White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-08-26

ment, one being thai the brief tele-
graphic account of the complaint
does not constitute a libel as it is Or
linarily understood ard the other is
that Mr.. Meredith in FIXING his dam
ges ar 80 cents waves as much con-
tempt at the courts and iuries Of his
state as he does at his hated critic.
The substance of the alleged libe!
is that Brookhart said in a speech
recently at a small Iowa town, "Mer-
edith sat in the Wall street game
and helped produce the greatest
panic in farm prices in the history
of agriculture
Now, what is there libelous about
that, ever If ii be untrue? Mere
dith. in the first place, will have to
admit that it is a mere figure OF
speech to say that lie sat in the
game, as described. He will not con
tend that Brookbart meant hat he
personally went to Wall street. met
its operators and sat down with
them around a table. dealing out
this shocking death blow to the farm
ers and to civilization. 1t will be
~contended merely that the ex-secre-
tary is charged with having cooper
ated with the Wall street money
kings, possibly without personally
seeing or communicating with them,
he was in sympathy with with their
plans and ideas and helped them to
TO put over the great defiation cor
spiracy of 1920.
Boiled right down the meaning
of that charge is that Meredith was
in sympathy with the moneyed in
terests and used his Office TO oppose
and destroy the prosperity OF h
farmer. That constitutes what may
be called a serious charge; in fact,
one so serious that there are millions
of American people who would like
TO designate the offense as treason
and fix a legal penalty OF death IL
the law does not provide for such an
arrangement. In the first place un-
Ger the american lava II ID v -
crime. either as high as treason OF
as low as petty larceny. for a person
to be in sympathy with great wealth
and opposed to the prosperity of the
common people. You meet such per-
sons every day and every hour or
the day. and disagree with their
views as you will, you must admit
that in the abstract they haye VIC
lated no law. If these same citizens
happen 10 hold public office, from
president down to constable. and II
they continue to hold those views
and practice them, showing every
day and every hour that they are in
sympathy with Wall street and OPP
posed to the prosperity OF the people
they sill have violated no law, ano
to expose their %leanings in that .lirec-
ton a person charges them with nc
crime nor even of dishonesty il i
strict sense, hence he does not libC.
them.
Right today there is another cabi-
net officer. Andrew Mellon, secretary
OF the treasury, who not only f.
openly il sympathy with Wall street
and all the big moneyed interests
of the country. himself being rated
as perhaps the third richest man in
the world, who has used all the ma.
chinery Of his Office time and again
TO defeat what the people have de-
handed and has succeeded in some
OF his attempts. get because he has
been charged with this series OF acts
many times in public speech and
print, he has been charged with moth
ing specifically put down as a crime
and with nothing seriously dishon-
est. II Meredith has been charged
with acting in cooperation with.
Wall street once, Mellon has bee,.
so charged 1000 times. yet Mellon
has seen no cause FOR a libel action
against those whom he undoubtedly
regards as his ~traducers, for the
simple reason that they have not
hbeled him and he knows it.
Mr.. Meredith is evidently not
familiar with the lese majestic trial
wherein President Roosevelt at
tempted in the name of the gov
eminent to prosecute an Indiana
polls editor and Joseph Pulitzer OF
the New York World for exposing his
purchase of the de Lesseps Panama
canal rights for $4,000. 900 from J.
J.. Morgan. Federal Judge Ander-
son, III the Indiana case. ruled that
a newspaper had a right to criticize
the government or any official there
OF for acts that looked suspicious to
him. Anderson said IN his opinion
that the Panama canal purchase
looked suspicious TO him and tho
editor had not exceeded his rights in
attacking Roosevelt for the Morgan
deal. Incidentally it may he noted
that at no time since has the gov
eminent ever accounted for anything
of tangible value whatever obtained
or that may be %inventoried through
the Morgan purchase, and as a mat
tor nf nnJd fonf -4;..