Newspaper Page Text
PAGE SIXTEEN
WL WILL DO IT.
llios. E. Watson, Editor, ‘‘The Jef
fersonian," Atlanta, Ua.
Bear bir; The Knowledge that
the subject has never been properly
treated, or at least that the most im
portant phases of the subject have .
been avoided by the writers of the
present period, snail be my excuse
for addressing you.
If you decide, alter reading tins
Communication, mat the writer Knows
enough of me subject, to be worthy
of a public hearing, you have only
to command me and 1 will do my
best to bring to the light some
truths regarding latter-day finance
tnat have been obscured, either by
reason of lack of familiarity with
the facts or a desire on the part of
iinancral writers to have them re
main obscured.
All previous attempts to solve the
burning hnancial questidlis of tUe__
times have fallen far snort of the
true sources of the present hnancial
unrest. \
The Interstate Commerce Commis
sion, while undoubtedly achieving
wonders in the matter of railroad
and trust investigation, have thus
far succeeded only in uncovering a
great deal of rottenness and dishon
esty in the matter of railway and
insurance management, and up to the
pi esent time, no adequate remedy
for the evils of over-capitalization
(stock watering—which are the un
derlying causes of all the labor wars,
and other deplorable oppressions of
the “under dog”—has been suggest
ed.
That the products of the farm are
unmercifully taxed,' that the burden
of the taxation fails upon producer
and consumer alike is due to the ne
farious practice of stock-watering
by railroad corporations and other
common carriers.
< ♦
That nearly all of the troubles
arising from the demands of organ
ized labor for a wage that will enable
them to provide the products of the
farm and the dairy, and the loom,
for themselves and their dependents,
are directly tract able to the system
of stock-watering and over-capitali
zation is a fact that may readily be
Honor to Whom Honor is Due
Tom Watson is Entitled to Honor
for the R. F. D. System.
McCauley, Tex., June 13, 3907.
Hon. Thos. E. Watson, Thomson, Ga.
It has been my impression all
the while that you were the man
who introduced the bill in Congress
by which rural free delivery was
obtained.
A clipping from the Dallas News,
which I enclose herewith, gives the
honor to Eugene Loud, of Califor
nia. What about it ! Please answer
in July Magazine.
Yours truly,
J. N. BRADBURY.
Thomson, Ga. June 17, 1907.
Mr. J. N. Bradbury, McCauley, Tex.
Dear Sir: Your favor received.
Hon. Eugene F. Loud, of Califor
nia, had nothing to do whatever with
originating rural free delivery to
people who live outside of towns,
cities and villages. I remember very
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
recognized by any one who takes
tlie trouble to deive beneath the sur
face of things.
That in a land of plenty, 'such as
ours is, there should exist such a
thing as downright poverty and want
is due to the crime of over-capitali
zation, added to the criminal prac
tices of Wall Street.
That the criminals are aided and
abetted in their iniquitous work by
the national banking institutions, and
trust companies, as well as the U. S.
treasury, is also a fact that is sub
ject to incontroveitible proof.
THAT ALL FINANCIAL AND
COMMERCIAL D EPRESSION S,
PANICS, LOCK-OUTS AND
STRIKES, ARE DIRECTLY DUE
TO,WALL STREET, AND THE
STOCK MANIPULATORS, IS A
FACT THAT IS SUBJECT TO
VERIFICATION.
This is a strong statement, but I
can prove it.
There is no legitimate reason for
poverty in this country; there is no
reason for any one being dependent
upon charity for an existence in a
land that is blessed with the nat
ural resources that this country pos
sesses.
The entire category of financial
ills with which the land is afflicted
may be traced to one distinct source,
and that source lies mighty close to
the New York Stock Exchange.
By regulating the business of the
New York StodE Exchange in a man
ner that I can suggest, and in away
that will in no wise restrict legiti
mate financial operations, such trans
actions as the notorious . “Alton
deal,” “International Power deal,”
“American Shipbuilding deal,” and
the United States Ste(a)el transac
tions, will be impossible.
Lawson’s much-touted “remedy”
has been indefinitely deferred, be
cause, as he says, the people are
not ready for it. The fact is
probably Lawson realized that he
might “slay the goosAhat has been
laying his golden eggs,” if he told
the whole truth.
If you want this remedy I can
give it to you!
distinctly that Mr. Loud threw cold
water on my proposilion when I
tried to pass the resolution which is
the foundation of the present ruial
free delivery system. He said to
me: “Why, that scheme of you is
would cost th* government sixty
millions of dollars.” My reply to
him was: “Well, even if it does,
the people pay the money, and the
people ought to get the benefit.”
If the editor to whom you refer
will turn to the Congressional Rec
ord for February 17, 1893, he will
get the facts, and will not have Io
depend on my word, or the word of
any one else. He will find from the
official record of Congress that on
February 17, 1893, Congress adopted
as an amendment to the postoffice
appropriation bill, a resolution of
mine appropriating ten thousand
dollars for experimental free deliv
ery of mails to people living outside
I am an ex-stcck-broker, and an
ex-bucket shop man. I know the
game from start to fi.-ish, and 1 de
sire to say right that of the two
evils the New York Stock Exchange
is by far the greater.
I would like to tell the readers of
The Jeffersonian just how some of
the operations are handled whereby
the public is skinned every business
day in the year.
I would like to tell you just how
easy it is for a few clever men to
steal a railroad or industrial enter
prise, and at the same time, and by
the same methods rob the confiding
investor and speculator of his money.
I also, to tell you how
easy it is for clever men to make
an ally of the United States Treas
ury, in oMer that Uncle Sam may
have the enviable (?) privilege of
providing a “bank-roll” to back a
‘ ‘ skin game. ’*
I want to tell you how your sleek
bank presidents become a party to
the transaction, and how the savings
of the people are —figuratively
speaking—put into a sack and used
as a bludgeon to beat the savings de
positor into disgorging what he has
held out from the banks.
This is truly a prosperous country.
It takes a prosperous people to
stand the piratical financial methods
that prevail without rising in open
rebellion against laws that per
mit these things.
If this were not a country of na
turally wonderful resources, and we
were not able to retrieve our losses
to some extent in a short time tlye
thieves would be obliged to stop
plundering for want of something to
steal.
THERE IS NOT A SHARE OF
STOCK QUOTED ON THE NEW
YORK STOCK EXCHANGE TODAY
THAT IS NOT SELLING VERY
MUCH IN EXCESS OF ITS AC
TUAL VALUE.
THERE HAS BEEN MORE
“WILD-CATTING” IN RAILROAD
SHARES IN RECENT YEARS
THAN DURING THE ENTIRE
HISTORY OF MINING AND OIL
FAKES.
It is possible at this day for a
couple of unscrupulous men, seeking
their own ends, to plunge the entire
of towns, cities and villages. Pre
vious to this time there had been
what was called tlltf “ Rural Free
Delivery Sys’em,” instituted by
Hon. John Wanamaker, Postmaster
General, but this system was con
fined to incorporated cities and vil
lages. The country people, proper,
got no benefit from it whatever.
Yours truly,
THOS. E. WATSON.
We print the above because we
have been taught in years gone by
to spurn the name of Tom Watson.
Politicians have said a great deal for
the common people of our country,
but we can see but little they have
accomplished*in the way of good.
Watson has done a great deal of
talking, but has accomplished some
groat things, and the politicians are
now trying to steal the honor that
belongs to him. . The farmers will
learn to give Watson the praise for
originating the R. F. D. system.
And railroad men will learn to
praise Watson, for it was this tal-
country into bankruptcy, a sudden
break in securily values of twenty
five to fifty per cent would wreck a
dozen or more large banking institu
tions and spread ruin over a terri
tory representing more than one
fourth the population of the United
States.
This is the condition that con
*Th*onts us, and there is but one rem
edy.
Mr. Lawson stopped talking before
his much-touted “remedy” was
reached; why did he do so? Simply
because if he told the whole truth
and gave his “remedy” to the world
he would “kill the goose that lays
the golden eggs” for himself and his
followers.
I have a remedy, and it is (I be
lieve) the same one that Lawson
.had.in mind, tl is at least the only
one that will serve the end in view.
I would like to tell you what it is
for the benefit of The Jeffersonian
readers.
I mast, for the time being, remain (
incog—that is the only condition that
I shall impose in arranging to give
the story to your magazine.
Yours truly,
ROBERT JAMES,
Augusta, Ga.
P. S. —I can show how a man with
a seat on the New York Stock Ex
change, and a few hundred thousand
dollars, can organize a company, sell
the stock to the public at fancy
prices; “bea>'” the stock and
frighten weak-kneed holders into
selling at panic prices; buy it back
with their own money, and repeat
the operation back and forth until he
eventually has all of the stock and
all of the money as well. The Wall
Street Press and Nbw York Sun cut
a big figure in these operations.
’ R. J.
Editor’s Note: —Have written our
Augusta correspondent to send in
the article. That’s just the kind of
information The Jeffersonian Maga
zine loves to publish and dissemi
nate.—T. E. W.
N. B. —Please excuse the big words
I occasionally use, nowadays. I find
myself more inclined to jaw-breakers
since I left New York and came to
Atlanta. I think it must be the at
mosphere. Possibly, the water.
ented congressman from Georgia who
introduced, fought for and secured
the passage of the bill compelling
the railroads to equip their cars with
automatic couplers. This device is
saving thousands of men from being
killed since it has done away wi'h
the old link and pin method.
The national democratic ticket was
once headed by Bryan and Watson.
Who would object to the party next
time by Watson and Bry
an —Watson for president and Bry
an for vice president!—Scullin (I.
T.) Advoncate.
Henry James says that he never
heard an American woman gay
“thank you.” Perhaps he never
gave any one reason to do so.—At
lanta Journal.
4 * 1 rarely meet an American gen
tleman,” says Count Boni. Never,
if the American gentleman can help
it. —Minneapolis Journal.