heard so much about. He should have said to those Wall Street Raiders,
“I’ll give you COIN--get anything else if you can.”
When the Government had the gold, the yellow metal should have been
handed out. When the Government did not have the gold, it should have
handed out silver--saying to the Raiders, “Take it, or leave it. Your
contract says COIN. There is coin. We make you _the legal tender_ of it.
If you don’t take it when so tendered, _your claim against the
Government is as dead as Julius Caesar_.”
THEN the Government would have had _the Bankers_ “by the leg.”
But, you see, Cleveland was standing in with the Wall Street crowd--and
that makes all the difference.
Suppose our friend, the Doctor referred to by Mr. Hairston, owed ten
different notes of ten dollars each, every one of them containing the
plain statement that they are payable in “_coin_.”
[Illustration: “THE CONUNDRUM IS: WHAT WOULD BE LEFT TO UNCLE SAM, IN
THE MATTER OF NATIONAL FINANCE, AFTER THE BANKERS SHALL HAVE GOT ALL
THAT THEY WANT?”]
Suppose that they fall due and are presented for payment. Suppose the
Doctor has half the money in gold coin and the balance in silver coin.
Suppose he offers the entire $100 in coin, in satisfaction of the debt.
Suppose the holder of the notes rejects the silver “coin,” and demands
the entire debt in gold coin.
What would the Doctor do?
Would he hurry and scurry about, hunting for gold to satisfy the
exacting creditor? I’ll bet a medium sized mouse-colored mule that he
wouldn’t.
The Doctor _knows_ that silver coin is legal tender, and _was
contemplated as one of the coins of payment at the time the contract was
made_.
Consequently, he would tender the silver, and if the _offer to pay_ in
that “coin” were refused, the Doctor would simply let the creditor do
what the heathen does when Christian Civilization gets after him--RAGE.
(4) Let the Doctor peruse the Life of Chase, who was Secretary of the
Treasury under Mr. Lincoln, and he will realize how much he is in error.
Many other authorities might be cited.
Gold and silver had disappeared. Specie payments had ceased. The
Government was about “broke.”
_The daily expense account was approaching the two million dollar mark._
Spaulding, Salmon P. Chase, Thaddeus Stevens and others realized that
unless the Government could float a paper currency the jig was up.
It was just about then that _Lincoln expressed the opinion that some of
the Wall Street bankers ought to be shot_. They were manifesting every
disposition to take advantage of the distress of the Government. They
were showing that they meant to get rich off the war. And they
accomplished their purpose.
They failed to obstruct the plan to issue paper money, but they
succeeded in having Congress virtually say that while the Greenback was
good enough for the soldier who was shedding his blood for his country,
it was not good enough for the Bondholder who was sitting at ease in the
financial Zion of Wall Street.
(5) My understanding is that the first paper money issued by the
Confederate Government circulated at par _when first issued_.
The legal tender currency of any Government must depend, in any case,
upon the strength, resources and credit of the Government.
Even the coin-currency _sinks to the mere commodity-value of the coin_,
when the Government sinks.
Even now there is an _artificial value in gold coin, put there by law_.
No pile of a million dollars in gold coin would sell for a million
dollars _as metal_.
In such a heap of gold you must allow for “wear and tear.”
The law _does allow_ for that very thing. If the gold coin is worn away
to a greater extent than ten per cent, the Government will not receive
it as legal tender--nor will the metropolitan banks receive it.
But anything _less_ than ten per cent loss in weight, _the law makes
good_, by declaring that _such_ coins are _legal tender_.
Few people stop to think of that.
Therefore, every kind of money is fiat money; that is, THE LAW MAKES IT.
Now, it must be self-evident that _the value which law puts into
currency_ SINKS, WHEN THE LAW-MAKING POWER SINKS.
If one can conceive of such a thing as the annihilation of the United
States we must know that our gold coins would at once go into the scales
to be weighed and priced _as metal_; our silver dollars would do
precisely the same thing, and each of them would be worth less than 70
cents.
As for our paper money, it would be waste paper, and nothing else.
United States greenbacks would amuse the collectors of fifty years
hence, just as Confederate bills do those of the present day.
Four Pertinent Questions Answered.
Enterprise, Ala.
_Hon. Thomas Watson, Thomson, Ga._:
DEAR SIR:--1. What are the fundamental principles of the four parties,
Populist, Socialist, Democratic and Republican?
2. Do you favor the way the United States allows the banks to use
national currency without interest and then charge the people 12 per
cent? If not, why not?
3. Do you think there is any likelihood of the Rural Free Delivery ever
being discontinued and if so on what grounds?
4. What does the Parcels Post Bill advocate?
* * * * *
ANSWER
(1) The Populists believe in the Public Ownership of Public
Utilities--such as Railroads, Telegraph and Telephone Lines, and Express
Companies.
They look upon the iron highway as a Public Road that should belong to
the Public. They believe that the tremendous power which private
ownership gives to the private corporations now owning the railroads is
too great, _too ruinous when improperly used_, to be exercised by those
whose sole aim is to extract the utmost possible dollar of profit out of
the franchise.
The Populists believe, also, that there should be _a return to the
money-system of the Constitution_.
The National Banks have USURPED the function of supplying the country
with a proper currency.
At the present time, when the Government has but $353,000,000 of its own
paper notes circulating as money, the National Banks have the enormous
sum of $583,000,000 of _their_ paper notes in circulation _as money_.
Populists contend that it is the prerogative and THE DUTY of the
government to create ALL THE MONEY THAT CIRCULATES, and to hold unto
itself the power of _regulating the supply_.
Populists believe in the Tax upon Incomes, and contend that this tax
should progressively increase as the Income increases. They believe also
in a tax upon Inheritance.
Populists lay particular stress upon THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF DIRECT
LEGISLATION. They believe in allowing the people to compel the
law-making power to act when they, the people, want certain laws. They
contend that it is no more than right _to compel_ the law-makers _to
refer proposed legislation to those who are affected by it_. This
principle has worked happily wherever given a fair trial, and is usually
called the _Initiative and Referendum_.
Populists contend, also, that all officers should be elected by direct
vote of the people, and that the people should have the right at any
time _to retire an officer who has forfeited their confidence_.
This principle is usually referred to as the _Right of Recall_.
In practice it proves a most excellent method of MAKING THE
OFFICE-HOLDER “WALK THE CHALK.”
Populists also believe that we should have a system of Postal Savings
Banks. These would furnish to the people _convenient_ and _safe_ places
of deposit for their savings; and the system would go far to lessen the
dangerous power of the metropolitan banks.
Populists are opposed to land monopoly, favor the eight-hour day in
factories and similar industries, and believe that the employment of
children of tender age in manufacturing establishments, mines,
sweatshops, etc., should be watched with hawk-like vigilance _and
regulated with a parental care which puts the_ WELL-BEING OF THE CHILD
_above every other consideration in the case_.
Populists believe in UNTAXED NECESSARIES OF LIFE, and contend that
whatever tariff duties are imposed should be laid upon luxuries.
In brief, Populists strive for the adoption of those principles which
would make this A REAL REPUBLIC, instead of an Aristocracy ruled by a
Class, or a Plutocracy in which Dollars dominate.
And during the whole time that the Politicians and Sages and Powers have
been laughing at us, WE HAVE BEEN QUIETLY FURNISHING WITH OUR GARMENTS
THE WARDROBES OF SUCH EMINENT POLITICIANS, SAGES AND POWERS AS
ROOSEVELT, BRYAN AND HEARST.
Bryan accuses Roosevelt of stealing the very clothes _that Bryan himself
stole from us_.
As for Hearst--before he fell down on that Murphy deal--his editorials
and speeches were nothing in the world but the echo of James B. Weaver,
Jerry Simpson and Mary Ellen Lease!
Had he kept up the lick, and not gone into that deal with Murphy, HE
WOULD HAVE BEEN ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. He parted with his most
valuable asset when he ceased to be an Independent.
The Socialists _think_ they believe in the collective ownership of those
things necessary to the production and distribution of wealth, _but what
they are actually driving at_ IS THE CONFISCATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY
and a jolly good division of the same, in order that THE HAVE NOTS WILL
BE UPON AN EQUAL FOOTING WITH THE HAVES.
That’s the inner meaning of practical Socialism, and that’s why it
assumes so savage a character in our great cities.
In the hearts of the rank and file Socialists, _are burning the same
fierce fires as animated_ THE GOTHS AND THE HUNS WHEN THEY BORE DOWN
UPON OPULENT ROME.
I have heard these people talk and I _know_ what it is _they really
mean_.
The Democratic Party, at present, hasn’t got any principles capable of
proof.
They are waiting for the next National Convention to hand out a new suit
of clothes.
They are awful sick and tired of that Parker platform, which is _almost_
the same as the Republican platform--as poor old Gassaway Davis said.
But they cannot “point with pride” to any other platform until the
National Convention meets. Just what will _then_ be done, it would take
an able-bodied prophet to tell. My own opinion is that they will adopt
the leading principles of Populism and put Bryan to running for the
Presidency again.
The Republican Party is doing just what Alexander Hamilton thought ought
to be done--running the Government in partnership with the rich, for the
benefit of the rich.
The Republican rule is a Plutocracy, tempered by an occasional spasm of
Rooseveltism.
(2) No. Because I do not believe in Special Privilege, nor in the
confiscation of $134,000,000 of money that belongs to the taxpayers. To
take away the people’s money on the pretext that the Government needs it
to pay expenses, and then _to deliver it over to a few Pet Banks to be
used without interest_, IS CONFISCATION. And it’s a burning NATIONAL
INJUSTICE AND SHAME!
(3) No. Because Congress dare not do it. The people would not stand it.
(4) The transportation by the Government, through the mails, of small
packages--say one, two, three, four, five, ten, fifteen pounds--at a
moderate cost, thus protecting the people from the robber Express
Companies.
Book Reviews.
CONDUCTED BY THOS. E. WATSON.
ANN BOYD. By Will N. Harben. Harper & Bros., New York City,
Publishers. Price $1.50.
Among the lads whose parents belonged to that great, wholesome class
which Lincoln used to call “the plain people,” you would have found the
creator of Abner Daniel, Pole Baker, and Ann Boyd had you gone to the
little North Georgia town of Dalton, soon after the Civil War.
[Illustration: WILL N. HARBEN.]
Two years old at the time that the deliberate treachery of William H.
Seward provoked the rash Confederates into firing upon Fort Sumter,--the
costly folly against which Bob Toombs protested in vain,--Mr. Harben
heard and saw much of the actual marching and countermarching of the
ensuing four years of THE MOST UTTERLY INSANE WAR RECORDED IN HISTORY.
Having been given a private education, the young man embarked in
business enterprises, and it was not until after 1886 that a mediocre
business man was offered up, a willing sacrifice, to a first-class
literary artist. Harben, the business man, means nothing to anybody, but
Harben, the literary genius, means a vast deal to everybody--for he is,
today, the most distinctly _original and creative literary genius in
America_.
_David Harum_ took the world by storm because of its unique portrayal of
a typical American business-man--shrewd, strong, persistent, humorous,
rough in most places and soft in spots. Banker and horse-trader, David
Harum knew human nature like a book, and was chock full of that rare
article called common sense.
Abner Daniel was in all respects the equal of David Harum, without being
an imitation; Pole Baker was superior, in some respects, to Abner
Daniel, and Ann Boyd enters a different class altogether.
The creations of Dickens and Thackeray offer nothing better, nothing
more human, nothing more symmetrically natural and fascinating, than
this heroic woman--tender-hearted, pure, brave and true--whose husband
forsakes her, whose child is taken away from her, whose enemies
persecute her, whose friends drop away from her, but who, standing at
bay and battling with the whole array, CONQUERS.
It is pathetic and it is grand.
How the proud woman covers her wounds and complains not; how the strong
soul finds itself _sustained from within_; how she brings a stupidly
narrow, prejudiced and malicious neighborhood to confusion and utter
defeat, is a story that makes one thrill with sympathy and admiration.
This number of the JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE begins the serial publication
of Mr. Harben’s greatest book.
READ IT CAREFULLY.
Few better books have been written.
Books Received.
BUFF. A tale for the thoughtful. By A Physiopath. Boston. Little,
Brown & Co., Publishers. Price $1.00.
_Gabrielle, Transgressor._ A novel. By Harris Dickson. J. B.
Lippincott Company, Publishers, Philadelphia. Price $1.50.
_Starting in Life._ What each calling offers ambitious boys and young
men. By Nath’l. C. Fowler, Jr. With 33 illustrations by Charles
Copeland. Little, Brown & Co., Publishers. Price $1.50 net.
THE DRAGON PAINTER. A novel. By Mary McNeil Fenollosa. Illustrated by
Gertrude McDaniel. Boston. Little, Brown & Co., Publishers. Price
$1.50.
MY PEOPLE OF THE PLAINS. By Ethelbert Talbot. Illustrated. Harper &
Bros., Publishers, New York. Price $1.75 net.
SOME SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGES. By Abbey Meguire Roach. Illustrated. Harper
& Bros., Publishers, New York. Price $1.25.
RICH MEN’S CHILDREN. By Geraldine Bonner. Illustrated in color by C.
M. Relyea. Bobbs-Merrill Co., Publishers, Indianapolis, Ind. Price
$1.50.
THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY. By Chas. Fletcher Doles, New York. Thos. Y.
Crowell & Co., Publishers. Price $1.50.
I AM SERMONS. By Thos. Shelton. Published by Christian, Denver, Col.
Price 50 cents.
THE TEETH AND THEIR CARE. By Thaddeus P. Hyatt, D. D. S., Brooklyn, N.
Y. King Press. Price 50 cents.
[Illustration]
A Peep Into the Weekly Papers.
Disgraceful Railroad Service.
Sometimes “patience ceases to be a virtue” and this is one of the times.
The _Record_ has kept quiet on the subject of the disgraceful,
indifferent, unwarranted and careless manner in which the Southern
Railway has treated its patrons from Toccoa to Elberton, through fear of
being classed as a chronic kicker.
But the thing has become so awful until this paper can keep still no
longer.
Our business men here in Royston--and we suppose it’s the same way in
Lavonia, Bowersville, Canon and Bowman--are losing money every day in
the week through this giant corporation’s ill-treatment. Our cotton
buyers have hundreds of bales of cotton stored here in every conceivable
place because they can’t get cars to ship it away.
Our merchants have goods on the road which were shipped to them days,
weeks and almost months ago, and are losing sales daily because they
can’t get the goods delivered on time.
Sometimes there is no freight train to arrive here for two days at a
time. Whose fault this is _The Record_ doesn’t know, but it must be the
“Big Guns” who own the road.
Not a freight train has arrived here on time in two months. Thousands of
dollars have been lost to the merchants and farmers of this section
through the criminal neglect of those who are at the head of this greedy
octopus, better known as the Southern Railway, which has Georgia in its
power as strongly as ever a boa constrictor of South Africa encircled
its victim.
How long? Oh Lord! How long, will this thing last?
Hasn’t Georgia’s Railroad Commission some power to do something for the
people of Georgia in this matter? If they haven’t they might as well
close up shop and go home and try and find some calling more suitable to
their respective talents, provided the members of that representative
(?) body have any.
The depot agent at this place is as painstaking and gentlemanly as any
railroad official in Georgia, but is helpless. He is worked to death for
want of sufficient help. He is doing the work of two men.
From the section boss to the highest official on the line in
question--the Elberton Air Line--that’s the road we’re talking
about--the pay is less by one third than it should be and not half
enough help is employed in any of the departments.
If the crew on the freight train that runs on this road were animals, we
could indict the authorities for cruelty to animals, but as they are
only human beings there is no law to cover the case. More’s the pity.
There’s something wrong with the law when it allows a greedy corporation
to work its men to death.
Why not put on two freight trains per day, having them to leave Elberton
and Toccoa early in the morning and returning in the afternoon? _The
Record_ believes this would solve the problem and stop the congestion of
freight on this line, at least.
The people of this section are broad minded and generous, and only want
what is due them from any standpoint, but propose to get what is coming
to them if it is gettable.
As we said in the beginning, we tried to keep still about this matter,
but our hammer has begun to knock and we propose to keep it up until
something is done.
_The Record_ will begin, next week, to circulate a petition among our
business men regarding this matter and proposes to send said petition to
Vice-President Andrews, of the Southern, in Charlotte, N. C., to Mr.
McMannus, in Greenville, S. C., and to the great and only Georgia
Railroad Commission, in the city of Atlanta.
Will our sister cities along the Southern, from Toccoa to Elberton, do
the same thing?
_The Record_ will wait and see.--_Royston (Ga.) Record._
Paid Dear for Their Titles.
The girls of these United States have always borne the name of being the
most vivacious, intelligent and common sense mortals of any other
nation, but as is the case in all other things, there are exceptions to
the rule, and when they do depart from the record they can make the very
worse breaks of any. Just think of as intelligent, cultivated girls as
Anna Gould and Consuelo Vanderbilt allowing such broken down old foreign
sports, gamblers and roues as Count Boni de Castellane and the Duke of
Marlborough, persuading them that they were loved, not for their riches
but themselves, and marrying such cattle when they could have secured
good, honest, sober, loving husbands at home. One is now suing for
divorce in Paris after her Frenchman has spent eight millions of her
money, and the other is applying for a separation in London. If it was
foreign titles these girls were seeking, they have paid dear for their
little toy and really deserve no sympathy, but if they sought the men
merely for their supposed merits, the two women ought to have guardians
appointed over them for the remainder of their lives, for they have no
idea of how to take care of themselves.--_Gainesville (Fla.) Elevator._
Honesty and Honor.
Pope says that an honest man is the noblest work of God and Paul says to
provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Webster says that honor is esteem due or paid to worth. Bacon says that
some in their actions do woo, and affect honor and reputation.
In common parlance we call a man honest, if he pays his just and true
debts. Is that true? If a person pays debts with money secured by
extorting the widows and orphans, by pressing the poor, by selling hell
and damnation to youths, is he to be called honest? Certainly not. He is
neither honest nor honorable.
There is another class of folk, who think themselves honest and would
resent with their strong arms even an insinuation of dishonesty on their
part, that fall as far short of being honest and honorable men as
thieves do of being angels. They are an ingenious sort of people, whose
heads are full of tricks and schemes, and their greatest joy consists of
working them upon the public. They had rather make money dishonestly
than honestly. To enlist them in any cause only the whisper of the word
scheme is necessary. Yet, they pay their debts and they seem to think
that this alone will carry them to “heaven on flowery beds of ease.”
_The honest and honorable men in a community are those, with characters
so well known, as to never be approached secretly or otherwise, in
behalf of screening any evil, upholding any wrong, fostering any unholy
scheme. They stand boldly for right living and everybody knows it._
The clever, popular men of a community are not always the honorable and
the honest. Their popularity often results from their closed lips and
silent hands. They are polite, generous and liberal, but are
approachable and ready participants in any sort of secret deal for a
little cash. Money in their eyes looks brighter than honesty and they
are neither honest nor honorable, although very clever fellows.
But there is in every community persons, possessed of righteous
consciences, with so high ideals of the right and so much hatred for the
wrong, as to be unable to restrain themselves in taking brave, bold
stands in every civic and religious reform.
_Boys, the object of this article is to elevate manhood in Gwinnett
county and the latter are the characters for your patterns. Be men._
Say, what is honor? ’Tis the finest sense
Of justice which the human mind can frame,
Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim,
And guard the way of life from all offense,
Suffered or done.--Wordsworth.
--_Gwinnett, (Ga.) Journal._
Sacred Prosperity.
Divine right is still to be discovered in high finance, although not so
usual as a few years ago it was. A group of minority stockholders,
clamoring for an accounting from Mr. HARRIMAN, were consoled by his
lawyer with the assurance that “Mr. Harriman moves in a higher world,
where stockholders may not hope to enter.” The president of the Union
Pacific Railroad may continue to keep stockholders beyond the
battlements of his personal paradise; but the Interstate Commerce
Commission, by virtue of the Railroad Rate bill, have the right to make
inquisitorial entry. The rate bill became a law on August 28. The
raising of the Union Pacific dividend from six to ten per cent. was
effected by Mr. Harriman on August 16. If the Interstate Commerce
Commission have been under embarrassment about picking a railroad which
shall be compelled to lower its freight rates, the juxtaposition of
dates should make them easy. A road which at once pays exorbitant
dividends and charges exorbitant rates seems to need their services. It
is not for the purpose of paying higher wages to his conductors and
engineers that Mr. Harriman charges high rates. His operating expenses
are but 52.51 per cent. of his gross receipts; whereas the average of
all our railroads is 67.79 per cent. When a shipper pays Mr. Harriman
one dollar, fifty-three cents goes to pay the trainmen and for the
other purposes embraced under operating expenses; about two cents
goes for taxes, and forty-five cents goes to paying the interest on
bonds and to meeting the necessities of Mr. Harriman’s ten per cent.
requirements.--_Collier’s Weekly._
Trial for Murder.
Our system of criminal jurisprudence is better than most, and as good as
any with the possible exception of the English. But no one denies that
it has monstrous faults. In New York recently one man shot another over
a woman. Both men were rich and the woman beautiful--a combination that
will instantly wreck the essential purpose of criminal law anywhere in
the United States. Already the newspapers abundantly foreshadow what
will happen. The material facts in the case--so far as concerns the
purpose of the law to protect human life--were brought out by the
coroner in about half an hour. Hereafter we shall hear very little of
them.
Press reports assure us that a fine array of legal talent on either
side is preparing to play a splendid game of chess. If it can be shown
that one of the men led a life more vicious than the other that will
score ten for the side that shows it. The sorry muck-heap of the woman’s
career will be raked fore and aft until it has yielded every point that
will count on one side or the other. The lawyers will construct a great
melodrama, with the villain, heroine and hero, to be presented to the
jury. The verdict--the very life of the accused--will depend upon the
skill with which the game is played and the success with which the
melodrama is “put on.”
“Thou shalt not kill,” says the commandment. One can imagine a
completely civilized state, in noble dignity, requiring the one man to
answer whether he did kill and murder the other, contrary to its
statute. It is merely an imagining, however. Our famous murder trials,
with their tawdry tricks in the face of death and their rotten plays to
sentiment, are pretty exclusively barbarous.--_Saturday Evening Post._
The Negroes.
Senator Bailey talks, as there is no law against his utterances. “The
free negro,” he declares, in his amiable attempt to induce in his
hearers a calm and rational mode of thought, “is a more serious menace
to the South than the negro in slavery.” In Alabama, a couple of weeks
ago, at a Republican convention, there was not a negro present--one of
the details indicating a general drift of the Republicans toward leaving
the negroes out of their politics. Meantime, the negroes themselves are
divided sharply in their meeting of the situation. The so-called
“Niagara Movement” puts out an address to the country which observes:
“We claim for ourselves every single right that belongs to a free-born
American, political, civil, and social.” The whole address is a mass of
almost bombastic rhetoric on this theme. Meantime, another leader
speaks: “Let constructive progress be the dominant note among us in
every section of America. An inch of progress is worth more than a yard
of fault-finding. The races that have grown strong and useful have not
done so by depending upon finding fault with others, but by presenting
to the world evidences of progress in agriculture, industrial and
business life, as well as through religious, educational, and civic
growth.” Without failing to make it clear that he wishes the equal
protection of the law, Mr. Washington refuses to complain, to whine
about social rights and aspirations, and prefers to tell his fellows the
most useful things to do. He leaves white faults to white men and warns
negroes against negro weaknesses. Which leader will the negroes follow,
and which speaks with wisdom and with strength?--_Collier’s Weekly._
The Labor Famine.
What has become of all our laborers is a question which no one seems
able to answer just at present, but that they are not to be had is too
well known. In the cotton belt of Texas, churches and Sunday schools are
organizing parties and going into the fields to save the crop; in other
of the cotton growing states the women are helping the men gather the
staple; immigrants are offered work almost before they have put a foot
on American soil; out West two great rival railroads are scouring the
woods for men; factories where child labor has been legislated out are
running short-handed, and it would appear that if our prosperity did not
abate a bit from other causes it would do so from lack of labor with
which to carry it on. Meanwhile communities are learning the gentle art
of smiling, trade is booming and not even an approaching election can
offer an opening to the pessimist.--_Pensacola News._
Cotton and the Negro.
Our Statesmen tell us in one breath that the salvation of the South is
in the planting of less cotton and getting more for it and, in the very
next breath, they say that immigration will save us. They invite the
yankee to come, and the German, and the Irish, and the Scandinavian and
even the Italian.
If it be true that we are planting enough cotton, even too much, and it
is true, wherein will the South be benefited by having thousands of the
foreigners settle here to raise more cotton? There is but one answer. We
don’t need any more cotton planters.
But it is contended that foreign immigration will settle the race
question. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. The cotton patch negro hasn’t
given us any trouble, nor will he, and he isn’t going to leave either.
He is satisfied, his landlord is satisfied, and a German or a
Scandinavian upon the scene will mean two cotton patches instead of one,
one for him and one for the negro.
True, there are many of our ambitious farmers who can’t secure enough
laborers to make enough cotton to get rich as fast as they would, but
they’ll get rich quick enough in using our present available labor,
thereby raising less cotton, getting more for it, and, at the same time,
either resting their lands or sowing it in small grain. And when these
wealthy farmers plant less cotton, they benefit every poor fellow,
standing between the plow handles, in the entire South.
And this one or two horse farmer is the ideal citizen, anyway. The best
communities are those made up of small farmers. The churches, schools
and social conditions in a community, in which one man owns all the land
and runs forty plows, are not as good as one with forty land owners.
Oglethorpe county would, no doubt, be a better county today, if Jim
Smith had never been born, and this is not said with the spirit of
criticising a single act of his life, either.
It’s all right for immigrants to build our cities, our railroads, our
manufacturing enterprises or to labor in the cities, on the railroads,
in the factories or even take servants’ places, but the South doesn’t
need any more cotton raisers.--_Gwinnett (Ga.) Journal._
The Railroad Power.
The railroad magnates have divided up the lines in this country among
nine families of plutocrats, who by controlling transportation of
passengers and freight, can control the Government. They are divided as
follows:
Harriman 22,276
Vanderbilt 20,493
Pennsylvania 20,138
Hill 19,407
Morgan 18,789
Gould 13,789
Moore 13,028
Rockefeller 10,293
Santa Fe 7,809
-------
Total 146,112
That is three-fourths of the mileage of the country and the control of
the main lines in every state and territory. It puts into the hands of
these men a greater power than was ever exercised by any group of kings,
lords and dukes who ever formed a community of interests. In all past
history, to overthrow such a power as that, a resort to long and bloody
wars was the only recourse. It remains to be seen whether the great
peace movements of the last few years, for which Andrew Carnegie has
built a temple at The Hague, will produce a sentiment strong enough to
settle this question peaceably. Would Andrew Carnegie encourage
anarchistic disorders if he thought there was a danger of a reduction
of the tariff on steel? Railroad combination and robber tariffs are only
another manifestation of what we once called the “money power.”--_Omaha
(Neb.,) Investigator._
Populism Forever.
Whatever may be the future of the People’s party, whether it is doomed
to pass away and give place to some other party that will present its
principles, or whether it may yet rise as it deserves to do and get
control of the Government, remains yet to be seen.
One thing is certain. It has already accomplished more in this
Government in the last fifteen years in the way of creating public
sentiment and political conviction than both of the old parties.
Fifteen years ago the two old parties were discussing nothing but
Tariff. The Money question, the Railroad question and the Trust question
were entirely ignored by them. Not because the leaders of the two old
parties did not know the magnitude and importance of these questions;
but they got their campaign boodle from these rich corporations and they
were willing to accept the money and let the common people perish.
When the Populists came on the scene they began to “cry aloud and spare
not.”
They showed that the same laws of supply and demand that regulated the
prices of other commodities, also regulated the price of money, that
when money was plentiful, prices were high, all kinds of business
prosperous and labor fully employed and well paid. While on the other
hand when money was scarce it was high; all industries paralized, men
out of work and their families suffering for bread.
They showed that the great railroad corporations had secured the public
franchises and were taxing the people without their consent and without
mercy.
They showed that their great corporations, growing enormously rich were
combining together and forming “Trusts” and that they will eventually
control all prices, and as completely own and control the country as did
the Barons under the Feudal system.
Their cry and their plea was invincible.
Their arguments could not be answered.
Ridicule and abuse might serve to keep them down for awhile, but the
just indictment against the two old parties was destined some day to be
sustained.
Today the Populist looks on with pleasure and sees his principles
growing in public favor every day.
The Republican president and the Democratic leader are endorsing the
very doctrines that were fifteen years ago considered the most radical.
All honor to the Populists.--_Nevada County (Ark.) Picayune._
Sense.
Can there be such a thing as a radical conservative? John Temple Graves
thinks Col. Pleasant Stovall, of the _Savannah Press_, fits that kind of
a job. We believe that a trimmer--if that is what Col. Graves means to
call Col. Stovall--is the most decent citizen that afflicts human
society. He stops rushing things when a sense of the proprieties tells
him that a thing has been rushed far enough to make it coarse or common
(use which word you prefer), and the result is that his hair does not
grow too long, nor his ears too puritanically short.
Yes, sir, the medium grade takes the cake. Except in an occasional
storm, the radicals may overrun all opposition; but it don’t last, and
the fellow that wins on an extravagant moral issue may be found in the
ditch dead drunk as soon as public sentiment gets normal and resorts
for a season to common sense arrangements of its ethics and politics.
Yes, the men who make an over-display of honesty for the season always
get left as soon as the folks get back to their normal qualities. Common
sense controls when the excitement has passed.--_Cordele Rambler._
A Lesson in Fusion.
Hearst got beat for Governor of New York while the balance of the State
ticket he was on got elected. A few of the successful candidates are
Independence League men, but most of them are straight Democrats. Thus
Hearst’s reform work was turned to the benefit of corrupt and foul
Tammany. We hope this lesson in fusion will be enough for the League.
Hearst was defeated by about 60,000, while the other State candidates on
the League-Democratic fusion ticket were elected by small pluralities.
Tammany scratched Hearst. The Wall Street element of the Democratic
party either scratched him or voted the Republican ticket. We are
inclined to think well of Hearst because of those who scratched him.
Hearst says the fight for the rights of the people is still on. With his
great daily papers he can do a vast work toward overthrowing the rule of
the money power, if he gets into the middle of the road and stays there.
But if he endeavors to work within the old party he will do more to
prevent the success of the people than forty Clevelands could do. Maybe
the thing wasn’t hardly ripe and he had to back out, which he did by
fusing with the Democrats after the League had nominated a straight
ticket. We are guessing that Hearst will be in the middle of the road
supporting Tom Watson for President in 1908.--_Missouri World._
A Significant Vote.
Whatever may be said of W. R. Hearst’s individual sincerity and
integrity of purpose, the vote which almost landed him in the governor’s
chair of New York State--a position which is next to the presidency--is
the vote which is dissatisfied with corporation conditions. It is a
significant vote. And the strong anti-Hearst sentiment among the “upper
ten” all over the South is also significant. Everywhere men are,
consciously or unconsciously, taking their positions along lines of
economics.--_Farmers’ Journal, Abilene, Texas._
Where He Belongs.
Tom Watson is back in Georgia, where he belongs. He is too warm, too
impulsive, too frank and too honest for New York--cold, calculating,
deceitful, hateful New York.--_Farmers’ Journal, Abilene, Tex._
[Illustration]
Letters From the People.
Half Jackal and Half Hyena.
_Lucian L. Knight, Los Angeles, Cal._
I cannot silence without gratifying the impulse which prompts me to
write you at once after reading what you have to say about that
superlative scoundrel, Mann. As a friend who holds you in loyal and
affectionate admiration, I resent with all my heart the treatment which
you have received at the hands of one who is man in name only and who in
nature is half jackal and half hyena. I am aware how true it is that the
most insignificant of insects may vex even the noble lion. Mann may be a
millionaire, but I warrant his shillings are dirty. How miserably poor
the wretch is when the only assets he has in the world are the millions
which lie in the bank!
I know how little things have annoyed me at times and I know how much I
have appreciated an impulsive word of sympathy, even from “the least of
these.”
I am sorry I could not get the extracts you were to send me in time for
Vol. I of the Reminiscences which will be ready for publication within
the next few weeks; but I hope to get them in time for Vol. II. The work
will require two volumes. I have met with so much encouragement that I
am warranted in beginning at once upon Vol. II. Disappointed in other
cherished plans and prospects, I am now putting my life’s ambition into
this work which I trust to be able to make of literary and historic
value to Georgia.
An Anonymous Slander Rebuked.
_W. H. Eddy, Los Angeles, Cal._
Can you explain what quality there is in human nature, that prompts some
specimens of the race to the doing of things which are admirably adapted
to the hindrance of all that they profess to be in earnest support of?
Now, for instance: in _The Appeal to Reason_ of October 27th, is an
unsigned article headed, “Populism and the Pap.” Being unsigned would
indicate that it came from the pen of J. A. Wayland, or that of F. D.
Warren, the present Managing Editor. Now, both of these men have been
earnest workers for several years, or at least for what they conceive to
be the cause of socialism. It would seem as though, when two men are
associated in a work which each of them has advocated and written signed
articles in favor of, lauding it as a movement opposed to dishonesty,
deceit and all the baser tendencies of the depraved mind, that when he
takes a notion to stultify himself, descend to the lowest practices of
the gutter blackguard, he would have consideration enough for his
associate to sign his name, so that decent people who may be so
unfortunate as to peruse it, and such of the patrons of the paper as
have both decency and brains enough to resent it, might not blame the
innocent party inadvertently.
If socialism is anything, or is to be anything in human history which is
to make for the betterment of humanity, then it must rest upon the
fundamental principles of honesty, justice and truth. All those who
would not be cursed by its adoption to-morrow, by reason of their lack
of development and their consequent lack of capacity to appreciate its
meaning and the obligations inherent in it, assert that brotherly love,
the golden rule, and the Sermon on the Mount, are also corner-stones in
the foundation of its most noble structure.
But let us leave the latter out of consideration for the present. It is
not conceivable that there can be dug up in the office of the _Appeal_
one individual so low in the scale of human development as not to
concede honor, truth and justice as being the beginning, the very A B C
of socialism. What must we think, then, of the estimate that the one who
penned the abominable article referred to, places upon the intelligence
of his readers, to say nothing of the hundreds who have drawn from the
little stock of their earnings which are really needed for the comfort
of themselves and family, to assist this poor degenerate in distributing
his venom and flaunting his idiocy in the faces of a nation of
intelligent people, to the disheartenment of thousands of advocates of
socialism, and the great glee of those who aver that the animus of
socialism and of all socialists is such as “Breathes the hot breath of
brutal hate, and riots as it runs” through the two columns of the
“Appeal?” To those who have not been unfortunate enough to read it,
suffice it to say that it is a wholly uncalled for, unsocialistic, and,
from every point of view, rascally, assault upon Hon. Thomas E. Watson,
and to make it, if possible, more pusillanimous, it is given publicity
just at a time when, on account of Mr. Watson’s having been grievously
misused by his former business associates in the _Watson’s Magazine_
enterprise, Mr. Watson is deserving of the sympathy of every person who
possesses a spark of decency. It is cowardly in the extreme to strike a
person when he is down or crippled.
Mr. Watson’s life history is now an open book to anyone, not an absolute
ignoramus, in this broad country. He has his prejudices. He has his own
political ideas, which, at the test of the ballot box, have been shown
to be largely in the minority, but, to his honor be it said, the fact
that they were not the winning card, has never caused him for one moment
to falter in devoting time, money and energy in their advocacy, a fact
which of itself would give the lie to the baseless, senseless and
hypocritical charge of treachery and double dealing, which, by their own
statements, finds 250,000 duplications in this issue of the Appeal.
It is doing too much honor to quote from it, but the readers of progress
will excuse the presentation of some short samples. “Tom appears to have
a grudge against whatever tends toward progress.” Think of that in
reference to the father of the rural free delivery postal system which
carries tens of thousands of copies of this very diatribe of lies to the
farmers of the country, in whose interest Watson succeeded in having
this system established, as the _Congressional Record_ will bear
witness. Again, “But he has been repudiated by the respectable
democratic press of his state--as witness the merciless exposure of his
methods by the _Atlanta Constitution_ and the _Macon Telegraph_!”
Respectable! The _Atlanta Constitution_ and the _Macon Telegraph_!
Socialists of intelligence, what have you to say of the creature so lost
to decency as to, in the columns of the leading socialist weekly paper
of America, if not of the world, so far as circulation goes, laud the
_Atlanta Constitution_ and the _Macon Telegraph_, notoriously the most
mercenary and most thoroughly corporation-serving papers of the entire
South, and for no other reason--for he can plead no other--than because
they are fighting Tom Watson, who happens to be under the ban of his
displeasure?
And why are the ultra corporation journals fighting Tom Watson? Because
honest Tom Watson is sacrificing his private interests in a determined
effort to defeat the machinations of the Walter Parkers, the Herrins and
the Abe Ruefs of his beloved state.
Again: “That Watson received the price for his perfidy is not for a
moment to be doubted.” Whoever penned those lines either knew that he
was penning a most villainous lie or he is too ignorant to be worthy of
the contempt of a chimpanzee. There isn’t a person with intelligence
enough to write connectedly on truth, or any part of the scurrilous rot
this creature did, but knows perfectly well that if Tom Watson had been
corruptible, he could have received ten times more to have sold himself
to the very forces this creature is supposed to be fighting, than it has
ever been claimed he did get. That is just as true of Tom Watson as it
is of ’Gene V. Debs. Everyone, including the writer of that malicious
screed, _knows_ that they both could be rolling luxuriously in wealth if
they had but followed the course of these very papers which he is
pleased to declare “respectable.”
But the last quotation is manly as compared with this one: “It is said
that he has been up for sale before, and was knocked down to the highest
bidder,” etc., “It is said!” The language of the conscienceless gossip,
the method of the footpad, with the sand-bag, or the gas-pipe who
strikes you out of the dark. Again: “John M. Barnes, a man for whose
veracity many stand ready to vouch, etc.” Very good, Mr. No-name. Mr.
Barnes is good enough authority to use in an effort to injure your
brother man, Mr. Thos. Watson. Would you accept Mr. John M. Barnes’
statement as to the offices you, your associates and the _Appeal to
Reason_ are performing in America, and would you abide by and endorse
them in your own case? Never! And that very fact impeaches your honesty
in quoting, as against Tom Watson, the slanders of corporation hirelings
and political hacks, whom you know are fighting him for what there is in
it. No! no! When you go straining a point, you always _prove too much_.
Be something like a man, and bid him God speed in his task of awakening
the people to their dangers, even if he does leave them short of being
full-fledged socialists.
Tom Watson’s opinions are not in all respects mine. In fact, there are
many points on which we do not agree. But if I have outgrown the tenets
of Populism, and he has not, or if he sees so many falling away from the
mere party organization of populism as to be heart-sore and discouraged,
and chooses to advocate _the same principles_ under the name of
Jeffersonian Democracy, he is still entitled to the respect of friend
and foe alike, until he sacrifices principle to greed or puerile hatred.
Wants to Follow Watson’s Pen.
_L. A. Benson, Clay Center, Kan._
I write to inquire as to the truth or falsity of the rumor that you have
severed your connection with the Magazine which bears your name. I have
been a voting Prohibitionist since 1885. I bought the first issue of
“_Tom Watson’s_” and read it, and have hungered for its appearance ever
since. I have read every line of Editorial and other matter which came
from your pen. I was beginning to think myself so much of a Populist
that I could “keep step.” From 1894 until 1901 I lived in Philadelphia,
Pa., and judging the Populists from the caricatures appearing in Eastern
papers I felt surprised to find that I have all along possessed just
such views as constitute the essence of Populism. I find myself
unwilling to give up the opportunity to follow your pen. I will regard
it as a matter of genuine kindness to me if you will put me in
connection with the Magazine which takes your copy and spreads it among
your many disciples and admirers. I regard the work which you are doing
as _fundamental_, and I am aware that you, like all leaders in reforms
which touch the money-king, will suffer. If it be in the power of “Old
Plute” to crucify you, he will not be too tender. He will not be lacking
in heartless cruelty. But while you are bidding high for the hate and
vengeance of “Old Plute” you are winning the glorious title of “friend”
and “brother” to those who are crushed ’neath the heel of this
heartless, greedy foe. To _oppose_ him and to _stand the loving helper_
of men, is to trace the footsteps of the Man of Galilee, up a modern
Calvary. In plain language, it is the essence of pure and undefiled
religion. Here’s my hand, brother, and may God bless and prosper you.
Hedging on Human Life.
_N. B. McDowell, Ronceverte, W. Va._
In reply to your question in _Watson’s Magazine_ of August: “Is it true
that railroad corporations insure the lives of the railroad mail
clerks?” I cannot speak for the railroad corporations, but it was
developed in court here that the St. Lawrence Broom & Manufacturing Co.,
the largest corporation in this section, has the lives of its employes
insured for its benefit. This company employs a large number of men and
boys and has never made any provisions for their protection against the
inclemency of the weather, or the many dangers of machinery that might
be averted.
I was an employe of this company for fifteen years and have seen a
number of men and boys mangled and maimed for life, but it was not known
until quite recently that the corporation received insurance for every
employe that got crippled. A boy got his hand cut off and sued the
company for damages and it was clearly proven that the employes were
insured for the benefit of the company.
Must Have the “Jeffersonian.”
_D. H. Chamberlain, Harriston, Miss._
A few days ago I saw in the Memphis _Commercial-Appeal_ that you had
severed your connection with _Watson’s Magazine_. I am a subscriber and
have taken the Magazine solely on account of your Editorials, which I
regard as the finest and most forceful I ever read in any Magazine. My
subscription is about run out and if you are no longer connected with
the publication I do not care to renew. This is my reason for making
this inquiry, and I will be glad to hear the report is untrue. If it is
correct let me know if it will be your purpose to edit a similar
periodical. In that event you can count on me as a subscriber, even if
the subscription price should be increased to $5.00 per annum.
I think you are doing a great and necessary work in your attempts to
arouse the people to the dangers that now menace the liberties of this
unhappy land, “to hastening ills a prey.”
There is one point on which I am constrained to criticise you and that
is your ill-advised attacks on W. J. Bryan, which is something I am
utterly unable to understand.
Why do you do this when you both stand for the same things? It seems to
me unfortunate, to say the least, that soldiers of the hosts of Reform
should turn their artillery upon each other when so much ammunition is
needed to fight the cohorts of Plutocracy, and in this connection
nothing will ever be accomplished in the way of bringing this Government
again into the possession of the people if any such suicidal policy is
pursued. The reformers must get together if this Republic is to be
preserved, if it is not even now too late to save it. Of this I am
certain: we have no time left us for internal dissensions, and I hope
that so splendid a soldier of the common good as yourself, will, in the
future, refrain from stirring up discord in the ranks of Reform, and
reserve your ammunition entirely for our enemies.
As to Gins.
_R. W. Barkley, New York City._
November 12, 1906.
I note that you are proposed as President of the Cotton Association. I
have read your Magazine from the first number until Mann got it, and I
know your desire to benefit the South. I control the patent rights on a
cotton gin which works on a new principle and which leaves the cotton in
natural lengths, thereby enhancing the price to the planter by one to
five cents per pound. The gin can be run by hand, or by power, and a few
farmers can own one in common and thereby earn money by ginning their
own cotton. The gin consists of “mechanism for gradually opening and
loosening the cotton fibres while still attached to the seeds, with
means for thereafter removing the seeds.” Just take a little cotton and
gradually pull the fibres apart, without, however, separating them from
the seed, until you have a large puff ball and then see how easily they
come off at the seed. Well, that is what this machine does. No “gin cut”
cotton in it. Seed practically unhurt, also. Am looking for money
wherewith to build a large machine, (the inventor made the working model
by hand himself); it does the work fairly well, but it is getting to be
ram-shackle for demonstration purposes, and then for capital wherewith
to work the gin commercially. Such a gin ought to interest you and also
the Cotton Association.
EDITOR’S NOTE.--Having just been run through one new and improved
gin--known as _Town Topics_--and having been badly “gin cut” myself,
have but slight inclination for new inventions of the gin variety.
Getting Used to It.
_S. R. Sikes, Ocilla, Georgia._
I have your card of November 10th, advising me of your withdrawal from
_Watson’s Magazine_, and of your intention of publishing in the near
future WATSON’S JEFFERSONIAN. I desire to express my sympathy for you in
your recent trouble with the New York publication, and to assure you of
my friendship and best wishes for you in your new enterprise, “THE
JEFFERSONIAN.”
I feel sure that you have been treated very unfairly by those New York
people, and I feel a spirit of resentment for you, and I am to-day
writing them to discontinue mailing _Watson’s Magazine_ to me, and to
erase my name from their list of subscribers. (Copy of letter enclosed.)
I would feel worse for you over this transaction than I do if it were
not for the fact you have been unfairly treated and falsely accused so
many times during the last ten or fifteen years, until I suppose you
have to some extent become toughened so that you can stand such
treatment better than the average man, and I see very plainly now, and
have seen for quite a while past, that the current of public sentiment
is rapidly drifting your way. I desire to offer you all the
encouragement I possibly can in the noble work you are doing--educating
the common people of the country on the public issues that are now
facing the American people, and in this connection I will state to you
that I have been with you, so far as my ability extends, in this battle,
and on some occasions have been severely criticised for taking your part
and standing by the principles of original democracy in the days when
the Democratic Party was seeking to destroy the principles upon which
our government was founded. Of course I will subscribe for the
JEFFERSONIAN. I want the first copy that is printed and each succeeding
issue. Mail me a few sample copies, and I think I can induce some others
to subscribe.
* * * * *
(Copy.)
November 14, 1906.
Editor Watson’s Magazine, New York.
Dear Sir:--After reading and carefully considering the recent
differences between you and the Honorable Thos. E. Watson, I wish to say
to you that I think Mr. Watson has been treated very unfairly. I am a
great admirer of Mr. Watson and his writings, and this led me to
subscribe to the Magazine in its beginning. I have been highly pleased
with it, and especially so with Mr. Watson’s editorials, but as he has
been forced to sever his connection with the Magazine, and as his
writings were the principle things which induced me to subscribe to the
Magazine, I write to request that you erase my name from your list of
subscribers. If I remember correctly, my subscription is paid up to
March 1st, 1907, but under the circumstances I do not wish another copy
mailed to my address.
Very respectfully,
S. R. SIKES.
Watson Was Its Strength.
_V. L. Anthony, Jr., Hurtsboro, Ala._
I subscribed for _Watson’s Magazine_ on account of your connection with
it. Now, as you are no longer with it, I wish your new Magazine when you
start it.
“The Gang” Insults the Readers.
_D. J. Henderson, Sr., Ocilla, Ga._
When the stockholders of the _Watson’s Magazine_ attempted to restrict
you as Editor and Manager, causing you to sever your connection with it,
they struck, what I call, a death blow to the Magazine. All of its
readers who believe in pure Jeffersonian Democracy felt the insult as
keenly as you. I enclose you copy of a letter I sent last week to
DeFrance, ordering mine discontinued. I am a subscriber to the Weekly
_Jeffersonian_ and will be to the Magazine you contemplate starting in
Atlanta as soon as the first issue is out.
The editor of the _Ocilla Star_, whom I asked you some time back to
exchange your Magazine with, has, since that time, “passed over the
River to rest in the shade.” The paper will be continued by his two
young sons, who, I know, if not doing so, will be pleased to exchange
with _The Jeffersonian_.
May the blessings of Heaven be upon you and yours.
* * * * *
(Copy.)
Ocilla, Ga., Oct. 24, 1906.
Mr. C. Q. DeFrance, New York City.
Dear Sir:--Please strike my name from the list of subscribers to the
_Watson Magazine_. I learn the stockholders endeavored to place
restrictions on Mr. Watson as Editor and Manager, and he, for that
reason, severed his connection with it. Thank God for that. I am glad to
know he had so much manhood about him. Tom Watson is one among the
greatest statesmen the United States has. It is a source of satisfaction
to know that he will neither speak nor write with a corporation muzzle
on. When the stockholders attempted to restrict Mr. Watson in his
Editorials for the Magazine, they didn’t only insult him, but they
insulted every reader of it who believes in the pure Jeffersonian
principles which Mr. Watson so ably advocates and defends. I would be
proud of Tom Watson were he from any other section of the Union. He
being a Southern man and a Georgian at that, I am exceedingly proud of
him. I fear somebody has been taken upon the Mount and shown the
glorious things the railroads will do if they will only fall down and
worship them. If _no Watson_ is with the Magazine then _no Magazine for
me_.
Respectfully,
D. J. HENDERSON, SR.
“It Would Be a Noble Charity.”
_Chas. D. Hunt, Gueydan, La._
Reading with interest your valuable editorials in the October number and
the most striking and interesting subject, “It Would be a Noble
Charity”--here you have treated a subject in a light that any person
could not help from shielding with an honest heart, with a strong desire
in mind to spread the cause of charity, but you have almost been selfish
with your subject. What of the territory bordering along the Gulf of
Mexico? That is, the extreme portion.
Here we have settlers of almost ancient times. They are not altogether
uncivilized, but are not able to meet the demands of our educated
requirements. Hence are we to still keep them back or are we to give
them a helping hand? These people know nothing of education and its help
in life, but toil with an earnest heart to maintain _merely_ a _scant
living_ and to bring the younger class up in their own path.
I think if the Humane Society would stop and think deeply in regard to
the young boys and girls that spend their school days in hard labor out
of school there would be something done to protect them and give them a
chance for a better future than is now before them.
It would be surprising to anyone who has had the advantages of education
and _really_ felt its _real value_ in life to stroll along the prairies
and see just how many bright young boys and girls are out of touch with
the educated world. Why? Their parents are not able to aid them to
secure an education, but are more than willing.
Do you not think much could be done in both mountain and prairie
territories?
Wants Only the Real Thing.
_Burton H. Jeffers, Rose, N. Y._
Having read in the _Missouri World_ that you had ceased writing for
_Watson’s Magazine_, I was greatly surprised. I had supposed that you
owned the Magazine, and had taken great pleasure in securing
subscriptions for it in this vicinity. Some of those subscriptions have
just expired, and the subscribers say they don’t want it again if you
are not going to write for it. That would seem to sound the death knell
of the now so-called _Watson’s Magazine_.
When you start your new magazine send me a sample copy, and I will
endeavor to give your subscription list a little boost. I would also
like a few sample copies of your weekly paper.
You Shall Hear Again.
_J. J. Hunt, El Paso, Tex._
Looking forward and hoping to get the November number of your Magazine,
I hear, verbally, that you have severed your connection with that
periodical, and I don’t care now whether it ever appears again, for what
I read in it was what you wrote, little else. I know you quit your
association there for good cause and that your work will not end, and
believe I shall hear from you again. I dare say two thirds of the
readers of _Watson’s Magazine_, like myself, will care little for it
now.
While I’m traveling, please know that I’m still a citizen of good old
Georgia, living at 257 South Pryor Street, Atlanta.
Samples of the Replies DeFrance May Expect to Get to Begging Letters.
(Copy.)
Boaz, Ala., Nov. 16, 1906.
C. Q. DeFrance.
Dear Sir:--In this paragraph you say too much to get my help; you say
that Mr. Watson’s backers cared nothing for Mr. Watson’s “ideas.” But
the money which you hoped to get out of those who do care for Mr. Watson
and his “ideas” was the object in view. Had it not been for Mr. Watson
and the principles he advocated I would not have been a subscriber. This
and the fact that Mr. Watson was forced to resign because of non-payment
of his salary and what you say in the fourth paragraph forever settles
it with me. When Mr. Watson betrays the people’s cause or trust for any
cause I am done, for I would never confide in another man as I have in
him, but he will never forsake the people.
Yours truly,
T. B. MOSLEY.
* * * * *
(Copy.)
Mr. C. Q. DeFrance, Business Manager, New York City, N. Y.
Dear Sir:--I received the November number of the _Watson’s Magazine_ a
few days ago, and your circular letter and subscription blanks today,
and in reply would say that I am one of those who much prefer the play
of Hamlet with the Prince of Denmark left in.
Further comments are unnecessary. My subscription expires February,
1907. Please discontinue same with the November number received.
Yours very truly,
A. A. DELONG.
* * * * *
(Copy.)
_Watson’s Magazine, 121 W. 42nd Street, New York, N. Y._
Gentlemen:--You will please discontinue my subscription to _Watson’s
Magazine_.
I subscribed to this periodical in order to read Mr. Watson’s
editorials; and, inasmuch as he is no longer identified with this
publication, it is useless to send it to me any longer.
Very truly,
BURGESS SMITH.
Wants the Jeffersonian.
_Chas. E. Harris, Alton, Ill._
I was very much surprised on buying _Watson’s Magazine_ for November to
find that you were no longer connected with it as editor. Of course I
will have no further use for the Magazine as I only bought it in the
first place for your writings.
I saw in one of the St. Louis papers that you intended to start another
Magazine and call it WATSON’S JEFFERSONIAN. Please advise me if this is
true and when it will be ready for publication, as I want you to put me
down on your subscription list.
I hope to cast my first vote for you and Bryan in 1908.
No Sham for Him.
_Benjamin H. Hill, West Point, Ga._
Some time ago I subscribed for your splendid Magazine solely and only to
get to read your articles therein and I notice to-day’s number, with one
exception, contains nothing from your able pen. Without your articles I
would not give ten cents a year for it, in fact don’t want it at any
price. I desire to read after you, but don’t want this other trash.
I regret your trouble and hope it will yet prove for your benefit and
help.
The Jeffersonian is the Answer.
_Chas. Buttlar, Oakland, Cal._
I have been a regular purchaser of your Magazine from its beginning, and
it is with the deepest regret that I learn that you have withdrawn from
the Magazine. I presume that the enemies of truth have destroyed its
publication as they have done heretofore with others.
Will you kindly inform me, also, whether you will start a new Magazine
or paper by which we may enjoy the education that you have given us? I
wish you success and strength to overcome all opposition.
Hamlet Without the Dane.
_H. G. Sumner, Passaic, N. J._
_Watson’s Magazine_ without Watson is of course no longer _Watson’s
Magazine_. I haven’t seen the November number, but it must be like
“Hamlet” with Hamlet left out.
I am proud of having been one of the faithful in 1904, when I heard you
speak at Jersey City and again in that matchless “old fashioned stump
speech” at the Grand Central Palace in New York, where I managed to jam
myself through the crowd on the platform and get hold of your hand for a
second.
The monthly visits of your Magazine were like those of a dear friend
dropping in for an evening to discuss matters which should be of the
gravest concern to every true American. I have the numbers all bound in
volumes, but now my set is complete much sooner than I had anticipated.
A few minutes ago I took up a copy of _The Public_, in which I saw a
paragraph to the effect that you would soon start a new Magazine. I hope
this may be true, and I want to be one of the first subscribers, for I
am anxious for the continuation of the “Life of Jackson” and for more of
your Editorials.
From a Constant Reader.
_Jas. E. Dillon, Otwell, Ind._
Too late I learned the sad story of _Watson’s Magazine_. I have been a
subscriber to it from the first number, and I did not want to miss a
number.
I sent a long list of names to it a few days before I found it out, for
sample copies. But it has lost its attraction to me and I hope such men
as DeFrance and Mann will soon be relegated.
I have enclosed a few names that might subscribe to the new JEFFERSONIAN
MAGAZINE.
I hope you will have success in spreading the truth and nothing but the
truth.
Wants a “Watson’s” With a Watson in It
_H. C. Britt, Sparta, Ga._
I have been informed that you would send to the present subscribers to
_Watson’s Magazine_, if they so desired, your new publication, free of
cost, for the time for which they had paid their subscriptions to the
Magazine. I am a subscriber to the Magazine, and have been from the date
of its very first issue, and my subscription is paid to the
corresponding date in 1907.
I took the Magazine because of your connection with it. I would
appreciate the opportunity of getting acquainted with your new
Magazine.
Returning Thanks to My Friends
Shouldering the responsibilities and the financial burden of a new
magazine, is a serious matter. As nearly everybody will understand, it
involves tens of thousands of dollars in the way of necessary expense,
and whether you will ever see that money again depends entirely upon
circumstances over which you yourself have nothing like _absolute_
control. There are already so many brilliant and beautiful magazines
circulating throughout the Union, that establishing another is a venture
that borders upon temerity.
But in my case there was no alternative. _It had to be done._ Flesh and
blood could not bear the infamous treatment which was being handed out
to me by that fat rascal, Col. W. D. Mann, and that lean sneak, C. Q.
DeFrance. _Out of consideration for the subscribers_, as well as in
justice to myself, it was absolutely necessary that I should establish a
magazine of my own, which should extend to the subscribers of the New
York Magazine the privilege of securing the remainder of their terms
from a magazine which was, _in fact_, what the _name_ of the New York
Magazine had led subscribers _to believe it to be_.
To have Mann and DeFrance publishing, in New York, a _Watson’s
Magazine_, and securing money from thousands of innocent people, _who
would subscribe upon the faith of my name, and would then be told
falsehoods as to why I was no longer writing for it_, WOULD HAVE BEEN AN
INTOLERABLE SITUATION.
To remain silent and acquiescent under those circumstances, would have
been to make myself a party to the fraud. I understand that Col. Mann
and C. Q. DeFrance are using, for themselves, the money sent to the
_Watson’s Magazine_ by those who are not aware of the fact that there is
no Watson connected with THAT Magazine. _If they do not extend to the
subscriber the option of getting his money back, or of having it sent to
the genuine Watson’s Magazine_, they will be cheats and swindlers; and
they ought to be made to plead on the criminal side of the Court, _where
the appearance of Col. Mann would not be considered extraordinary_.
Not wanting to be a party to a fraud by making no effort to defeat it,
and not having a disposition to lie down quietly while those two rascals
trampled upon me, I announced the purpose of establishing WATSON’S
JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE. Of course it was hoped that my friends would
stand by me. It was hoped that those subscribers who had gone to the
Magazine in New York would follow my Magazine in Atlanta.
Did the subscribers of the New York Magazine want a _real_ Watsonian
Magazine, or was it _just any old magazine_ that they were after? Were
those subscribers men and women who had faith in me, and who were
attached to myself, my work and my message? _Would they have sufficient
interest in the matter to sympathize with me, and follow me?_ These were
the questions. They could not be answered until the opportunity was
offered _for the subscribers themselves to act_.
With grateful heart, I hereby return profound thanks to those steadfast
and earnest comrades who have already enrolled themselves with WATSON’S
JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE.
These friends did not wait for a sample copy; they did not wait for the
day of publication. _They had faith._ They knew in advance what my
Magazine would be. THEY HAD CONFIDENCE. They knew perfectly well that
their money would be safe in my hands. Therefore, from California to
North Carolina and from Florida to Michigan, they have poured in upon me
their letters of sympathy and encouragement. And together with these
letters they sent remittances to cover their subscriptions in advance.
* * * * *
From so great a number it is difficult, and perhaps not quite fair, to
single out individuals, but as it is my intention to carry in the
Magazine from month to month, a Department in which those who are most
active in their support of the Magazine will be mentioned by name, a few
will be mentioned now. Others will be mentioned later.
I want every one of my friends who have written me, to feel that their
encouragement and support is profoundly appreciated.
You naturally inquire, _who was the very first subscriber to_ WATSON’S
JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE?
DR. CICERO GIBSON, THOMSON, GA.
Following closely after Dr. Gibson, came a good many others who arrived
so nearly together that it would perhaps be unjust to some to say which
was literally the first-comer, yet I cannot refrain from selecting a few
for special mention.
There was my gallant and loyal friend of LaGrange, Ga., Dr. Frank
Ridley, whose letter I am going to print in full:
“Please know that I am in thorough sympathy with you in the matter of
the Magazine contention, and all other matters.
“I have written to the New York office of the _Watson’s Magazine_,
instructing them to discontinue sending me their paper. I am enclosing
check for $1.50 for WATSON’S JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE. With sentiments of
my continued warm regard and friendship.
“P. S. Please see that my subscription begins with the first issue.”
* * * * *
Then there was the very warm-hearted H. J. Mullins, Franklin, Tenn.;
there was J. J. Gordy of Richland, Ga., who had rendered such faithful
service for the New York Magazine, and who transferred his zeal and
influence immediately to the JEFFERSONIAN; there was whole-souled Frank
Burkett, of Okolona, Miss.; and there was that gray-haired but
warm-hearted veteran, Thos. H. Tibbles, of Nebraska.
From the Empire State, Texas, came the cheering response of sturdy
Milton Park. From Salem, Va., W. H. Tinsley spoke words of
encouragement. And my good old friend, Allison W. Smith, of North
Georgia, went to work as earnestly and as promptly for the new Magazine
as he had done for the old.
And how can I fail to mention Paul Dixon of Chilicothe, Mo? _A truer man
does not live._ Of the many who have stood by me at this juncture and
shown a willingness to co-operate, none has been more emphatic than
Dixon & Lankford, who enjoy the distinction of publishing one of the
three Mid-Road Populist papers which stood the storm, and did not go
down in consequence of the awful mistake and of Fusion.
From Los Angeles, Cal., came a heart-warming letter from Lucian L.
Knight, which you will find elsewhere in this number of the Magazine.
From Athens, Ga., came a most welcome letter from A. D. Cheney; and his
bright boy, Jean Cheney, took up the work of canvassing his community,
with results so extremely helpful to me that I mention his name in
grateful recognition of his service.
From A. G. Thurman Zabel, of Petersburg, Mich., comes the following:
“I saw a notice in the _Missouri World_, that you were about to publish
a new Magazine. Enclosed find remittance for which send me your Magazine
as long as that pays for, and then let me know, and I will remit for it
for a longer term. I am glad to learn that you will continue your good
work.”
* * * * *
From Kentucky comes a cordial word from that veteran editor and gifted
gentleman, Hon. Henry Watterson, who, on the eve of his departure for
Europe, drops a line to the Atlanta management of the Magazine to say:
“Mr. Watson has few greater admirers or better friends than I am and
whenever the _Courier-Journal_ can do anything to advance his personal
interests, it is always at his hands.”
Judge John J. Hunt, one of those level-headed Democratic leaders who did
his best to prevent the awful mistake that was made by the Men in
Control, in 1896, was swift with his assurances of hearty co-operation
and support. And my old college friend. Alex. Keese, of Atlanta, _was
not behind anybody_ in the warmth and vigor of his protestations against
the wrong which had been done me by those knaves in New York.
Nor should I forget stanch W. S. Morgan, of Hardy, Ark., nor J. M.
Mallett of Cleburne, Tex., both of whom were emphatic in their
denunciation of the New York outrage:--Nor yet sturdy Jo. A. Parker.
From far-off Seattle, State of Washington, the voice of _The Patriarch_,
was heard in scathing condemnation of what had been done by Col. Mann
and DeFrance; and from New Jersey, Dr. Geo. H. Cromie was equally
emphatic.
My good friend, C. E. Parker, of Bainbridge, not only enlisted under my
banner, turning his back upon those New York knaves, but he _remitted
the largest individual check that was sent_--$13.80--and the largest
number of subscribers received in any one remittance.
_From the Hawaiian Islands_, came a cordial hand-shake from that veteran
of the Reform Wars, JOHN M. HORNER. From Paris, France, spoke the
sympathetic voice of JOHN ADAMS THAYER--the brainy, nervy man who
achieved such a wonderful success for _Everybody’s Magazine_.
Nor must I omit from the Roll of Honor the name of PROF. M. W. PARKS,
President of the Georgia Normal and Industrial School, and President
also of the Georgia Educational Association. His letter was a noble
tribute which I highly value.
Taylor J. Shields, of Vineland, Ala., has my sincere thanks for his
generous words.
Bay City, Michigan, is the home of an ardent, personally unknown friend
whose hand I hope some day to shake--his name is Francis F. McGinniss.
And I must find room to mention my untiring friend, Col. W. A. Huff, of
Macon; R. E. Thompson, of Toomsuber, Miss.; J. S. Ward, Jr., of
Thomasville; Ben Hill, of West Point, Ga., and Clarence Cunningham, of
Waterloo, S. C.; Rev. R. L. Benson, Clay Center, Kan.; H. G. Sumner,
Passaic, N. J.; Chas. Butler, Oakland, Cal.; Theron Fisk, Sioux Falls,
S. D.; and Prof. Z. I. Fitzpatrick, of Madison, Ga.
And then there is W. F. Smith, of Flovilla, Ga., who has never flickered
in his loyal comradeship any more than has that noble old Roman, Gen.
William Phillips, of Marietta.
Here is a specimen of the way they are writing to me and below it a
sample of how they are writing to the bogus _Watson’s Magazine_:
Dixie, Ga., Nov. 23, 1906.
Hon. T. E. Watson, Thomson, Ga.
Dear Sir:--I am writing the New York office today cancelling my
subscription to the counterfeit _Watson’s Magazine_. Old man Mann, and
DeFrance are a set of fools, if for one moment they entertained the
thought that they could detain the followers of the _real_ Tom Watson on
their subscription list. The thing can’t be done. When the readers of
the New York _Watson’s Magazine_ find out the truth about the manner in
which they treated the genuine Tom Watson, you will see them leaving
like rats leaving a sinking ship. The idea of _Watson’s Magazine_ with
Watson left out! Might as well try to run a locomotive steam engine
without steam. Tom Watson was the steam--the electricity--the
spirit--yes, the very life of the Magazine, and without him its name is
Dennis. It is a burning shame, the way they have treated you.
I am sending my check for $1.50 for your JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE, and wish
for it the success that you so justly deserve. I hope to be able to get
others interested in the new publication. You have thousands and
thousands of true and tried friends in old Georgia, and in fact, in
every State in the United States, and the numbers are growing all the
time, and every effort of the enemies of truth to put you in the
background only brings you more prominently before the masses as the
friend of Good Government.
May God abundantly bless and prosper you and yours, is the sincere
prayer of your friend and brother,
(Signed) G. B. CRANE.
* * * * *
(Copy.)
Dixie, Ga., Nov. 23, 1906.
Watson’s Magazine, 2 West 40th St., New York City.
Gentlemen:--I hereby cancel my subscription to _Watson’s Magazine_, and
ask you to refund balance that you are due me on same. I do not care to
read your slanderous vaporing about Tom Watson. You will soon find out
that, bad as you try to make him out to be, he was really the Magazine,
and without him it will sink in the cesspool of public contempt--as it
should do.
Yours very truly,
(Signed) G. B. CRANE.
Here are others, clean, clear-cut and business-like:
(Copy.)
Honaker, Va., Nov. 14, 1906.
Watson’s Magazine Co., New York.
Gentlemen:--The November number of _Watson’s Magazine_ is at hand. As
Mr. Watson is no longer _the Magazine_, will you please discontinue my
subscription and return to me the three month’s unexpired subscription
price, and oblige,
Yours truly,
J. L. KIBLER.
* * * * *
Dearing, Ga., Nov. 14, 1906.
Hon. Thos. E. Watson.
I received a card from you yesterday concerning the Magazine. I
noticed your proposition to make good the subscription to the _Watson
Magazine_. I think mine will be out in June, but I got it at club
rates and _don’t want to be a burden to you_, but I don’t want a
_Watson’s_ without a Watson in it, so you send me the WATSON’S
JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE, and I’ll see you and pay for six months at
least, as I have great confidence in you as a reform leader and want
to help what little I can.
Yours truly,
J. J. PENNINGTON.
* * * * *
G. M. Stembridge, of Milledgeville, is good enough to say, in
subscribing, “you are doing more for the Reform cause than any other man
in the United States.” “If ever anybody wants to whip you,” writes
friend M. S. Chiles, of Macon, in remitting his subscription, “I will
be pleased to push you aside and say, ‘Whip me first.’” “I would not
carry the New York publication from the postoffice,” says W. W.
Shamhart, of Newton, Ill. Dr. R. R. Smith, of Burtons, Miss., doesn’t
“like the jingle of the editorials” of the bogus _Watson’s Magazine_ for
November and would like to see any response that I may make. Verily, he
shall see it. J. K. Sears, of McCoy, Oregon, wants a Magazine “published
at Atlanta by Tom Watson and not by Col. Mann at New York.” “Please
enter my name from now till doomsday,” writes Prof. J. H. Camp, of
Chicago, who at the same time cancels his subscription to what he calls
“the New York dummy.” Dr. J. D. Allen, of Milledgeville, enrolls himself
and says, “send me the first copy.” “I shall always be a subscriber,”
writes W. W. Bennett, Esq., of Baxley. “The reason I subscribed to the
other Magazine,” says W. W. Arendell, of Gause, Tex., “was that you were
the editor,” so of course he wants the genuine WATSON’S JEFFERSONIAN. B.
L. Milling, of Neal, Ga., was a subscriber to _Watson’s Magazine_ of New
York from the first issue, “and would continue to be, had it not been
that ‘the gang’ tried to impose upon you,” he writes. Likewise C. W.
King, of Rome, Ga., “only subscribed to the New York publication on
account of your colors flying at the mast-head, so”--he writes--“of
course I wish to enter my name as a subscriber to your new venture.” H.
Gillabaugh, of Missoula, Montana, thinks the bogus _Watson’s Magazine_
as at present conducted, is “like a church with the devil as pastor.”
“No more of C. Q. DeFrance for me,” writes J. T. Melbone, of Huntingdon,
Tenn. A cordial message greets me from Captain Jack Crawford, the
poet-scout. A. Benoit, of Shreveport, La., sends $10, with the request
that $1.50 be credited to him for subscription, and the balance be used
“for the cause.” From the little city of Flippen, Ga., a list of 25
subscribers to the bogus _Watson’s Magazine_ goes forward to DeFrance. A
copy of the letter is sent me with the request that they be enrolled on
the JEFFERSONIAN.
And so they go.
It is something to have lived and worked in such a way as to have won
true hearts in every part of the Union.
God knows how much I appreciate these stanch friends, many of whom I
have never seen and will never personally know.
* * * * *
My lady friends--God bless them!--have been just as prompt and just as
earnest in taking my side in this struggle against a rascally New York
millionaire and a treacherous sneak who are trying to make off with
_Watson’s Magazine_.
Shall I ever forget the warm-hearted letter of MISS SALLIE T. PARRISH,
of Adel, Ga?
Or that of MISS MATTIE V. MITCHELL, of St. Louis, Mo?
* * * * *
Various subscription agencies, as well as newspapers and magazines, had
made clubbing rates with _Watson’s Magazine_ while I was with it. Of
course Col. Mann and DeFrance would like to have these clubbing rates
stand, and would like to have the revenue coming from those who are
still subscribing to _Watson’s Magazine in ignorance of the fact that it
now has no Watson connected with it_. The managers of these subscription
agencies, and the managers of those newspapers are necessarily
compelled, _as men of honor_, to hold up all subscription money coming
from those who wish a _Watson’s Magazine_, until the managers of the
clubbing rates shall have notified the subscriber that Mr. Watson is no
longer with the New York Magazine that bears his name, but is now
publishing in Atlanta, the JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE. In other words, as a
matter of common honesty, the subscribers should be put on notice that
the New York Magazine which bears my name, has been taken away from me
by Col. Mann and DeFrance, and the subscriber should therefore have the
option of sending his money directly to the JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE.
THE UNION LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, of New York, promptly assured me that
this would be its attitude in the matter. They will hold the money until
the subscriber shall have elected which of the two magazines he really
wanted. This was very honorable in the Union Library Association of New
York, and the promptness with which the manager took that position, is
highly appreciated by me. I give Mr. Bowman’s letter in full:
New York, Nov. 26, 1906.
Hon. Thos. E. Watson, Thomson, Ga.
Dear Sir:--Yours of the 23rd inst. is at hand. You evidently did not
receive our letter, although we have an acknowledgment of receipt of
same from your manager.
We wrote you voluntarily that we would be glad to do just what you now
ask us to do. That is, endeavor to switch subscriptions for _Watson’s
Magazine_ to WATSON’S JEFFERSONIAN MAGAZINE.
It seems to us that if anyone wants your Magazine they will not be
satisfied with Colonel Mann’s continuation of the original. It is a
rather unfortunate state of affairs, but no doubt in time it will get
straightened out and everyone know the true facts in the case.
We can assure you of our interest in the matter, and will be glad to do
what we can to throw business your way.
Yours very truly,
CHAS. L. BOWMAN.
* * * * *
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL has notified our Circulation Manager, Mr. Clement,
that its position would be the same. In fact, I cannot see how the
managers of those various clubbing arrangements, which are now standing
in the name of _Watson’s Magazine_, can, as a matter of common justice
to me, _as well as to the subscriber_, turn over the money to Col. Mann
and DeFrance, _until the subscriber himself says that the money_ should
go to that precious pair.
* * * * *
Thanks are due and are hereby extended to the editors of the leading
periodicals devoted to literature and current events. Special
acknowledgements are due the New York _American_ for the use of striking
cartoons reproduced on pages 12, 16 and 28--inadvertently not credited.
The friendship and courtesy of such publications as _Collier’s Weekly_,
_The Saturday Evening Post_, The New York _Times Saturday Review of
Books_, _The Literary Digest_, _The Commoner_, and other notable
weeklies is gratefully acknowledged, and similar sentiments are hereby
expressed towards such leading monthlies as _The Century_, _The Reader_,
_The Review of Reviews_, _The North American Review_, _Success_,
_Appleton’s Magazine_, and _The World’s Events_, to such splendid
dailies as The _Tribune_, _The American_, and _The Globe_, of New York,
_The Public Ledger_, of Philadelphia, that lively bantling, The
Washington _Herald_,--which is fairly glittering under Scott Bone’s
touch,--The New Orleans _Picayune_, The Tampa _Tribune_, The
Jacksonville _Times-Union_, and Claude L’Engle’s brilliant _Sun_, of the
same place, The Charlotte _Observer_, _The News_ and _Age-Herald_, of
Birmingham, _The Forum_, from far-away Fargo, where the blizzards come
from and the _Post-Intelligencer_ from farther-away Seattle, where the
salmon come from, The Toronto _Globe_, dauntless champion of good morals
and tariff reform, _The Tribune_, of Salt Lake, The Columbia _State_,
The Nashville _Banner_, The Griffin _News_, and scores of standard
weekly papers scattered throughout God’s country down here and in the
West.
Editor Walter Hodges, of _The Central Texan_, who is a native Georgian,
“with some of the spirit of the old South,” is cordial in his offer to
co-operate with the JEFFERSONIAN; The Opelika, Ala., _Post_ hopes that
“Mr. Watson may succeed in his greatest battle of modern times for the
people’s rights,” and will lend a hand; the _Pretorian Guard_, of
Dallas, Texas, thinks that “with a leader of Mr. Watson’s originality at
the helm, success is certain;” Editor J. P. Sarraman of The Charlotte
_People’s Paper_, is “for Watson first, last and all the time,” and
doesn’t want any “imitation;” Editor Fletcher Davis, of the Hondo,
Texas, _Anvil-Herald_ assures the new Magazine that he will put in some
good licks for the enterprise, and W. M. Ellis, proprietor of the Rusk,
Texas, _Press-Journal_, breaks an established rule to accept our
clubbing proposition.
To one and all our distinguished regards and twice over to any whom we
have accidentally omitted.
* * * * *
Shall I ever forget how generously there came to me the ready, cordial,
soulful devotion of WILL N. HARBEN?
And how could I ever fail in appreciation of the disinterested and noble
impulse which moved my friends, H. CLEMENT, A. K. TAYLOR, and CHAS. J.
BAYNE, to cast in their lot with mine, for salaries less than they had
been getting elsewhere.
In the same class, stands my brilliant young friend, GORDON NYE, who
left the bogus New York concern to come and live with me, and work with
me.
With these young men, Clement, Taylor, Bayne, and Nye working _with_ me
instead of _for_ me, I go forward without the slightest fear of failure.
Nor would it be fair to fail to give due credit to my friend, MR. CHAS.
P. BYRD, who, when he realized that my object in publishing this
Magazine was, not so much to make money as to exert a healthy influence
over public opinion and to be of service in the largest educational
sense to young men, came to me with a generous concession on the cost of
doing the mechanical work of the Magazine, and thus enabled me to
publish it in my home State.
Had it not been for this magnanimous spirit in Mr. Byrd, the prices
which were quoted to me in Atlanta for the mechanical work would have
driven me out of my native State and forced me to give the contract to
the Columbian Printing Co., of Nashville, Tenn., whose offer was much
better than any that had been made to me, until Mr. Byrd generously came
to my relief.
* * * * *
“WE BOYS” ARE GOING TO WIN.
We are going to _down_ that brace of rascals in New York.
Friends!--don’t you think that knavery of that sort OUGHT to be downed?
Don’t _you_ want to see us down those New York fellows?
THEN, HELP US DO IT.
“We boys” are going to give you just about the livest Magazine that ever
you saw--and you must aid us in extending its circulation and therefore
its usefulness.
I want no office under the sun, but there is one thing that I _do_ want
and mean to have:
_Influence with that imperial sovereign before whose irresistible power
the haughtiest of heads must bend_--PUBLIC OPINION.
THOS. E. WATSON.
Witty Flings by the Paragraphers.
Always in Trouble.
What’s the matter with Kansas? This time it is the ears of corn are too
long to go into the shellers.--_New York Tribune._
A Morocco Slipper Needed.
The time seems to be drawing near for the powers once more to lay
Morocco across their collective knee.--_Chicago Evening Post._
Society in Court.
Pittsburg Managing Editor: “Where’s the society reporter?”
City Editor: “Covering the police court.”--_New York American._
Will Draw Cards Next Time.
A sporting friend, after reading the election returns, ventured the
assertion that in the next inning the “standpatters” will draw
cards.--_The Commoner._
Another Trial for Crapsey.
Now it is boldly asserted that Dr. Crapsey bears a striking resemblance
to Richard Harding Davis. This is another severe trial for the
doctor.--_Washington Herald._
Getting Their Money’s Worth.
All the satisfaction the Standard Oil Company can get out of it at
present is furnished by the fact that its array of legal talent is
earning its money.--_Washington Post._
A Bond of Sympathy.
The people of Canada are reported to be opposed to some of the magazines
published in this country. Is this another bond of sympathy between
Canadians and Americans?--_Birmingham News._
Knows How it Is.
Having been shelved temporarily on Cuban annexation, Senator Beveridge
bobs up with a startling idea for a national child labor law. He went to
work in the senate too young himself.--_Atlanta Journal._
Loose Change Not Counted.
After figuring over the matter for some months the persons engaged in
the task have been able to discover that Mr. Sage left a fortune of
between $60,000,000 and $100,000,000. There is a little difference of
only some $40,000,000 between these two estimates. Probably they have
not yet been able to count up the loose change.--_Columbia State._
Bosses, Bumble Bees and Billy Goats.
And now Governor Beckham draws the line on Dr. Powell (who demands
Sunday law enforcement). The trouble with the Governor is that whenever
some one antagonizes him that some one must be saddled with an unworthy
motive. This mode of dealing with critics and criticism is common to
bosses, bumble bees and billy goats.--_Louisville Courier-Journal._
BAINBRIDGE, GA.,
CITY LOTS FOR SALE
Gilt Edge Values in Real Estate Affords Tangible Opportunity for
Investors and Home Seekers.
Bainbridge is right on the crest of a wave of prosperity and
advancement now sweeping over this section. It has good river
connection, and is reached by two railroads; while three more are in
the course of construction; which goes to show that the present
development and future prospect of the city affords a rare opportunity
for investments in real estate.
One 65-foot lot on Shotwell street sold thirty days ago for $1,500,
will now bring over $2,000.