The following is from the book STEAMBOATS AND FERRIES ON THE WHITE RIVER A HERITAGE REVISITED (page 90) by The University of Arkansas Press Fayetteville Arkansas: “Already hard pressed by the increasing railroad competition, steam navigation received another setback when a government tax was placed on the industry. Needless to say, the new levy was very unpopular with the steamboat captains. A reporter for the MEMPHIS PUBLIC LEDGER quoted portions of a speech that was written by Capt. Stacker Lee and presented by Capt. Milt Harry at the convention of steamboatmen: …”showing the whereofs of boats carrying freight at cheap rates, heavy insurance, and the bare faced cussedness of the newfangled government tax tacked on to the poor steamboatmen, who can’t afford to pay lobbyist to represent then in Congress.” March 29, 1879.
Cut throat competition, taxes, conventions and lobbyist, expensive insurance, change the date and this could have been written about current events. This also brings to mind the quote from King Solomon who said in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here before our time.”