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PAGE SIX
Os INTEREST TO WEALTH CREATORS
GOVERNMENT AND THE WATER
WAYS.
A variety of causes, national and
commercial, have united to fasten
public attention upon the need of
some broad and systematic develop
ment of the inland waterways of »he
country for transportation. Govern
ment ownership of railroad* seems to
be a long way off in the future, but
the government ownership and con
trol of waterways is a present and
permanent fact. Perhaps if private
initiative had had full swav in the
pas* upon all our rivers and canals
the same as on the railroads, the
present relation of the two means of
communication would have been re
versed.
Much of the heavy freight traffic of
Germany is handled by canals and
“canalized rivers.” A considerable
volume of this class of business in this
country might be so carried, and the
present congestion on the railroads is
an argument that it would be so car
ried. Before the coming of the rail
roads the air was filled with the cry
for canals, and the promotion of in
ternal improvements, which included
water transportation, was a fixed ar
ticle in the creed of the intelligent
public man. When the railroads got
to work the demand for waterways
was sidetracked. The roads got there
first, and speed was then the question
of the houi.
Some minds have foreseen the
present situation. The late Senator
Morgan predicted a ship canal from
Chicago to the Mississippi, and a
deep channel down that river to the
gulf. Tie dreamed of a ship canal
across Florida to shorten the trip be
tween Atlantic and Gulf ports and
also a series of canals to connect
lakes and bays lying along the At
lantic coast, and provide an inland
waterway from North Carolina to
Maine. The spirit of public enter
prise will no doubt be able to make
this dream a realization without wait
ing for private initiation and capital
to blaze the way. They are matters for
public action. The public control*
the water sheds, which are the life
of the rivers and the canals. Our in
land waterways, both die natural and
the artificial, can be made to play a
most important part in the future
prosperity of the land. We have tried
the railroads under private manage
ment, and we know about what to ex
pect of our waterways. Their thor
ough development as public institu
tions can but prove beneficial. Per
haps the turbine engine or something
better will give an approach to rail
road speed for passenger boats, but
the main utility of deep waterways
will be to handle ore. grain, coal and
bulky and heavy manufactures
Spartanburg Journal.
THE MESSAGE FROM MORGAN.
All through the morning, despite
the millions that were being poured
into the market, prices continued to
drop steadily on the Exchange. The
price of money arose in proportion.
Union Pacific fell from 110 1-2 to par,
Great Northern went eff 7 3-4, Read
ing 9. Chicago, Milwaukee and St.
Paul 7 3-8, Southern Pacific 6 1-4
American Smelting, 5, and so on down
the list, while the price of money on
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
call loans went from 25 to 50, then to
75, and finally to 100.
Two o’clock arrived amid tremen
dous excitement. A loan of SIOO,-
000 was made at 100, and SIOO,OOO
more was snapped up at 130. The
floor of the Exchange was 4 perfect
bedlam. White-faced brokers dashed
about in a frenzy of fear. • They beg
ged the money sharks for loans at any
price.
Stocks continued to tumble Scores
of men faced absolute ruin. The sup
ply of money apparently was exhaust
ed. From his place in the rostrum,
President Ransom H. Thomas took in
the situation at a glance. Jamming
his hat down over his ears, he leaped
to the flooi, fought his way through
the mob of frenzied financiers and
dashed out of the door.
A thin, white-faced, careworn man
is seen running at top speed across
Broad street, and through Wall to
the office of the National City Bank.
Ignoring the attendants at the door,
scorning the use of the elevator, he
leaps up the stairway, springs into
the waiting room, which he crosses
with a bound, and flings open the door
of President James Stillman’s pri
vate room.
“The bottom is dropping out of the
market!” he cries. “Money is ad
vancing to 150. We must have $25,-
000 000 instantly to hr*»ak the grip
of the sharks, or the end is at hand!”
A hurried consultation follows be
tween the two leaders.
“It is impossible for us to advance
it all.” enes Stillman. “We’ll go
halves at 6 per cent. See Morgan
fnr the balance.”
W ith a bound. Thomas is out of the
room once more, down in the street,
and living diagonally across the street,
threading his way through th-" crowds
to No. 23. the office of J. P. Morgan.
The conversation with Stillman is
hurriedly repeated.
While Mr. Thomas waited Mr.
Morgan got in communication with
representatives of the National City,
Hanover. Chase. First National and
other banks, and a pool was formed
to furnish the needed relief.
The hands of the clock point to
2:12. A minute later Morgan an
nounces the decision.
“Rush back to the Exchange,” is
his message; “Lbe money is at your
command ”
Once more Thomas wings his flight.
Through the crowd he leaps, up the
steps of the Exchange, from the por
tals of which the shrieks and roars of
the maddened brokers are belching. A
font inside the door, he hurls his
messages from No. 23.
“Money’s coming hnys! Morgan
will supply it —$25,000,000 at ten tier
cent ”
Up, up go the stocks; down, down
goes the price of money. U. P.
swings back to 110 3-4, Great North
ern to 115 3-4, Reading to 79 1-2,
Southern Pacific to 69 1-2. Trading
is resume dwith a vengeance. Prices
leap back to their former level, and
even begin to mount above it. The
situation i* saved.
The gong snurds. the gavel falls,
and trading for the day is done. Sim
ultaneously a hundred throats send
out a cry more strident, fierce, and
exultant than anv heard when the
panic raged its fiercest;
“’What’s the matter with Mor
gan?”
“He’s all right N. Y. Evening
Journal.
9
MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN
CHATTANOOGA.
The Primary Result.
The defeat of Mavor Trierson by
Col W. R. Crabtree, for the Demo
cratic nomination as mavor of Gfiit
tanooga. by a vote of almost two to
one, surprises no man who has kept
up with local politics and has the
faculty of reasoning from cause to
effect. It was one of the inevitables
of politics, and is easy to understand.
Several months ago the people got
it into their heads *hat poor manage
ment, and possibly some graft, were
losing the city money in the matter
of letting contracts for public im
provements. This idea was encour
aged and fanned into a flame hv the
opponents of (he mayor. There was
never anything in the charge of graft
—nothing worth raising a row about
nt least—but the people believed the
reports and held Mayor Frierson re
sponsible for failure to take drastic
action in the way of turning on the
light. Mavor Frierson satisfied him
self that there had been no corrup
tion of city officials, but be did not
satisfy the public on (hat score.
Again the municipal ownership peo
ple believed that Col. Crabtree would
be more active in the matter of pur
chasing or building a water works for
the city than Mayor Frierson had
been. This belief sent nearly all the
municipal ownership advocates into
the Crabtree column.
The fight between factions for po
sition with the general council pre
vented a number of influential poli
ticians, who were for Mayor Frierson,
from going tlteir length in his behalf.
They paid more attention to the races
for councilmen than they did to the
mayor’s race.
A number of minor issues and cir
cumstances combined to accomplish
Mayor Frierson’s undoing. How
ever, we must not lose sight of the
fact that Col. Crabtree is a popular
man. He has been mixing with s he
people of Chattanooga in one capac
ity or another for many years, has
many friends, and but few enemies.
He made a close, personal canvass of
the city, saw the voters, shook hands
w’itb them, and asked them to vote for
him. This had its effect; it always
does.
However, there is not much profit
in discussing the causes. The thing
has been done and Col. Crabtree is
the nominee for mayor. No man can
doubt that he will, if elected, give
the city the most conscientious serv
ice. He is a man of big ideas, be
lieves in doing something, and. there
fore, may be relied on to push the
material interests of Chattanooga
with all the force he can command.
He is an advertiser, a promoter and
an optimist. He believes in keeping
all the advantages the city enjoys
constantly in the public eye, and we
say without the fear of successful
contradiction, that he will employ en
ergy and good, hard sense in the con
duct of the office so far as it affects
the standing of Chattanooga abroad.
That is to say, he will use all the
power which the charter of the city
places in his hands to keep Chatta
nooga’s advantages well to the front.
In a word, he will make us a good
mayor.
LET’S FIND OUT WHERE WE
STAND.
Isn’t it about time that the penpie
of Georgia and the many varied in
terests in the State were finding out
just where they stand in respect to
the proposed public policies which
have formed the basis of popular agi
tation and popular demand?
Equilibrium is a law of trade, of
material development and progress, as
it is of nature, and instability means
suspense and retardation. There can
be no progress without knowledge and
assurance cf the conditions to be met
and dealt with.
If Georgia is to continue to move
forward as in the past, we must know,
in the language of the statesman,
where we are “at.” We must ret
down to bedrock and build upon it.
There must be no uncertainty as to
what the legislative and executive
branches of the government are going
to do. They must settle now, once
and for all. one way or another, the
important public questions which
have been the storm centers of pub
lic and political agitation for the lats
two years, and the uncertainty re
garding which has, in many quarters,
brought about a state of suspended
animation.
Are we c r are we not to have an in
come tax on corporations?
Are we or are we not to have port
rates?
Are we or are we not to have fur
ther reductions in freight rates, and
other requirements upon public ser
vice corporations which have been
suggested or promised, but about
which there has been considerable un
necessary delay in the performance?
It is due the people of Georgia, it
is due the railroads and other cor
porate interests of the state, it is due
the outside world, which has trade
and investment relations here, that
these questions be answered —ans-
swered promptly, definitely and em
phatically, that there may be no fur
ther doubt, no possible question as to
what the state is going and is not
going to do.
Certain of these questions can only
be answered by the general assem
bly, but the importance of reaching
definite conclusion with regard to
them is becoming every day more and
more apparent and pressing.
It is for this reason that The Con
stitution feels impelled to give hear
ty indorsement to the suggestion of
Hon. Thomas E. Watson that the gov
ernor call the general assembly in
extra session for the purpose of put
ting an end to this injurious and dan
gerous suspense.
In the current issue of his Weekly
Jeffersonian, Mr. Watson says:
“The people elected Hoke in order
to get certain things. A fair inven
tory of these things was prepared by
Hoke and his friends. That inventory
is called ‘The Macon Platform.’
“As yet, we cannot 4 check up.’
The goods to tally with the Inventory
have not been delivered.
“My own deliberate opinion is that
the legislature ought to be called to-