Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1908-08-14
Washington Letter.


is going to happen in the near future2
They well know the most OF the talk
Of renewed prosperity is for the pur-
pose Of solstering up the Republican
party and the Wall Street stock mar
ket. Neither the q. o. Z. or the wan
Street gamblers can exist without
bull market, therefore, Sunshine Clubs
and Prosperity Conventions have been
organized, press agents hired and Won
derful tales told OF the increased BUSH
ness being done. Still there is trouble
in business and politics and no enc can
tell what will happen.
The financial managers, of course,
are not deceived by the resey reports
their agents have set in motion. Far
from 1t. They are still cropping blindly
along trying to stay the flood OF liqui-
dation that has continued in greater or
lesser force since last October when
the panic overlook them. That this is
not an overdrawn picture Of present
conditions is shown by the declaration
of that master of finance, Edward IL.
Hartman, that he is at his wits end:
"In fact, says Mr.. Harriman"t hings
have become so complex that | scarcely
know where / am. So am going out
to the Siskiyou Mountains to think
over the situation, and when | come
back may be able to talk intelligently
concerning the FUTURE
Whether Mr.. Hartman will be al lie
to gather his wits about him in the
solitude of the Siskiyou Mountains
and thus be able to tell us about the
future 10 very doubtful. There are some
things that even Hartman cannot do,
although we have been assured that he
stands upon higher pane than the
best of us. History but repeats itself
and ages hence when the details Of
history become dim and translators
have warped the facts to suit some I'LL
terror object, the story of Hartman
visit to the Mountain may show that
he was really the unselfish man he
says he is.
Still it is strange that Hartman
should take a journey of 8 900 miles, or
more, to mountain to silently COM
mune with himself when other noun
tains are much nearer and easier tC be
reached. Is he like Saul of old seeking
someone to divine what will happen,
for there is no doubt that he is in dire
strait and rs he says: 81 scarcely know
where l am" AS in Elijah's time,
when The went to the mountain, a
great wind may rend the rocks, or
there may be an earthquake, or fire,
but the still small voice, the voice of
conscience, always comes after nature
has spent Der forces and commands
most attention.
VIII Hartman heed it? Will he re-
wise his past and reform his future?
His spirit IS evidently striving for
change for the better, for he says:
"W hat 1 have done has not been to
make money, bat simply because mat
tiers were becoming tangled and it had
become necessary for some one to try
to make bad situation better. . .-..,.
/ Gas grow older am beginning to
| think more of my fellow-man. l want
to see this country the greatest coun-
try on earth. intend to help make it
| SUCH"
Will the Power of Good prevail over
TIE powers of evil and is Hartman
the human instrument for the better
ing of conditions? lit may be SO. When
he returns frotn the Mountains of
Siskiyou we may know.
| 1t is evident that there must
be great business or political perils inn
minent when the dominating spirit OF
Hartman has been humblsd and he
seeks light on bis perplexities and has
decided toIhelp his fellow men and his
country. He plainly tells us that mat
tiers have become tangled and it has
become necessary for SEINE one to try
10 make bad situation better.
| Somehow | can hardly picture in
my minds eye the insatiate Hartman
as reformer. He is master of Wall
Street finance; he is a Republican poll
tician; in 1904 he was delegate to the
| Convention that nominated President
Roosevelt; his advice was sought by
| Mr.. Roosevelt at crisis of that cam
! paign and he raised the money, which
| he assured us turned the scale in IA
vor of the Republicans in the pivotal
State of New York. Since that embar-
RAISING episode for Presiden' Roose-
welt, that cratic gentlemen has relegat-
ed II arriman to membership In the
Ananias Club, where many other men
OF note have also become Charter mem
bers. He now detests Roosevelt and
does not banker after Taft and "my
palieins ~