Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

WTfi collb Won The Macon Daily Telegraph FOUR PAGES MACON, (tA., SUNDAY . MORNING, MAY 24, 1908 THIRD SECTION Hoke Smith's Connection With The Georgia Southern Failure On May 12, 1895. Mr. John T. Boifeuil- let wrote a seven-column news story for the Atlanta Constitution Riving: the his tory of the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad from Its inception to and through the failure of the Macon Con struction Company, up to the time it was bought In by the Southern Railroad. This is an interesting part of that story: About this time, when the Georgia Southern and Florida was operating under full headway and was doing a thriving business, and the Macon and Birming ham was about completed to LaGrange. and work was progressing rapidly on the Macon and Atlantic, and Macon " Con- structlon stock was selling 3 for 1. or $30,000 * or $10,000. President Sparks commenced negotiating with President Robinson, of the Seaboard Air-Line, for the sale of the Georgia Southern. He went North for the purpose of consum mating the deal. "Tell Our Stockholders." On February 20. 1891. the city of Macon was shaken from center to circumference b v a telegram from President Sparks, of the Macon Construction Company, an nouncing that the Seaboard Air-Line had , leased the Georgia Southern. Here is a ropy of the magic and official telegram, as received by President George B. Tur- Pjn* <?f Georgia Southern, about 3 o clock n. m.: _ “BALTIMORE. Feb. 20. 1891.—To JiCrffiXJP B. Turpin. President Macon. Ga. —Kv.cr.nson builds the road at once to Elberton. guarantees interest on our bonds at 6 per cent and 0 per cent on $2,000,000 of our stock until the gross earnings shall be $1,000,000. when the guarantee Is to be 7 ner cent, there to re main. Tell our stockholders. "W. B. SPARKS. President." The effect of this telegram was elec trical. Not only the stockholders, but every one in the city was told the thrill ing news. The afternoon papers an nounced it. and there was general re joicing—a regular love feast. All the bright dreams concerning the Georgia Southern system were about to be real ized. Macon Construction stock went booming to $40,090 per share. 4 for 1. A sale of a quarter of a share is said to have been made at $10,280. or at the rate 000. The populace seemed to have Lild. and Mr. Sparks was the hero |hour. If he had not had faith in with Robinson be could easily Imposed of his four shares of stork, lost him $40,000. for $150,000 and live pocketed hundreds of thons- [pre.by using the information to I'*te gain, and advantage. “Tell F:kholders!“—no speculative jobs fo private advantage to be used or given awav. The head of a splen- [rporation. fronting opportunities of lal gain that would be regarded ns nate and eagerly seized bv many 1 called reputable in the business woim. Quietly and resolutely put them asider^HIs first message was to the offi cial hfeid of the railroad, open and ex plicit. the request emphasized in climax |o give every single stockholder on equal chance in the opportunities and the pleasure created by his masterstroke. Robinson Arrives in Macon. On March 5. 1891. President Robinson. L. McLean, of Baltimore, a director of the Seaboard; General Manager Winder. Hon. Hoke Smith and others arrived in the city at 10:45 o’clock a. m.. and re mained at the Brown House until the next day. when they left with President Sparks on a tour of inspection of the line. On March 10. 1891. President Snarks re turned alone from Palatka. and President Robinson went back to Baltimore via Savannah. This was significant. and meant that Robinson had declined to stand to his agreement to lease the Geor gia Southern. The agreement was made based n r\ earnings of $800,000 per annum. A.i examination of the books of the Geor gia Southern showed that these figures were correct. To Hon. Hoke Smith, more than to any one else, the Georgia Southern manage ment thinks Is due Robinson’s refusal to iease the road. On the night of March 8th. at Palatka. the thunderbolt fell. President Robinson then, for the first time, informed Presi dent Snarks that he would not take the road President Snarks could obtain from President Robinson no definite reason for this decision. President Sparks returned from Pa in tka on Tuesday morning. To only a f«w of his intimate associates In the road did he tell of- Robinson’s withdrawal from the agreement. The matter was kept a profound secret during the day. The Great Crash. That night, about 8:30 o’clock. March 10. 1891. Judge A. L. Miller, of the Macon circuit, signed an order appointing Pres ident Sparks temporary receiver of the Macon Construction Company and its properties. He was afterwards made per manent receiver. The petition and bill for receiver were presented bv Hardeman. Davis & Turner, attorneys for the con tractors. McTighe ft Co. McTighe ft Co. had that afternoon filed two liens against the company and roads. One of the liens was against the Macon and Atlantic Road for $298,000. They had no security ex cept $100 000 of bonds of the Macon and Atlantic Road. Only fifteen miles of the road were completed at the time of the collapse, and upon that 8300.000 of bonds h9d been issued. 8200.000 of which bad been hypothecated bv the Macon and Sa vannah Construction Company to the creditors. McTighe ft Co.’s second lien was against the Macon and Birmingham Road for $99,000. At the time the lien was filed McTighe ft Co. had $91,000 of Macon and Birmingham bonds. United States Court Feared. Tt has always beep the understanding that the action of McTighe ft Co. against the. Macon Construction Company was a friendly suit, agreed on and understood. It is said that one reason why their pe tition was filed so soon after the arrival of Sparks from Palatka was that, the construction comtwnv did not wish the* petition *or receiver to be brought in the United States Court, as was possible by some foreign creditors. On the night of the appointment of Mr. imparks as receiver but verv few people knew it. Newspaper men learned of it. and about 11 o’clock one of them called at Mr. Sparks' house to get an interview with him about the matter. Mr. Snarks was in bed asleep and when awakened bad nothing to sav for publication. Very men. similarly situated, would have Y _T-tbe composure to sleep. Manv did Jfctecpless nights or. account of the But thte demonstrates the iron Mr. y-orirtes has always been known to possess. He was the one man above all others naturallv to b« the most affected All his dreams of ambition and wealth had been dissipated, and hopes of successful nrolects bla«t#»d in a single hour Tie had been suddenly and ruth lessly cheeked in bis phenomenal career of enterprise and development. And yet b^ could sie^p! The City Startled. The next morning the citv was startled by the announcement of the failure. It h&d never before experienced so great a shock. Business was paralyzed for the time being, and trade prostrated. Men saw fortunes glide away and pass from sight and reality forever. The public be came alarmed through fear that bank- . ruptev might overtake business houses and financial institutions. The conster nation increased when it was announced that the Capital ' Bank. W- U. Virgin president, capital stock $100,000. had as signed to Vice-President W. W. Collins. The hank had advanced largely on Macon Construction stock. The bank has never resumed business. No other bank col lapsed. Quite a number of business houses that have gone to the wall some time since the collapse of the Macon Con struction Companv date their trouble to this crash. Merchants rated over $100.- 000 and who-did not own more than $.5,009 of Construction stock charge their em barrassment to the Construction disaster, v. How Much Money Was Lost. It is difficult to estimate the losses in this city by the Construction failure. Some sums bad been loaned on the stock at more than a million dollars. Much of the stock sold at 3’A for 1. Then la rye sums had been loaned on the stock, whlrn have never been paid back, and the stock seif, of course, is worthless. Losses to ado and investment by the demoralizing Toots of the failure cannot be accu- uely estimated and will never be MiaVa has been perhaps as much as pi 59.000 lost in the fluctuating value of ti e bonds o? the Georgia Southern. Bonds that were bought at $100 have beep sac rificed at $60. At one time the bonds went as high as $101. with accrued inter est. and then tumbled to $53. At one time fully $1,500,000 of the bonds were owned in Macon, but they have gradually dropped -into the hands of other parties until now perhaps there are not over $100,000 held in this c|ty. Since the con firmation of the sale of the Georgia Southern the bonds have’advanced a few points and - are now worth about $90. Nearly all of the bonds have been pooled under an arrangement made in 1892. The bondholders met in Baltimore and ap pointed a bondholders’ committee, with H. P. Smart, of Savannah, chairman, to protect the interest of the bondholders. It is this committee that has purchased the Georgia Southern Road for the bond holders. Assets and Liabilities. The assets and liabilities of the defunct corporations form an interesting study. A statement of these filed at the time the receiver was appointed shows the fol lowing: First Is the Macon Construction Com pany: ASSETS. Thomasvillc division .$ Cycloneta farm Beach Haven Real estate Stock of other corporations... Stocks, bonds and notes de posited as collateral for loans 2,252.500.00 Macon and Savannah Con struction Company Four thousand two hundred and seventy-five shares of stock Georgia Southern Road not issued, at $1,000 per share 4,275,000.00 One thousand four hundred and fifty-five shares stock Macon and Birmingham Road not issued 1.455.000.00 Lots at different stations.... 30.000.00 26.222.46 56.980.13 7.S47.67 66.212.41 27.000.00 63.299.56 9.379.97 20.000.00 15.019.68 8.000.00 Total assets $8.265.250.30’ LIABILITIES. A. Backer $ 374.791.90 Pills payable 1.603.069.02 Rhode Island Locomotive Works Sundry contracts, about Exchange Bank Vouchers and estimates sub ject to adjustment Total liabilities $2,029,212.09 BILLS PAYABLE. The bills payable are as follows: A. Backer. Nfw York $ 295.312.50 National Bank of Baltimore.. 25.000.00 Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Baltimore 25.000.00 G. Ober ft Sons. Baltimore... 75.000.00 Exchange Bank. Macon 65.999.05 Hanover Nat. Bank. N. Y.... 212.0OO.00 Standard Oil Company 3.577.35 Diamond State Iron Co.. Wil mington. Del 20.713.46 Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co.. New York 460.189.S9 Car trust notes. For the Macon and Birmingham Road: U. S. Rolling stock Co.. N. Y..$ 92.243.34 Bank State of New York ... 53.752.77 For Georgia Southern and Florida: Post. Martin ft Co.. N. Y. .. 1S4.192.29 For*Macon and Atlanta Road: C. S. Rolling Stock Co 21.390.11 Bank State of New York .... 20.696.76 Total bills payable $1,603,069.02 DEPOSITS OF BONDS. The following bonds, stocks, etc., have been deposited bv the Macon Construc tion Company with the following parties as collateral to secure loans, etc.: Nine hundred and eighty-five bonds of the Georgia Southern and Macon and Birmingham are deposited with A. Backer, of New York: f I , «vo hundred and fifty Georgia South ern bonds with Hanover National Bank. One hundred find fifty Macon and Birmingham bonds with National Bank of Baltimore. One hundred and fifty Macon and Birmingham bonds with G. Ober & Sons, of New York. Six hundred Macon and Birmingham bonds with Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company. Fiftv Macon and Birmingham bonds with Fidelity and Deposit Company, of Baltimore. Fifty Macon and Birmingham bonds with Exchange Bank, of Macon. This bank also holds a mortgage on the Ocean Pond property In Lowndes County, ap praised at $13,528.22. and on the Potato creek property, in Upson County, ap praised at $8,348, and there is also de posited with this bank as collateral about $50,000 'worth of shares of stock in the Cordele Hotel Company, manufacturing company, shoe factory, guano company and the Cordele Bank: also in the Geor gia Fruit and Vegetable Exchange, and Elherta Peach Companv. The bank also holds a $20,000 note of the Macon Con struction Company. Second—The Georgia Southern Rail road: ASSETS. Construction $2,961,807.51 Equipment 801.942.56 Total $2,763,810.10 LIABILITIES. Bonds 1 $3,420,000.00 Accounts 77.872.00 Wages 42.102.00 Total Third—Macon and road: ASSETS. Construction $l.°8°.?56.r*3 Equipment 253.342.00 Total $1,535,599.52 LIABILITIES. Bonds $1,940,000.00 Accounts . 8.000.00 Total .$1,948,000.00 holder this question: "What do you sup pose Hoke Smith’s fee will be?" The re ply was $50,000. Col. Smart replied: “Yes, I suppose so, for you know a cab inet officer comes high. But.” continued Col. Smart, “if the fees are beyond all reason we can appeal to a jury.” Col. Smart was evidently under the impression that though the fees were a matter of contract, as lawyers claim, the law did not arbitrarily require the payment of them if proper objection was made. Just pause for a moment and consider what a jury would have done with those fees! It might have given Mr. Smith $5,000 and other lawyers in proportion. If the truth was known it might be that Col. Smart was consulted very little as to what the amount of the fees should be. Smith and Sparks. Here Is a bright bit of gossip that has been communicated to me by a bond holder in connection with this question of fees. He says that Receiver Sparks and Mr. Hoke Smith and others were in a room at the Hotel Lanier. T believe he said, a night or so before the confirma tion of the sale. They were discussing “fees." , It is said tnat Mr. Sparks spoke of put ting in his claim for $100,000 as addi tional compensation for his services as receiver. Mr. Smith was astounded at the sum presumably, because Mr . Sparks is not a lawyer. Such a fee Mr. Smith doubtless thought was not equitable or to be tolerated outside of the lega’ ^profes sion. Mr. Smith protested. Mr. Sparks explained that the burden of man agement of the road had been bpon him during all these trying times of the re ceivership. and that he had handled mil lions of dollars- and on this account should be paid proportionately. Mr. Smith hooted at this line of reasoning, and said Mr. Sparks ougnt not to expect payment on every dollar that massed through his hands. In illustration of this point. Mr. Smith cited the fact that he was interested in a certain baqk in At lanta. the cashier of which handles mil lions of money during the year, but this did not entitle the cashier to participate in every dollar that passed through his but was disappointed. He determined to have his revenge. He accordingly gave the bondholders’ committee much annoy ance in the eourts. and finally obtained a satisfactory price for his bonds. His at torney. Leopold Wallach. may have played a bluff game in Macon, but it won over a full hand. The. debts of the Georgia Southern are comparatively small, and will soon be liquidated. The Construction Company, however, is loaded down with an incubus that can never be shaken off. Its stock will never be worth a nickel. Moonshine is far more valuable. Large Fees to Lawyers. A most interesting feature of the con firmation. and one around which hovered much public interest and curiosity, was the amount of fees to be allowed the at torneys. etc. The biggest plum went to Secretary of the Interior Hoke Smith. Congressman C. L. Bartlett and Washington Dessau. They were given a lump sum of $60,000 for their services as attorneys fo** the Mer cantile Trust and Deposit Company, of Baltimore, the trustee for the first mort gage bondholders. Mr. Smith was lead ing counsel and he associated Messrs. Dessau and Bartlett with him in the case. It is understood that Mr. Smith split the fee right in half, reserving $30.- 000 for himself and giving $30,000 to Des sau ft Bartlett, which, it is presumed, they divided equally. The fee of $60,000 is really regarded as having been paid to Mr. Smith alone and he shared with the two Macon gentlemen, who rendered the bulk of the services on their side of the case. He named his fee and got it. The Mercantile Trust and Deposit Com pany was allowed $20,000 for Its services as trustee for the bondholders. It is a mvsterv to the public why the concern was allowed so large a sum. especially in view of the fact that when the bond holders deposited their bonds with the company a payment of $3 on each bond so deposited had to bo made to the com pany. This of itself amounted to a snug sum—at least $9,000 or $10,000. This S3 assessment on each bond was to defray “expenses." A. O. Bacon was allowed $4,375 as at torney for the receiver from March. 1891. to December 31. 1892; and the firm of Bacon & Miller was allowed $5,625 as at torneys for the receiver from January 1. 1893. to the present time. Tn other words. Messrs. A. O. Bacon and A. L. Miller were allowed $10,000. Gustln. Guerry ft Hal! attorneys for the receiver, were allowed $1,000 on ac count of fees for services in representing the receiver. This is in addition to the regular salary of $10,000 per annum that has been paid them as attorneys for the receiver since the road went Into the hands of the receiver in March. 1891. The commissioners of sale. J. L. Harde man, R. A. Nisbet and T. B. Gresham, were each allowed $1,500. or a total of $4,500. for their services in selling the road at public outcry. The original com pensation fixed for each * commissioner was $1,000. but the .amount was Increased to $1,500 each, as they performed services not contemplated at the time of the fixing of the compensation. R. A. Nisbet, clerk of Bibb Superior Court, was allowed $1,000 .on account of his costs against the Georgia Southern and Florida, and was allowed $263.29 costs against the Macon and Atlantic Road. Roland Ellis was allowed $150 for ser vices rendered in making out reports and examining records. The total amount allowed in fees and costs was $96,650. Of this the lawyers receive $71,150. Mercantile Trust and De posit Company $20,000. commissioners of sale $4,500. clerk’s costs $1,000. The regular salary that has been paid Gustln, Guerry ft Hall as attorneys for the receiver, since March. 1891. at $10,000 rer year, amounts to more than $40,000. Hardeman. Da^I« & Turner haw been paid about $6,500 for fringing the receiv er's bill into court. If these two amounts Of $46,500 are added to the $71,150 the to tal amount allowed in lawyers’ fees on account of the receivership of the Geor gia Southern and Florida Railroad is $117,650 to date. Of course there are other attorney fees growing out of the Macon and Birming ham Railroad and the Macon and Atlantic Railroads that are not included in the above sum of $117,650. A Bombshell of Surprise. The large size of some of the fees has fallen as a bombshell of surprise and as tonishment In this community and throughout the State. The matter has been the subject of considerable unfa vorable comment and much harsh criti cism. Public opinion does not approve of the law that allows such large fees. Of course, there are two sides to the question. The only persons who endorse the large fees are the lawyers. They say that the fees are right and proper, and not out of proportion to the services ren dered. as they cover a period of several years, and the fees were a matter of con tract between the attorneys and the bondholders, and were paid only bv the bondholders, and without detriment to the interests of any other creditors of the road, and without prejudice to any claims against the property. Some of the lawyers become very indignant when the justice of the fee is attacked, and say the matter is no concern of the pub lic. They say the chairman of the bond- _ , . _ . , ... holders’ committee. Col. H. P. Smart. To the-people of Georgia (with par was present when the fees were agreed ticular emphasis on the first two and on and offered no objection or protest, i . . . TT , - ... and. what is more, that the fees had been , the last two words): Hoke Smith agreed on months prior to the confirma- j came before the people of Georgia in tion of the sale. , The answer of the public to all this can i 1906 as a candidate with two issues, he expressed in the voice of one who ; viz., negro disfranchisement and the has many thousands of dollars invested in j regulations of the corporations. He ' was nominated and elected, and the I consider Mr, Smith f fee exorbitant _ • « . _i ri j : „ law* — and calculated to break the public faith i Legislature enacted into la* ** in the justice of the lav/ and. courts, pressed will of the people as ao\o- While It may be true that the fees cover* cated by Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith hands, and. accordingly, he was only paid a certain salary per annum. Remarking upon this Incident the bond holder said to m?: “I certainly think It was very Inconsistent In Mr. Smith to object to Mr. Sparks’ proposed fee of $100,000, for more than four years of con tinuous dally services as receiver, when Mr. Smith had on Ice a $60,000 fee for le gal services which would not cover two weeks of continuous labor." It is said that Mr. Sparks will petition for extra fees as receiver at a later date, perhaps, when he is finally dismissed from the receivership. He has been paid $6,000 per year as receiver of the Georgia Southern and Florida Road, since it has been operating under- a receiver. March 10. 1891. He also receives $1,200 per year as receiver of the Macon and Birming ham Railroad. As receiver he has cer tainly managed the property well and economicallv. The roadbed, trade ana rolling stock are In excellent condition, and traffic and travel are large and in creasing On the eonflrenatlon of the sale Receiver Sparks repoifvd that he had on hand $94,000 in ca:lt arising from the earnings of the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad. Judge Griggs ordered that he pay $50,000 of this amount to the com missioners. Hardeman. Nisbet and Gres- ham. to be used by them in the payment of the various fees, claims, etc., allowed bv the court. This made a total or $350,000 that the commissioners had In hand, to-wit: $50,000 paid hv the pur chasers on the dav of sale. $3a0.000 paid hv the purchasers when the sale was con firmed. and the $50,000 paid by Receiver Pnarks The commissioners deposited the amount in the Exchange Rank, sun- ject to their check. When Mr. Smith departed from Macon on April 30. he car- rled with him a check for.*5®^5? OU w.S! his Individual fee. to-wit, $30,000. -With this sum of money In his vest pocket there Is no reason whv Mr. Smith should not see a "silver" lining to every cloud, and believe there are prosperous times in Georqla. -As has been well. said. Mr. Smith evidently thinks not only of the quality of money but quantity. A. System Without a Mode One who reads 3Ir. Louis Pendle ton's "Life of Alexandei H. Stephens" is deeply impressed with Mr. Steph ens’ intense love for our system of government, and how jealous he was of any encroachments upon its prin ciples. And the lamented Senator 'Hill de livered on May 10, 1879 in the Senate of the United States a memorable speech, showing wherein our system is national, wherein federative, where in executive. He says: "It is the noblest govern ment, the greatest system that human wisdom ever devised, and could not have been framed by human wisdom alone.” * * * "It is such as the Roman never .dreamed of, such as the Grecian never conceived, and such as European intel lect never had power tc evolve. * * “In the preservation of our Union of States, this Confederate nation, part Federal, part national. I have never been able to see anything but grandeur and a glory such as no other people ever enjoyed. But in the destruction of the States, by the Baals of consoli dation, I have never been able to see but rigid, hopeless despotism!” with all its endless oppressions." The Socialists are pressing for a government altogether national, sub mitting all questions to the people as a "committee of the whole" This Mr. Hill declares is at War with our svstem. which is not a system of unbridled Democracy. He says: "Our government is not altogether national, since the people of the United States never passed upon a single question ns •i'inn I a unit, as one ncoo’c. Th«i; pever was Mr. Watson says: "Anybody who will study our Institutions will see at once that ours is not a pure Democracy, Neither in national affairs nor in State affairs does mere weight of popula tion rule. “The evil of a pure Democracy is that the minority have no protection from the majority. Upon this hidden reef all the pure democracies of ancient and modern times struck and went down. ' "Our forefathers wished to avoid this danger in framing national and State governments, qnd they invented a system of checks and balances by which the minority could protest itself against a majority, when it grew un scrupulous. “If our system of government were intended to be a pure democracy representation would be based on population alone. "But is it not so. * * * The idea is that mere numbers shall not arbi trarily control. Majorites shall not have everything their own way. Minorities shall have representation and protectiop. * « » The population of New York gives her thirty times as much power in the House as Dela ware. hut in the Senate the two are equal. * * * "Thus our national system is a mixed system—power being based partly upon population and partly on territorial organization. So it is in the States themselves. * * •' "Any one who wants to be guided by historic precedent and constitu tional authority should study the de bates of the convention of 1877. He MI see clearly why It was that the groups (mainly of three counties each) and given one Senator each without regard: to population.” Mr. Watson calls upon his readers to read the speeches 0? Robert Tombs, Nilson Tift.. A. R. Lawton. Chas. J. Jenkins and others in the great con stitutional convention of 1877. where a question submitted to the people °t; county organizations were cut into 44 the United States, as one aggregate - -- people. They never voted on any question as one aggregate people. 4 * * r "While we have agreed to abandon secession, while we have agreed never to divide the States, we have never agreed to destrov the States.” ... _ Alex Stephens. Ben Hill. Boh Toonbs, | was debated this question of reprosen- Ohas. J. Jenkins. Joseph E. Brown, Al- | tation by population and by terri- fred H. Colquitt. Jno. B. Gordon, all torial organization. held in reverence our system of gov- | Mr. Watson declares these men were ernment. .right in protecting minorities, and And Hon. Thomas E. Watson, who says further "that those counties claims to he the greatest of Jefferson- which vote in this campaign for the j ians. in a recent editorial in The Jef- J losing candidate are to have their j fersonian. proclaims the same lovaltv j convention delegates chosen, by the to our great syptem, framed in 1787, j successful candidate. Thus the minor- j and which Mr. Hill declared "is the ity counties are not to he allowed to result of wisdom, the result of ex- ! choose their own delegates at All." I perience. the result of conditions an.) j Mr. Watson takes the same view and , the result of all the feelings and ele- | makes the same protest of ‘Judge W. J ments that can stimu ! ate the intellect I L. Grice in his recent article in The and prompt the desire of men." Telegraph. J. C. ROOSEVELT, WILLIAMS, AND STANDPATTERS BY SAVOYARD. President Roosevelt has made the declaration that he is a Republican be fore ho is a tarifl revisionist; his letter to Ed H. Harrimanjust be fore the election of 1904, shows that’he is a Republican before he is a trust- buster, and his acceptance of the Alli son amendment (that was forged in Wall street) to the Hepburn rate bill, of agonizing memory, discloses that he is a Republican before he is an octo pus-chaser. Indeed, there is nothing plainer than that President Roosevelt prefers any abuse that now exists rather than allow the Democratic party any credit for any sort of reform. For instance, John Sharp Williams had the Republican majority surrounded and short of victuals the other day in his campaign for free wood pulp and free print paper, but when the President came on the scene with his character istically sensational message and thun dering in the index—as usual—there was not one word of and concerning tariff reform in the whole document. Rather than get an honest and con stitutional tariff, according to his defi nition of it in his writing, rather than get it with Democratic aid. President Roosevelt will be as much of a stand patter as Aldrich or Dalzell or the American Economist itself And yet the land is full of Democrats who throw their ready hats high in air and shout applause every time they hear his name, and the present leader of the Democratic party has given the Re publican President a certificate of good political character. In 1860 the Republican party pre tended to be a descendant of Thomas Jefferson. In 1896 the then Democratic papacy canonized Abraharr Lincoln as a saint of the Democratic calendar. In 1908 there are hundreds of thous ands of honest men who delude them selves into the absurdity that they arc Democrats and who actually think Theodore Roosevelt is a good Demo crat. As to the Republican party be ing a child of Jefferson, the thing is too silly to discuss. So far from Abra ham Lincoln beiticr a Democrat, his en tire political life was a constant war fare against that party. He was a Hamiltonian. He idolized Henry Clay. He positively hated Andrew Jackson, and yet Ben Tillman and W. J. Bryan will quote you Abraham Lincoln for good Democratic doctrine Roosevelt would have mugwumped in 1884 along with Henry Ward Beecher. Carl Schurz, Horace White, George William Curtis. Georgs Fred Williams, and that set, but for the fact that It is a moral impossibility for Theodore Roosevelt to voluntarily assume any position or do anything whatever that he thought would tend to the advantage of the Democratic party. Let .those who be lieve in Roosevelt Democracy read what he said of Jefferson and Jackson. And then I wish every Southern State would pass, a law competing every Southern Democrat to read his letter to President Jefferson Davis. This -very year the Lord hath de livered the Republican party into the hands of the Democracy, but the Democracy, to all appearance, abso lutely refuses to take charge of the captive:- Smith’s High Tariff on Money three Issues, viz.. Disfranchisement, Prohibition and Support of the Rail road Commission. Mr. Smith has repeatedly stated in his public speeches in 1908 that those who voted for him on June 4th, voted for the support of the Constitutional Amendment, and that those who voted for Mr. Brown on June 4th. voted against the support of the Constitu tional Amendment. As a matter of and Comnn Construction $ Equipment, etc Colleton Macon and Atlantic bonds, do- po.sited with New York Se- euritv and Trust Companv.. Kennedy. Todd ft Co., security for loan Macon Construction Company, balance on subscription 259.t92.60 336!onh.oo 45.000.00 100.000.00 200.000.00 290.000.00 Total *1.525?2*5.91 Liabilities $ 531.865.92 Out of Receivers’ Hands. The first of the corporations to pet out of the band** of a receiver was the Macon and Atlantic Railroad. Tt was sold at nubile outcry bv Commissioner Isaac Hardeman for $419,000. to Col. John R. Young. of Savannah, and others. Tt • s said that Mr. W. B. Snarks was allowed $14,000 for his services as receiver of this property, and It is further reporter! that he has applied this amount to the pavment of *he McTighe ft Co. bond, to which reference will be made later. The Purchasers of the Macon and At lantic Railroad have reorganized it un der the name of the Atlantic Short-Line and the property will doubtless be «oM to the Macon. Dublin and Savannah Road at $250,000. Various Litigation. The • Construction Company and the Georgia Southern system have pone through certain litigation since they were placed in the hands of a receiver. Judge C. C. Kihhee was appointed special master to hear various branches of it. On November 17. 1894. just one year after the first, decree of sale was granted, the second decree was granted b** Judge Gricps. Simon Borg ft Co., bankers, of New York, through their attorneys Leo pold Wallach. of New York, and King ft Spalding, of Atlanta, petitioned for a postponement of the sale and modification of the decree. After two nr three unsuccessful at tempts to sell the road it was finally bought at public, sale by Rklpwith WJ1- mer. of Baltimore. Mr. Wilme- repre sented the fir*?* mortgage bondholders. Mv» b»d $3,090,000. The total cash paid •i this transaction was about *350.009. the rest, of ihe purchase price being made up iu securities stockholders get absolutely noth ing—not a penny—not a pound of cotton waste. What Borg Wanted. It Is said that Simon Bore, desired to be put on the bondholders committee when It was fnrmed in November. 1892. but the shrewd New Yorker w**s “freezed” out.-and he did not get on the commit tee. He wanted to be on the Fourth—Macon and Atlantic Railroad services runninq throuqh two or three endorsed bv the people largely on ac- ; fact, you all know that "For the id Macon and Savannah Construction years, it Is also true that the combined I oount 0 f ^ls stand for the disfran- ! Amendment" and "Against the continti^d V tabor n °The°Yitkiat7on 'over S t°e ! chisement of the negro; the people so Amendment" will not appear on your foreclosure of the mcrta;*qe has been i understood it in 1906, as did the Leg- ballot at all on June 4th. You are small and certainly not Intricate. There islature 1n 1907. To substantiate this going to vote for the nomination of has been no heavy fighting in the courts. | position, I quote frbm an editorial a -candidate for Governor, just as as is usually the case in railroad foreclo- written by Mr. Watson (Mr .Smith’s ( many of you are going to vote for ?pp?i?nniv d h5rm«nim,c P W »« S f ■ political ally at the time) in Septem- the nomination at the same time of a hea?d of so^HtS?e ?S£tentPon No lawye? , ber. 1907: . ... I candidate for County Treasurer, a can- ever wen such large fees so eas''." I "In spite of lobbyists and.obstruc- djdate for County Ordinary, etc., and A well known capitalist, who has money j tionists, he WRUNG from the Legis- and the nomination of a candidate for in^ the Georgia Southern, shvs: j lature a sweeping good law, which Governor has no more bearing on the “I do not consider that the bondholders i ff j veg t ^ e Railroad Commission the Constitutional Amendment which you mq to ny the n fee? mT Hok^Smith^to 1 P"wer of the State it, dealiriK with will vote for 1n OCTOBER than the ? nauf the larnest fee. was not j public service corporations. He also nomination of a candidate for your ey of the bondholders’ commit-I SECURED the passage of a hill. County Treasurer. Mr. Smith has no which redeems the MAIN PLEDGE more to do with the passage of the I OF HIS CAMPAIGN, to-wit: THE Constitutional Amendment, to be voted i DISFRANCHISEMENT BILL.” ; for next October (not June 4th) than j He WRUNG from the Legislature | you or I. Mr. Smith has one __vote; j the Ra ; iroad Commission bill, but i each of you have one vote; Mr. Brown there was no WRINGING process nec- has one vote: I have one vote in the essary to get through the DISFRAN- | election next October, and all of us CHISEMENT BILL, because the Leg- i have said we will vote "“For the islature knew the people had voted! Amendment.” I do not know one for Mr. Smith for his stand on dis- i dozen iv'hite Democrats in Oeorgia franehisement. to the exclusion of all j who win vote against the Amend- other minor pledges. ’ ment. T defy Mr. Smith to name one Mr. Smith, the candidate, repeatedly hundred white Democratic citizens of said in his public speeches of 1906: this State who will vote against the "Let us demand that legislation be Amendment. Can you name, many? passed which will prevent the opera- | One would judge from all the fuss tion of railroads in Georgia by for eign corporations. If we forbid the operation of railroads in Georgia by foreign corporations or non-resident citizens, those foreign corporations which own the railroads will he forced to sell them.” While the people within the State whom vms the attorney tee. but the attorney of the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company, the concern which foreclosed the mortgage, and which had the road In Its qrasn and the bond holders at Its mercy.. The bondholders could do nothing but agree. It may be true that the bondholders’ committee as sented to the fees, but their consent did not give satisfaction to manv bondholders. The committee was. it is true, the agent or trustees of the bondholders, and If the committee made a bad bargain the bondholders were powerless to prevent Jt. If the fees were not so large, the bondholders would certainly realize on their bonds. What eared the Mercantile Trust Company how large a fee was p-Jd their attornevs by the bondholders? Not a cent would come out of its treasury.” A gentleman prominent in the affairs of the Georgia Southern says: "I take no stock in the statement that the fees of the lawyers were agreed on months before the confirmation of the sale. Thev mav have been agreed on between themselves, but not consented to bv the bondholders’ committee. I sav this because a large Northern bondholder, and who I believe is a member of the bondholders* committee, was heard to say in Macon just before the sale of the road: "We tremble p.t the. mere contem plation of what Hoke Smith’s fee may be. I don’t know what It will be yet. but I apprehend It wifi be a 'hair-raiser. r ft seems to me. therefore. If the fees had been agreed on a long time since, that this larne Northern and official bond holder who was living right In the nest of the owners that be. In Biltimore. Washington and New Yo**k, would have known^sometblng about the size of the proposed fees." Did Chairman Smart Know? Did even Col. Smart, chairman of the bondholders’ committee, know what the fc«us would be until the day they were named In court? I do not believe he did. for I am informed by a bondholder that Col. Smart was rathei* speculative In Ms ... presence on what would be the amount Inside," of the fees. Col. Smart asked this bond- Mi*. Smith is making over the dis franehisement issue (?) that he is advocating more legislation on the subject. If so. why not be frank about it and tell the people that "If you will nominate me again, I will have the next Legislature pass a bill so. that you can in October 1909 ratify of Georgia were endorsing Mr. Smith, | your ratification of the Amendment to principally on the negro question, the j the Constitution in October. 1908." If people without the State who had | there is any use for it. I am porfec - their money invested in Georgia be- j ly willing to ratify the Amendment lieved that* he was endorsed for his i every October for the balance of my stand against foreign capital. Why? life. So are you; so is Mr. Brown; Because it mattered not .to them • so is Mr. Smith; but we must wait whether we disfranchised the negro, or whether we did not; but it did matter to them if their investments were attacked or destroyed. Tt is a fact that the people, north, cast, west and abroad, from which sources we look for capital with which to de velop Georgia’s varied industries be lieved then and believe nrsar that this State is on record as opposed to for eign capital. Mr. -^rhith comes before the people of Georgia in 1308 as a candidate on for October: it would not be lawful to vote on it in the June Primaries. I shall only mention the disgusting * Equal ity Circular" distributed bin- signed by the Brooks County Smith Supporters, and said to be endorsed by Mr. Smith, to say that T must HEAR Mr. Smith SAY that he en dorses the sentiment and the insinua tion^ thereby conveyed: that those who vote for Mr. Brown will be en dorsing that disgusting and filthy banquet in New York, before I can for political life or death in Georgia. I also believe that he is not the man to stoop THAT low: for, if he wins by that route, he will have a tremen- bring my 'mind to believe it. While I believe that Mr. Smith is fighting dous big minority in the State of Georgia who will have lost all possi ble respect for him. and if he loses by that route, he is an outcast among Southern gentlemen. If you vote to nominate Mr. Smith for the second term, what will the people without, the State of Georgia believe as to your action? Mr. Smith has repeatedly announced that he has not changed his policy; worse, that he has not "commenced to begin." Can this people afford to announce to the world that the State of Georgia goes on record as ACTUALLY FA VORING A HIGH TARIFF ON MONEY, the one thing necessary with which to provide brc>id', meat and raiment? That is* what you do if you nominate Mr. Smith. There is no Prohibition issue to dis turbs. The records of both candidates on Prohibition are well known. Mr. Smith went out of the whiskey busi ness along with the rest of the whis key men and saloon keepers when the General Assembly passed the Prohibi tion Bill. Mr. Brown lost his job about the same time, but Mr. Brown lost his job IN SPITE OF A LAW, not BY REASON OF A LAW. Judge Covington, one of the authors of the Prohibition Bill, writing to one of his fellow Prohibitoners, F. L. Seely, Editor of the Atlanta Georgian, more than thirty days ago, says: "Really, Mr. Brown has Mr. Smith beat at this moment." Let us make it unanimous, and send out to the world Lj no niistakable language, the fact that Georgia throws wide open her gates to foreign capital, and insures a just and equit able return for it. If capital cannot be induced to., work 1n Georcrla. i Hoke Smith tell us how our labor CAN work? What can it work at if there is no money to start the wheels of industry moving? Did Mr. Smith "rush out" anC?sup- port his Railroad Commission in the matter of the order granting the rail roads the right to issue free passes to Mr. Betjeman, the immigration agent? No sir. He ignominiously re puted them and their action, stating he did not approve of the commis sion’s order, and that the passes would be back in the C’apitol by the end of the week. Mr. Smith, the candidate (and he has no other entitlements at this time) is now going around this State, crying "Don’t humiliate me by refus ing me your endorsement for fhe sec ond term, against all precedent." Did Mr. Smith adhere to "all precedent" when he dismissed the appointee of his predecessor within three weeks of the expiration of the term for which Governor Terrell appointed Mr. Brown? Did Mr. Brown not suffer all sorts of humiliation, which Mr. Smith now so dreads? Did Mr. Smith adhere to “all precedent" whem he helped to disfranchise the smaller countes of Georgia by advocating Rule Nor 8 of the State Executive Committee? Don’t let Mr. Smith fool you about voting on JUNE FOURTH. NEGRO DISFRANCHISEMENT ts not touched on JUNE FOURTH. Don’t let Mr. Smith fool * you on PROHIBITION. ’ . Don’t let Mr. Smith induce you to put a HIGH TARIFF ON MONEY. Don’t vote awav vour BIRTHRIGHT Of REPRESENTATION. Hoke Smith stands today before the people* of Georgia, tossing high in sir a coin, exclaiming as it turns over and oyer, and falls at your feet, "Heads I win; tails you lose." J. T. PENDER. Atlanta May 21st. Who seeks and will not take, when. once ’tis offered. Shall never find it more. President Roosevelt, the leader of the Republican party—and to some seeming, the leader of the Democratic party also—has made a plea in confes sion and avoidance, and Elihu Root # x the Melanchthon of this Luther, dress ed it in the gorgeous raiment of sop histry, viz: The tenth amendment to the Federal Constitution is confessed; but it is avoided and rendered nugatory by con struction—that is to say, a State has reserved rights, but If it neglects or refuses to exercise them it becomes the right and the duty of the Federal es tablishment to usurp them. If that is not the literal annihillation of State sovereignty and the concentration of all political power at this capital I wish somebody would tell me what it is. Here Is an example: That prodigy for suggested political mischief, the Hon. Albert Jeremiah Beveridge—he of the recondite mind and the verbose speeclf—sees in child labor an evil, and in thousands of instances it Is an evil. It is the right of the States to prohibit its abuse. Some of them have neg lected to exercise that right. There upon Mr. Beveridge, In the teeth of the Constitution and in contempt of the adjudication of the Supreme bench, strives to prohibit child labor in the States by act of Congress. If that is to be allowed, what in the name of common sense is the use of a State legislature, or a State itself 0 If by act of Congress child labor car be prohi bited in the States, sq can adult labor by the same method be abolished. Ad mit this principle, and Congress can say that no man shall labor in the pro duction of an article that enters into interstate commerce without first join ing a labor union. And as the labor union has gone into politics and offers to swap so many votes for so much legislation, no one need be surprised If we have that for a "paramount," or at least a "cardinal," in all the platforms of 1912. Theodore Roosevelt, the head of the Republican party, and William J. Bry an. the head of the Democratic party, have cordially approved and zealously advocated the Beveridge plan of abolf- tion of States’ rights. The Republican party declares that tariff abuses must be reformed by the friends of those abuses, which means that shepherds should be drafted from a pack of wolves. The Republican party has no more intention to reform the abuses of. the tariff than It has to leglslato for the regulation of the tides of ocean in Hamp ton Roads. And if It reallv sought to re form the tariff it would be as impotent for that purpose as it is to command the showers of April or the droughts of Au r gust. But ns to that Inst it has the blasphemous impudence to claim credit for good crops. Now here are twin paramount*:—States' rights and tariff reform—ripe fruit wait ing to be plucked by the Democratic par ty. But the Democratic party thinks it is fixing to carry Kansas and will not only alienate New York, that is Indispensable, but. actually it is sought to moke New York as surely Republican as Maine or Iowa. Never was there in this world an entity so fortunate In its adversary as the Republican party has been for 12 years. As for the Republicans In Congress, John Shap Williams has got them on the hip. Roosevelt put a rluh in John Sha-p’.a hands, and he cracked the beads of the standpatters, unmercifully. Ram Jones said that it was “the hit dog that hol lers." and so It is In the Sixtieth Con gress. To give the impudence an air of respectability the Speaker Introduced a resolution to appoint a. committee to in vestigate the paper trust. Mann, of Chi cago. is chairman. I attended one of its sittings, and was reminded of an anec dote of Tom Marshall, who was arguing a demurrer before a hostile Judg* on one occasion. Every few minutes while Mar shall was speaking, his honor would In terrupt and ptit questions that made it manifest that In the opinion of the court Marshall had a hopeless ease. Finally, Marshall turned to his associate counsel, and with an aside that put the bar in a roar, said: “Who’s on th A other side of the ease besides the Judge?" T did not think it necessary for 4he paper trust to support Mr. Mann with other counsel. Except the cruel tariff duty that was on quinine, the tariff on print pancr Is the most indefensible ever levied. though the Republican tariff of 1883 taxed Bibles and let in free playing cards: and I am not so certain that the same condition does net maintain under the Dlngley tariff. T am sure Bibles are taxed now—Bibles printed in English. The tariff on quinine was for the encouragement and promotion of dis ease. pain, sorrow, misery, death. Tt helped the doctor, the undertaker, the. grave-digger, the tombstonemaker. It protected malaria, that saps physicrj! strength and rendered impotent physical energy. When quinine was taxed, it sold for $4 an ounce. One of the most brilliant men. one of the most eloquent orators. I ever knew was Jim McKenzie. He it was who who secured free quinine for the American people. His speech was argu ment. ridicule, invective. In verv shame, and in verv fear. Congress passed the bill that reduced the price of ouinine as much as SO per cent. He ought to have a. monument, “cloud-capped the summit.*’ and when Ills eloquent tongue was for ever silenced and his manly form was Pillowed to its final rest, every \ian. wo man and child of America was his debtor. Well. Just as the tariff on ouinine was a tax on health and a protection for dis ease. so is the tariff on print paper a tax on culture and a protection for ignor ance. The Dlngley schedules have allow ed the paper trust to extort from the American people untold millions. Nor Is that all. Those schedules have deforested immense areas of land and inflicted stu pendous losses on account of floods. In deed. we have this spectacle: The duties on wood pulp ana print paper put a premium on the cutting of timber, and there are bills before Congress to buy lands for the cultivation of timber. Hero is the paper trust turning forests into bleak desert wastes and then it is urged that the Government tax the people to buy the lands and plant them in trees. Canada has eight acre^s of forests to our one acre. All our wood pulp should como from Canada, and print paper from Can ada and the rest of the world shouM bo ~ - The Republicans In Congress are be tween that devil of a John Sharp Wil liams and that Dead Sea of an enraged public press. Tf thev put wood pulp and print paper on the free list it is an ad mission that the tariff is a tax. and some impertinent and intelligent farmer of a close district in Indiana, or Illinois, or Iowa, would be sure to ask? “You gave the newspapers free raw material, whv did you not give mo freo farm utensils.* And there is the devil of this whole business. For onto the G. O. P. is in this fix: You can nnd you can’t: You will and you won’t; You’ll be damned if you do. And you’ll be damned if you don t. For this we mav thank John Sharp Williams—for Roosevelt hhs recanted, as usual—but it is a barren victory John Sharp has gained for us If the Denver convention shall lack the sense to take advantage of it. _ (Copyright. 1908. by E. W. Newman.) Musicians' Need. Musicians have felt for a long time tho need of a means by which their aspira tions and their aims could be brought nearer to the public, while at the rame time even the general public baa been beginning to realize that some of the old musical institutions have lost their elas ticity and becln to stand rather out or sympathy with their modern surround ings.—Manchester Guar llatu