The St. Joseph observer., 1917-12-29
MIR. vAxprnLrps ECONOMY

citizen of these United states to hon
estly disagree With anyone whom he
Is reasonable sure is mistaken in the
facts. and therefore it is the right of
this paper to criticize the utteranceS OF
Mr.. Frank \. Van1erlip, the great New
York banker. who is now on speech
making tour Of the country in the in
terests of the thrift campaign. An
effort was made to bring him to st.
Joseph last week but it failed and he
spoke at Omaha and at Kansas city
In place.
This of ali times is a mighty poor
one in which to raise the class issue
as Mr.. Vanderlip did at Omaha, ac-
cording to press reports which have
never been denied. This paper has
protested il when it took the form of
indiscrinlnate criticism of the rich by
the poor. or OF wall street by the so
oialists, or of railroad and Industrial
enterprises by the farmers. therefore
this paper cannot be taken to task on
the charge of having an ak to grind
when il takes offense at such a state
ment as this made by Mr.. Vanderllp
at his omaha meeting when he said:
"Your farmers out here are too rich;
and our wOrkmen in the east are too
rich. Excess in luxuries has been the
result"
our Missouri farmers are not in that
class at all when it comes to riches
as Ia Mr.. Vanderlip and his business
associate and close friend Mr.. John
drew, or Platte county farmers work
a. a rule, just as hard as Mr. Wander
lip or Mr.. Rockefeller does. Their
work is at least lually necessary and
honorable. But they are glad, and
taking it one year with another most
OF them would be surprised to be able
TO count their net Incomes In four fig
ures. whereas men Of Mr.. Vanderlip's
class count theirs in seven or eight.
or "our working men in the east
there are very few who are able to
tain an automobile. But Mr.. Wander
lips associates boast OF a number OF
homes many Of them, flocks of auto
mobiles costing from $4,000 to $4,000
each. steam yachts and private rail-
road cars. The press reports the day
prior to Mr.. Vanderlip's Omaha
speech say that on that day Mr.. Van
derlip was a guest at Chicago din
ner costing 81 plate. and we here
hazard the COME ture that there were
very few "too rich" farmers or too
The market for strings Of pearls and
diamond dladems to adorn beautiful
women is extremely bullish, Just now,
In the neighborhood Of Mr. Vanlerlip's
great bank. but it Is bearish and al
ways has been in Missouri, though
our women are Just as beautiful as
their women ana our men in this state
love them and delight to honor them
quite as much as they do theirs.
And again the press reports say
that Mr.. Vanderlip further said;
"Your s"lfishness in the past; your
demand for lower rates without re-
gard for the justice thereof; your de-
mani for eNtravagant service without
regard for the economic possibility
thereof-thesc have made conditions
impossible for our railroads"
There may be just a few words OF
truth in this statement but Is It all OF
the truth? Shall al Of the blame be
laid to the farmers and shippers and
consumers?
Not to our notion as long as we can
remember the stock-jobblng and
wrecSing Of prosperous railroad prop
critics like the Mlssourl-Paciflc, the
Rock Island and the New Haven, and
so long as we see honestly and efflc-
iently managed properties like the
Union Pacific earning large dividends
and dividing and plling up fat sur
pluses out Of existing rates. We shall
decline to think 50 when 1t Is a matter
OF common knowledge that many mar
BILE mansions on Fifth avenue and
~mlllion dollar Cottages" at Newport
have been erected and furnished, and
fortunes running into the scores of
millions have been accumulated out OF
these same rates and out OF the Thin
ble-rigged Investments OF small invest
Ors in railroad securities,
The real evidences Of "extravagance"
and an excess Of luxuries" are not
found in Buchanan county or Platte
county or Andrew county or Noda way
county or any Missouri county farms
but on the contrary will be found on
Fifth avenue, in the Broadway cafes
In the Florida winter colonies and the
North Atlantic summer colonies. where
the steel millionaires and the war-baby
millionaires and the stock Exchange