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. delegates from all sections of the union could return \to their homes and give Livingston the honor. But 1 Mr. Lindsay, Mr. Livingston and Mr. Howell, with I all their lies and schemes, can never rob Tom Wat i son of the honor of being the author of the bill making the first appropriation for rural mail service. Batson’s name will go down in history as the great est Georgian since the days of Crawford, and the gentleman who mortgaged his ‘little home,’ for which he pays $9 per month rent, can never change' the facts of history. J. C. FLANIGAN.” •? * H Holv About That Conspiracy Mr. J. C. Flanigan, writing from Lawrence ville, Ga., sends to the Atlanta Journal a most interesting letter. Mr. Flanigan states the snub administered to Mr. Watson by the R. F. D. Convention > was the result of a conspiracy between Lon ' Livingston, President Lindsay, and Clark Howell. What? How is it possible that this can be true? It is not possible. w Lon Livingston would, of course, dp any thing and everything to gain votes just at this time, for his job as Congressman is about to slip out of his paws. He is now posing as a Farmers’ Friend, a Laboring Man’s Friend* add Everybody’s Friend —for an election is ahead of him. Once the day of election is passed, Lon Livingston will be the same old thing that he has been during the seventeen years of his disreputable career in Congress— the Office-jobber’s Friend, the Appropriation hunter’s Friend, the Subsidy-hunter’s Friend and, above all, the Southern Railroad’s Friend. Therefore, it is not surprising that Lon Liv ingston should be eager to conspife with any body and everybody if, by so doing, he can ap pear before a respectable body of men, in the creditable attitude of having originated so ben eficent a measure as the R. F. D. service. It not being possible for him to appear re spectably, save when appearing in false col ors, he resorts to conspiracy, from the neces sity of the case. Not a single line has he ever placed upon the statute book in favor of the R. F. D. system; and not a single one of the great reforms which he used to preach, with tearfulness and hypocritical whines, as Farm ers’ Alliance President, has he ever made the slightest effort to secure for the honest but deluded men whose votes put him into Con gress. Among all the “accidents” that were lifted into power by the Farmers’ Alliance, none was lifted from a lower depth and boosted into greater elevation than this same Lon Living ston. His name reeked of Marble Lobby and Ma- 1 con Fair Scandals. He had to beg and cry and whine, in the Agricultural Society, to keep down,open exposure and disgrace. The Atlanta Constitution contemptuously classed him as the Thirty Dollar Man—the reference being to his taking service under the Marble Lobby which was scheming to exploit the state in the building of our new capitol. But he wormed himself into the upper cir cles of the Farmers’ Alliance, identified him j self with the Farmers as their most devoted I champion, won the confidence of men who were too honest to suspect the true charac ter of such a man as Lon Livingstoh, and thus got himself into Congress. ’/ Once in office, he stopped his championship of the “down-trodden” laboring classes, and a smooth, artful, selfish and thoroughly unscrupulous placeman. The man being absolutely devoid of convic tion or principle, the Congressman has been utterly null, so far as rendering service to ’ his country is concerned, and notoriously evil in his manner of life, and in his support of vicious measures. • Consequently, to pose before a respectable body of men as the author of a respectable piece of legislation, was worth a great deal to WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN. a man of the Livingston variety—worth a conspiracy, even. And it would seem that President Lindsay entered into Livingston’s little game. It would seem that it was through Lindsay that Living ston administered his snub and borrowed his false plumage. The Georgia Convention of the R. F. D. men expressly instructed Lindsay to invite Mr. Watson to the Convention. Mr. Lindsay posi tively promised to do so. Let Mr. Lindsay deny this and we will con front him with witnesses from among the R. F. D. men. Mr. Lindsay then said that he was not only willing to extend the invitation, but would be delighted to do so. Thus lulled the R. F. D. men into a state of confidence. They had no suspicion that their President was playing them false. At that time, it is probable that Lindsay meant to do what he promised. It is probable that Lon Livingston got inffiis work later. Being a Congressman* and a member of the Appropriations Committee, it was in Living ston’s power to do certain things for Lindsay. And, previous to an election, *Livingston can be lavish in promises. Therefore, it is easy to understand how a “working basis” may have been reached by Lindsay and Livingston. What the trade was, we will perhaps learn hereafter. By the time the' indignant R. F. D. men get done with their deceptive President, he will doubtless realize that nothing which Living ston can do for him will compensate him for what he has lost. But why should anybody suspect that Clark Howell was a party to the conspiracy? We do not believe that he was. There is no conceivable motive. Mr. Howell’s speech, it is true, did not give credit to Mr. Watson for the R. F. D., but neither did it give credit tp Livingston. Clark said, in effect, that it was either Watson or Livingston that started the ball, but that he had been so busy, or some thing, that he had not investigated the case e and did not know, with precision and finality, just who ought to wear the honors. When it is borne in mind that old Lon was sitting there, sanctimoniously wearing said honors, Clark’s speech was a fairlv bold speech. It isn’t every person present at court who will mar the amenities of the occasion by chal lenging the right of the sovereign to wear the crown. So, all things considered, I think Clark did mighty well. His speech, laid side by side with that edito rial in Hie Journal, came near enough to being one more pea of the same sort in the same pod. The fact of the business is, Democratic editors find themselves greatly harassed and harried these days; and the amused public must not be too exacting. True, Clark Howell has editorially declared that Watson was the author of the R. F. D. system ; but that was several years ago. is no use for us to be unreasonable in dealing with these Democratic editors. It’s as much as they ’ can do to remember the editorials they wrote last month. If they were required to live by what they wrote years ago the situ ation would simply be scandalous. H H • Hon. John W. Akin. The state of Georgia loses one ofats purest and most able servants and citizens in the death of the Hon. John W. Akin, of Carters ville. Possessed of natural mental endowments of a high ordfcr and a personality of unusual charm and sincerity, he cultivated both with a conscientiousness that made him one of the most popular men in Georgia, and a potent factor for good in the public life of the state. As lawyer and author on legal topics he won ~a reputation for clearness of reasoning and suc- cinctness £>f expression extending beyond the borders of his native state. able and impartial parliamentarian, he displayed decided gifts and vigor of decision in discharging the functions of presiding officer of the Georgia Senate. As a friend he was staunch and loyal; as husband and father, affectionate, wise and considerate. His achievements and his abilities had led his friends to hope that from the vantage ground of a fruitful middle age he would mount yet higher on the ladder of accomplish ment and distinction. His untimely taking off is a loss to all Georgia.—The Constitution. •e te * Where Was Jim? Our Tariff laws compel the American mer chant to buy his ship in the monopolized “Home Market.” European merchants, such as* Englishmen and Germans, are allowed to buy their ships wherever they can buy them cheapest. The result is that the European merchant gets a cheaper vessel than the American mer chant. Therefore, the European can afford a lower freight rate than the American mer chant. Result : the American merchant cannot com pete for the business and the European gets it. What is the remedy which common sense would suggest? * Allow the American merchant the same priv ilege enjoyed by the German and the English man. Let him buy his ship wherever he can get it on the best terms. But the Tariff-spawned Trusts and confed erated “Interests” will not hear to this. They want the common people taxed to make up to the American merchant, the difference in cost between the home-built ship and the cheaper foreign ship. The measure which proposed to tax the com mon people for the benefit of a few merchants was known as the “Ship Subsidy bill.” The Shjp-Subsidy thieves wanted Congress to let them take out the tax-money of the peo ple a huge sum of money, as a bounty, as a donation, as a free gift to the American mer chants who carry ocean freights. Owing to the poor leadership of John Sharp Williams, this villainous Ship Subsidy bill passed the House. At the-critical moment in the fight, there was much dodging on the part of certain members. One of the Congressmen who failed to show up when most needed was Jim Griggs of Georgia. Where were you, Jim? * H * On a Tare. • Has the Jeffersonian gone crazy? In a round-about, pacific and tentative man ner, that’s the question which a puzzled Texan puts up to us. And it’s all about Tare. This Texas friend thinks the Jeffersonian is wildly wrong on that question of Tare-on- Cotton. He is a keen hand at figures, and he has almost convinced the Jeffersonian that two and two make three. Now leFs see: Liverpool knocks off 6 per cent from the bale of cotton weighing, say, 500 pounds. Six per cent on 500 is 30. At least, we think it is. 'These Democratic editors have got us so befuddled, trying to keep up with their magic lantern changes, that we are not dead-certain of anything, these days. But we think that 6 per cent off a bale of cotton, weighing 500 lbs., means a loss of 30 pounds. Be keerful now, and watch the little ball. The farmer puts on to the bale about 6 yards of bagging and 6 ties. We had these actually weighed this morning, in the town which Mr. Bryan cruelly calls Tombkins. (Continued on Page 12.) PAGE NINE