Newspapers / The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.) / Sept. 29, 1910, edition 1 / Page 9
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II SUPPLEMENT VOL. XXVIII. RALEIGH. N. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. 1910, NO. 35. A STRONG LETTER 0FJRESIDENT President Taft Points to Past Achievements and Promises More Results PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICANISM Democracy a Party of Negation and Opposition Only The Tariff Law lefended Interstate Commerce and Postal Savings Hank Conser vation Iaws Passed-Other Pledges Redeemed Future legislation Will He Along Same Lines. President Taft in the following wise and statesmanlike letter to Chairman McKinley, which has won applause from even his political foes, makes plain the remarkable achieve ments of the Republican party: Beverly, Mass., Aug. 20, 1910 Mv Dear Mr. McKinley: As the Chairman of the National Congress ional Republican Committee, you have asked me to give the reasons which should lead voters in the com ing November election to cast their ballots for Republican candidates for Congress. I assume that when this letter is given publicity the lines will be drawn, the party candidates will have been selected, and the question for decision will be whether we shall have In the House of Representatives a Republican or a Democratic ma jority. The question then will be not what complexion of Republican ism one prefers, but whether it is lttpr for the country to nave me lican party control tfie legisla tion for the et two years and fur- tker redeem its promises, or to en able a Democratic majority in the Mouse either to interpose n veto to Republican measures, or to formulate and pass bills to c?rry out Demo pmtifl -nrlnr.inles. Prominence hasA been given during the preliminary canvasses just ended to the differ ences between Republicans; but in the election such differences should be forgotten. Differences within the pasty were manifested in the two ses sions of the present Congress, and yet never in its history has the Re publican party passed and become responsible for as much useful and progressive legislation. So, while is ses will doubtless arise between members of a Republican majority as to the details of further legisla tion, the party, as a whole, will show Itself in the future, as in the past, practical and patriotic in subordinat ing individual opinions in order to secure real progress. Hence it is important that after Republican Con gressional candidates have been duly and fairly chosen, all Republicans who believe in the party principles as declared in its national platform of 1908 should give the candidates loy al and effective support. If this is done, there will be no doubt of a re turn of a Republican majority. Democratic Repudiation. The only other alternative is a Democratic majority. It Is difficult, very difficult, to state all the princi ples that would govern such a ma jority in its legislative course; and this because its party platforms have presented a variety of planks not al together consistent, and because in the present Congress, leading Demo crats in the Senate and the House have not hesitated to repudiate cer tain of their party pledges and to deny their binding character. We . may reasonably assume, however, that a Democratic majority in the House would reject the Republican doctrine of protection as announced In 1908. What, therefore, has a Re publican who believes in protection but objects to some rates or sched ules in the present tariff act to hope for from a Democratic majority, which, if allowed its way, would at tack the protective system and halt business by a threatened revision of the whole tariff on a revenue basis, or if prevented by the Senate or the Ex ecutive, would merely do nothing. Such a legislative program as that set forth in the Republican National platform of 1908 could not be car ried out in full by one Congress. Certainly if all its promises are exe cuted in one administration, it will be within a proper time. The present Congress has not only fulfilled many party pledges, but it has by its course set higher the standard of party re sponsibility for such pledges than ever before in the history of Ameri can parties. Hereafter those who w ould catch voters by declarations in favor of alluring remedial legisla tion wi,l not make them except with much more care as to the possibility of its enactment. In view of the his tory of the present Congress, the re- turn of a Republican majority in tee next Congress may well Inspire con fidence that the pledges still unre deemed will be met and satisfied. The Tariff. Let us consider, summarily, the promises made and the legislation enacted by the present Coneress? First and of primary Importance was the promise to revise the tariff in ac cordance with the rule laid down la the platform, to-wit: that the tariff on articles Imported should be equal to the difference between their cost of production abroad and that cost in ' this country, including a reasonable I profit for the domestic manufacturer, j A very full investigation full, at? least, as such investigations have ; been conducted in the past was j made by the Ways and Means Com- j mittee of the House to determine j what rates should be changed to con- i form to this rule. A reduction was i made in six hundred and fifty-four j numbers, and an increase in some j two hundred and twenty, while ' eleven hundred and fifty remained j unchanged. The bill was amended j in the Senate, but the proportion of j increases to decreases was maintain- j ed. When I signed the bill, I accom- i panied my approval with the follow ing memorandum: "I have signed the Payne tariff bill because I believe it to be the result of a sincere effort on the part of the Republican party to make a downward revision, and to comply with thep romises of the platform as they have been generally understood, and as I interpreted them in the cam paign before election. "The bill is not a perfect tariff bill, j statement to use as I see fit. This I or a complete compliance with the am asking in justice to my soas. who promises made strictly Interpreted, j T hope to raise good North Caro but a fulfillment free from criticism j linians and a credit to the State and in respect to a subject matter in- j to the University, volving many schedules and tho-! Hoping to hear from you very sands of articles could net be ex- soon, I am, pected. It suffices to say that except with regard to vhiskey, liquors, and i wines, and in regard to silks and as to some high Glasses of eottons all of which may be treated as luxuries and proper subjects of a revenue tariffs-there have been very few la creases in rates. There have been a great number of real decreases in rates, and they constitute a sufficient amount to justify the statement that this bill is a substantial downward revision, and a redaction of exces sive rates. This is not a free-trade bill. It was not intended to be. The Republican party did not promise to make a free-trade bill. It promised to make the rates protective, but to reduce them when they exceeded the) diffence between the cost or produc- tion. abroad and here, making allow- ance for the greater normal profit on active investments here. I believe' that while this excess has not been j reduced in a number of cases, in a j not less than par. After due adver great majority the rates are such as j tisement the Western North Carolina are necessary to protect American industries, but are low enough, in case of abnormal increase of demand and raising of prices, to permit the possibility of the importation of the foreign article and thus to prevent excessive prices. "The power granted to the Execu tive under the maximum and mini mum clause may be exercised to se cure the removal of obstacles which have been interposed by foreign gov ernments In the way of undue and unfair discrimination against Amer ican merchandise and products. "The Philippine tariff section I have strugglec! to secure for ten years last past, and it gratifies me exceedingly by my signature to give it the effect of law. I am sure it4 will greatly increase the trade be tween the two countries, and it will do much to build up the Philippines in a healthful prosperity. "The administrative clauses of the bill and the Customs Court are ad mirably adapted to secure a more uniform and a more speedy final con struction of the meaning of the law. "The authority to the President to use agents to assist him in the ap plication of the maximum and mini mum section of the statute, and to enable officials to administer the law, gives a wide latitude for the ac quisition, under circumstances favor able to its truth, of information in respect to the price and cost of pro duction of goods at home and abroad, which will throw much light on the operation of the present tariff and be of primary importance as officially collected data upon which future Ex ecutive action and Executive recom mendations may be based. "The corporation tax is a just and equitable exercise measure, which it is hoped will produce a sufficient amount to prevent a deficit and which incidentally will secure valu able statistics and information con cerning the many corporations of the country, and will constitute an im portant step to ward, that degree of publicity and regulation which the tendency in corporate enterprises in the last twenty years has shown, to be necessary." This fairly states the effect ofMhe bill. The bill has been criticised for certain of its rates and schedules. (Continued on Page 2.) "Gold Facts" Dr. Kemp P. Cattle, the Dsmocratic State Treasurer, When the Bonds Were IssiKd, Gives tb Official Facts He Assarts That Tfcsj Were l!:n:st Cccds izi tts Stets Crccind 103 Ccsts ca tfcs Dc2 Itt Tfcta l! Fotlitr Asserts Ttit Tfcsy r:ro kszi fcj a Dcaccratfc letfslatoe, asd Sip:! tlKtais State Tieacrcr, tKa Dl Joaatbza rsrtb Was 63rmer NO HONEST CITIZEN WILL Correspondence of Dr. Battle. Washington, D. C, October 25, 1906. My Dear Dr. Battle; Mr. Butler is in the West and I don't know what he will think of what I am going to do. I have just finished reading the papers, and they are very abusive. I am writing to ask if you will give me a statement about the issue of these bonds that were collected. When Sr. Butler took that case, he talked it over with me as he does every big question that i concerns us. I told him, after I knew the facts, that I approved of him accepting it. He never has or i never will be a party to collecting those "carpet-bag" bonds. In justice to him, as a son of the ! University and one that loves it, and 1 has always come to its aid when he ; was needed and always will continue j to do so, I ask you to give me this Very sincerely, FLARENCE FAISON BUTLER. Chapel Hill, N. C, October 27, 1906. My Dear Mrs. Butler: In reply to yours of the 25th, in regard to the bonds sued on by South Dakota, I give the substance of my testimony in the suit. The bonds were issued under an act rati fied December 19, 1866, and an act of 1854-55, 1860-61, authorizing sub scription; by the State to the tapital stock of the Western North Carolina Railroad. In order to enhance the j value of the State bonds issued for j paying for the stock by the act of 1866, a morkage of tern shares of j stock in the Ivorth Carolina Railroad Company was endorsed on eash one thousand dollar bond, By that act the State, bonds were to be sold to the highest bidder at Railroad Company was found to have bid par, and Governor Worth and myself executed the bonds and de livered them to the President of the Companr. What price the company received for them I have no means of knowing. The officers of the company were men of high character, viz: S. McD. Tate, president; James R. Wilson, superintendent; A. B. Simonton, Treasurer. I give you the "cold facts" about the bonds. I think that the public 13 beginning to understand the truth. You cannot go further than I do in expressing the magnitude of Sena tor Butler's services to the Univer sity. I have given my testimony publicly- and privately. Hoping the above explanation what you wish, Very truly yours, KEMP P. BATTLE is THE FACTS IN FULL, IS REPLY TO LYING SLANDERS. - The News and Observer and Its Libelous Campaign. The Caucasian (Sept 8th). The following editorial appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer of last Sunday: "The Shelby Aurora (Republican) says 'Ex-Senator Butler will take an active part in this campaign.' Of course- he is the whole cheese. It also says 'No honest man can censure him for this meaning Butler's con nection with the South Dakota bond suit. Butler, three months before his term as Senator expired, accept ed employment to work a fraud upon the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to enable bond speculators to sue his State. This was moral treason and no honest man should fail to de nounce It." Hardly a day passes that the News and Observer does not publish a ly ing slander of some kind. When the editor of; that paper Is caught and exposed for bald misrepresentations he may be sorry that he is caught, but he is certainly still glad that he made the publication because he never, so fai as we know, corrects a single false statement, but, on the other hand, proceeds to manufacture new ones as soon as possible, x Atout Ml REPUDIATE OR REFUSE This has been the conduct of the editor of that paper toward Marion Butler-as attorney for the collection of the North Carolina "ten-share sec ond mortgage bonds." The First Lying Slander. That paper first started its tirade of abuse of Mr. Butler by declaring that those were fraudulent carpet bag bonds, and that it was dishonest and unpatriotic to attempt to enforce their collection. The editor of that paper either knew better at the time, or was dense ly ignorant about the facts, which he could have easily learned. One thing is certainly true, and that Is that he was either publishing a wilful and malicious falsehood or else he was guilty of criminal recklessness. For a short while he succeeded in fooling many good people. When the facts were produced, did the editor of ihat paper publish them and make a truthful and honorable correction? No. He refused to publish the facts, and by his conduct showed that he hoped the falsehood would never be overtaken by the truth. Then and there the editor of the paper became a self-confessed falsi fier one of the wilful and malicious kind. And to this day those who de pend on the Raleigh News and Ob server for their information are still in ignorance of tne facts and still be lieve that the published falsehoods are true. It always gives a sneaking and contemptible slanderer a great deaTTdf pleasure to know that he still has some good people fooled. Dr. Battle's Testimony An noneet Debt. Now let us for a moment again look at the facts. The law which authorized the "ten-share second mortgage bonds" was passed by a Legislature controlled by our own white people, when Hon. Jonathan Worth was Governor and Dr. Kemp P. Battle was State Treasurer. In order to induce the public to buy these bonds and to pay 100 cents on the dollar for them, the Legislature, in the Act of 1866, offered a mort gage on tea shares of its stock in the North Carolina Railroad as security to go with each $1,000 bond, and declared in the Act that this was done to enhance the value of the bonds and induce the people to pay for them. Dr. Kemp P. Battle, the State Treasurer, did advertise those bonds with this security, and did sell them for 100 cents on the dollar. Dr. Battle testified to these facts In the suit brought in the Supreme Court of the United States to collect those bonds. Honor of the State Pledged and Backed by Security. So if there ever was an honest bond, and if ever the credit and honor of the State was pledged in good faith to pay -vn honest debt, it was in this case. 3ut the State not only pledged its honor and good faith to pay these bonds and the interest on them in full, but it put up valua ble security and Induced the public to part with its money and pay more for the bonds than would otherwise have - been paid, and by this means) tne jurisdIctIon of tae coort the State got a higher price for the;WM cWef lecnnIcality urged n bonds than it could have otherwise; received. I The Value of the Security on Which the State Gave a Mortgage. " Now let us look at the security. It is very valuable. The State is now and has for many years, been getting an income from this security (its stock in the North Carolina , Rail road) an income large enough to pay the interest on. the first mort gage bonds and have 46,800 each year left over. The interest on these "ten-share second mortgage bonds" should have been paid out of this money which the State has kept. In short, the security pledged by the State to make those bonds sell at a high price is valuable enough to pay both the principal and the interest in full of the first mortgage bonds and also the second mortgage bonds and fcr the State still to have left over $2,000,000. And these are the bonds that the State repudiated and re fused to pay, while keeping every dollar of the large income from the security I What the Supreme Court Held. These are the facts that were brought out In the suit before the Supreme Court. Is It strange that er and the Bonds. TO PAY AN HONEST DEBT the Supreme Court, with the faxu before It, held that these were hon est bonds, and that the SUte vu cot only in honor bound to pay them, but that the State could no longer hold back the valuable security and the In come from it, which honestly belong ed to those who had bought her bends? The Second Lying Slander. When these fact were placed be fore the public by the Supreme Court then :he editor of the News and Ob-1 server hatched and published anoth - er lie. charging that Marlon Butler was also the attorney for the special tax bonds and other fraudulent bonds issued by the "carpet bag" Ieg - islature. He had no foundation for such a charge, so he v,aa wilfully j and maliciously guilty of falsifying. ' Mr. Butler prepared a statement giv-; ,, tuf i iiu laws aa vu u i ii . I m 14 v v v'tr tween the second mortgage bonds and the carpet-bag bonds, and tat- ing that he had refused to act as at-? torney for any of tbe carpet-bag i " w -- r. bonds Observer refused to publish, but, on the other hand, continued to make te baseless charge. Butler Refused to Represent the Carpet-Bag Bond, and Oppose Their Collection. The editor of that paper knew then, as he knows now, that Hon. John G. Carlisle, the late Democratic Secretary of Treasury, was the at torney for the carpet-bag syndicate -and that Mr. Butler refused to be associated with him as attorney or to be connected with the carpet-bag syndicate in any way. Indeed, Mr. Butler declared that he would have nothing to do with those bonds and was opposed to their collection. The Third Lying blander. The editor of that.paper, now, con tinuing this tirade of misrepresenta tion and abuse, charges in the edi torial clipped above that Mr. Butler, when he advised his clients to make a donation of some of their bonds to some State, was guilty of working "a fraud upon the jurisdiction of tbe Supreme Court to enable bond spec ulators to sue his State." This charge is not only false but asinine to the last degree. It is a deliber ate attempt to deceive the people. The attorneys whom the State of North Carolina employed to appear before the Supreme Court to urge that the State be allowed to repudi ate its honest debt and to keep its security which had been pledged to the purchase of the bonds, urged in the Supreme Court that to take jurisdiction in this case would be to work a fraud upon the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Those attor neys, who should have advised the State to pay this honest debt and preserve the good name and credit of the State, did not even dare con tend before the Supreme Court that the bonds were fraudulent, and that the State did not get value received, but attempted to have the State con tinue to refuse to pay its honest idebt by means of technicalities, and tVtitt cii(H a cult vrrtnlff ha a fwnit that suit. Where the Decision of the Supreme Court Puts the Brand of 3IaUce and Moral Turpitude. The Supreme Court considered this question carefully, 'and held that the bringing of such a suit was entirely proper, and it was the duty of the Supreme Court to hear it and render its judgement ac cording to the law and the facts. Therefore, we say that the decis ion of the highest court In the land places the correct brand of malice and moral turpitude upon the Ra leigh News and Observer in thbi con nection. The charge that tbe holders of these bends were speculators is also false. Schaffer Brothers bought those bonds for investment, " and they held them all of those years hoping that the conscience of the State would be aroused to the great injustice done them, and that this honest debt would sooner or later be paid. But even If they were bond speculators, they are entitled to jus tice, and if a bond speculator hold an honest bond no State can afford to refuse to pay it because the hold- (Contlnued-tm Page 3.) OLD VETERANS HEAR YOUR JOTMDES Democrat Official Refuses Them Petitions if They Vote Their Conrictbaa. AH OUTRAGE AND AH DiSULT VT. t (Unmom), iVwocrmtlr I! of lUftdolph Cftfy, !1m IWiUm 1 k-nlrI Ilcpttbtkma Vetera IVutuiMt That If Ttwy Vc tfe iVmorrmtir Ttffcet to Srotrv IV on for Thm-ApfiaU to Offi cial. In !U!rlh Intwlr! CVH Inja.tire to I verting Mrfiu Randolph Bulletin. J The following affidavits and corre spondence will ihow bow the old ol dlers are Wing treated by lho In authority because they will not da are to Democratic music. Tbe amdavlts ;aR1 ,ftlr rT voluntarily by j the thy veUrans that the public m become acquainted with what '.thJr ar, ul J. M. Field Affidavit. Personally appeared before ro. ' V' "- , . nlp. county and State aforesaid, who . wat duly sworn and made the follow ing affidavit, to-wit: I enlisted at h? "f ' ,n Company T 70th -orth Carolina. Ktment. W 8. i i I serted nlie monina ana was honorably aisenarg ed. In after years I applied for a pension. My application was accept ed and received a pension for three successive years. One day at an elec- ; tlon In Randleman I was approached by a prominent Democrat who told me If I voted the Republican ticket my pension would be discontinued, which was done, I have ofits since applied to the Pension Board to have my pension resHred, but my demands wre ignored. (Signed) tf. M. FIELDS. Affiant. Witness: Wm. If. Pickard. Subscribed and sworn to this ths first day of September. 1910. (Signed) WM. H. PICKARD. Notary Public. W. II. Yates' Affidavit. " North Carolina Randolph County. Wm. Bailey Yates being duly sworn says: That he will be 75 years old on the 4th day of September, next: that he was born and raised in Ran dolph County and has lived here the greater part of his life: that be (af fiant) served in the Civil War for two years In Company B, Flfty-econd North Carolina Regiment, and was then captured by the Union Army; that affiant was Informed and be lieved that he was entitled to a pen sion and has at five different times made application for the tame, and that since the Civil War affiant has never been worth the sum of three hundred dollars; that when said af fiant entered the war be was a stout able-bodied man. but that on account of the hardships and exposures caused by said war that affiant be came disabled and that he has never been stotrt since the war; that when affiant would appear before tbe Pen sion Board he was Informed by the Board, or some member of it. that they would do the best they coold for him; that In July, ISOt, was the last time that he has appeared be fore said Board; that at said time he had a certificate from a leading physician of the county certifying that affiant was three-fourths dis abled and that said Board said that they would do the best they could; that during court, 190), affiant went to W. C Hammond, a member of the Pension Board, and asked him if he would get his pension, and that said W. C. Hammond said to him: "We can't afford to work yon op a pen sion and you vote square against cs." That affiant replied: T can't af ford to sacrifice my principles for a pension." That affiant Is poor and disabled and sorely In need of a pen sion, but that be has never received any; that affiant has frequently been told by leading Democrats of Ran dolph County that if he would vote tbe Democratic ticket that they would see to it that he got a pen sion. (Signed) W. B. YATES. Affirmed to and subscribed before me this July 21, 1910. (Signed) JOHN M. NEELY. Notary Public. B. X. itodlln's SUtement. In witness herto B. "N. Modlin makes the following statement this tbe 10th day of September. 1910: That he Is now 73 years old and that he served near four years as a soil der (Continued soa Page 2.) if-
The Caucasian (Clinton, N.C.)
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Sept. 29, 1910, edition 1
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