THE GAZETTE-TIMES, HErPXER, OREGON', TUTRSD VY, APRIL 24, 1910.
r.lGE SIX,
HR. BURLESON 15
II BUSINESS I
Harvt y Weekly.
The Weekly has often criticised
Mr. Murk-sou u r errors he has com
mitted in the execution of the heavy
responsibilities which the President
has thrust u; n him. But the
criticism has invariably been specific
and constructive never general. Of
late a part of ti e press has shown a
marked tendency t- criticise Mr.
Burleson in the most general man
ner. All sorts if charges, as irrele
vant as they were destructive, have
been made. Some writers have stated
bluntly that Mr. Burleson was al
together without, business experience
and that the errors charged against
him are the result of the lack of
such training rather than of political
mania or personal idiosyncrasies.
Nothing better could be expected of
one whose lite has been spent upon
public affairs, t- the exclusion Of bus
iness, they inform us.
All of this if to be deprecated. It
is untrue and unfair. Politics has
-been an avocation a side line in
llr. Burle3on"g career. Business has
really been his principal interest in
Ufe. He has prospered. He is rich.
His success as a business man has
been far greater than as a politlcan.
Compare, for example, the creation
of a persona! fortune variously
estimated at a million and upwards
out of Texas farm lr.nds as a sample
of his business acumen, with, let us
say, the results of the last Congress
ional campaign, which he helped to
direct.
As an evidence of his thoroughly
developed business ability his capa
city for getting a dollar's worth for
every dollar paid Consider the man
ner in which Mr. Burleson developed
2,000 acres of indifferent land into
the most profitable plantations in
Hill and Bosque Counties, Texas.
Take, for example, the contract
made "by and between the Texas
State Penitentiaries" and Mr. Bui'le
json and his brother-in-law. This con
tract is an extremely long document
and cannot bi- reproduced in full, but.
a few of the more importont tedious
will fcuttsfy any fair-minded persjn
that it represents the handiwork of
no business novice.
It is provided that the State would
furnish Mr. Burleson and his brother-in-law
with 125 convicts, "whites and
Mexkans," who would work the
plantations cn the "share system,"
wheioby the State would receive sixty
per cfiit of the profits and the brothers-in-law
the remaining forty per
cent.
In specifying the detailed financial
arraiiRi'iuents, the contract provided
that any momys the lirothers-in-law
advanced for running expenses would
be reui'.iil to tho "parties o the
smii-d p:irt willi imerost at the rate,
of eight per cent," nnd that "they
shall pay 70 cents per day" for each
man who miKht b employed solely
by the brothers-in-law, on work in
which the State had no share.
These arrangements indicate an
uncommon degree of business acu
nicn. Which of Mr. Burleson's critics
can show contract that compares
with the document in question?
But tills was not all. Anyone
might sisn up f"r a bargain, but it is
the wise business man who takes
precautions to insuro its consumma
tion. Mr. Burleson and his brother-in-law
saw to it that the men they
hired would do their work honestly
and faithfullythere was to be no
chance for shirkers. Section 10 of
the agreement guarantees that "the
guards in charge require each Bind
every convict, when physically able,
to do and perform good and
sufficient work and In such manner
aa shall bo required by the party of
the second part."
There Is no labor union nonsense
here. Each convict did a day's work
and the hours wore set by the sun;
in the summer, twelve to fourteen;
in the winter, ten. Any fair-minded
man huuid be convinced by even
hese few sections of the contract
that Mr. Burleson knows how to en
gineer successfully business deals of
onsiJerable size. But objection may
be maflo that while he Is capable of
planning major operations, he is in
capable of handling details.
To offset any such contention, ref
erence need only be made to Section
14: "The parties of the second part
shall pay to the parties of the first
part the sum of twenty-five dollars
per month for the slops."
Frankly, there is no way at this
distance from Bosque and Hill
Counties to estimate whether or not
Mr. Burleson got $25 a month out of
this bargain, and it is presented
merely to show tiat his mind covers
the most minute details when he is
concerned with business. There is
no reason to believe that the profits
from the pigs and the stys was dis
proportionate with that from the
land and the convicts. While it is
impossible to render a detailed ac
counting of Mr. Burleson's profits,
there is available the statement of
"Captain" J. L. Brooks, who was in
charge of the convicts, and this
should satisfy any unbiased mind
that the State lived up to Us bargain.
Hero are a few sentences taken at
random:
"I think a man is entitled to good,
wholesome food and plenty of it to
give him strength to carry on farm
work.
"We never have religious services.
"There is no kind of school on the
farm for the convicts.
"There is no eff ort made to teach
them at all. '
"I have been working convicts
sixteen years. I know when a man
is working or not.
"When it is necessary I believe in
corporal punishment. I whipped
Luce and Oliver on the fourth of this
: month. My record shows B. F. Luce
; eighteen licks, offense laziness; Joe
. Oliver seventeen licks, offense
laziness. I whipped them on the
rump. In whipping them I don't
throw them on the floor and strap
them. I didn't have to. Their bodies
were exposed and they were red and
bruised up a little."
So much for discipline, education,
land religion. Concerning hours of
I labor, t'i.e Captain said:
I "I take tho men out to work; about
daylight. It is light enough to see a
nan well. We work until noon. Wi
ry to take an hour off at noon. Then
.ve go to it and stay until dark."
?rom all of which it would appear
:hat Mr. Burleson got seventy cents
worth of work out of the convicts
for each day they were employed, and
tolerated no nonsence from preachers
or teachers.
If this chapter of Mr. Burleson's
life, partial and incomplete as H is,
does not present ample proof of his
business capacity and his ability to
carry, through Iarg9 and profitable
affairs, with due attention to details,
then we give up.
HKAIXS INNEC'KSSARY.
Being dismissed from various em
ployments on account of some mental
deficiency, Pat recently consulted a
brain specialist, who, having exam
ined the contents of his cranium,
said: "These brains want to be wash
ed and cleaned, and if you leave them
with me for a day or two I'll make a
job of them."
"All right, sir," agreed our hero.
"I'll come back for them at the end
of the week."
He failed, however, to redeem his
promise and on receiving a reminder
from tho medico, sent the following
note In reply:
"Dear Sir: Y can keep them
brains altogether. I've just got a
government job, an' so do not want
them any more." Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegram.
i .
LOST OR STRAYED.
One Shorthorn bull, dark red, 4
or S years old, branded 7P connected
on left rib, crop off eft ear, 2 dulaps
on neck. May have right ear marked,
and may also have some other brand.
If located please notify ALCY. J.
MADDEN, Lone Rock, Oregon.
Suitable reward paid. a-24-4t
BRIGGS AUTO WOOD-SAW Attachment
On man cutt IS cordis 2 men, 35 corda.
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