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Alton B. Parker,-of New York, pre
sided. President Parker, in his an
nual address, said:
‘ i Now, he who surveys the action
of the legislative and executive de
partments of the state governments
during the last few months cannot
with truth say that they have been
inactive during this period. Nor can
he say that the federal Government
has been more active or more drastic
in its action than have the states.
But it can be said, and therefore it
should be said, that the Federal Gov
ernment began the crusade. There
in was to be found, it seems to me,
the sole basis for the assumption that
the Federal Government, had it pos
sessed the power, would have done
better than the states. That as
sumption, considered in ’the light of
the circumstances preceding and pos
sibly inducing it, presents but a' fee
ble argument in favor of taking away
any authority now enjoyed by the
States in order to confer it upon the
National Government.
“ Officials and others have suggest
ed various schemes having for their
object the bringing of railroads, oth
er corporations and interests, under
the exclusive control of thee Federal
Government. To that end national
incorporation has been proposed, as
has also a Federal license system.
“The object which their advocates
have in view is undoubtedly laudable.
But that is not enough, if in the ex
ecution of their plans they violate the
Federal Constitution and directly
lead toward the destruction of our
dual government.
“Every power with which it was
deemed necessary to endow the Na
tional Government was given tu it
and in the exercise of these it was
made supreme. To prevent any pos
sible assertion by the National Gov
ernment of inherent powers, those as
signed to it were carefully and ex
pressly enumerated.
“But to avoid even the possibility
of a contrary claim, the constitution
was at once amended by the addition
of ten articles —every one of which
operated as a restraint upon the Na
tional Government. The last one, es
tablishing beyond even the possibil
ity of cavil that the National Govern
ment is limited to the powers specified
in the constitution creating it, reads:
4 The powers not delegated to the Un
ited States by the constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively
or to the people. ’ Other powers have
since been granted, and. in the fu
ture still others may be given, but
the constitution as it now stands for
bids the exercise of any powers oth
er than those granted by it. It leaves
no room for finding in the language
of the constitution a claim that there
are certain unmentioned and inher
ent powers which the Federal Govern
ment may exercise.
44 The recent claim for Federal in
tervention in directions heretofore
unheard of are based upon the Com
merce and Post Road provisions of the
constitution. As to the first, the con
stitution says the Congress shall have,
power 4 to regulate commerce with
foreign nations and among the sever
al States and with the Indian tribes/
Is it within the spirit aud purpose
of that provision that Congress may
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
control the manufactures' and all oth
er productive interests the States?
whether controlled by individuals or
corporations, the creations of the
State? The answer of even a casual
student of the constitution and the
conditionsg y surrounding its makin
must be in the negative.
“The attempts on the part of the
Government to despoil the
States of the powers and functions
belonging to them will not tend to
smoothness in the working of our dual
scheme of government. Already it
has had its effect. The indignation
of the governing forces of many of
the States is already aroused. It is
shown in the legislation of the year.
It had not a little to do in my judg
ment with the recent conflict of ju
dicial authority in North Carolina.”
Hughes Hailed as Next President.
A big crowd gave Gov. Hughes a
warm welcome at the Washington
County Fair, at Glens Falls, N. Y.
At the fair grounds the Governor was
introduced as 4 4 The next President of
the United States.” The crowd took
up the cry and became very demon
strative. The Governor dwelt on the
importance of citizenship and the du
ties of government. He said in part:
“We have had legislation of great
importance during the session touch
ing the vital interests of the people
of the State, believe that it would
be hard to find a session of the Leg
islature in which so much general
legislation of great importance has
been enacted. We have, for example,
the great question of the control of
the operation of our public service
corporations. It is a question of
great importance to all the people,
to the farmers, to those engaged in
manufacturing industries, to those en
gaged in commerce—one of the great
questions of the day.
“Now, I believe that the way to
deal with these matters is to under
stand them; to have the Government
and its administration supreme; to
show the people of the State that
there is no corporate power or finan
cial power that has any strength to
defy the will of the people; that they
are going to have a fair understand
ing of the facts and compel a just
exercise of public franchises. Thai
is what we stand for. We want to
see a great extension of our trans
portation facilities. We want bet
ter stations, we want more cars, we
want better power, we want to see
our goods moved. We are bound to
get it.
“We are not going to be fooled
by any of these people who tell us
that they can’t do these things and
live, under fair regulation. On the
other hand we are not going to pre
vent their doing these things by ab
surd and impossible rules. The peo
ple of this country are perfectly fair
and square in this matter.
44 The great difficulty is that the
problem is so Intricate in many of
its phases that some say, ‘What is
the use? You can never understand
it.’ Now I say that the government
is perfectly competent to find out the
facte; to secure good treatment, io
enforce the regulations under which
these franchises should be conducted,
and to see that every citizen of the
JState in connection with our trans-
portation problem gets good service
at reasonable rates.
4 ’Let me say this in conclusion:
You can’t do anything by multiply
ing these efforts of the Administra
tion unless you can get the men to
run the machinery who can be de
pended upon to take the State view
against their own interests. What
will you tolerate in public life?
Whom do you allow to represent the
people ?
4 4 Let us have it thoroughly under
stood that a man walks to his polit
ical doom who thinks of anything
else but the public welfare in con
nection with public office.”
200 Englishmen Coming to Cotton
Conference.
One hundred and seventy delegates
representing Lancashire spinning and
manufacturing companies have been
selected to attend the conference of
cotton growers and manufacturers at
Atlanta, Ga.. Oct. 7-9. It is expect
ed that the English delegation will
number more than two hundred.
Sixty Killed as St. Lawrence Bridge
Falls.
A section of the new bridge across
the St. Lawrence River, five miles be
low the city of Quebec, Canada, col
lapsed, carrying <|pores of bridge
workers and mechanics into the wa
ter.
It is estimated that the loss of life
is at least sixty and may exceed that
number bv twentv.
The bridge was about a mile and
a half long, and half of it, from the
south shore to midstream, crumpled
up and dropped into the water.
Ninety men wore at work on this
section of the structure and the
whistle had just been blown at 5-30
for the men to quit work for the day
when there came a grinding sound
from the bridge at midstream.
The men turned to see what had
happened and an instant later the
cry went up:
“The bridge is falling!”
The men made a rush shorevard.
but the distance was too great for
them to escape.
The fallen section of the bridge
dragged others after it, the snapping
girders and cables booming like a
crash of artillery.
Terror lent fleetuess to the feet of
the frightened workmen as they sped
shoreward, but only a few reached
safety before the last piece of iron
work on the south shore was dragged
into the rivbr.
• Near the shore the wreckage of the
bridge did not go below the surface
of the and eight workmen who
remained above water were rescued
and taken to the hospital at Levis.
Georgia Central Bondholders Fight
Expressing indignation at the ac
tion of the directors of the Central »f
Georgia Railroad Company in passing
the interest on the third income
bonds and reducing the rate on the
second incomes from 5 per cent to
3.729 per cent, bondholders of New
York City resolved to combine with
the Southern interests and fight for
their rights in the courts, if neces
sary. A protective committee com
prising C. Altschul, of Lazard
Freres; R. Walter Levy, of Mait-
Groesbeck, of this city; Frederick
William Scott of Richmond, Va., and
J. F. Minis of Savannah, Ga., was
appointed.
The angry bondholders said that
the company had more than earned
the interest, but that since Oakleigh
Thorne and Marsden J. Perry bought
the road from the Southern Railway
its financial policy had been changed.
It is hinted that failure to declare
the interest in full has grown out
of the failure by the bondholders to
accept a 5 per cent bond to run foi
three years in lieu of the interest in
full on all three classes of bonds.
One of the bankers present at the
meeting, on behalf of himself and the
other dissatisfied security holders,
said:
‘‘The earnings of the company for
the last fiscal year show that interest
on all three classes of income bonds
was fully earned, but within the last
month of the year, it appears, the
company charged off a large amount
for improvements and betterments,
which we consider was excessive.
“The railroad proper, for the last
fiscal year, actually had about $840,-
000 .applicable to interest on the in
come bonds, but this was written
dow-n, leaving only about $480,000
available. ’ ’
Death Rings Down Curtain On Mans
field.
Richard Mansfield died at his sum
mer residence, Seven Acres, New
London, Conn., on Ocean ave., from
cirrhosis of the liver, aggravated b\
complications. H e was fiftv years
old.
During the actor’s last moments he
was in a condition of coma and did
not recognize the loved ones at his
bedside. There were present at the
time of his death his wife, his broth
er Felix, the physician and the nurses.
The actor’s little son, Gibbs, was
asleep in a room near by.
The following were his leading
roles :
Humpy Logan in “Master and
Man, Feb. 5, 1890; George Brum
mel in “Beau Brummel,” May 17.
1890; Don Juan in “Don Juan,” May
18, 1891; Emperor Nero-in “Nero,”
Sept. 21, 1891; Tittlebat Titmouse in
“Ten Thousand a Year,” Feb. 23,
1892; Arthur Dimmersdale in “The
Scarlet Letter,” Sept. 12, 1592; Shy
lock in “The Merchant of Venice,”
Oct. 23, 1893; Capt. Bluntschli in
“Arms and the Man,” Sept. 17,
1894; Napoleon in “Scenes from the
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Nov.
26, 1894; Don Pedro XIV. in “The
King of Peru,” May 8. 1895; Rodion
in “The Story of Rodion, the Stu
dent,” Dec. 3, 1895; Sir John Som
bras in “Castle Sombras,” Nov 13,
1896; Dick Dudgeon in “The Devil’s
Double,” Oct. 4, 1897; Eugene Cour
voisier in “The First Violin,” April
18,1898; Cyrano de Bergerac in “Cy
rano de Bergerac,” Oct. 3, 1898;
King Harry in “King Henry V.,”
Oct. 3, 1900; Monsieur Beaucaire in
“Beaucaire,” Oct. 7, 1901; Brutus in
“Julius Caesar,” Oct. 14, 1902;
Prince Karl Heinrich in “Old Heid
elberg,” Oct. 12, 1903; Czar Ivan in
“Ivan the Terrible,” March 1, 1904;
Alceste in “The Misanthrope,” in
1905; Don Carlos in “Don Carlos,”
in 1906, and Peer Gynt in “Peer
Gynt,” in 1907. G. N.
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