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THE
Weekly Jeffersonian
A Newspaper Devoted to the Advocacy of the Jeffersonian
Theory of Government.
PUBLISHED BY
THOS. E. WATSON and J. D. WATSON
Editors and Proprietors
Austell Building, Atlanta, Ga.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE - $/ oo PER YEAR.
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F.nttrad at Pttufice, Atlanta, Ga., January 11, iqo?, at stand tlast mail matttr
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1907
Chauncey Depelp’s First Speech Since
His Disgrace.
An oily old scoundrel, Chauncey Depew,
was put into the United States Senate by the
Vanderbilts. HeJiad long- been their Lobby
ist-in-chief at Albany. In that capacity, he
had been instrumental in having corrupt legis
lators vote to the Vanderbilts favors which
were worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
For many a year, Chauncey Depew had a
picnic of it. He was even talked of for Presi
dent. He was to run as “the Farmers’
Friend.” according to my recollection. Per
haps, he actually did make the race for the
nomination. No matter. He stood high, did
Chauncey, and no banquet spread by Dives
was complete without Chauncey and his in
evitable little anecdotes.
But all of a sudden a storm arose.
The thieves fell out among themselves in
Life Insurance circles, and while honest men
did not get their rights they learned lots.
One of the sights revealed was that of
Chauncey Depew pocketing $20,000 per year
of the Trust Funds of the Equitable, render
ing no returns therefor that anyone could
n ame.
♦
As the Equitable money is paid in for the
purpose of protecting widows and orphans, it
is the most sacred of all funds.
To steal from such a fund was proof of a
moral turpitude baser than that involved in
anv other theft.
But to be a custodian of such a fund, and
then to steal from it,- was the very worst of
all thievery.
Well, Chauncey Depew was one of the cus
todians of the sacred Trust Funds, and he
stole from it, regularly, $20,000 per year.
When the exposure was published to the
world, the outburst of public indignation was
so great that Depew was forced to secrete
himself. He went into retirement, gave out
reports that his health was bad, and waited for
the storm to blow over.
For months and months the detected thief
did not dare to show himself in any public
place.
During all those months of hiding out, the
demand for his resignation from the Senate
grew loud and universal. Almost every paper
published in the state of New York—to say
nothing of those published elsewhere —clam-
ored for his resignation.
The clamor for Depew’s resignation finally
died away. The newspapers can not eternally
harp on the same string. Left to himself
THE WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
Depew might have resigned, for he isn’t a
man of much stamina.
But he was held to his post in the Senate
by those who own him. The Vanderbilt Rail
roads, the allied interests which Depew’s vote
can serve just as well as though his hands
were clean, these were the powers that kept
him in his place.
No other explanation can account for the
fact that the great imperial state of New York
is represented in the United States Senate by
two such creatures as Platt and Depew. The
corporations need their votes —that’s all there
is to it.
Should Platt and Depew resign, who can
say what “dangerous men” might be elected
in their places?
The successor of Platt might possibly be in
favor of smashing the monopoly of the rob
ber Express Companies. Possibly he might
favor the Parcels Post.
Therefore, while Platt is a disgrace to the
State of New York, he is a faithful servant of
the Express monopoly, and must be kept
where he can defend the robbers with his vote.
The same reasoning applies to Depew.
. *
So he remained in the Senate —which after
all does not contain many members who could
afford to throw rocks at Depew. Most of
them are much the same as he.
When Congress convened in Dec., 1906,
Chauncey was on hand, looking somewhat
washed-out, and a trifle nervous; but his dear
colleagues gradually warmed him up with
their sympathy and a general bearing toward
him which said: “You haven’t done anything
that we condemn.”
By slow degrees, therefore, the exposed and
disgraced thief of the widow and orphan fund
of the Equitable began to hold up his head
again. Once more the oily smile was seen.
Morally supported by Senatorial colleagues
who are not a bit more honest than himself,
Chauncey shook off the consciousness of
guilt and determined to assert himself as Sen
ator.
*
Senator Aldrich, the Republican godfather
of the Trusts, introduced a resolution direct
ing the Secretary of the Treasury to turn over
to the National Banks daily, the Custom
House receipts!
It was in favor of this proposition that
Chauncey Depew made his regeneration
speech.
In substance he said: “Mr. President, there
is great stringency in the money market. We
must have relief. Our money is being poured
into the Custom Houses. Why, Mr. Presi
dent, the amount paid into the Custom Houses
is often as much as $1,000,000. This causes
stringency. Now the way to relieve this
stringency is to have the Custom Houses de
posit that money every day, with the Pet Na
tional Banks of our big cities. The banks will
then lend the money to their patrons and thus
the stringency will be relieved.”
Fine, wasn’t it?
The National Bankers pay none of these
Custom House duties. The money comes out
of the pockets of the millions of consumers
of the goods upon which the duties are paid.
The amount of the duty is, of course, added tef
the price of the goods, and the American con!
sumer pays the duty when he buys the goods
To whom will the Banks lend the Custon
House money?
To the people who paid the duties. 1
Thus the taxpayers, by paying interest te
the banks, will secure the precious boon ol
borrowing some of their own money.
Queer situation, isn’t it? - >’
If the Government is collecting too mucl
at the Custom Houses, why not lower the diA
tics, or put some of the necessaries of life o I
the Free List? I
The stand-patters would not hear to that. |
Why not put the excess collections in -cii X
culation by building a few lines of governmeif i
railways? j
Our railroad kings would never allow tha 1
Why not use the money to establish a nz I
tional Telegraph and Telephone service, tfl
be operated by the Post Office Department?
Private monopoly will not listen to that.
Therefore, American statesmanship can su{
gest nothing better than to turn over the ta
payers’ money to the non-tax payer, in ord<
that the non-tax payer may lend it back, wit 1
interest, to the tax payer, AND THUS KEE
IT IN CIRCULATION!
MUM
Congress, the Farmer and the
Corporations.
Bully for the Railroads!
They win out every time.
We never see them elect anybody to Con
gress—yet the men who go there always taj<
care of the railroads. * I
We poor fools who actually vote “for ou 1
man,” and shout wildly when he is elected
never seem to be able to get Congress to de
anything for us. What we want is generally
so unconstitutional, or impracticable, or pa
ternalistic—or something—that it can not be
granted.
If the Texas flood sufferers want a supply of
planting seed furnished by the Government, a
howl of rebuke is heard; a brave President ve
toes the bill, and Mr. Historian, John Fiske,
will mention the heroism of said President in
a so-called historical book.
Yet when a French colony—Martinique, for
instance—has an earthquake, Congress and
President unite quickly upon an appropriation
of SIO,OO0 —or was it $50,000? —to send food
to the hungry.
They couldn’t send free seed to the desti
tute farmers of Texas. Unconstitutional, you
see. >
But they can send free rations to French
and English colonies, and no constitutional
questions asked. *
A few years ago, the farmers of the United
States as»;ed to be allowed to borrow a por
tion of the Treasury surplus at 2 pec cent.
In Europe, several nations have land-loar
policies of that kind and the results are highly
satisfactory.
But in this country the proposition was met
with almost universal derision.
The-farmers were nevet able to prevail upon
Congress to even devote one day to the con
sideration of their demand.