The Goose-step: A Study of American EducationSinclair, Upton
History
The Goose-step: A Study of American Education
Sinclair, Upton
Education -- United States; Universities and colleges -- United States
We continue our journey on the Union Pacific Railroad, and come to the
metropolis of the Rocky Mountains, a city entirely surrounded by gold
mines, silver mines, coal mines and copper mines, and entirely
controlled by hard-fighting piratical gentlemen who have seized these
hidden treasures. Denver is only a generation removed from the mining
camp stage of civilization, and mining camp manners and morals still
prevail in its financial, political and educational life. In other
portions of the United States you find the great captains of industry
hiring politicians to run the state and city governments for them; but
in Colorado up to quite recently they did their own dirty work—you would
find the grand dukes of the interlocking directorate, Evans of traction,
Doherty of gas and electric, Field of telephones, Cheesman of water,
Guggenheim of copper, themselves the political bosses, hiring their
thugs and repeaters and ballot box stuffers, and paying their own cash
to their newspaper editors, clergymen and college presidents. These
mighty chieftains used to fall out and quarrel and turn their
scandal-bureaus loose on one another, so it was always easy to learn the
insides of Denver finance, politics and education.
The leading prejudice factory of the State of Colorado has been the
University of Denver, founded by the father of William G. Evans,
traction magnate and Republican boss. Mr. Evans made himself president
of the board of trustees of the university, and selected to run the
institution an extremely venomous and abusive Methodist clergyman by the
name of Buchtel. In running the government of Denver, Mr. Evans worked
in alliance with the gamblers and the keepers of brothels and wine-rooms
for the seducing of young girls; the violations of law became so
flagrant that the political gang operating under Evans found its power
threatened, and cast about for some candidate for governor to take the
curse off them, and selected the Reverend Henry Augustus Buchtel, D.D.,
LL.D., chancellor of their university. As the Denver “Post” delicately
phrased it, “They reached up in the House of God and pulled down the
poor old chancellor to cover up the rottenness of their machine.”
There was a meeting of the chancellor with Mr. Evans and his political
henchmen. One of the purposes of his nomination was that his candidacy
might aid Simon Guggenheim, head of the Smelter Trust, to buy his way
into the United States Senate. The chancellor accepted the nomination,
and invited all present to rise, join hands and sing: “Blest Be the Tie
That Binds.” You may find this anecdote in “The Beast,” by Ben B.
Lindsey, Judge of the Children’s Court of Denver—that is, you may find
it if you can find a copy of the book, which its publishers mysteriously
ceased to push. Says Lindsey:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account