* * * * * SAVANNAH, GA., December 18, 1905. _Hon. Thomas E. Watson._ DEAR SIR: I have been a constant reader of your eminent Magazine from the first issue and have become converted to your Populist principles of which I will stand by as long as I have the liberty of voting. Tonight we have organized a club in the city of Savannah, Ga., principally of working men, so that we might study politics, and thoroughly understand how to cast our ballot intelligently, and for the best of our interest; we think the day is fast approaching when if the workingman doesn’t wake up and take hold of the reins of government, he will find in the near future that his liberties have flown never to be regained. My object in writing to you is for information in your Educational Department. How would you advise as to the most intelligent way to do this? They don’t seem to understand how to get together, and I believe you can give us the desired information. Respectfully, ⸺ ⸺. ANSWER I would advise the reading, by the members of the club, of such books as the following: “Politics in New Zealand,” “Poverty,” by Robert Hunter; “The Menace of Privilege,” by Henry George; “Letters and Addresses of Thomas Jefferson,” recently published by The Unit Book Publishing Co., New York, “Bossism and Monopoly,” by Spelling. These books will not cost a great deal, and they will give you a very complete survey of our political and economic condition. * * * * * WASHINGTON, D. C., January 17, 1906. _Hon. Thomas E. Watson, New York._ DEAR SIR: As you will notice in the wording of the question printed above, which we shall debate with the University of Cincinnati, the entire discussion will probably hinge on the term “Capitalistic combinations called trusts.” In order to get the consensus of authoritative opinion as to what capitalistic combinations are called trusts by those who are most competent to use the term intelligently, we are taking the liberty of asking the editors of a dozen of the most prominent monthlies, weeklies and dailies in the United States to give us their definition of this term. Will you, therefore, be kind enough to sacrifice enough of your time to state briefly what capitalistic combinations, in your opinion, should be called trusts. Very respectfully, ⸺ ⸺. ANSWER My conception of a Trust is: A combination of individual or corporate capital which practically establishes such a monopoly that it can control the output, dictate the price, and crush competition. * * * * *