The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-08-17
What Hoke Smith Had to Do
With Causing the Panic
Made Plain.

MADE liam.
Ex-Governor Hoke Smith now an
nounces that he stands on his orig
inal platform, and for his original
policies.
It will be recalled that one of his
important policies, which was put in
pamphlet form and circulated
throughout the state, is in regard
to prohibiting foreign corporations
from owning or operating railroads
or steet car lines in Georgia. He
showed that it was useless to try
to domesticate these corporations, as
! the United States supreme court had
ruled that such efforts we're inef-
fective, and he therefore proposed
/ to force them to dispose Of their
holdings in the state of Georgia.
! Many of Mr.. Smiths friends are
/ honest in their belief that this is not
/ confscation, but, by pausing a mo-
ment to think, there can be no other
reasonable conclusion The cost Of
building and equipping a railroad
will perhaps average about one hum
! dred thousand dollars per mile
When these railroads were built and
equipped the people of Georgia did
not have money to construct them
with, and invited foreign capitalists
to invest their money in railroads
for us. If we force them to sell their
4 property now the people of Georgia
still haven't the money to purchase
the railroads and street car lines at
full value-even if they could con-
vert all their possessions into ready
money-and people living outside
the state could not purchase them
because they would not be allowed
to own and operate them. Terrell
county has about forty miles of rail-
road, nearly all belonging to people
outside the state How many miles
of this road could the people of Ter
rell county purchase? This is con-
fiscation pure and simple, and no
i true reasoning can lead to differ
ent conclusion. Every thinking man
in Georgia knows it is wrong from
a moral standpoint-if he thinks
about it at ALL We invited those
people to invest their capital among
us to help develop our resources at
a time when de did not have the
money to develop them ourselves.
and we now haven't the money to
buy their property with, and the
aforementioned policy of Mr. Smith
amounts to proposing to take their
property away from them by main
force under authority of the acts of
the Great State of Georgia. OF
course it is wrong, a public wrong,
and when the public commits such
a serious crime against the moral
code it is but natural to expect a
visitation upon the public commen-
surate with the crime committed.
For some reason the public did
suffer, and suffered severely. during
the Smith administration, but it is
answered that the money power did
1t; that it was not the natural course
of events, and that the Smith adj
ministratiOn had nothing to do with
1t. Let us reason about it from a
standpoint that is easily understood
by us all. 1t has been the policy of
Terrell county heretofore to allow
people of adjoining counties, or of
other states, to own property in Ter
rell county. These people have been
in the habit of spending considera-
bic capital improving and operating
their property, and consequently a
large amount of their money remains
and circulates among us, and fire.
quently they purchase more Of our
property at prices greater than our
residents are willing to pay. We
have always been in the habit of
protecting their property just as
though they lived here. But sup
pose | were the "Uncrowned King"
of Terrell county, and should issue
my edict that henceforth no person
except residents of Terrell county
should be allowed to own and oper-
ate farms or other kinds of business
within these dominions Of mine.
Don't you suppose that all the prop
erty owners living outside of Terrell
county would want all their capital
Withdrawn from our borders as
speedily as possible? Certainly,
That would result in panic in Ter
rell county, which would be a vista
ton upon the public on account Of
the public wrong committed by the
"Uncrowned King"
1t is true Governor Smith did not
have that platform enacted into law.
but he said he was going to do so.
and 1t was but natural for foreign
ers to commence withdrawing their
capital and to quit investing among
us That is what they did 40, and
we had a panic Mr.. Smith now pro-
poses to carry out the unfinished
planks of his platform If he is
elected on his original platform, on
which he now says he stands, we
ought to expect foreign capital to
withdraw from our state, and we,
ought not to blame the money in
terests for so doing, as that is the
very thing you or l would do if the
/ government should threaten to con
nscate our property
The expression "Hoke and Hard
Times" is true for the reason that
effect follows cause.
Jehries said he would never fight
again; he changed his mind, and got
/