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of the property itself when net earnings are made impossible, why has not the property of these poor, down-trodden Lumber Trust thieves been confiscated when the virtuous, highminded Railroad robbers charge freight rates which eliminate saw-mill profits? It is a poor rule that won’t work both ways, We have come to a pretty pass, surely, when that which is sauce for the railroad goose is not sauce for the Saw-mill gander. Evidently, these poor, downtrodden Lumber Trust thieves have been ill advised. Instead, of closing down for a month, they should have got out an injunction against somebody. The rule, nowadays, is that when you do not know what else to do, get out an Injunction. After awhile, Injunctions will be so common and so necessary that we shall probably hit upon the brilliant device of getting one Federal Judge to enjoin all the others, and then lock him up in a dark room, feeding him through the key hole, to prevent him from reversing himself and let ting the other fellows loose. The Georgia-Florida Saw Mill Association can prove, to the satisfaction of any honest Judge, that the National Tariff System com pels them to pay too much for their plant, too. much for the iron and steel they use, too much for the supplies necessary to their employes. They can prove that this same Tariff, which has almost doubled the cost of living, has forc ed an advance in wages until the commonest help now has to be paid $1.50, $2, and even $3 per day. As to skilled laborers, they simply look at what you’ve got, select what they want, and walk off with it. From $5 to $lO per day is not an uncommon wage; and yet these laborers net little more than when they got half that scale. The Tariff-fed Trusts get the lion’s share. Then why can’t the lumber men enjoin Un-, cle Sam’s Tariff System upon the ground that it is confiscatory? The railroads say that when profits are gone, the property is confiscated. Is that so, Your Honor? You have “handed down” a very silly de cision to that effect. Then, that being the law, pray tell me why confine its operation to rail roads? If the law guarantees net profits to one class of investments, why not to every other class? Think it over, Your Honor. M R R Clear the Track! The lobbyists of the corporations are the shrewdest of men. They never sleep, and they don’t put things off. Never do you catch them forgetting the ' value of NOW! See how these adepts at management are twisting the Legislature into a knot on that Prohibition Bill. See how they are developing its possibili ties as a bone of contention. Watch them spin out the struggle between the two factions. The purpose is self-evident. The Prohibi tion fight masks the batteries that should open on the corporations. The Prohibition bill is a huge stone on the railroad track, stalling the locomotive. The engineer cannot drive ahead while the obstruction is there to endanger his train. Hoke Smith reformers! pass the Prohibition bill, and clear the track for Railroad reform! tt it it Walter Clark of Mississippi Is a good man, a real farmer, and a credit to any community. Tie is altogether too good a man to be tag ging around the world as a “Me Too” for such a character as Harvie Jordan. Walter Clark is so honest that he is natur- WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. ally inclined to believe that every one else is; but he ought to be catching on to Harvie, by this time. Mr. Clark, you are doing yourself and the farmers of the country an injustice when you countenance and endorse Harvie Jordan. If you will investigate the subject for your self, you will discover that the fanners of this country are not furnishing the funds to run Jordan’s conventions, or his European trips, or his organization, jpr his paper. Who puts up the money? Ask Jordan to show his books, friend Clark. Ask him, also, what is the explanation of the intimacy which exists between himself and that Wall Street Cotton-Futures gambler, Joe Hoadley. Ask him, further, where and how he got the money which he has recently accumulated. Come to Atlanta, Mr. dark, and make a quiet investigation. it it it Casual Comment, “By J. T>. Watson. In an address at Milwaukee, Wis., Justice Brewer of the United States Supreme Court said: “ ‘There is much said about the railroads. It is a popular practice to say that they are very wicked; for instance, like life insurance compa nies. There has been a great deal of wrong, such as granting of special favors, bad stock speculations, and'the like. But I say to you that, taking the earnings and the money invest ed in railroads as a whole, there is not a fair return on the money invested. The attempt to squeeze those who built up the railroads, and through them the country, is not right. The men who invested their money are entitled to a reasonable rate of interest. “Railways May Lose. “ ‘My friend Folk, of Missouri, has my admi ration in many ways. But suppose, through such laws as Missouri passed, the railroads should actually lose money on carrying freight and passengers. Will the State make the loss good to them?’ “Justice Brewer held that the rights of the railroads should be protected until the law demonstrates that the roads can be made to net a reasonable return on the money invested. “Discussing land frauds, Justice Brewer de clared that much of what is reported as fraud in Western land dealings is not at all wrong. He cited that the Vanderbilt and other large estates were handed down as a whole, whereas now scattering of estates is becoming the prac tice, which was preferable.” The above from a Justice of the United States Supreme Court only shows more plainly how that body leans toward the big corpora tions when it comes to deciding between the people and the corporations. It proves more conclusively that the Trusts control our high est court and that the people have no chance so long as the Trusts can reach the United States Supreme Court on a question of constitutional ity, or any technicality which their hirelings mav raise as to any law which affects them. The above dispatch further states that Jus tice Brewer delivered his address before the annual meeting of the agents of the Northwest ern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of which company he is a trustee. A. U. S. Supreme Court Justice a trustee of a big life insurance company. What may we expect next? Justice Brewer also declares that “much of what is reported as fraud in Western land deal ings is not at all wrong.” If my memory serves me right, there have, been manv convictions for land fraud transac tions in the West and Justice Brewer knows this to be true, as he knows there have been millions of acres of land stolen from the gov ernment in the West. As to Justice Brewer’s statement that the railroads do not make a fair return on the mon ey they have invested, what does he mean? If he means that the people have been per suaded to buy common stock, which is watered to the limit and get no fair return on their money, he is correct, but why did he not go one step further and tell that the reason the people who own common stock in the railroads get no dividends is because almost all of the Preferred Stock is owned by the Wall street rascals who prefer to kill people and get big dividends rather than spend a part of their div idends and make their railroads safe for the traveler? If a Judge ever overstepped the bounds of discretion, it seems that Justice Brewer has. He is a Justice of the highest court in our coun try, yet he virtually says in advance what he will decide on any question coming before that court between the people and the corporations. . The quicker the heads of such men as Jus tice Brewer are smashed by the “Big Stick,” the better. Mr. Roosevelt couid easily ask the Justice to resign and fill his place with some man who could give a fair and impartial de cision, and until our courts are presided over by men who are not ‘controlled by corpora tions, we need not expect reform laws to be enforced, unless President Roosevelt will fol low the example of Jefferson, Jackson and Lin coln and ignore the Supreme Court. * “PLATT SPENDS SAD, LONELY BIRTH DAY. “Thomas Collier Platt, the senior United States Senator from New York, sat on the porch of the Oriental Hotel, at Manhattan Beach most of yesterday and looked out upon the sea. It was his seventy-fourth birthday an e sary, but unlike when he was a power he spent it almost alone. “He had ’ a few callers, mostly newspaper men to whom he spoke querulously. During the day he received about fifteen telegrams of congratulation, which he fingered in his feeble hands with the childishness of old age. Few were from those who formerly danced attend ance upon him when he was m king and break ing men in the politics of the state.” The above from the New York World shows the present power of the once notorious Boss, Thomas C. Platt. Not many years ago, Platt was absolutely Boss of New York State and he carried the pat ronage of that state in his vest pocket. If any person wanted a political job. either Feder al or State, he had to go to Platt to get it. In the Senate Platt was one of the powers that was always feeding the corporations out of the public crib, and he made himself rich by getting special concessions for his express company, the United States Express Co. During those days Platt’s birthday was a great event to New York Republican politicians for every one invited knew that he stood in the good graces of the great boss. But today it is different for there are only fifteen people who remember Platt well enough to even send him a short message of cheer and good will. What must be the feelings of Mr. Platt as he sits alone on his seventy-fourth birthday and looks back over the days when he was boss and controlled the Empire State of the Union as well as having great influence with the Re publicans in the United States Senate? Does he ever think how much more useful his life would have been had he tried to serve the People whom he was elected to represent in stead of selling them out to the corporations? Does he ever realize that he would have had friends to comfort him, if not political power, had ht been true to the people? After all, what in the past can this helpless, feeble, powerless, friendless dethroned boss •look back on with pleasure and pride? It is • true that “The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine.” PAGE NINE