The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1907-11-15
the official organ for period o.

fifty years.
When Mr.. Everitt started the So
ciety he foresaw that II it grew to be
as great as his dreams told him 1t
would be, its power and profits would
be something phenomenal. With this
in view he undertook to forestall any
action which might be taken by the
members In time to come, by con-
tract Whereby Up-to-date Farming
was to be the official paper for a
period of fifty years.
At the time this contract was made
there were no members of the society
except those chosen by Mr.. Everitt as
incorporators of the society and Sc
lected by him as officials. AS editor
of the paper he desired fifty year
contract; as president of the society
he readily agreed to bind the society
for that length of time, and the men
he had chosen TO help him found lit
tie difficulty in arguing themselves in
to the belief that 1t would be for the
best interests Of the society to be
thus bound to Mr.. Everitt, and they
or a majority of them. counting Mr..
Everitt, voted to endorse the contract
which Mr.. Everitt, as president, and
the secretary he had chosen had made
with Mr.. Everitt, publisher.
OF course the common law of this
country and of England, and most Of
our statute laws agree in saying that
no man as officer or director of
corporation shall make a contract wit
himself whereby he becomes bene-
ficiary Of his own act; but 1t is doubt
full whether Mr.. Everitt expected such
contract to hold good in court as he
has never before made it known TO a
convention, and did so this time only
when ne found the convention had de-
termined upon owning or controlling
an organ of its own, when he sprung
it, presumably as bluff.
To be sure contract was no good
until the society had attained the
proper proportions, for. had it been
presented 10 new society it would
have been repudiated. and its enforce
ment would have killed the society at
any stage.
To be sure the contract was no good
when the motion was made TO repudi
ate il, Mr.. Everitt acknowledged that
he presumemd there was not a delegate
in the house who believed the con-
tract was anything else than selfish
endeavor TO further his own interests;
but he declared that it was really an
effort to protec the society against
any effort it might make to have more
than one official paper or any other
official paper for fear they might get
an over supply of official papers. The
society, however, took the same view
of it that he feared it would and re-
pudiated the contract by a vote of 271
TO IA.
II Mr.. Everitt had succeeded in
building up a society with million
members; and had kept his paper as
the Official paper, with himself as sole
manager of its policy. he would be in
a position to control parties; to die
tate 10 trusts; to tear down or build
up individuals, and to feather his own
nest TO any extent he might desire.
The society saw all this and was de-
termined TO take that power out of
the hands of any one individual. In
fact that was the real issue az stake.
Other individual members of the So
ciety may have had ambitions, but all
of all the factions was sub
ordinated TO this great desire 10 make
the official organ the agent and SER
want of the people instead of the tool
of any one man. In other words the
society decided that it, the society,
was 100 large to be owned by any
one individual, even if his name was
j. A. Everitt.
II Mr.. Eveeritt had been, willing to
agree that the society, through its di-
rectors, should control the editorial
policy of its own organ he might still
be publishing the official paper, but
he was not willing and the society
has started paper of its own.