Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-06-05

70 Nos ~ ~ O'CLOCK ~ uIFIL
his hotel and wake bis up 70 koow
upon what terms he could get an op,<o1t
upon that, or buy It. W
took the option and handled 4, ma
Mr.. Morgan called up the Presidenfpt
the Atlantic Coz II Line and suggostoo
the situation TO aim. and the outcomq
was that the Atlantic Coast Line
agreed to take It at 100, and TO do 90
issued s35.000.000 In new bonds, t6,-
100000 In new STOCK, 10 the former
stookholders-to the then stockhold-
ers-and s5,000,000 of stock further
that resulted in an Increase Of tho
bonds and stocks OF the Atlantic Coast
Line, a net increase OF about $4,000
600, In order to enable the Atlaptic
Coast line to take the control Of the
Louisville q Nashville Railroad out
OF the hands of Mr.. Gates"
John w. Gates stated under oath to
the Interstate Commerce Commission:
"Mr. Gates: First began TO acquire
the stock, 1 think In March Last
stock which entered into the transac-
ton bought between the '7th and 10th
Of April Mr., Schwab came to my
hotel and woke me up at or 3 o'clock
In the morning the 9th, 10th or 11th
Of April. Option given April 10, 1907"
So Il viii be seen to what good use
the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Company put this act Just twenty-five
days after 1t was approved.
may be suspected of going back a
long time to find some fault In Mr..
Beckham's record as Governor. Well,
l am Just starting at the beginning.
The trouble Ii, he got worse the long
er he continued In office. have made
careful calculation, and it will take
me at least year, speaking once
week, to describe all the simple
twists of the wrist" by which he has
served corporations and sacrificed the
people.
BY this merger the Louisville e.
Nashville Railroad Company became
a component part Of the most enor-
nous consolidation Of carriers on the
continent. The entire conduct Of its
affairs was turned over to a coterie
Of Wall street stock brokers, who did
not even pretend to be railroad com
pany. 1t is a corporate hybrid, armed
with the authority of trustee, the
powers of a bank and the franch1ges
of public utility, whose sole business
it is to manipulate railroad securities
and prevent competition between Com
mon carriers, operating in Kentucky
and in the South, capitalized at No.
100000, and controlling a vast plexns
of railroad systems, with a total cApt
talization of $750,000,000.
A Congressional committee the
Pujo committed, after thoroughly
probing this trust, reported, on Febru-
airy 81, 1913, that, Your committee
finds that vast systems OF railroads
In various parts of the country are
In effect subject to the control Of this
inner group, a situation not conducive
to genuine competition. Here again
the Southern Railway offers the most
convenient illustration. II
operates In competition with the Louis
Vile & Nashville and with the Atlantic
Coast Line Railroads. While under
such control. Messrs. Morgan Co.
| purchased the Louisville & Nashville
and turned it over to the Atlanticb
Coast Line"
It Is not necessary that should
question Mr.. Beckham's motives ort
dwell upon the infinite damage done
the material Development OF the State
| by his official sanction Of acts which
operated as Letters of Marque and
Reprisal" to these financial buccan-
| GERS, who, under the protecting aegis
| Of a commission, signed, sealed and
delivered by the Chief Executive of
| the Commonwealth of Kentucky, have
levied a heavy toll of unnumbered mil
| lions upon the defenseless shippers OF
the State. 1t is enough that he has
| in the most emphatic and solemn form
asserted his approval of holding COM
panies. Such a company is a trust,
pure and simple, a monopoly in its
most odious and baneful form.
Wipe from your statute books the
| law sanctioning all this subtle and
| crooked Juggling in securities, and the
| holding companies can be abolished
under the common law.
The time has come to notify these
| past masters in the art Of Stacking
commerce and swindling toll that the
| laws of Kentucky shall hereafter be
enacted and enforced, not to sanction
but to sentence malefactors.
He who legalizes crime is infinitely
more dangerous than the crude Grim
inal who breaks an act designed to
punish it.
He who confines himself to simple,
old-fashioned stealing Injuries society
only to the extent of his actual depre-
! udllOllS, NelpaNAhJ " AoA - 40 AAA@
tied to the field of his individual &C
tivities; but he who emasculates an
act prohibiting larceny in any form
leaves you helpless and exposed to
legion of pilferers.
Nothing in all the illustrious history
Of the Great Commoner has more en-
deared him to the plain people than
his clarion call at the Baltimore con-
vention. to an unterrified and triumph
ant Democracy, TO purify and liberate
the party forever from the contaminat-
ing touch of the boodler and the boss.
Resolved" he shouted, that in this
crisis in our party's career and In our
country's history. this convention
sends greeting to the people Of the
United States. and assures them that
the party of Jefferson and Jackson Is
still the champion Of popular govern
1 4. -. 1aaaur q