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Public Opinion Throughout the Union
THE GEORGIA B. R.
The people of Georgia think that
they have the worst case of railroads
in the whole country. The Georgia
Central was one of the first roads
built in the United States, and for
a long time the bondholders had a
good paying property that rendered
satisfactory service to the public. In
1888 it fell into the hands of the
Gould-Richmond crowd and the first
thing the bondholders knew they had
been transferred from owners into
creditors, and the owners of a ma
jority of $5,000,000 stock owned and
controlled the road. A few weeks
ago it was sold to a couple of men
named Thorne and Perry. The man
ipulations have been such that the
old bondholders are now in the soup,
and they* are howling terribly. The
road has been run down and swamp
ed with debts. That is the way Wall
Street has managed a great many
roads, and the citizens of Georgia are
mistaken when they say they have
the worst case on record. —The Inves
tigator.
W. J. BRYAN, THE CONVERT?
W. J. Bryan has now endorsed all
the principles laid down in the Oma
ha platform of 1892. * * * It is
said that wise men change, but fools
never do. This proves clearly that
W. J. Bryan is a wise man. —The
Watchman.
Wise Mr. Bryan? Nay! Just a
politician; that’s all. A man with
Mr. Bryan’s intelligence, and his ap
titude to wait fifteen years before
making up his mind upon important
matters which the most commonpxace
school boy eould master in a few
weeks’ study, is simply absurd. Wise?
Yes! Wise as a serpent; but not in
nocent as a dove.
Mr. Bryan declares that the most
important thing in selecting a can
didate is to find out what he stands
for. This is a mistake. The vital
thing is, what will his party stand
for?—P. L
Neither of the two of the above
suggestions in regaid to “Coming
Events,” are as significant as is this:
What is the personal record, in the
past, of the candidate? A wooden
Indian, at the entrance of a tobacco
store, “stands for” tobacco, but, if
you dress him in the garb of a Zulu
Chief he will then stand for a “Dat
to,” and in exteriors will be the peer -
of W. J. Bryan. Cumtux? —Seattle
Patriarch.
THE CHEAP PARCELS POST.
Postmaster General Meyer be
lieves in a cheap parcels post as an
institution of benefit to the people,
and is officially advocating its adop
tion by the government The idea
is meeting with strong oppos tion,
principally from the small country
merchants, who will do all they can
to prevent ite adoption, believing that
it will be an injury to their business.
This would seem to be a ground
less fear. It must be remembered
that to a limited extent we al
ready have a cheap parcels post. Un
der our present postal laws merchan
dise or other articles of any kind
‘ WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN,
may be sent through the mails, the
weight of packages so sent being re
stricted to four poinds, at a cost of
one cent for each ounce of weight.
A parcels post could not possibly be
(anything more than the extension
of this system, either by reducing
rates or extending the weight limit
of the packages, or both. This would
be of great advantage to the people,
and it certainly should be done. So
far as injury to country merchants
is concerned our present parcels post
system is doing all that the ex
tended system could do. Ail the
injury possible being done, the sys
tem should certaimy be extended to
do all the good possible to be derived
from it.
The greatest loss to local trade
that would roefustlmr shrdm cmfw
that would result from mail order
busmess is in the smaller articles of
trade and light merchandise. This
we have already, and the big mail
order houses of the larger cities do
considerable busmess in tins way.
let nobody can point out any injury
that is done locai business by then*
petty mail order business. The ad
vantages which the local dealer pos
sesses, m allowing the customer a
personal inspection and selection, and
in other ways not necessary to enum
erate here, are mote than enough to
offset the best claims that the mail
order deaiers can make. Brought
down to its last analysis it is not the
mail facilities, not the parcels post,
which is the enemy the local dealers
or country mercuant has to dread,
but his own lack of progressiveness,
and failure to make the best use of
opportunities at his couim.a,nd. He
does not properly present what he
has to otter to the people, and set.
forth the advantages to tmm of deal
ing with him. He doesn't advertise
properly. To the merchant who uses
printer's ink liberally at home, the
mail order house in a distant city is
a competitor at whom he can snap
his fingers.
Then why should not the parcels
post be extended, and the people be
given the advantage of cheap rats
for the delivery of articles sent
through the mail, as far as this can
be done without loss in the carriage
system? The parcels post system in
its enlarged form has been adopted
by nearly all European countries, and
has been found to be of great bene
fit to the people.
Why should we not have the same
in our country?—Augusta (Ga.) Her
ald.
PENNSYLVANIA GRAFTERS.
The Pennsylvania Capitol graft
scandal promises to become yet more
sensational. James M. Shumaker,
former Superintendent of Public
Buildings at Harrisburg, who is• to
be a star witness in the graft trials,
is reported as saying: “I am going
to tell everything I know. I do not
propose to suffer for the sins of a
scoundrel who knew the colossal
graft but refused to stop it, as I
urged. I know what the grnft was
for, that it was to cover a treasury
shortage and save the name of a for
mer United States Senator from
Pennsylvania, now dead.” —Nashville
Banner.
A TAMMANY PICNIC.
Since Oliver Twist’s memorable de
mand for “more” there has probably
been no similar incident connected
with the science of nutrition produc
tive of such immediate and disas
trous results as that which precipitat
ed a riot at Mr. Haffen’s political
picnic recently. Frederick Jordan
had the temerity to ask for more ice
cream. When it was refused he dis
charged an ice pitcher at the head of
the chief cook of the affair, Joseph
Witzel, and floored him. Then the
trouble began, and it required several
hundred policemen to restore the
peaceful atmosphere that usually
bathes the Witzel grove at College
Point The dining pavilion was
wrecked, and a score of persons more
or less seriously injured.
Some one having remarked, “Well,
what could you expect from the
bunch that supports Haffen?” the
latter gentleman is said to have ex
plained the riot as a “malicious
plot” devised by his political enemies
This, it appears, is to be the proper
thing in explanations for the coming
fall. Whatever the origin of the bat
tue, it illustrates again the dangerous
character of that form of recreation
known as a Tammany picnic. When
the braves go out to have a good
time nowadays Donnybrook Fair
seems in comparison like a Quaker
meeting for peacefulness and quiet.
—New York Globe.
THE ENORMOUS POWER IN THE
HANDS OF COURTS.
Attorney-General Bonaparte an
nounces that the government will
stand behind the Federal judges in
their attempts to override the states
and protect the railroads. In a mes
sage to the United States District At
torney located at Montgomery, Ala.,
that official is directed to see that all
processes issued by Federal Judge
Jones are served. The Attorney-
General gives utterance to this sig
nificant sentence:
“This Department has already an
nounced publicly on more than one
occasion that it would see the pro
cess of Federal courts requiring exec
utive enforcement duly enforced with
out regard to cost or consequences.”
Os course Mr. Bonaparte will en
force the decrees of the Federal
courts. He has no choice but to do
so. It did not require this some
'what pompous communication to es
tablish that fact. He is only the ser
vant of the courts. An office boy
might as well announce in important
language that he will obey the orders
of his boss. The courts wield the
power, not Mr. Bonaparte.
And what a power it is they wield!
A half dozen or more states have
passed railroad rale laws, every one
of which is tied up by Federal judges.
The national rate law itself has not
yet run the judicial gauntlet, and, as
it amounts to nothing, may never
have to do so. If it really did regu
late the roads, however, it would
have been enjoined long ago.
In this state the Eighty-Cent Gas
law, the Recount law, and other
statutes that affect corporation prof
its or corporation rule are suspend
ed because of judicial action. A aim-a
ilar condition exists in other states.
Whenever an act is passed that the
trusts regarcT as inimical to their in
terests they at once seek the protec
tion of the courts, and, as a result,
the law is held up for years, if it is
not nullified forever.
If the time should ever come _
when Congress and the State Legis
latures really awaken to the rights
of the people and enact legislation to
halt corporation dishonesty, the dan
ger from an irresponsible judiciary
would be increased many fold. The
present conflict, which for the most
part is a sham, would be nothing com
pared with that.
The Federal courts have power to
day to veto National and State leg
islation and to halt action of Nation
al and State executive departments.
Considering the immense authority
they exercise, it is a trifle amusing
for the Attorney-General to announce
that he will support them. It is not
unlike the fly on the chariot wheel
that imagined he was running the
race.
When a Federal judge is appoint
ed he is answerable- to nobody. In
a people’s government he is entire
ly independent of the people. True,
he can be impeached, but, as a mat
ter of fget, he never is. Holding of
fice for life, he can be as autocratic
as a king.
This irresponsible power has al
ready been abused, and carries the
possibility of infinitely greater abuse.
For it there is but one remedy: To
elect all judges for short terms.-—N.
Y. American.
TAFT AND ROOSEVELT.
The Washington Post says: “If
simmered down to a sentence ths
speeclies of Mr. Taft and Mr. Roose
velt would read like this:
Taft —“Let us accomplish good
with due regard to the respective
powers of the nation and the states,
as set forth in the constitution.”
Roosevelt —“Let us change the con
stitution and readjust the respective
powers of the national and state gov
ernments for the good of all the peo
ple.”—Nashville Banner.
CUBA’S COST TO US.
So much of our army as is in Cuba
cost us $2,554,970 more than it
would have cost to maintain it at
home during the fiscal year of 1907.
Such is the report of Quartermaster-
General Aleshire, nearly $2,000,000 of
this amount being for transporta
tion. We are not measuring what we
are doing or have done in Cuba in
terms of money, but it is just as well
to know what the cost is.—Boston
Herald.