The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-09
LETTERS TO EDITOR
A Sleeping Giant
To the Editor of The Age-Herald:

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 If every farmer in the United States could be induced to deposit per cent of his total crop production in our postal savings banks, his money would be abso- lutely safe, beyond question.
 If every farmer did it in 1914 after har- vest time 1t would amount to s5OO, 900, ,o0o enough to build 160 merchant ships at a cost of s3,000.0oo each. There's your mer- chant marine all fired up, steaming and breasting the waves, and all owned bJ the American farmer.
 If they did the same thing in 1915. they could buy 10000 miles of railroad at $5O,- GOO per mile, including all equipment and other property, and own it all without any debt or fixed charges. And at this rate of saving they could own all the railroads in about 2S years.
 They support the railroads now do thev not?
 Why should they not own them? Would 1t not wipe out all unreasoning prejudice against railroads, or most of 1t, at lea st Would it not put all idle men to work?
 Would there be any water in the stock ?
 Would 1t cost the federal government anything? And bounty in 1t? Any graft?
 Would it not be far better than govern ment ownership of railroads?
 Would it not transcend all partisan politics?
 How could 1t violate any antitrust law when 1t would be necessarily kelf-regula- tive, since nearly everything of cargo or freight is either by or for the farmer, di- rectly or indirectly?
 very attractive speaker land one for <hom we have a very high regard) a lew days since commanded the world S attention by very wise speech as to our present financial condition and our Future prospects. but in his calculat ations and prognostications, he made a trifling " mathematical or statistical omission of SIC, ,0o0. coo coo.
 The fact is that railroads. banks. nina operators and manufacturers have been accustomed to treading all over this sieeplns giant for so many years that they look upon 1t as matter of course ana thing naturally supservient 10 their wishes.
 The farmer-the ordinary hay-seed. hill- plily or Slod-hopper-who goes into a bic. ,|bank after office hours, and sees the mosul sitting in his private office is so fearfully awe-struck that he goes about on tiptoe and almost foreets to breathe. Yet every deposit the banker receives comes directly or indirectly from demand. VII
 These banks may be very secure hut they are glass houses" and if ia verv foolish man that will fling stones at one or them' because the wrecking of any 7 bank hurts the entire community of which iie himself is a part The reserve board however will give these glass houses a thick steel lining.
 But how many generations will this elant continue to sleep, allowing these dependents to walk all over him? If we could only give him one mighty kick that would thoroughly arouse him, what could he not do?
 Here are some few things he could do:
 He could, with one years total cron buy the United States Steel corporatior and other plants. s2O0 GOO, 900; 7500 banks $lOO.OO0 each, $750.000.00O; all mining com. panfes, $2,00o000,000, Standard Oil com pany, s2,000. .0000 900. and 65,00O miles of rail. road property at s50000 per mile. s325O 000,000; total, SIG, ,000, ,0OO, GOO.
 Impervious to all shafts of mischief n, of malice. or this giant could build owr and operate all his own railroads, withou, single bond; no watered stock and nr mighty unifying broker
 If he wanted to do mischief he could play the very devil. He could draw all of his money out of the banks, and say ''Oh, we'll whats the use in my raising any crop next year at all? I have enougf to live on; I'll take 1t easy" But hill billy though he may be, he has sense enough to see that it would react on him and therefore he determines to plov deeper. plant better and work harder thar ever before.
 His soil, according to government sol nnrvava will yield s10-000.0000m avAr,