The Portland daily press., 1880-09-11
Detroit Post.l
A Talk With Uncle Jesse.
A Business Talk With Some Political
Bearings.
BY UNCLE JEssE's NEPHEW.

by UNCLE JESSE's NEPHEW.
"No, don't talk to me about politics; L am
tired and have trouble enough of my own"
The old man shut his eyes, leaned back in
his chair, and drew long breath as one who
needed rest. Presently opening his keen gray
eyes and looking up he said as if in answer to
a question:
"What! you never heard of my troubles?
Well, it is long, sorry story and don't like
to talk about it much, but if you are anxious
to hear it will tell you. You know I am
interested in the Union manufacturing COM
pany. Everything that have is connected
directly OF indirectly with that concern, and
upon its condition depend largely all my
hopes for saving something for my children.
Well. the troubles of that company date back
good many years. reckon you wouldn't
remember much about them, for you were
only lad when they commenced. You soc
good many years ago some of the stockholders
became dissatisfied with the management.
One set of directors had been in for a good
while, and good many of us thought they
were running the concern too much in the in
terest of themselves and certain of the stock
holders, whose business we did not like. We
tuoTclOIc utt6rIUlltu dI our annual mo6LlQg 10
elect new set of directors. When this be-
came known it made great excitement in tr~
old board and its friends. Great Scot no.
mad they were! They fumed and fretted:
they staggered around and swore great oaths
that if we really attempted that sort Of thing
and got majority Of the stockholders with us
they would break up the institution. Our fell
lows were plucky and did not scare good at all,
and the more the other fellows swore the
more our fellows were determined to insist
npon their rights. We really did not believe
they would be such blamed fools as TO try to
ruin a concern in which they were as much
interested as we were, and which had paid
such big dividends for so many years; but
there is no telling the amount of pure cussed-
ness there is in some folks 1t wouldn't have
made any difference if we had known how
wicked they could be, for we thought there
was principle at stake"
'Well, the annual meeting came on, and by
a clear majority of all the stockholders, under
our bylaws, we elected our board. Under our
constitution and bylaws the new board does
not go into office until some little time after
the election. Immediately after the election
the minority stockholders began developing
their plans to break up the company. They
seized the company's property without any
process of law or any pretense of right, they
drove out all agents and friends Of the COM
pany from their communities, and refused to
recognize the authority of the company in any
way We had at the head of the company at
that time weak old man who said he could
do nothing to stop their foolish wickedness,
and the attorney of the company advised him
that he had no power to punish them. When
the new board came in they openly defied its
authority, and went on stealing our property,
mistreatng our agents and insulting our Off
GERS
The President of our new board tried to per
suade them to restore our property. He was
treated with the greatest derision, and when
he attempted to send some provisions to some
of our men shut up on little island, they at
tackled his vessel with powder and ball, and
then opened fire on the men themselves, and
finally compelled them to surrender. Then
the mischief was to pay sure. They stole our
goods, ,::they burned our shops, they murdered
our agents ey the hundred. But you will new
er see pluckier set OF men than our stock
holders. They advanced money to the COM
pany out of their private means. They cheered
ON the directors and told them to fight it out,
and whenever one agent was killed a dozen
more were ready to take his place. OH it was
a terrible time. My two boys, Sam and Jesse,
as likely boys as ever promised to bless an old
mans declining years, were among the victims
of the crazy folly of those wicked men. This
fight lasted for years. The company became
fearfuily in debt There was hardlya stock
holder who had not lost a son or brother, or
some near relative, and yet there was no
Aincbing. There were few of our stockhold-
ers who never had been very heartily with us
who wanted to stop the trouble and let these
pesky fellows go and keep all their stolen goods,
but they we're soon put down. lat last we made
the fellows quit, give back the property they
had stolen, at least what they hadn't used up,
and recognize the authority OF the company.
We ought to have made them pay portion of
the losses we had sustained. we might nave
levied big assessment on them and forfeited
their stock, and it would have been no more
than Justice but we didn't The fact is We
felt SO good over our triumph that we didn't
punish one. They all kept their stock just as
we did, and they came back into the annual
meetings Just as if nothing had happened. We
thought they had paid so dearly for their fool
isnness that they would be sort OF decent-llke,
but there's no telling what some folks will do
You see, through all this trouble we had
some mighty mean men, who hadn't courage
enough to take up the cause OF the unruly
stock holders, but who never failed TO show
their sympathy on that side. whenever we
had any specially bad luck they would ruo
their hands and chuckle. and with smile
that ALWAYS made me mad they would say
sOb I told you so; YOU can't whip those fel-
lows But whenever we had any goou luck
they looked as solemn and melancholy as Lea
con Whites donkey These fellows were all
the time making trouble. They tried inelr
best to ruin the credit oil the company, .e,nns
people that its paper was no better than so
many rags. Well, we had pretty hard times
there's no doubt about that A good many OF
our stockholders got uneasy like, and at the
last annual meeting the other side made
q big effort to put out our board OF directors
and put in one of their way OF thinking. You
see our board had promised that at a certain
time they would redeem their notes which had
gone to protest and after that time they would
take up those notes with good honest money;
The fellows on the other side said that would
beruinous; that the best way 70 ,, p prom S
wav to nav a note is to give new note; ana
MANY III them went so far as TO say that we
ought 70 pay our notes that bore interest with
notes that bore no interest. IL was amusing
and curious to see how thu same men who had
tried to ruin the credit of the company by rid
iculing and decrying its paper now tried to
make people believe that 1t was the most Deau-
tiful papcr the world had ever seen, and the
company ought to issue enough Of it to pay its
debts, mortgage debts and all. And then t)
help matters-they said the company ought TO
take back its promises to redeem its notes, and
they predicted all sortsof trouble and disaster II
he board should dare to go on and what II mad
promised. They made great amount OF fuss
aboutthe mismanagement OF our board, but 1t
didsnot accomdlsh what they desired, and the
stockholders thought they would give the
board a chance to try their policy OF keeping
their word, and so they continued the same
management. The plan worked better than