El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-10-19

been reDaptlZed into a new faith. am
not certain that | am the person who
did the baptiZing, but l do claim some
credit for his conversion. As you know,
he has been for years a radical OF radl-
Gals, and in his speech at Dallas, at a
! banquet short time ago, he practically
admitted that fact by saying, "Suppos1
I | confess it. Do | not deserve credit
for the changer" For years the Demo
cratic party in Texas has insisted upon
radical legislation against what they call
the special interests" by which they
meant the business interests of the
state. They have been silly enough to
believe they could assist the agricul
tural interests by crippling the business
interests. while, as matter OF fact. an
injury to one is an injury to both. This
drastic legislation has gone so far that
/, it has passed the bounds of common
honesty and disregarded the established
rules of justice and right | have al
ready said the Democratic party usually
claims right and Justice as Democratic
principles, but it does not practice them
in Texas. | haven't time to point out
every depression along this line, but /
will point out few.
Practice VS.. Preaching.
Your state laws provide fol-. two
boards to fix valuations on railway
property in Texas. The members are
sworn to perform their duty faithful.
and their decision ought to be charac-
teriZed by the fairness of a court de-
cree. One of these boards fixes the val
uation on which the railroads are COM
Delled to pay taxes, and the other fixes
the valuation upon which the commits
sion is expected to allow them 10 earn
dividends. 1t certainly 8DDears that one
board would be sufficient to fix both OF
these valuations, but that would cut out
a few taXSeaters. so we have two; but
assuredly the two boards should fix the
valuations alike. As matter of fact,
the board that fixes the valuation for
taxation says our railroads are worth
about $3.50, 100000, while the board that
fixes the valuation on which thew are
allowed TO earn money declares that
valuation to be only about 10.0OO. 900.
There is not man here or elsewhere
who can defend that situation for a sin
gle moment. The supreme court of
Washington recently declared such a
condition to be unconscionable, yet it
exists in Texas today, and 1 presume
Mr. Colquitt is in favor if it, because
he has not said he is opposed to it.
Gouging the Corporations.
about One-seventh of the property
rendered for taxation in Texas is shown
BY the records to belong to corporations.
The corporations paw about threefifths
of the entire taxes of the state. In 9TH
er words, one-seventh of the property OF
the state pays three fifths of the taxes,
and yet somebody occasionally complains
that the corporations we have are ruin
ing the state.
3-If manufacturer or business man
in the state of Texas should agree with
a competitor in business to raise or low
Or no of 0Or11T11r1ifx- mi +hot
fact could be proved upon him, he would
probably land in the penitentiary. You
know that under our queer laws it is
lust as illegal to lower prices as to raise
them, and it Is also an offense to agree
To let them remain where thew are. On
the other hand You read in the papers
daily where men who are ENGAGED in az
ricultuTe meet and agree to fix the price !
of cotton, cotton seed wheat, oats or
anything else they may have to sell. and
vet no one dares to question their right
to do so. As a matter of fact their |
right should not be questioned. They
should be allowed to meet and combine
to obtain a fair price whenever their |
products are selling too low. but on the |
other hand everyone else should be al |
lowed precisely the same right
While the mountains stand and the |
waters flow the principle of Justice |
should apply to>all classes of men every
where. and If the reverse is the case You |
are simply teaching men dishonesty by i
law. If you SOW the wind You will reap !
the whirlwind. No government can per- !
exist in which the few are
denied the same privileges that belong to
the many, simply because they are in |
the minority. Of course no one should |
be allowed TO combine to obtain an I'M
fair price or an unreasonable profit
The fairness and unreasOnableness of the |
proposition should always be the con-
trolling factor in determining whether
The combination was unlawful or not
have merely mentioned three items.
but | could mention many Others if 7
had time, and these conditions have
been the products CT Democratic legis-
ation and recommended and approved
Dy Democratic governors for wears past.
Helped Convert Colquitt
As | have said. | claim some credit
for Mr.. Colquitt's conversion. Two and
4 half years ago at Fort Worth / ie-
ivered the first speech that has been
made in Texas for many wears. con-
iemning existing legislation. MN speech
vas widely printed not only over this
state, but over the United States.
was generally denounced at home and
widely praised abroad. Some of the
)aDerS almost demanded nv cruclflXIOn
md denounced my declarations IS ALSO
utely false The declaration that gave
greatest offense was one to the effect
hat Texas was hostile to capital 7
believe | received at least 20 copies of
newspapers in this state in which there
we're marked articles denouncing that
tatement rs falsehood J.
But now Mr. Colauitt has changed
yer, and Hon. Sheb Williams of Paris.
lis campaign manager and present
Democratic chairman. has come to nv
escue in wav that positively chal-
enges my admiration In an address ]
o the people of Texas. published on I
he oath of last month. Mr.. Williams :
avs 'the policies declared for BY The | '
9th plank in the Democratic platform. .
nd asserted by Mr. Coluuitt. mean bus
ness emancipation. Under them our {
avs will no longer meet foreign CAPT. '
al at the border, nor expatriate III
estments by embargo" You will no.
ice that Mr.. Williams said thar thew t
ill no LONGER do If. This means that c
hey have been doing it, and that is I
lore than I said when I declared that T
exas was hostile u capital. {
Williams Talks Like Republican. V
Mr.. Williams went furthc- in his re- =