Replies

DiogenesLamp alleged Lincoln quote: "...I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.
As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed..."

I note from your link the poster spent some effort to track down & "verify" this quote, but I don't believe it.
This language sounds "off" for Lincoln, more like something years later admirers might wish him to have said.
Also I note again that name, William H. Herndon, along with Jessie Weik, seems to be associated with any number of suspicious Lincoln quotes.
"Hidden Lincoln" indeed, hidden even from Lincoln?

That is indeed a fake quote. It's curious how many fake quotes still survive and are circulated on the Internet.

FWIW Here is an interesting review-article that deals with some of the topics that come up in these Civil War arguments:

Allen C. Guelzo: "Slavery All the Way Down"
Book Review by Allen C. Guelzo
Slavery All the Way Down The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, by Edward E. Baptist. Basic Books, 498 pages, $35
CRB Spring 2015

The quotes about half-way down show how little interest Southern planters had in industrializing. That's not to say that there were no factories in the old South, but the culture didn't encourage it the way it did in the North.

Also, for all the wealth the big planters had, many cotton growers were caught in a cycle of debt. They borrowed to expand operations, got into debt, and then struggled to get out of it. Fluctuating cotton prices and unsafe banks didn't help many cotton growers much.

I can't claim to understand the process, but here's somebody's thesis if any of you are interested.

Failure's Frontier: Ambition, Indebtedness, And Insolvency In Antebellum Alabama by Franklin C. Sammons.

I note from your link the poster spent some effort to track down & "verify" this quote, but I don't believe it.

You don't want to believe it, because it is saying exactly what I have been telling you. Our current corrupt crony/capitalist monster came from Lincoln and the Civil War.

The man is correct. That passage appears in Jack London's 1908 book "The Iron Heel", and Jack London attributes it to Lincoln, so if it's fake, it's been a fake for a very long time. (Use Control "F" and enter the term "corruption.")

The Iron Heel

If you wish to create an account, you can verify it as a Lincoln quote directly. This is where the man says he eventually found the statement. http://www.worldcat.org/title/lincoln-encyclopedia-the-spoken-and-written-words-of-a-lincoln-arranged-for-ready-reference/oclc/445398&referer=brief_results

And lastly, the man provides a similar quote by Lincoln, which is a matter of public record.

“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people’s money to settle the quarrel.”
speech to Illinois legislature, Jan. 1837.

I find myself in the unenviable position sandwiched between two prevaricators. Which to choose? I think I’ll go with snopes on this one.

Fake - but inaccurate.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/abraham-lincolns-capitalism-prophecy/