The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1922-10-06

OF tennessee 10 Say WucbucK IL 10
Just and right for a small minority
seek to nullify the expressed wishes
Of the great majority.
Instead of receiving patriotic CO.
operatio nat the hands Of that Legis-
lature, looking toward a reduction Of
the expenses of the State and les
SEEMING of taxes, the greater portion
Of my time was occupied in seeking |
to prevent legislation which had In |
view increased drawings from the
Treasury, heavier burdens Of taxes
upon the people Of the State and the
suppression Of an honest expression
Of the peoples desires at the ballot
box. I vetoed bill after bill which
carried increased and unjustified ap-|
preparations. When the law increas-
ing the rate Of interest from six to
eight per cent was presented for my
signature, I returned 1t without my
approval and made the following
statement in opposition to its pas
sage:
Eight Per Cent Law.
"We are living under conditions
and circumstances, much Of which is
an incident Of war, that will not war
rant and justify measures which will
result in a further increase Of the
already heavy burdens which rest
Upon the great body Of our people.
The farmers, the young and strug-
Cling home builders, and the great
multitude Of small business men are
now being forced to borrow money
to pay their taxes and carry on their
business. Punched as they are for
ready cash, they are compelled to
iraw out their Liberty Bonds which
patriotism induced them to buy at
a sacrifice and pay 100 cents upon
he dollar therefor, but when they
take these Liberty Bonds to the mar
ket places they are only given IS
to 80 cents and sometimes not that
much. Under the law AZ 1t now
'xists the borrower in most instances
forced to pay at rate Of 8 per-
lent, such 8 per cent being pro-
cured by showing 8 per cent ON the
face Of the note and z per cent be-
ing procured in payment for the priv
ilege of securing the loan. If this
bill passes, the 8 per cent rate will
oe forever chloroformed, and the
borrower will be forced to pay 10
per cent through the same circuitous
route by which he is now compelled
to pay 8 per cent. Land notes, fer
tilizer notes, machinery notes and va
rious other kinds Of notes will al
most automatically 60 up to 8 per
cent. 1t is paradoxical to argue that
this increased rate will help the bor-
rover while it at the same time
takes more money away from him.
81 have no criticism against the
great banking institutions Of our
State, but have they not all grown
and prospered under the present law,
and have they not all paid healthy
dividends under the present law?
Strange as 1t may seem, Just at
an hour when prices on everything
are going downward, we seem to have
tendency to legislate upward.
"The proponents Of this measure
have been well and ably represented
before the Legislature. The pressure
has been tremendous and hard to
Withstand. Somebody must argue for
that great body Of men and women
who have no organization and associ-
ations. That body constitutes the
borrowers of our country, and insofar
as am able to do so their conditions
and opportunities to grow and pros
per shall not be lessened by legis-
lation."
In addition to all these measures
Of legislation which sought to in
crease the costs and expenses Of the
people, successful attempts, to the
extent Of statutory enactment were
made to muffle the voice Of the peo-
pie.
Obnoxious Election Laws.
The greatest weapon q citizen has, |
in republic like ours, Ia the privi- |
lege Of using the ballot. Written
across the pages Of history, in lines |
Of blood and glory, is the story Of
mankind struggling and battling for
the opportunity to have a voice In
governmental affairs. After once
obtaining 1t the fight was not con-
cluded, for It has been q ceaseless
struggle to preserve 1t. There are
those who. II they cannot actually
destroy this weapon, they would ar
rest its use BY enmeshing It with
complications and hedging about 1t |
needless, but hadicapping conditions. |
AT the last session Of our Legislature |
a scheme was invented, the purpose
OF which was to deprive many Of our |
best and truest citizens Of the right |
to vote and 10 make 1t more diff
cult for ell citizens to sxsrci.s the
right Of suffrage. They paused three
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