in fact as in name; or, if the Plutocratic party dominates, the dynasty of the first emperor will be established.

The Chicago Auditorium is selected as the quarters of the Plutocratic contingent.  The corridors of this magnificent hotel are crowded night and day by throngs of visitors.  Men from every state are there to consult with the campaign committee.  The grim visaged chairman of the finance committee, Anthony Marcus, is always at his desk in an inner room.  Millionaires troop into his presence in a ceaseless stream; they come with their bankbooks in hand and after a short interview with the Powerful One, they depart, reassured that their millions are safe.  They pay their tithe to the Protector of American Plunderers.

Anthony Marcus is in many ways a remarkable man; he is exempt from the imputation of being a little man in any sense.  His ideas are daring; they can contemplate the debauchery of the Senate; the purchase of the President, and the disruption of the Supreme Court; they cannot stoop to the committal of petty larceny.  So every dollar of the funds raised for the expenses of the campaign is spent in purchasing votes or in buying off dangerous leaders of the opposition.

As fast as the funds are received they are distributed, and the method of their final disposal is outlined by the great moving spirit.  He seems to possess infinite power of grasping the minutia of politics.  None of his lieutenants dares to misappropriate the funds turned over to him.  All know that their master has a disagreeable faculty of unexpectedly asking for an accounting.