I.
I'm the God of Graft and Gammon,
I'm the Dollar-God of Pelf,
Lust of Gold, Greed, Get and Mammon:
Thou shalt worship ME, MYSELF.
II.
Thou shalt make a minted image,
Bird of prey and woman's bust,
And emboss thereon the legend,
In our God of Gold we trust.
III.
Thou shalt use my name to swear by,
For I make the she-horse go,
And I'm hot-stuff at conversing—
Only Money talks,
you know.
IV.
Please remember to keep wholly
Ev'rything that thou canst get;
Squeeze the stuffing from the Eagle;
Take thy pound of flesh for debt.
V.
Honor Profit, Rent and Int'rest;
Twist the public's tail on freight;
And be sure to put the letter
S in front of peculate.
VI.
Thou shalt do no murder
(retail),
Doesn't mean thou must not slay;
Thou canst poison half a nation
In a lawful, wholesale way.
VII.
Tut! This
don't
is not for Magnates,
But for poor and humble folk;
Mere polygamy's not sinful,
Under Alimony's cloak.
VIII.
If thou 'rt rich, just grab more millions,
Fleece and skin the public lamb;
Grind the poor, men, women, children;
Jail the wretch who steals a ham.
IX.
When you lie about your plunder,
With apologetic cough,
It is not to bear false witness,
But to swear your taxes off.
X.
Do not covet or desire
Things nailed down or things red hot;
Simply seize weak neighbors' fortunes,
Be content with all they've got.
XI.
Thou canst break the laws wide open,
And the people calmly flout;
But this plan is cheaper, Plutie,—
Do, but do not be found out.
Now, the first and great commandment
Is to salt
the bird Success;
And the second, without ceasing
Prey, and then avoid duress.
Call thy piracy plain business,
Hide behind thy legal gang:
On these hints and these commandments
All the Law of Profits hang.