The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1908-02-26
ANOTHER sOREED
Charleston Gazette.

Elephant" has written another
letter. He sees in the fact that the
Louisville g. Nashville Railroad,
and possibly other railways of the
country, have discharged come en-
ployes or. in order to prevent bank
ruptoy and reoeiverships, have
reduced wages, an attack upon his
great policies and an effort to pre-
vent him from making all men
honest and compelling all men to
think even as he thinks. He has
taken his mighty pen in one hand
and his sword of justice in the
other, and he has written to the
great interstate commerce commits.
zion and has warned that august
body that it must get busy. Ae
evidence that he desires all men
in all lands to read what he says,
the communication is printed I'M.
der tho auspioes of the Associated
Press. It oontains an ill concealed
threat that even though ruin shalI
confront railways, they must keep
the empty oars moving and dis.
charge no employees, else submit
to further investigation, further
humiliation, more threats and en-
dure more talk. In the light OF
what is going forward in the ooun-
try, or, moro accurately speaking,
what is not going forward in the
country, this last voluntary ukase
from the White House is as humor-
GUS as Mark Twain's "Autobiog.
raphy of ADAM" and has in it as
much inherent inconsistency as
the traditional "Irish Bull" Truly
one asks after reading it, has the
great strenuous one been sleeping2
Has he not heard that there are
CLOSE to 5000 miles of empty oars
about 100000 in number stsnd-
ing idle upon side tracks and in
railroad yards in this country,
which was handed over to him six
years ago, the most prosperous
land on earth, at which time the
great problem was how to supply
enough oars and build enough
traokage to accommodate the trans.
portation of the oountry2 Is he
30 surrounded by obsequious sup
plants and is he advised by suoh
narrow-minded councillors that be
does not know that there are not
enough people travelling on the
trains to pay for the greasing of
axles, and that even Pullman por.
ters are hungry Does he moi
know that hotels are going into
the hands of receivers because
there is no business and the peo-
pie are too hard up to travel, if,
indeed, they have any need to go
from placer Has he not read or
heard that New York, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Chicago,
Cincinnati and other great cities
are feeding the starving unemployed
by the hundred thousand2 Is he
yet ignorant of the fact that the
lumber business is stopped; that
the few remaining GOAL mines run
ming are producing only about one.
tenth capacity; that the few faoto-
ries now running are losing money
but are keeping their wheels turn.
ing as matter of humanity for
those dependant upon work. II
some United States official would
tell him the actual conditions in
these parts, he could learn the sad
truth that there are skilled work
men in this section who received
four to five dollars per day few
months ago, who are now willingly
taking odd jobs at 81 20 per day
But why go ahead with the picture
as presented to the meroh ant, the
dealer, the trader. the banker. the
business and working manP How
Ridiculous appears the president
in discussing the gnat of disoharg-
ing few employees when all over
this broad land he could, if he
would, see the elephant of panic,
depression. despair and even starv.
alton! He may know a way by
which people oan be paid without
money, railroads can be run with
out income, GOAL mines be operated
without market, and unemployed
labor paid. If he started out to
find recipe for doing these extra
ordinary thinRs and will explain it
to wondering people. there yet
may be found explanation for his
remarkable "polioies."