The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1914-07-25
STANDS BY THE PEOPLE
Vardaman Against Nominee big Bus.
mess" Man No Business With
Peoples Affairs.

Mr.. Paul Wooton, staff CORES
pondent for the Times-Picayune at
| Washington, told in last Wednes-
days issue of that paper, OF Sena-
tor Vardaman's position toward
the appointment of Thomas D..
Jones, to the Federal Reserve
Board. Mr.. Jones insists that he
is not involved in big business
and that when he became a director
of the international Harvester Co.. I
it was a law abiding corporation.
With reference to the Missouri
case, in which the organization of
the Harsester Company was declar-
ed illegal. Mr.. Jones insisted that
the charge of unfair dealing by the
company toward the farmers was
emphatically denied BY the courts.
With reference to the matter Of
Mr.. Jones appointment, Senator
Vardaman said:
81 cannot vote for the confirma-
tion of Mr. Jones, but ! would not
have my failure to do SO taken as a
condemnation of the President for
his action in the matter. He had
his function to perform, as | have
mine. 1t was his province to NOM
mate, mine as a Senator to approve
or reject.
81 do not think Mr.. Jones is the
proper man to undertake the exc
cution of the new banking and cur
rency law. His habits of thought,
his sympathies. leanings. affiIia-4
tions and ideas all are on the wrong
side of the question. The success
or failure of the currency law will
depend largely upon the admins.
tration of it. Ii properly admInis-
tered. it is susceptible of being
made an almost infinite blessing or
-benefaction to the American people.
III, on the other hand. it shall
be executed or administered as the
Harvester Trust was managed
while Mr.. Jones was a director
thereof. it will be an engine of far
reaching oppression and an outrage
upon justice. His sympathies are
all with Big Business, his ideas
upon economic questions are evil
deDtly in accord with the ideas
entertained by Mr.. Perkins, Mr..
Mccormick and men of that char
acter, whose unlimited sway in
business affairs is responsible for
more bankruptcy, mismanagement
and plunder than could be told or
described in days interview.
i would think as soon OF men
of that school of thought doiEG aly
thing in the interest Of the tVlIing
masses as | would expect protection
for the lamb at the hands of the.
wolf or the coyote. Mr.. Jones may
be perfectly honest in his ideas. /
rather think he is sincere; his tes-
timony before the Committee on
Banking and Currency was a
straightforward, candid announce
ment of his views.
Il have no objection to the man
personally, but his mental attitude,
his Big Business morals. totally
unfit him for the great construct
i've, altruistic work to which the
President would call him.
Il have the same objection to
him, and men Of his kind, being
put in the control and management
of our banking and currency sys-C
TEN, that the Christian world inter-.
pose to Pagan teaching theology
10 a Christian college, or an i'm
perialist administering laws de-
signed to establish a democracy.
He just does not fit IN, that's all.
! am sorry the President appointed
him. ! dislike to antagonize any
thing the President may do, es-
pecially if he has considered the
thing done maturely, but | cannot
see it as he evidently sees it, and
therefore cannot approve it.
There is a psychological side to
this question which ought not to
be ignored. | know of nothing
more to be regretted than the crea-
tion within the minds Of the pa
tient, toiling. silent wealth produc-
er of a want of confidence in The
administrators of the laws. The
farmers who have been robbed by
the harvester trust will not have
faith in the fidelity Of an agent of
that trust in the performance of
the functions of a director on the
Federal Reserve Board
1t is all right that the big fish
may be assured Of the friendIiness
of the little fish--the little. fish
are always friendly-but ! hardly
think that it would be tair to the
little fish that they should be fed
to the big fsh in order to show the
big fish that we wish them we'll.
It seems to the writer that this