The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-07-19

Dear Sir: 1 have read your letter
headed ~Farmer and the Railroads" pub
lished in the anday Times of Chatta-
nooga, on June 90.
1T contains evidence of your intelli-
gence and fairness of mind and | can
account for your criticism of my address
before the Tennessee Bankers AssocM.
tion, therefore, only on the ground that
you have read an account in which both
the substance and spirit of what | said
were grossly misrepresented. Neither
before the Tennessee bankers, nor at any
other time or place, have | used lang
uage that could, by any possible con-
struction, be made to convey the mean.
ing that some one has evidently endea.
vored to give to my remarks. c~lclose
herewith a copy of my address to the
bankers exactly as | delivered it. If you
will read it you will see that some n
has done me a grave injustice in ut
tributing to me any reference to the
grange mania" or any language that
can be distorted into a call upon any
men, or classes of men, to organize
against the politicians who seem to be
working the so-called grange mania
Il shall be glad if you will send me
a clipping of the account of my address
which so completely misrepresented me
and so far misled you. Such an &C.
count affords a striking illustration Of
the misrepresentation to which railways
and railway managers have been per.
sistently subjected in some quarters.
"Not only in my address to the Ten
nessee bankers, but or other occasions,
/ have referred in terms of the highest
appreciation to the work of the last Ten.
nessee Legislature, and the fact that a
majority of its members represented the
agricultural communities of the State
shows that I would have been most UNI
just if | had criticised, in any way, the
farmers of Tennessee.
"No one recognizes more clearly the
Importance of the agricultural interests
of the United States than does the man.
ager of a railway operating in a region
like the South, the wealth of which is
largely based on farming. / know that
the railways of the South cannot pros.
per unless the Southern farmer is pros
porous, and | believe there are few farm
ers who do not realize that their pros.
perity depends in large degree upon the
highways over which their products must
be hauled to market.
q believe that every one doing bust
ness of any kind in the South is inter.
ested in the railways of our section be.
ing able to increase and improve their
service as rapidly as the demand for
transportation increases, but I do not
believe that any other class is more VI.
tally interested in this than is the farm
er. He must rely upon the railway to
carry to the consuming eenters of this
country, or to the seaports for export,
his surplus products which cannot be
consumed in the immediate locality in
which they are produced. The railway
also makes possible the establishment of
factories and building up of towns and
cities in agricultural communities. These
towns and cities furnish the farmer with
a nearby market for the p~erishable pro.
duets of his farm and enable him to di.
versify his farming to an extent that
would not be profitable if he did not
have the local markets to supply.
"All my life | have numbered South.
ern farmers among my friends. ! know
their high character and their high av.
erage intelligence. I know that when
they have studied the railway sitiua-
ton from the viewpoint of abstract jus.
tice and from the viewpoint of their
own individual interests, the railways of
the South will have no reason to fear
unjust treatment at their hands. My
only fear is that farmers and other
of citizens as well may be mis-
led by false and mistaken statements as
to the railways and their managers.
81 have written you thus fully, in or.
der that you should have no misunder.
standing of my attitude as to the prop
relations between the public and the
railways, and in order, especially, to
the mistaken impression you had
obtained as to my attitude toward the
l know that you will regret as
much as / do the way you have been
Yours very truly,
"W. w. FINLEY, President"