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in the purpose to divide the money among
those heroes of the Lost Cause who are still
left to us. They won’t be here long. Let us
make their remaining days as free from want
and as full of comfort as possible. Let us
try to remember that the unveiling of monu
ments—while a glorious thing—is not quite
the best thing for the old soldier who may be
in need of the necessaries of life. Honor the
dead; nothing too good can be said of them;
but remember that these old veterans who
bend as they walk along your streets and high
ways deserve exactly the same thing at your
hands as the glorious dead whose devotion
to duty you commemorate with a marble mon
ument.
MM*
The Panic: T)r. Jar nagin 's Letter,
Elsewhere the Jeffersonian presents to its
readers a brief letter from Dr. J. C. Jarnagin,
of Warrenton, Ga.
The Doctor is one of those men who have
no axe to grind, no office to , seek, and who,
therefore, brings to the subject mentioned in
his letter the unbiased judgment of an intelli
gent citizen.
The Jeffersonian unreservedly endorses Dr.
Jamagin’s suggestion to the President. If
this Government should now resort to the
method of supplying the demand for sound
money which has been pronounced legal by
the highest court in the land, the panic would
disappear, like a casual cloud. The Govern
ment has full authority to issue its Treasury
notes. Back of these notes would be the pow
er of the Government and the wealth of the
nation.
A few years ago, we witnessed the shame
ful spectacle of a Democratic President mort
gaging the future of his country by the issue
of $262,000,000 of bonds, in a time of profound
peace. These same Wall street gamblers, spec
ulators, watered stock manipulators—created
a situation which seemed to Mr. Cleveland to
make it necessary for him to give to J. P.
Morgan, August Belmont and a few others,
United States gold bonds at a lower rate than
that at which the gold bonds of certain New
England railroads were quoted. The gold bonds
of the little negro government of Jamaica were
actually quoted in the open market at a higher
figure than Mr. Cleveland exacted from Mor
gan and Belmont in that famous midnight deal
of his.
Now, it must occur to everybody that if a
president has the right, of his own motion, to
issue interest-bearing bonds which bind the
Republic, he has precisely the same right to
issue interest-bearing notes, or Greenbacks,
simply. If it was legal for Grover Cleveland
to give the Wall street bankers $262,000,000
in bonds, it is just as legal for Theodore Roose
velt to give to the suffering millions of peo
ple an equal amount of Treasury notes. If
he would do this, the difficulty would be met
immediately. If he even declared his purpose
to do it, the panic would instantly be checked.
What the country needs is a greater amount
of actual money. What the Jeffersonian means
by “money,” is something which the Govern
ment declares shall be legal tender in payment
of all debts, public and private, large and
small. Nobody cares a snap of the finger for
gold or silver in its commodity shape, at this
time; what the country needs is money—
something which will be a legal satisfaction
for debts and dues and contracts of all de
scriptions. We do not care whether it is gold,
or silver, or copper, or brass, or zinc, or linen,
or leather, or paper. What we want is money,
and nothing is money until the Government
puts back of it the law of legal tender.
The vast flotations of watered stock which
have been issued by high-finance criminals
like E. H. Harriman, August Belmont and
Thomas F. Ryan, have acted as huge sponges,
to suck up available cash. The securities of
one railroad have been increased tenfold, and
I Uten iWw Wave Wen pWdgpd with
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
insurance companies, trust companies, and
banks, to obtain the funds with which another
railroad is bought. With the securities of that
railroad, the same juggle is made, and the con
sequence has been that all the loanable funds
have been poured into these ratholes.
One instance of the fearful recklessness with
which these corporations have been managed
was that of Mr. Peabody,* President of the
New York Mutual Life Insurance Company.
This astute trustee of money belonging to
the widow and the orphan actually loaned
out $1,600,000 of the trust funds to one little
corporation which was capitalized at SIO,OOO.
Such a thing makes a sober man wonder
whether he is awake or dreaming. Such finan
cial methods were never known before in the
history of the world.
The high-finance speculators are now clam
oring for more credit money. They demand
that the Government shall allow them to flood
the country with additional torrents of pa
per. The Associated National Bankers are so
certain of their mastership of the Government
that they have had the amazing audacity to
propose a new plan, which will deluge the
business world with a tidal wave of paper,
paper, PAPER, on which the pet banks will
reap the harvest of compound interest. These
modest gentlemen actually propose that when
they do not redeem their own paper, the Gov
ernment shall do it. In other words, they will
exploit the country by making the business
world pay compound interest for the use of
the bankers’ evidence of indebtedness, and if
the after all, should not honor his
own note, the taxpayers of the country shall
do it.
Is there to be no end to this lunacy? Are
we to quench the thirst of the storm-tossed
mariner by drenching him with salt sea-water?
Let Mr. Roosevelt double the amount of the
Greenbacks and thus save a tottering sky
scraper of credit paper.
Instead of $346,000,000 of Treasury Notes,
give us $800,000,000.
Then we won’t need any prop-work doings
of Morgan and Rockefeller.
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IF YOU ARE A SUBSCRIBER, WE WILL AGREE TO COUNT
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OTHER NAME YOU SEND IS THAT OF A NEW SUBSCRIBER.
Honor Poll.
Here are a few of the loyal and active sup
porters of the two Jeffersonians:
A. Benoit, Shreveport, La.
Hon. Frank Burkett, Okolona, Miss.
J. M. Braselton, Plainview, Tex. ,
G. H. Kenyon, Parrott, Ga.
P. G. Bloodworth, Perry, Fla.
W. J. Marsh, Idabel, I. T.
Hen. Wm. Walden, Spread, Ga.
(Tte be Contitrwedw)
Editorial Notes.
By J. D. Watson.
Following the conference with Governors
Smith and Comer, Governor Glenn has made
an appeal to the railroads to obey the laws of
North Carolina.
“If after a fair trial the rates are found too
low,” said Governor Glenn, “though in my
judgment it will be found they will increase
receipts, then the railroads may rest assured
that the State will do what is right. I appeal
to the railroads to stop their litigation, which
will result in no good to them or the people,
and let us all await results until the next meet
ing of the general assembly.
“If some of our business men would stop
trying to persuade me to violate the law passed
by the legislature,” said the governor, “which
under my oath, it is my duty to maintain, and
which I have no right to alter or repeal, and
will turn their persuasive powers and influence
toward inducing the raillroads to obey the
law as passed until it has had a fair trial, they
would be doing a much greater service to their
State.”
This statement is the plain truth, and the
railroad officials know it, but they have been
controlling governments, both state and na
tional, for so long, and have practically made
the courts decide cases as they wanted them
decided that they seem unable to stand the
change from controlling to being controlled.
The time when any railroad measure can be
lobbied through almost any State legislature
has passed.
The time when they could openly violate
laws and go unpunished has also passed.
The public-be-damned policy will not work
any longer, and the railroads had better realize
it.
The more they try to set aside just laws
and disregard the rights of the different states,
the more they arouse the people, and the
more they arouse the people the worse it will
be for the railroads.
w
The State Railroad Commission of Georgia
seems to look upon the reported sale of the
Central of Georgia Railroad to E. H. Harri
man with some suspicion.
An order calling upon the Central and South
ern Railroads for “full disclosures touching the
sale of the stock of the Central, so far as the
facts may be known to them or their compa
nies, or appearing in the books or documents
in their possession.”
The Commission asks for a complete list of
stockholders at the present time, and at all
times since October 1, 1895.
As this information must be furnished on
or before November 15, we may look for some
surprising disclosures within a day or two.'
Since winning the city and county election
in New York, Charles F. Murphy and other
Tammany bosses, seem to be working to bring
out a candidate who can defeat Mr. Bryan
for the Democratic nomination next year.
If Mr. Bryan does secure the Democratic
nomination next year he will stand a much bet
ter chance of being elected if he defies Tam
many, Murphy & Co., than he will with their
support.
The association of any nominee with Mur
phy and his kind will drive away thousands of
honest voters who would otherwise give the
same candidate their support.
If Mr. Roosevelt is the Republican nominee
for President in 1908, which is not at all unlike
ly, the Democrats will need a strong, clean
man, and free from the political contamina
tion of Tammany and Murphy.
n
The President promises to get after the
Paper Trust next, and, if sufficient evidence is
found to warrant criminal proceedings, crim
inal proceedings will be instituted.
The president promises to go further and
urge upon Congress the necessity of abolish
fCeitinued en Page Twelve.)
PAGE NINE