The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-03-26
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Attorney General .Bonaparte's De-
cision-Another Lesson to South
ern Men in Congress.
CBy James S. Mccarthy

4i'''I' lhti'li III" Is :tnolncf lrSSDll 10
IT," Southern men in congress to hc
very careful about giving their SUP
Ir'i /" administration policies, as il
Will greatly hamper the southern
states III their efforts to induce de-
slrablc CLASSES of European immi-
grants To go into the south. When
the bill was pending before the SEN
ate It's passage was resisted by the
Southern Senators and the Republi-
cans could have been forced to amend
1t II 1t had not been that assurances
were given the Democrats. both by
the Republican senators and by Off
clalS of the administration that it
would not interfere with the action
or southern states in encouraging i'm
migration Of the kind desired by the
industries in their borders. Placin"
faith IN these assurances, the south
ern senators withdraw their opposi-
tlon. But no sooner had the bill be-
come law than the department ct
""nmrlr" and labor asked the attor-
ncN general for an opinion as to it's
effect on the activity of the southern
states III securing immigration. Un-
der the ruling of Mr.. Bonaparte it is
no longer lawful for state to raise
funds for bringing over immigrants
NY accepting contributions from the
industries that arc to be benefited,
and any work of this kind engaged in
by state must be paid for from it's
general funds. In other words, the
expense, instead of being borne by
those directly benefited by the in
creased labor supply, must be impos-
ed on all the tax payers Of the state.
The question Of what will be Pres
iIcnt Rooscvclt's attitude toward
the railroads is the principal topic of
discussion among politicians in
Washington. The people Of the coun-
try who pay the freight and pasScn-
GER charges of the railroads seem to
be in favor Of giving the present law
fair test before urging any further
Federal legislation, but the president
is not satisfied and talks Indefinitely
"f additional laws. with the result
that capital is alarmed and il is diff
licult for the railroads, even by pay
ing high rates of interest. to obtain
money for necessary improvements
al a time when their facilities are
taxed to the utmost and when their
operating cxpenscs-on account Of
higher prices and advanced wages
are going up rapidly. Mr.. Roosevelt
does not seem to realize that there is
an identity Of interests between
railroad and the people along its
lines; that the railroad if il is to sue
r"cd must be interested in the pros
rrrity Of the country it travcrSes,
and that the people are interested n
h"in" served by II prosperous and cf-
t'rient railroad able to expand its
Facilities as required. The truth of
this is now bein" recognized by rail
road men more generally than ever
before. and the general adoption Of
the policy OF frank publicity and Of
taking the public into the confidence
of the roads as is bein" done by Pres
idcnt Finley Of the Southern Rail-
way Company, will go far toward
making further legislation unncccs-
>ary and uniting railroads and the
public in harmonious cooperation for
their mutual interests.
An interesting fact i'm connection
with the recent collapse Of the stock
market in New York was that while
confidence in the values Of railroad
securities and in the future Of the
railroads Of the country seemed to
have been rudcly shaken the cotton
market remained firm and the price
even advanced. This is significant
as showing the firm foundation upon
which the coiton-growin% industry OF
the south is based. The demand for
This product is world wide and more
than temporary mscttlemcnt Of
business in any single country is re-
';nircd TO effect its market price ma
tcrially. AT the same time reports
to the Bureau Of Manufactures in
licate THAT efforts to grow cotton on
4 commercial scale in new fields in
IL