1910. 
THE RURAI 
NEW-YORKER 
843 
“THE FINAL PLAN” 
For Holding “Other People’s Money.” 
At the business meeting .Tune 11 this 
Plan was read by Mr. Tebbetts, but he 
read only portionn of it here and there, 
and not the new portions, either. Then 
it was moved to adopt it “as a whole” 
and seconded. Then Mr. Lewis said, “It 
has been moved and seconded that the 
Final Plan be adopted as a whole. All in 
favor say Aye. Mr. Tebbetts will now 
read the By-laws of the Founders' Chap¬ 
ter.” That was done the same way —no 
discussion was invited — no negative vote 
called for a single time. There was no 
voting on by sections, and we had never 
seen the Final Plan before, and until this 
week I was the only member who had ob¬ 
tained a copy of the By-laws. I did not 
vote at all except for Mr. Lewis as Presi¬ 
dent, because I would not vote for some¬ 
thing 1 did not understand. 
The above statement is made by Mrs. 
Robert W. Tener, of Wheeling, W. Va., 
whose letter was printed last week. A 
large number of women had been 
brought together at v St. Louis, many with 
their expenses paid, to organize and 
complete “the greatest movement in the 
world’s history for women’s emancipa¬ 
tion.” They were dined and compli¬ 
mented and entertained and then, with¬ 
out discussion or clear understanding, 
“the final Plan” was rushed through. 
Many of these women thought the plaus¬ 
ible gentleman on the platform was 
really going on the cross of debt and 
trouble and toil for their benefit. A few 
like Mrs. Tener saw through the sham. 
“The Final Plan” once adopted put 
Lewis and his partners in absolute con¬ 
trol of the League, its finances and 
properties. The women who voted away 
their rights in this way had been led to 
believe that the League would be con¬ 
trolled by women, that they would have 
a fair share in handling finances and 
government, and that their local chapter 
houses would belong to the local mem¬ 
bers. It is pitiful to think of these good 
women singing and waving their hand¬ 
kerchiefs while they tied, the last legal 
knot which will hold them away from 
the fruits of their labor. It is only fair 
to say that the convention was largely 
dominated by a few enthusiastic dele¬ 
gates who led in songs and “yells.” 
Mrs. Tener has made a thorough an¬ 
alysis of this “Final Plan,” and we print 
part of her conclusions. The “Plan” 
cannot all be given, since it covers 32 
pages of small type. It was promised 
that the League or the “Founder’s Chap¬ 
ter ’ would be controlled by women. The 
Hoard of Managers consists of seven 
members. Lewis and three of his em¬ 
ployees, Tebbetts, Miller and Putnam, 
constitute a majority, and these same 
four and one more make a majority of 
the Board of Directors. Of the eight 
general officers these same four and Mrs. 
Lewis make five. The one solitary 
woman among the managers — Mrs. 
Spaulding, of California—is a Lewis 
employee. Mr. Lewis is president of the 
League. Under this final plan his suc¬ 
cessor will be appointed or elected by 
the managers. The Board of Managers 
is subject to any change the president 
may direct! As Mrs. Tener says, “The 
board elects the president and the presi¬ 
dent selects the board in an endless 
chain—so long as they please.” 
We do not wonder that Mr. Tebbetts 
skipped, and that Mr. Lewis hurried the 
vote. There was never a better example 
of hog legislation to elect a close cor¬ 
poration. As if that were not enough, 
these women also voted that Lewis and 
his three employees may call a special 
meeting of the managers at any time, or 
when they have a majority present they 
may hold the meeting without any notice 
or summons (see Article 8, By-laws). 
Also this same Board of Managers is to 
“prescribe or control” the duties of all 
officers. The humor of it is that these 
good women thought they were being 
emancipated —made free. They have 
thrown away any chance they had for 
managing their own League. They even 
voted for Section 31, which states that 
the Board of Managers (Lewis and his 
three friends) have power to abolish any 
board (except themselves) or to annul 
any election or appointment of anyone 
offensive to themselves. They also “de¬ 
fine, regulate and manage” everything 
connected with the League. 
The revenues of the League are to 
come from subscription commissions 
and endowments. All this money is to 
be sent direct to Lewis and left with him. 
Section 14 declares that members “have 
no individual, separate, transmissible or 
transferrable interest in the funds or 
property of the League.” Thus, Mrs. 
Tener says, “the individual member has 
no right to know what is done with the 
money.” Of course not. Why should 
they? Mr. Lewis can handle it. That is 
what they voted him the right to do! 
Thus instead of a corporation officered 
and managed by women, as was promised, 
Mrs. Tener finds a quartette of shrewd 
schemers in full control, with widely 
separated women whose chief function 
is to collect money and send it to Lewis 
who has absolute and despotic power to 
control money and business. Mrs. Tener 
says that Section 21 (b) of this “Final 
Plan” is the worst of the whole thing: 
No member or officer of the League shall 
be chargeable with any personal liability 
whatsoever for or by reason of any obliga¬ 
tion created in the name or for account of 
the League beyond such individual agree¬ 
ment as she or be may make therewith. 
Any and all members of the League acquire 
no claim for contribution or other personal 
claim for liability against any other mem¬ 
ber or officer, trustee or manager thereof, 
on account of membership in the League. 
Under this agreement Lewis and his 
friends in the “Board of Managers” 
could do anything they pleased with the 
funds and the members have no redress. 
You see from this why Lewis has been 
so eager to call in personal notes for 
which he is responsible and substitute 
for them interim receipts and other 
similar “securities.” And in connection 
with the above section, read this from 
Article 46, on “Amicable adjustment of 
differences.” This same “Board of Man¬ 
agement” is to settle all differences be¬ 
tween different chapters: 
All persons above mentioned will abide 
by and perform such decision as may be 
made accordingly, and waive the observ¬ 
ance of any statutory forms prescribed 
for hearings and waive any right of action 
she or he might have prior to a decision 
as aforesaid, and consent to such informal 
procedure for the hearing and decision of 
such differences as the League management 
(or such committee of review) may estab¬ 
lish, either generally or in each particular 
case. This section shall apply to adjust¬ 
ment of differences, except such as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the Trustees of 
the League, as enacted in other provisions 
of this Plan. 
Is it any wonder that Mrs. Tener 
makes this comment? 
“This is astounding when you consid¬ 
er /iow much fuss Mr. Lewis made be¬ 
cause he could not have a fair, just or 
adequate hearing for himself! And now 
he asks his followers to sign away their 
personal rights to an open hearing." 
The worst part of this “Final Plan” 
is the treatment of local chapters. The 
women who are working and collecting 
money imagine that they are to own and 
control a valuable property. The treas¬ 
urer of each chapter is appointed by the 
League management (Lewis and his 
three friends) and acts under its direc¬ 
tion, as Mrs. Tener says: 
“The local treasurer is subject to the 
League management, but the manage¬ 
ment is accountable to no one.” 
No officer of the local league has power 
to incur any liability for the chapter or 
the League. The “management” can re¬ 
voke a charter for a long string of rea¬ 
sons including “for any other cause 
deemed sufficient to promote or protect 
the interest of the League.” And, mind 
you, Lewis and his three friends decide 
about that. They can revoke any char¬ 
ter whenever they want the property. 
The local officers have no authority to 
do business for the chapter. The title to 
the chapter house is vested in the Trus¬ 
tee of the League, or chairman of the 
Lewis bank. This is Mr. F. V. Putnam, 
“one of the quartette.” The League 
management pays taxes and insurance 
and thus the local members have no 
property rights in their own building. 
Lewis and his friends can at their op¬ 
tion mortgage this property or revoke 
the charter and dispose of the house as 
they see fit. Women were promised that 
the surplus of the money they collected 
could be used for charities, civic im¬ 
provements or public uses. It was for 
this reason that many public spirited 
women joined the League and paid their 
money. Under “The Final Plan” these 
chapters simply receive “credit” for their 
own money. “From time to time” the 
management may apportion a part of 
this credit for paying the local treasurer 
(who is to be a creature of the manage¬ 
ment) and lighting, heating or caring 
for the house. The women were prom¬ 
ised a permanent fund of $1,600,000— the 
income only to be used. Instead of this 
they are asked to raise $3,000,000 to pay 
Lewis’s debts. 
Mrs. Tener sees through the game. 
Other women who have not yet spoken 
also see through it. They now see that 
the League is merely a big financial com¬ 
mittee to collect money for Lewis’s bene¬ 
fit, to pay Lewis’s debts. We have shown 
how Lewis and his few employees ab¬ 
solutely control the League and its 
revenues. Lewis thought himself se¬ 
cure and safe in rudely turning on Mrs. 
Tener or any others who wanted truth 
and justice. If he had left the women 
even an appearance of authority and a 
little of the revenue they might have 
gone on working and collecting money, 
lie was too sure—captured everything 
and left them nothing but the privilege 
of collecting more money. Like all such 
characters he has made his fatal mistake, 
for now an increasing number of women 
begin to see him for just what he is. A 
man may batten upon women so long 
as they believe his promises, but woe be 
unto him when the mask is finally 
stripped away. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Jersey City was so hard 
hit by tire August 17 that she had to call 
on New York for help. The lire cost the 
life of a man and $1,000,000. Only the 
most desperate lighting held it from sweep¬ 
ing over the Polaek quarter, where the old 
tenements were crammed with families. 
The block destroyed lay in the centre of 
Jersey City's industrial district. Within 
the block were the cork manufacturing 
plant of the Truslow-Fuller Company, the 
Independent Baking l'owder Company's fac¬ 
tory, the Ames Bolling Mills, the Ames 
cooperage factory and a few small build¬ 
ings connected with the big shop. Just 
outside of the block across Morgan street 
was the big plant of the ltegal Sack Com¬ 
pany. The lire leaped from the block and 
burned it to the ground. Millions of feet 
of lumber lay in the pathway of the lire 
in the Vanderbeek Lumber Company's yard, 
but this was saved by hard work. 
Special Commissioner Roger P. Clark and 
II. Leroy Austin began investigating New 
York State's transactions in buying forest 
lands for the forest preserves August 18. 
Special Commissioners Clark and Austin 
were appointed by Governor Hughes last 
February during the Allds bribery inves¬ 
tigation. The chief witness of the day was 
George N. Ostrander, a lawyer and tim¬ 
ber land speculator of Albany. Ostrander 
was on the staud all day, and the interest¬ 
ing feature of his testimony was that re¬ 
lating to the sale of 22,000 acres of 
Schroon Lake forest lands to the State by 
the witness, Ostrander, for about $55,000 
more than the same lands had been offered 
to the State by the attorneys for the origi- 
lnat owners. In regard to this latter point, 
Ostrander testified that in 1008 lie sold to 
the State 42,000 acres of land for $7.25 per 
acre and that these included 22,000 acres of 
tin 1 Pickhardt estate bordering on Schroon 
Lake, which he and Underwood had bought 
for $84,718, or about $3.05 per acre. Thus 
they bought lands in January, 1007, for 
$3.05 per acre and sold them to the State 
in February, 1008, for $7.25 per acre, a 
profit of $08,000 in 13 months. 
Fire swept the business part of Albion, 
N. Y., August 10, and did $100,000 dam¬ 
ages. Firemen from tin? neighboring vil¬ 
lages of Medina and Holley were sum¬ 
moned to assist in fighting the blaze. The 
fire started in the rear of Landaur Bros, 
dry goods store and spread rapidly to the 
Hart block, Royce block and Orleans 
County National Bank building. The heav¬ 
iest losers are Landaur Bros., $40,000, and 
E. YV. Wilcox, hardware dealer, $20,000. 
Three former executive officers of the 
Illinois Central Railroad Company were ar¬ 
rested at Chicago August 10 on warrants 
in connection with the alleged conspiracy 
by means of which the railroad was de¬ 
frauded of $1,500,000. The warrants, 
sworn to by President .1. T. llarahau of 
the Illinois Central Railroad charge the 
three men with conspiracy to cheat and de¬ 
fraud the railroad by false pretenses and 
with operating a confidence game. The al¬ 
legations in the graft case are startling. 
The investigation began a year ago. It 
reached a crisis last Spring, when Presi¬ 
dent llarahan began actions to recover 
sums said to aggregate more than $1,000,- 
000 alleged to have been taken from the 
road by car repair companies in connivance 
of high officials of the road. Much of the 
money is said to have been repaid pri¬ 
vately. The name of Ira G. Hawn, who 
held a vice presidency in the Illinois Cen¬ 
tral road, but resigned to become Presi¬ 
dent of the Monon system, and who was 
found dead recently at his home with a 
bullet wound in his breast, was brought 
into the case. Private detectives, working 
under the direction of President llarahan, 
are said to have unearthed frauds other 
than those connected with padded car re¬ 
pair bills. These are said to involve the 
diversion of $1,000,000 or more from new 
construction funds. The investigators say 
they have procured several confessions, 
which will be used in their attempt to 
fasten guilt on others. 
For the fourth time within two years 
the mill of the Pacific Coast Mill and 
Lumber Company in Oakland, Cal., was 
wrecked August 20 with dynamite. Two 
years ago the company had a strike and 
declared for the open shop. Since then 
it has defied the labor unions. This latest 
dynamiting was done by men who knew 
just where the most valuable machinery 
was located. The explosive was placed un¬ 
der this machinery and it was completely 
wrecked. The mill was saved from burn¬ 
ing by the sprinkling plant. A night watch¬ 
man was in front of the building when the 
explosion occurred and had a narrow es¬ 
cape. 
In consequence of the agitation against 
common drinking cups, travelers on Wis¬ 
consin trains will discover after Septem¬ 
ber 1 that the railroads no longer furnish 
them. Orders have gone out from gen¬ 
eral offices of all roads which run into that 
State that trainmen shall put the public 
drinking cups, now supplied for the bene¬ 
fit of thirsty passengers, in hiding as they 
cross the State line, and not take them out 
again until another State is reached. A 
rule of tin* Wisconsin State Board of 
Health holds that common drinking cups 
are dangerous, and communicate infectious 
diseases. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The next annual 
meeting of the American Association of 
Farmers' Institute Workers will be held at 
Washington, I). (\, November 14 to 16, 
1910. At the same place and beginning 
November 16 will be held the annual -meet¬ 
ing of the Association of American Agri¬ 
cultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. 
This meeting promises to be one of the 
most important that the Institute Associa¬ 
tion has yet held. The relation of the 
Farmers' institute to the work of the 
section of the Association of Colleges and 
Stations will be up for discussion, as well 
as the subject of Young People’s Insti¬ 
tutes and Farmers’ Institutes for Women. 
The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial 
Aid Society has decided to award 12 free 
scholarships in short Winter courses at 
various agricultural colleges during the 
coming Winter. These scholarships are 
open only to sons and daughters of Jew¬ 
ish farmers who live and work on their 
farms and who comply with all the re¬ 
quirements of the college or the State in 
which they reside, as to age, knowledge of 
English, etc. The scholarships will be 
awarded by competition, which will consist 
in the writing of a composition in English, 
not exceeding 500 words in length, on some 
agricultural topic based upon the candi¬ 
date’s own experience. Anyone desiring 
to apply for a free scholarship should send 
at once to the agricultural college of his 
State for a catalogue or circular of the 
short Winter courses to find out whether 
he comes within the requirements of the 
college. He should at the same time write 
for an application blank to the Jewish 
Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society. 
The application blank should be filled out 
very carefully by the candidate in his own 
handwriting and mailed together with his 
composition to the society's office, 174 Sec¬ 
ond avenue, New York city, not earlier than 
September 1 and not later than October 
1, 1910. The awards will be made not later 
than November 1 and the successful candi¬ 
dates will receive due notice thereof. 
James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, 
was out on his Iowa farm August 10 cele¬ 
brating his seventy-fifth birthday, offi¬ 
cials in the Department of Agriculture 
joined in a telegram congratulating him on 
his record breaking achievements and ex¬ 
pressing the hope that he would continue 
to break records indefinitely. The Secre¬ 
tary has served as a Cabinet Minister 
longer than any other American. Secre¬ 
tary Wilson was born in Scotland and 
came to the United States when 17. 
Twenty years later lie was elected to Con¬ 
gress, serving in all six years. He has 
been in the Cabinet continuously since 
March 4, 1897. 
Two farmers’ instruction trains run by 
the Pennslyvania lines started out August 
22, one in Indiana, the other in Ohio. Men 
from the Purdue experiment station will 
talk to the Indiana farmers on methods 
for improving wheat. This trip will last 
fifteen days. The Ohio tour will take three 
days. Since 1907 many special instruc¬ 
tion trains have been operated in Ohio., In¬ 
diana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Mary¬ 
land and farmers' educational steamboats 
have been run on the rivers tributary to 
the Chesapeake Bay. 
COST OF LIVING MINORITY REPORT. 
—Senators Johnston, of Alabama; Clarke, 
of Arkansas, and Smith, of South Caro¬ 
lina, minority members of the Senate high- 
cost-of-livinp committee, have filed a re¬ 
port in which they hold the tariff trusts, 
combines and monopolies the three sub¬ 
stantial causes for the advance in prices. 
Vigorous attack is made on almost all the 
reasons given by the majority in its report, 
submitted some time ago, as to the cause 
for increased prices. "We are without suffi¬ 
cient data,” say the minority members, “to 
apportion the degree of responsibility be¬ 
tween these three causes, but that the two 
first are the 1 chief malefactors we have no 
doubt; and they are of our own creation or 
permission.” After attacking one at a time 
the 15 principal causes contributing, ac¬ 
cording to tin! majority report* to the high 
cost of living, the minority takes up the 
tariff, declaring that when the l'ayne- 
Aldrieh bill was framed “champagne was 
put on the schedules at from 54 to 66 per 
cent., whilst wearing apparel was taxed 
from 80 to 92 per cent.” Drinking cham¬ 
pagne was to be encouraged and wearing 
woolen clothes discouraged. “So with 
hats,” they add, “those bringing not over 
$4.50 a dozen were taxed 77 per cent, and 
those valued at more than $18 a dozen at 
47 per cent.” The result of protection, 
they declare, is “great fortunes for the 
few and great suffering for the many. We 
believe,” they say, "that the amount of 
the tariff is added to the price and taxed 
to the consumer; that but for the tariff 
the commodities we buy upon which that 
tax is laid would be cheaper, approximate¬ 
ly to the extent of the tariff, and that when 
we dn not buy the imported article the pro¬ 
tected manufacturer puts approximately the 
amount of it on the goods produced by 
him.” Taking up the subject of trusts, 
combinations and monopolies, they declare 
that “there are few trusts that could sur¬ 
vive a revenue tariff. They flourish only 
under the shadow of high protective walls. 
Standing behind those walls that shut off 
foreign competition and destroying domes¬ 
tic competition by consolidations and ab¬ 
sorptions, they are limited only to selling 
at a fraction less than the foreign price 
plus the protective duty. Replying to the 
majority's statement in its report, that an 
“Increased demand for farm products” is a 
cause of advancing prices, the minority 
cites the wheat crops as having increased 
from less than seven bushels per capita in 
1900 to more than eight, in 1909; corn from 
27 to 30 bushels per capita, and potatoes 
from almost three to more than four bush¬ 
els. Notwithstanding the increase in the 
price of farm products, the farmer, they 
sav, “has realized a small net return on 
his labor and investment by reason of the 
increased cost of the articles necessary for 
him to purchase to carry on his business.” 
Ilay is a big crop, some fields went two 
tons to acre and better. Wheat is averag¬ 
ing about 20 bushels per acre. Oats a big 
crop, 40 to 50 bushels per acre. Corn 
looks well. Some fields were planted late 
on account of wet weather in Spring. Po¬ 
tatoes show few good fields. Some of the 
late potatoes did not come well. Some 
vineyards were frozen in the Spring so 
grapes will not be a big crop. The new 
vineyards are showing a good growth. 
Small acreage of buckwheat sown. Looks 
well. R. 
Forestville, N. \\ 
After a four-weeks’ deluge of rain in 
June and July we are now getting the other 
extreme. We have had only light showers 
for three weeks and now, August 15, the 
soil is hard and dry and corn and pas¬ 
tures are beginning to suffer. Unless we 
get copious rains soon corn will be seri¬ 
ously injured, especially the late planted 
fields. Hay making and wheat thrashing 
are over; wheat yields are disappointing 
and the quality poor. Wheat is worth 90 
cents, corn 60 cents, and but little being 
sold. Hogs and cattle are somewhat lower, 
especially stock cattle, which are changing 
hands at $4.50 to $5 per 100. Fat hogs 
sell here for $7.25 to $7.50, the lighter 
weights bringing a premium over the large 
ones. Altogether we have had a remark¬ 
able Spring and Summer, and 1910 will 
long be remembered for its eccentricities of 
climate. w. E. D. 
Hillsboro, Ohio. 
