Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-10-29

tions and inaccurate statements OF the underlying
causes producing undesirable effects or-t5 put 1t IN
homelv, but exact, ~phrase-thrOugh lies skIiltuHy
invented, plausibly placed before the public and &C
companied by specious pleas in support of the wrong
mere ad caD tandum appeals to ignorance and it
twin daughters, prejudice and passion, (fOr which
appeals these deceptive declarations were cOntrived)
corporations and especially railroad companies
have become the objects of the %vindictive hatred of
the average Mississippi '~'primary" voter.
The wealth and prosperity OF such corporations
are grossly over. estimated just as their pressing
needs and requirements are underated.
The point is well illustrated by Russell H. Con
wall, in his lecture already delivered more than
1000 tines on "Acres of Diamonds
Bear in mind the lecturer has worked in a store,
tried farming, is an ex-lawyer of fine repute, aclergy-
man, platform orator, pastor of the Baptist Temple,
Philadelphia, and president of Temple College.
He is discussing the point that wealth lies all
about every mans door, if the man will only dill
gently, intelligently look and labor, for it. He says:
'sBut the people who make the greatest mistakes
are the farmers. When | could not keep my fathers
store lin Massachusetts) he set me to work on the
farm. knowing that | could not do much harm there.
Laughter.
81 know by experience that a very ordinary
man can be a lawyer. ] also know that it does not
take a man with a gigantic intellect to be a preach
er. 1t takes a greater man than either, to make a
successful farmer today. The farmer will be more
successful when he gives more attention to what peO-
pie want and not so much to what will grow, though
he needs them both. But now the whole time of
most of our farmers is taken up with the fndingO out
of what will grow
81 was going up through Iowa awhile ago and
eoryt bo uhoot 1nraVinO in the mud. and said tn q
farmer:
"'Why is it that all this grain here is decay
ing9'
I" 'Oh,' he said, it is the awful monopoly of
the railroads. He didn't use the word awful, but
he used a word he thought more emphatic
Laughter.
81 got into the train and sympathized with the
down. trodden farmer. The conductor came along
and | asked him:
'How much dividend does this railroad pay
on its stockF
"He looked at me and said: TT has not paid
any for nine years and it has been in the hands Of
the receiver the most of the time
"Then | changed my mind. If that farmer had
raised what people wanted, not only would he have
been rich, but the railroad would have paid interest
on it's stock Applause ]"
If it could be made clear to the railroad manage
ment that the discontinuance of the operation of the
trains complained of was working an injustice and
u serious wrong upon the people between Waynes-
boro and Okolona there is scarce a doubt that the
railroad would quickly put them in operations llgaYo :
That the discontinuance of them works an in
convenience and, perhaps, something of a hardship
upon a few of those people, may be true.
But it also is equally true that the operation of
those trains at the time they were taken off was
working not only a hardship, but a direct serious
pecuniary loss upon the railroad company, else their
operation would have been continued uninterrupted
lN.
For this is a truth all of us should keep in mind:
Railroads do not Voluntarily discontinue pro
ftable operations.
Again the success of railroad management is very
largely. if not wholly, dependent upon conditions
which in turn often are created by public sentiment
and that sentiment is responsible for the legislative
attitude, as well as the attitude of the public toward
the railroad company-and hence it is that the good
will of the legislative power and of the public are es-
teemed valuable assets of railroads.
Again, the. gentlemen who manage the railroad
company are men of intelligence and possess the per-
ception to see that the success of the railroad cannot
be built upon any enduring bases except that of the
: development of the region served by it's lines.
And they know, too, that no development worth
while can be had except that produced by excellence
of service in connection with the best rates of trans
~portation they can reasonably give to the territory
contiguous and tributary to their lines.
The fact otthe business, is f an impartial investi-
gator will judicially examine into the particular
case under discussion, he probably will find that the
trouble between the Assistant Attorney General and
the NJ. q 0. r. h. Co. is due less to his zeal to CON-
pei the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to faithfully OBJ.
serve its obligations to the Mississippi public than
to his desire and intent to secure-and perpetuate
for Meridian, and a small section of country tribu-
tary to that city, the local accommodation, advant.
; ages and conveniences growing out of the operation