The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-20
THE LITTLE JOKE
ON Mr.. IA Toilette
WILL GO DOWN INTO HISTORY As
ONE or THE CLASSICS OF
THE CENTURY,
THE ARREST BUBBLE
WHAT HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT
John SHELTON WILLIAMS WOULD
FILL SEVERAL VOLUMES OF
s
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA.

The following editorial is from the
Manufacturers Record:
Among the monumental jokes Of
the age which must go down into
history ls the statement put forth by
Senator Robert NJ La Toilette that
John Shelton williams should not
have been appointed assistant secre-
tary Of the treasury because he is
representative of Wall Street inter-
ests. II Mr.. La Toilette cannot read
his title to heaven any clearer than
he can read the facts in this case
he had better be making a verp rapid
move looking to his future welfare.
That any man outside of an insane
asylum could have charged SHELTON
Williams with being the tool of Wall
Street passes comprehension. The
thing that SHELTON Williams friends
have sometimes tried TO keep him
from doing has been his persistent
and everlasting fight against Wall
Street and It's Influences. He organ
lied the Seahoard Air Line with a
view to its domination by the South,
free from Wall Street alliances. At
the banquet given in Richmond to
celebrate the opening Of the line to
Florida he went unnecessarily out
OF his way to proclaim the absolute
freedom of the Seaboard from Wall
Street Influences, and his deterTni-
nation that it should be a Southern
road controlled and dominated by
people If the South Even in those
days some of his friends feared that
his extreme views in opposition to
Wall Street and TO the control OF the
Seaboard by Wall Street influences
would seriously react upon his own
business. Later on. when williams
lost control of the Seaboard to Wall
Street influences, he fought Thomas
F. Ryan up and down the country,
back and forth. with a vigor and ven-
geance that made his friends feel
that he was OVERRIDING 1t and giving
more attention to fighting Ryan than
he was TO the protection of his own
interests If La Toilette had taken
the trouble to investigate, he would
have found that Williams is not
director of the Seaboard Air Line.
and is not, therefore, associated, as
La Toilette claims, with such people
as III. Clay Pearce. Norman r. Ream,
B. F. Yoakum and other system rep
resentatives." A good many people
in this country would be entirely
willing 10 be associated with these
gentlemen. but, fortunately or un-
fortunately. Mr. Williams Is not a
Sea board director. He was once. bat
is not now. I've other small rail-
roads with which la Toilette charges
him with being sinful enough to be
identified are comparatively insigniff-
cant lines which Williams and his as
sociates have been developing during
the last few years Independent of all
WALL Street operations or connec-
tons. and when Williams accepted
the appointment as assistant score
tary OF the treasury he promptly re
tired from the dictatorship OF all the
business interests with which he had
been connected.
And now Senator La Toilette, who
has posed before the country as
leader, claiming to know things, puts
forth what may aptly be called the
ARREST bubble that ever found lodg-
ment in an empty head"