The Mena weekly star., 1909-12-16

lilc AyOt HuA tS ~ViSt "HN' V ~ pinches."
 My platform is for the people to get interest out of the banks for their public funds. Jim thought 1t was necessary to answer for the reason that he had held the County Treasurer office for four years and has kept in a bank most all the time 8 large amount of the peoples money and let the bank have the use of it for nothing. And now in his reply he says he will continue to do this, as ne would have you believe the law wifi not permit the money to draw interest. He even calls it an old gag or graft, and says he was asked to run on this platform and refused.
 I wonder who asked him
 am not surprised at his refusing. will venture the party who asked him to do so will not support him on the platform he is now on. His req son for not running on my platform is that it would be violation of the law according to his construction, and am satisfied he is pleased with this construction of it, as l notice upon the records that Jim is astock- holder in the bank that holds this money that he deposits as treasurer.
 1 guess all the banks will call my platform a ''gag," but we will see whether the people will call it a gag" or not. I think they will name it when the time comes for the name.
 Mir. Thornton cites the law that makes it avioIation and apenitentiary offense for an officer to LOAN" the money, and he even cites one sec ton of law under the head of a Riot" to prove his contentious, which is as follows:
 Section 2025. If any person or per- sons do an unlawful act, with force or ] violence against the person or prop erty of another, with or without a common cause or quarrel, or even to do a lawful act in violent or tumul- tuoas manner, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a riot and on lconviction shall severally be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county | jail not more than three months, or both.
 1 am very poor lawyer, but l graduated at the same school with Jim. We both, instead of the little primary books now studied, took a course in cotton chopping and corn dropping. We took, instead of Rays Third Arithmetic, a course be hind the blow, up and down the corn row; and for our Geography and History, we took the meanderings of 1 the Cossatott. Board Camp, Prairie Creek, Ouachita and Irons Fork, with l it's scenery, from old Hannah Noun. tain to Old Dallas. and finally re ceived our diplomas at the age of q ! So, you see, we are both prepared tC construe this law. 1 place this con struction on it: say the law Mr Thornton cites is for the purpose ol preventing officers who have tho keeping of the peoples money iron LoANING it themselves and getting and keeping the interest themselves In other words, it is not intended that the officers should speculate or this money. Now I don't aim tt speculate, LOAN or use the monel myself, but 1 will DEPOSIT it in som, bank for safe keeping, JUST LIKE HI IS DOING AND HAS DONE, AND SAY. HE WILL DO AGAIN. But the differ ence between us is that say l vii make the bank or banks pay the peo pie interest, if they use it, and h, says he will not.
 Still, he says he wants adspositor. law.
 l wonder how bad.
 Jimmie seems to be afraid 1 vii getin the pen" will risk my viev of the law, and risk going to the pen if you take the same view of thi matter l do.
 Don't you suppose the bank tha has this money on DEPOSIT uses it and. don'tyou suppose MT. Thornton knows the bank makes use of it?
 Then if the bank, while it has thi money and has the use of it, is mad to pay the people interest. who i hurt but the bank? But the banl being hurt is what Thornton objeca to. He owns some stock in the bank 1 believe the whole of the people ar, more entitled to be favored than on party. I can see no difference, s far as complying with the law. il DEPosTING the money FOR interest and the people getting the interest and DEPosITING as Mir. Thornton