The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-05-21
REPLY TO MIR. ARIAIL.
Editor La. Democrat:

>P""'"" =" 'SP'y w Tue auVeTtl
sing article of the Alexandra ant
Pineville Building and Loan Associa
tion," &c. Now, l confess to no feel
ing of trepidation not the slightes
trembling or fear, in replying to hi
article, for the reason that his posi,io,
is untenable, and his arrangements o
myself unreasonable. MIR. Ariall i
evidently a scholar in the ordinary &C
ceptation of the TERMS competent t,
deliver nice, smooth flowing sentence.
of rhetoric, and is we'll qualified t,
produce an interesting newspaper arti
Gle, but he evinces a surprising amour
OF ignorance Of the subject be tries tt
handle.
While l do not acknowledge to an,
trepidation in replying to his illusions
L must confess to a feeling of hum,lia
ton that any one, much less Mr.
Ariail, should practically accuse me o
willful falsehood. The fact that m,
alleged quotations were placed under
quotation marks, and my assertion
that they were expert authorities, ough
to have been sufficient warranty tina
|, at least, believed them to have beer
as stated. Instead, however, he prac
tically charges them as fabrication.
originating in my own brain. l should
have hesitated long before making
such an unwarranted charge againsi
him, and 1t would not have been fea,
and trembling that would have pre-
vented me, either; but a ~wholesom,
desire to credit the statement of ont
whom / believed to have been wor
thy. Hence, | confess that l feel a.
much Inundated at this, as l feel sur
prised at the gentleman's lack of in
formation of the subject in question
1t gives me pleasure to reiterate tina
my quotations were expert authority
One was from the editorials of the
April number of the Cooperative News
a journal published at Cincinnati, anG
devoted to the interests of Building
and Loan Associations. The othel
was from the pen Of Judge A. A. Win.
tiers, of Dayton, Ohio. If Mr.. Ariai;
cares to inform himself on the subject
| think he will find these competent
expert authorities. Others referred to
by me, but not quoted, were recent
prominent articles by various authors
in Lippincot's and Scri5ne,'s, besides
numberless newspaper articles, all OF
which could not have escaped Mr.
Ariail's investigating (!) mind.
Mr.. Ariail handles me "without
gloves" for vigorously" attacking the
character of his "organizer." l can
not call to mind any very grave char.
ges that l brought against him; l have
not the manuscript of my article, nor
the paper in which it appeared; mel
Their do l remember the precise words
in said attack. Possibly, in my zeal
for the local association, | may have
drawn a little upon my Imagination
then; but | will now make a statement
of facts, and let Mr.. Ariail and the
public Judge if made unjust charges
Mr.. Organizer and myself had seve-
raj little word-battles, during one of
which | ain sure Mr.. Ariail heard him
make the preposterous statement that
it was not only possible, but probable,
hat stock in the association he repre-
'ented would mature in four years.
Now, Mr.. Ariail refers to him as a
equitable business man;-as such, is
t not absurd to suppose that he be-
ieved this statement? In a snbse-
luent private conversation I called his
attention to this statement, at the same
line telling him that / was sorry to
lave found it necessary to do any.
hing hat would conflict with his in
crest; that l was not working for my
elf, nor against him, but in favor of
'ur home association, that only needed
he patronage of the people to make it
permanent uccess He replied in
'ubstance that be ought not to blame
ne, but that he could not help from
a little hard towards mt at
irst, as he had no interest in the asso-
iation which be represented, except
hat his commissions meant his fami-
US meat and bread. Ills words
l could not regret my action in ia
or of our home institution, but l did
merely d%eprecate the necessity for
aking an action that would tend to-
Yards interfering with ones livelihood.
This excited my SYMPATHY, therefore !
ook Mr.. Organizer to my home, and
here endeavored to place him in a po-
ton that might largely increase his
evenues, without redounding to my
wn interest in the slightest degree.
lie seemed sincerely grateful, but |
m not informed if he succeeded in his
forts in that respect.
Mr. Ariail says: "The gentleman is
ably mistaken in his statement that
u our officers at headquarters are sal
ried," and quotes from a letter from
lr. f. FL. Power, general agent for
sveral States, to prove that only the
secretary and Treasurer are salaried.
do not consider Mr.. Powers authori-
worth much on the subject, as l
ill, in time, prove him to be wrong in
Their information given in the same
,tter !; still, for arguments sake, let us
lnnnse they are the only two nctuQNu