Newspaper Page Text
that, in your own state of Nebraska, you do
business as a Populist, and that you have no
Democratic party there that amounts to a
hill pf beans.
Why, then, do you talk of a united, har
monious Democratic Party?
Your wishing for it, isn’t going to make it.
Even in the banquet room where you spoke,
a majority of those city gentlemen who sat
there and clapped their hands are at heart,
in favor of every policy of the Republican
Party.
And we can never have a real, potent Dem
ocratic Party until you cast out the Republi
cans. This, Mr. Bryan cannot do. There
fore, the Democratic Party stands for every
thing, anything, and NOTHING.
* * R
The Gobernor's Triend.
Last year the Democratic Party made Law
ton Miller, of Macon, Chairman of its Exec
utive Committee.
Perhaps that is one reason why we are not
getting the reforms that were promised.
With Lawton Miller for Commander-in-
Chief and the Atlanta Journal for official organ,
the administration which stands pledged to
certain reforms is heavily handicapped. •
The Atlanta Journal appears to have been a
reformer for campaign purposes only.
It has since opposed the reduction in pas
senger fares which the Farmers’ Union leaders
fought for and obtained.
It defends the greed of the manufacturers
and jobbers who have pocketed the savings
in freight rates.
It now supports that monstrous and profli
gate demand of the National Bankers that
they be allowed to issue doubtful paper money,
WHICH THE GOVERNMENT SHALL
REDEEM, IF THEY DON’T.
The pet banks demanded that the Govern
ment turn over to them all the Import Duties
collected at the Custom Houses. These Im
port Duties amount to about one million dol
lars a day.
The Government yielded to the demand.
The pets demanded that the Government al
low them the Constant use, without interest, -
of one hundred and fifty million dollars of the
people’s money.
The Government yielded to the demand.
The pets now go further, and demand the
privilege of issuing their notes as money, on
any so# of collateral which they can persuade
the Secretary to accept. If the collateral turns
out to be bad, or if, for any cause, the pets
should fail to pay their notes, THE GOOD
MONEY OF THE PEOPLE SHALL BE
TAKEN OUT OF THE TREASURY TO
PAY THE BANKERS’ DISHONORED
NOTES! f
And the Atlanta Journal says, in effect, that
the Government should yield to this monstrous
proposition.
Evidently, the Journal exhausted its reform
ardor in the campaign of last summer. Ever
since the day of the election, it has been con
spicuous for its policy of “throwing off” the
allies who helped to win the fight, and for its
insidious efforts to side-track substantial re
forms.
As to Lawton Miller, he appears to be as
good a Republican as J. F. Hanson and J. P.
Morgan could want. Ably, earnestly, suc
cessfully, this Chairman of the Democratic Ex
ecutive Committee has aided the non-residenf
corporations to escape justice. The Comptroll
er-General —noble and fearless officer that he
is! —has been doing everything in his power
to compel these marauding corporations to pay
their honest share of the taxes. This would be
a relief to the common people who are groan
ing under the load of eve Y-increasing taxation.
But each time tha k t he makes the effort to bring
these dishonest taxdodgers to justice, Comp
troller-General Wright gets a knock-out.
For some reason or other, it seems to be
WATSON’S* WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
the unwritten law of Georgia, that a Macon
man must be *named as Umpire.
Macon is where Maj. J. F. Hanson lives.
Macon is where the Central Railroad and
the Southern Railroad have their greatest in
fluence.
Macon is where the lawyer of the Southern
Railroad is Secretary of the Company which
publishes the only morning paper.
Macon is the very place to which the state
should not go for its Umpire.
But it always goes to Macon for its Umpire
hence the Comptroller-General is never able
to make the tax-dodgers come across.
No wonder Governor Smith is making
speeches on “education.”
In the whole range of possible topics, there
is not a subject that is nicer and more peacea
ble than education. P
If I were Governor and were hampered by
such friends as Chairman Miller and the At
lanta Journal, I guess I would speak on “Edu
cation,” too.
One never knows.
R R R
‘ The Insolent Milton Smith.
Milton Smith is the name of the satrap who
rules a Southern Province for his Majesty, Au
gust Belmont—New York thief-millionaire and
American agent for those international robbers,
the Rothschilds.
Even in ancient times, the satrap was often
haughtier than his master —just as many a
Captain in the army put on more airs than Lee
or Grant.
Even so, it chances that Belmont’s man, Mil
ton Smith, is much more superciliously offen
sive to the Province over which he is ruler
than Belmont is to his larger realm.
A few years ago, the poor little Railroad
Commission of Tennessee politely requested
the great Milton Smith to come before that
modest tribunal and answer certain questions
of a strictly legitimate kind.
Did the great Milton Smith respond? Not
at all. He did not even reply to the letter.
Railroad monarchs do not even have to ob
serve the proprieties which are respected by
gentlemen.
But the great Milton Smith went further in
his lordly arrogance. Offended at the un
precedented impudence of a Tennessee official
in bearding Belmont’s Railroad, the great Mil
ton Smith exerted his “pull,” and those inquis
itive Commissioners went out of office.
New Railroad Commissioners for the State
of Tennessee were named by the great Milton
Smith, and these Commissioners have known
better than to cross the great Milton Smith.
Tennessee wallows in the shame of complete
submission to the corporation which has de
bauched her public men and plundered her
common people.
This man Milton Smith is the fellow who is
now bucking against the tireless and fearless
Governor of Alabama.
This man Milton Smith is the fellow who
is filling the columns of the Atlanta Constitu
tion with vindictive assaults on Governor Co
mer, and with lying statements in favor of the
L. & N. Railroad.
If I were Clark Howell, I would go to plow
ing for a living before I would sell space in
my paper to such men as Theodore Price and
Milton Smith.
Goebel of Kentucky was making a fight
against this same L. & N. Railroad. Goebel
got elected Governor, and was murdered.
There has always been an impenetrable mys
tery about the assassination of Goebel, and
there is a wide-spread suspicion that the L. &
N. Railroad was back of it.
Governor Comer of Alabama is taking his
life in his hands, in fighting this unscrupulous
combination Os Northern capital.
And if I were Clark Howell, Milton Smith
should not be permitted to proetitute my paper
to his vile purposes.
Look This Way, Mr. Uposebelt.
Now that your able Secretary of the Treas
ury has deposited $25,000,000 of our surplus
money with Wall street to relieve the money
stringency produced by gamblers in watered
stock, can’t you induce your appointee to put
a few millions of our money into the banks
of the south to relieve the pressure which Wall
street speculators are now exerting to force
the warehoused cotton of the south upon a
panicked market?
The act of Congress under which he made
the deposit in Wall street, says he “shall dis
tribute the deposits herein provided for as far
as practicable equally between the different
states and sections.”
The prosperity of the United States is more
dependent upon the cotton crop than upon the
gambling checks of Wall street. The greater
the price of cotton the more gold it brings
from Europe to America. The smaller the price
the less gold America gets. The more gold
America gets the richer and stronger we grow.
The eastern bankers are reported as noti
fying their southern correspondents to with
hold loans on cotton stored in warehouses. If
this is adhered to millions of bales of cotton
might be forced upon a “broke” market, which
means ruin to thousands of laboring farmers.
The spinners of the world have taken no
orders for goods at less than 15 to 20 cents ba
sis for cotton.
But the speculator for the present is between
the producer and the spinner. If the specula
tor in conjunction with the eastern banks can
force the cotton farmer to market his cotton,
the farmer loses and the speculator wins.
Which side will you choose, Mr. President?
If that of the farmer, instruct your Secretary
to “distribute” $25,000,000 of our money among
the southern banks. C. E. McG.
R R R
Things Habe Changed.
A few years ago, the Tennessee R. R. Com
mission politely requested certain Railroad
Presidents to appear before that body to an
swer some fair questions.
Nothing doing.
One high and mighty satrap made no re
sponse. Another sent word that the Commis
sioners knew where his office was and that if
they wanted to see him they could come across.
Pleasant, wasn’t it? 4
Another vice-roy was so offended at the tem
erity of the Commission in having the audaci
ty to summon him that he actually whirled
in and had t'he Commissioners put out of of
fice. >
Glorious, don’t you se?
Well, there were a few men in each state
who couldn’t be silenced, nor driven away.
These courageous and indomitable fighters
have kept on, in spite of corporation abuse
and popular indifference, until things have
changed.
Even in Tennessee wiiere public men have
been the most weak-kneed, or cowardly, or
corrupt —even in Tennessee, there are signs of
better times.
In the other Southern states, Railroad bosses
no longer send word to Railroad Commission
ers “to come round to the Captain’s office.”
No, indeed.
R R R
• Most Unjust.
The following paragraph appeared in our
esteemed neighbor The North Georgia Citizen:
“Tom Watson feels very keenly the slight
in not being invited to the Rural Free Deliv
ery convention in Atlanta. There are a great
many up here who feel the slight he gave the
county fair in not coming to make the speech
he had promised to.”
Brother Shope, unintentionally, does Mr.
Watson great injustice.
He did not promise to speak at the Dalton
(Continued on Page Twelve.)
• ■ • - *• '
PAGE NINE