Part 19

Permit me to express my appreciation of the February number of WATSON’S. It is the best Magazine I have seen, and I have seen most of the good ones. I like your practice of publishing short, pointed articles, and your cartoons are of the best. Your educational and news summary departments seem to me to be especially valuable. I shall take it into my pulpit Sunday evening, and read from your editorial.

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_D. C. Pryor, Uvalde, Tex._

When I was a boy I saw a carpenter place side by side three pieces of lumber which he was pleased to call “dimension timber.” These pieces were something like forty feet long and were two inches wide and eight inches deep. He took iron spikes and nailed the three pieces together until they looked to be all in one piece. He told me it was “a girder” for the “warehouse” he was constructing. I wanted to know why he did not use a solid piece of timber of the same measure. He answered by saying that the three pieces united together with the stronger part of the one fitting opposite the weaker part of the others would give the girder a greater strength in the power of resisting the immense weight that would have to be borne than if the girder had been made of just one piece of lumber.

In connection with the foregoing incident I wish to draw a pen picture of a scene which is passing before my vision: At Washington, within the shadow of the Capitol, standing side by side facing the west upon the steps of that magnificent structure, are three of the greatest men of renown the world has ever known. In the centre of the group stands the “Immortal Lincoln,” to the right of Mr. Lincoln stands the “Irreproachable Jefferson,” and to the left stands the “Irrepressible Watson”—whose mind is the very incarnation of Jeffersonian principles. Above this scene on either side, hanging toward the centre at half mast, are our national colors, beneath which is a life size portrait of “The Father of Our Country.” Above the portrait in raised letters I read “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Now I wish to impress upon those who may care to read this article and who are tired of living under the present system of “graft and greed,” and to those of us who have always believed in party lines and are more or less prejudiced in favor of our political tendencies, that there can be no reformation ever made in either of the old parties that exist at the present time. I therefore believe we should endeavor to secure the very best “dimension timber” that can be had out of the now scattered ranks of the Republican, Democratic and Populist parties, and with the nails of iron and bands of steel bring them together and make of them a girder for our country that the gods of ancient Greece could not knock asunder! And why not at an early date advertise this new party and organize party clubs throughout the land and let the watchword be “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”?

I would suggest that we name this “new party” Demo-Re-Polican or so word the name that each member from an old party may not feel that he had lost all of his former identity. I have not the least hope of electing as the chief magistrate of the nation a Southern man for years to come, and it is useless to put one at the head of the ticket to be slaughtered just to make a Roman holiday. But Mr. Watson can be our leader, and when we win “There will be glory enough for us all.”

“CONCKALOCHIE.”

(This is an Indian word for encampment, or a bringing together of the tribes for the exchange of commodities.)

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_Edwin Hyde Nutt, Dresden, N. Y._

I think you are on the right track exactly, and will do all I can to get you some new subscribers. I live in a land of Gold-bugs, and if there is a place on earth that needs a missionary it is Yates County, N. Y. We have lost our interest in Mr. Bryan. How could he stultify himself to vote for Parker, we can’t see. Think he will have a hard time to make Democrats out of old Greenbackers. He knows the greenbacks are the best money in the world. Why does he try to break up the Populist Party?

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_R. N. Crowell, Rob Roy, Ind._

I am on the down-hill of life; nearly sixty-four years old. Have been a student of history for twenty-five years and would love to do something to free us from the slavery and tyranny of boss rule. When I go hence I will leave a posterity behind me and would love to know that I have done a little something to make our country a free and independent and a Christian people in deed and in truth. Have traveled in fourteen states, been through the Indian Territory and have had some opportunity of learning something of the situation that we now are in both religiously and politically.

I glory in the principles of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and the People’s Party. I admire Thomas E. Watson because he stands square to the front for right and justice for the common people against money, greed and selfishness for place and power. Brother American, wake up and help shake off the shackles that our money lords are binding us with before it is too late!

Yours for liberty, peace and righteousness, for God and a common brotherhood of man. Let us unite and tear down the walls of sin and selfishness and bring in the millennial age of peace and righteousness that we may be called the children of God in deed and in truth.

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_T. M. Barton, Butler, Ky._

You evidently have mistaken me for my deceased brother, William, who was an ardent Populist, while I am a good Republican “from away back.” I am not with you in public ownership, free silver, etc., but with you heart and soul in downing the great trusts, monopolies, etc. Now it seems to me this can be done in no better way than by standing right at President Roosevelt’s back. We can hardly hope to find an abler, more courageous and more earnest champion of the people than he. Personally, Mr. Watson, as I have measured you, mentally and morally, by your speeches and writings, I like you, just as I do many a good Democrat and Populist, without agreeing with them politically. The fact is that the late elections have given us a great lesson in free thought and free action—in placing principle and patriotism above party allegiance. As we witness the aggressive greed, the intolerable impudence, the great power of the great corporations, we may well remember “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

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_Peter E. Cooper, Dover. N. J._

Like very much your arrangement of having only four numbers to a volume, as four will make a convenient size to handle when bound. Hope you will continue that feature.

In making changes, spoken of in January issue, I hope you will not change the size (you can add as many pages as you like) as present size is very convenient and, when bound, will look much nicer if of uniform size.

I am going to have mine bound in full law sheep, as I consider them a valuable addition to any library.

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_William Hamilton, Cleveland, O._

I am interested in the success both of your Magazine and its ideas and would be pleased to know how you are coming on and what the prospects are.

A STORY CONCERNING GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON

A correspondent, in the course of a private letter, reports a very interesting tradition which illustrates the character and bearing of The Father of his Country.

I give it in the language of the writer:

“To return to General Washington. Your picture of him makes me want to repeat to you a piece of tradition that was handed down to me by my father.

“My father’s uncle, Governor George R. Gilmer, of Georgia, told my father that _his_ father, Thomas M. Gilmer, of Virginia, _told him_ that General Washington was the most extreme type of the aristocrat that this country had ever produced. That he had seen him drive up in his coach and four to a country court house at election time to vote that he would alight, and with head erect and neither looking to the right nor the left, as the crowd uncovered, parted and almost prostrated themselves to the ground, would march up, deposit his ballot, and without the slightest acknowledgment to the crowd or to any individual, without even so much as a nod or turn of the head, he would march in state through the path made by obsequiousness and reverence and love back to his coach, where he would sit the picture of rigidity and indifference as he rode away.”

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GEORGETOWN, PA., Jan. 17, 1906.

_Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._

DEAR SIR: Can you direct me where I can get Alexander Stevens’ “War Between the States”? I would like to purchase this book.

Yours truly,

⸺ ⸺.

ANSWER

The book is out of print, but is easily obtained through the old book dealers.

The price ranges from $5 to $10.

Try Joseph McDonough, Albany, New York, or The Americus Book Company, Americus, Ga.

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SAN SABA, TEX., Feb. 5, 1906.

_Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._

DEAR SIR: I see in the newspapers that Mr. So and So’s seat in the New York exchange is worth nearly $100,000. What is meant by that? Why is it worth so much and what do they do? Thanking you in advance for the information, I am.

Very truly yours,

⸺ ⸺.

ANSWER

The New York Stock Exchange is simply an exclusive gambling hell where very rich gamblers bet on the rise and fall of the stock of the big corporations.

The “nearly $100,000” is the entrance fee.

The reason why the price is so great is because the operations and the opportunities are so vast.

Compared to the colossal stakes and winnings of the Stock Exchange, the gambling which goes on at Monaco, or at Tom Taggart’s place at French Lick Springs is puerile. Since the world was created, no such gigantic gaming has been known as the mad speculations in the New York Stock Exchange.

Of course, the losses are as large as the gains, but those on the inside of the Exchange have an enormous advantage over those on the outside. Those on the inside are generally the masterful fellows who shear the lambs outside.

The organized, experienced and expert players within the Exchange have the same point of advantage over the gullible, unorganized public that the cool dealers at the gaming tables have over the men and women who buck against the bank.

For the privilege of _getting on the inside of the game_, Mr. So and So pays nearly $100,000.

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NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 1906.

_Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._

DEAR SIR: Will you kindly answer the following questions in your _Educational Department_?

(1) What is the difference between Single Tax and Populism?

(2) Is it true that Grover Cleveland is to receive $12,000 per year from the “Big Three,” and, if so, why?

(3) Why was not the Prudential Company investigated? Their premiums are about the same as the others. In talking with their agents I find them the same as agents of the “Big Three.”

(4) Is Paul Morton treating the policy holders justly when he _takes_ $80,000 per year as his salary?

Your Magazine is a God-send to the people at large and I trust it will be read by men and women throughout the country. Thanking you in advance, I am.

Very truly,

⸺ ⸺.

ANSWER

(1) Single Tax puts all the burden of supporting the Government on one form of wealth, viz.: the value of land.

Populism equalizes taxation, and would compel each owner of property to pay in proportion to his wealth.

The Single Taxer would put all the load on land, leaving money, stocks, bonds and personal property of every sort untaxed.

Populists cannot see any justice in taking the value out of the land of the farmer, while twelve billion dollars of railroad stocks and bonds go untaxed.

Carnegie holds about three hundred million dollars in the bonds of the Steel Trust. Those bonds are as good as gold. They pay Mr. Carnegie a regal income. Why should my land have the value taxed out of it and Carnegie’s bonds go free? There is no justice in this scheme. It does not measure up to the Populist dogma of “Equal rights to all.”

(2) Yes. To cloak insurance rascality with his respected name. The robbers who run those insurance companies simply bought the use of Mr. Cleveland’s name. He consents to play the humble but useful part of decoy duck for $1,000 per month.

Gen. Robert E. Lee, just after the Civil War, was offered $50,000 per year by one of these very companies. He refused to sell the use of his name. He was a poor man, and went to teaching school for a living. In this quiet, modest, but noble way “the greatest soldier that the Anglo-Saxon race ever produced” (see Theodore Roosevelt’s “Life of Thomas H. Benton”) was supporting his family at the time of his death. Mr. Cleveland is not a poor man. His income is $5,000 per year, over and above what silly magazines pay him for occasional articles which are valueless. Therefore Mr. Cleveland need not have sold his name to the life insurance rascals. But the $12,000 tempted him, and he sold out.

(3) Dryden’s Prudential was investigated and very rotten it was shown to be.

(4) No. He is simply stealing the money. Calling it “salary” does not keep it from being loot.

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CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 1906.

_Hon. Thomas E. Watson, Thomson, Ga._

DEAR SIR: Will you please give me the information as set forth in the following questions?

(1) How many years must an alien live in this country before he can take out his final papers?

(2) Can an alien, on declaring his intentions to become an American citizen, exercise the voting franchise before getting final papers?

(3) I have been nine years in this country and never bothered about taking out my papers as a citizen. If I were to declare my intentions of becoming a citizen now, how long would it be before I could exercise the vote franchise?

Thanking you in anticipation of an early answer, I remain,

Yours respectfully,

⸺ ⸺.

ANSWER

(1) The conditions under and the manner in which an alien may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States are prescribed by sections 2 and 165 to 174 of the revised Statutes of the United States. The alien may, immediately upon landing in this country, declare upon oath before a Circuit or District Court of the United States, or a District or a Supreme Court of the Territories, or a Court of Record of any of the states having common law jurisdiction and a seal and clerk, that it his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States. He cannot take out his final papers until after he has resided at least five years continuously within the United States, and within the State or Territory where such Court is at the time held, one year at least. He cannot take out his final papers until the lapse of two years after declaring his intention. Accordingly, if the alien should immediately declare his intention upon landing, it would be necessary for him to wait until the expiration of five years before taking out his final papers. However, if he had resided three years in the United States before declaring his intention, then he could secure his final papers at the end of two years.

(2) The right to vote comes from the state. Naturalization is a Federal right. In nearly one half of the states of the Union an alien who has declared his intention has the right to vote equally with fully naturalized or native born citizens. In the other half, only citizens vote.

(3) In your case, living in the State of Illinois, it would be necessary for you to declare your intentions and take out your final papers inasmuch as only citizens of the United States can vote in that state.

In Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin, an alien who has declared intention is permitted to vote. In some of these states additional qualifications are added. For example, in Indiana he must have resided one year in the United States, not necessarily in Indiana. In Michigan he must have declared his intention two years and six months prior to November 8, 1904; otherwise he is barred from voting. In Missouri, if he has declared intention not less than one year, or more than five, before election. And so on. In Nebraska, if he has declared his intention thirty days before election, provided he has resided within the state six months. And so on, several of the other states having similar qualifications. In the states not mentioned the requirements are that voter must be a citizen by nativity or naturalization. In some of the states there is a provision that the citizen shall have paid a registration fee of $1, as in Delaware. That he shall have paid taxes within two years, if twenty-two years old, or more, as in Pennsylvania. If he can read and write, as in Massachusetts. If he can read or understand the Constitution, as in Mississippi. If he has paid all his taxes since 1877, as in Georgia. If he is an Indian, with several tribe relations, as in South Dakota.

As was said before, naturalization is a Federal right. The laws relating to it apply to the whole Union alike, and provide that no alien may be naturalized until after five years’ residence. Even this doesn’t give him the right to vote unless the state confers the privilege upon him. On the other hand, the right to vote comes from the state, but the state could not confer this right upon an alien who had not declared intention.

HOME DEPARTMENT

The Home Department welcomes suggestions, recipes, useful hints, brief articles, short accounts of what women have done in their homes and home towns, and brief, _true_ stories of “Heroism at Home.” We are all working together and we want to put into our Department anything that will make the housewife’s life brighter and more useful. We, all of us, are the editors of “Home”; let us make it as good as we can.

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Every month there will be a _prize of a year’s free subscription to WATSON’S MAGAZINE_, sent to any address desired, _for the best contribution_. There will also be, every month, a _prize of another such free subscription for the best true story of “Heroism at Home.”_ These two prizes will not be given to the same person.

The names of those contributing recipes and suggestions will be printed with what they send in, unless they request to have their names omitted. The names of those contributing stories of “Heroism at Home” will _not_ be printed unless in exceptional cases. The reason for not printing the names in this case is that the stories are true and the characters in them are real people who might be sensitive about having their most private affairs set forth in type with their right names appearing in it. If we published the names and addresses of the person who sends in the story about them it would be almost the same as publishing their own names. In each number there will be a note saying that such and such a story receives the prize, but no names will be given. The names in the story will be left blank or fictitious names will be supplied. Under the head of “Heroism at Home” are further particulars.

There is no need to worry about “not knowing how to write.” What our Department wants is the _facts_. If any corrections are really needed, they can easily be made. We aren’t trying to be “authors”—we’re just women trying to help one another.

The Editors of the Magazine tell me that it will simplify matters very much if we make a few simple rules for sending in contributions. Let us see how the following will work out:

1. _Make all contributions short and to the point._

We have only a few pages altogether; there are a lot of us to contribute and there are many things to talk about.

2. _Address everything carefully and in full to Mrs. Louise H. Miller, WATSON’S MAGAZINE, 121 West 42d Street, New York City._

3. _Write on one side of the paper only._

4. _No letters or manuscripts will be returned._

Make a copy of everything you send if you want to keep it.

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=May Number.=—A continuation of this month’s subject for discussion.

=June Number.=—Our common ornamental flowers, wild and cultivated.

=July Number.=—What women can do toward improving and beautifying their home cities, towns, or country districts.

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The Department this month is something like! The Other Editors have taken hold! I knew that I should have to write most of it for the first two months, until time enough had passed for contributions to come in from the rest of you. Now the suggestions, recipes, articles, and stories of “Heroism at Home” have begun to come from all over the country and our Department begins to take on its permanent form. Every month from now on ought to be a big improvement over all that went before.

The letters received have made me very happy, for they contain many words of praise and good wishes for the Department and prove that the writers are ready and willing to help edit it and that they _can_. Don’t misunderstand me. The words of praise are not for _my_ work in the Department, but for the Department itself—for the plan of having us all work together for our common good. It is a good plan and, now that you are actually at work with me, I know we are going to work that good plan out and work it out _well_!

Unfortunately, some of the letters did not reach me in time for publication in this number. They will not be lost to the Department on that account, however. Also, the final date set for letters on Why Women Should be Interested in Politics came so soon after the day when the March issue was mailed out that there was hardly time for many to reach us. The Magazine was very late last month. The Editors couldn’t help it, and they are trying hard to get this April number out promptly on time. After this we will not set any particular date for letters to be in, but if, for instance, you want to say something in the May number, send it to me as soon as you can after getting this issue.

After talking with the Editors and thinking it over by myself I can see that it will not always be best to publish every letter as soon as it comes in. For example, an excellent letter has been sent to us from Nebraska telling how the women of a certain town have organized and done a great deal for the beauty, comfort and usefulness of their little city. It came in response to something I had said in the Department. Now this letter is just the kind of thing we want, but it seems to me better not to use it in this issue which is devoted chiefly to woman’s interest in politics.

MAKING YOUR COMMUNITY BETTER

Don’t you think it would be better to devote a whole number later on to the subject of what women can do for their native towns or districts? They have organized in a great many places and there are several national societies devoted to civic improvement. The members either do things themselves, or use their influence to secure good local laws to bring these things about. It is surprising how much they accomplish.