Decatur Democrat, Volume 38, Number 32, Decatur, Adams County, 26 October 1894 — Page 2

OWS BAD BREAK. As Testified to by His Superior Officer of the Treasury. It Called Forth a Congressional Investigation, AfluUtant Secretary Nettleton Charges Owen With Neglect of Duty, Shameful I Incompetence and With Trying to Secure the Payment of Fraudulent Vouchers—Owen Nullifies the Alien Contract Labor Law. Few men who have ever come out for political office havens unenviable a labor record as William D. Oweu, the candidate for secretary of state on the Republican ticket. While superintendent of immigration under Harrison, au office which he created for his own especial while a member of congress, he time and time again violated the law against the importation of contract labor. By completely setting aside this law which was passed by the Democratic congress of 1878 he allowed the -country to be flooded with cheap labor. This was done in the interest of the tinplate gang, headed by Niedringhaus of St. Louis, who had promised to give remunerative employment to American workmen. American workmen were too high priced to suit them and they demanded the pauper labor of Europe. Owen was constantly in trouble with his superiors because, of his insolence and refusal to obey orders. An investigation of his office was finally begun, in the course of which all of the charges ; that had been preferred against him I ■were substantiated. The following let- i ter of Hon. A. B. Nettleton, assistant I secretary of the treasury under Harrison, shows that Owen’s methods of conducting his office were most objectionable: Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, Washington, March 28, 1892. To the Honorable Secretary of the Treasury: Sir —It has become my official duty to invite your attention to the following facts i which lam able to substantiate in every I particular and to ask that such act ion be taken by the secretary of the treasury and by the president as those facts may seem to warrant: 1. Mr. W. D. Owen is unfit and incompetent to perform the duties of the office which he holds. 2. He is thoroughly untrustworthy in the performance of his official duties. 3. He has been guilty of circulating ma* < licious slanders against his superior officers. 4. His ideas of official regularity and integrity are slipshod, reckless and a source of great risk to the public funds partially in his control. 5. I hand you certain papers marked Exhibit A, which show that on Feb. 22, 1892, John B. Webber, United States commissioner of immigration at the port of New transmitted to the secretary of the treasury certain bids received in answer to advertisements for the furnishing of instnimenfs, books, hospital clothing and druggists glassware for the use of the medical department of the immigration service at New York, said letter showing that all the- bids received were thus transmitted. Said letter recommended that in ea[cH case the lowest bid be accepted and the articles purchased, such lowest bids being Clearly set forth and recited with the names of the several bidders and the amount of each bid. Such lowest bids recommended to be ac- | cepted aggregated 86'28.05. On Feb. 21, i ’92, W. I). Owen as superintendent of immigration caused to he prepared and checked with his initials, and sent to my address for signature a letter addri£ged to Commissioner Weber authorizing him. to accept all the bids that he had received, reciting said bids in full by names and amounts, which amounts aggregated 8619. ■ 14, or more than 150 per cent in excess of the aggregate asked for by the commissioner at New York said letter was signed by me on the strength of Superintendent Owen’s check, was transmitted to Commissioner Weber and its character only discovered by me upon my arrival in New York a day | or two later. Attached to exhibit Ais my letter to Superintendent Owen based upon this transaction dated March 1. 1891, and declining thereafter to sign letters from his office authorizing the expenditure ot public moneys unless accompanied by the original papers upon which they were based. I also hand you papers marked exhibited B, which show that on or about Jffie first day of Jan. 1892, W. D. Owen joined Frank L. Larned and other persons in a persistent attempt to put through the department and collect the money upon a false and ficticious voucher for fl 17.50 for the alleged services of a person not in the employ of the government, and who to Mr. Owen’s previous knowledge had not rendered the - service for which such voucher was presented. Superintendent Owen’s official approval and certificate that said services were rendered are attached to said ficticious voucher, a certified copy whereof forms a part of exhibit A. When said ficticious voucher caine to my desk it was stopped and payment prevented. On the 16th of January, the day after it came to my attention, I called upon Mr. Owen in writing for an explanation. On Jan. 20 Mr. Owen responded in writing, furnishing such explanation which admits the entire transaction and gives no intimation that he did not then regard the voucher as still in force. The original iroueher itself is in the possession of the department with Mr. Owens’ approval un-_ cam.-eled, which fact should be considered in connection with his subsequent statement that at a certain stage he had abandoned the attempt to get the voucher allowed and paid. It is left for the proper authority or tribunal to decide whether the transaction in question constitutes a criminal offense under Section 54-W, Revised Statutes. In any case the moral standards and fitness for the responsible station of a bureau officer who is capable of engaging in such an attempt, aiidfthen submitting such an explanation, are left to the judgment of the secretary. .aver since W. D Uweit assumed his office in July, 1891, 1 have been compelled as his superior officer to call his attention very frequently to the blunders and irregularities committed in his office, and for which he was directly responsible These blunders and irregularities if permitted to go uucorrected would have brought the department into ridicule, entangled the government in annoying complications, and in certain instances as herein shown, would have resulted in the wrongful abstraction of money from the public treasR " P “ t ' l “’”rX'N E TT,. E TON, Assistant Secretary,

SUGAR UNDER THE NEW TARIFF. Facta Concerning the Price Per Pound That Will Intercut"Voter*. | The Republican prophecy that the new tariff would increase the price of sugar is effectually disproved. The official records of the wholesale I price of refined sugar in Philadelphia 1 show’ that the price has not increased, and a comparison of the wholesale prices of reflnod sugnr for the month of Sep- , tember in the last four years reveals the I fact that sugar at present is nearly 1 j cent a pound cheaper than it was in 1893. - The figures are taken from the official records and quote the price of sugar on i Sept. 1 for the past four years as follows: 1891— 3-10 cents a pound. 1892— 5 cents. 1893— 5% cents. 1894— 5 cents. On the 15th of the same month, each year, the quotations ■were: 1891— 4% cents a iwund. 1892— 3-16 cents. 1893 — 5% cents. 1894— 5 cents. The new law went into operation Aug. 28 and on Sept. 15 sugar was 5 cents a pound, whereas on Oct. 1 the price had fallen to 4 11-16 cents a pound. IS A REVELATION INDEED. THE OPERATION OF THE WOOL SCHEDULE OF THE NEW TARIFF, j — A New Impetus Given to the Sheep Raising Industry—Better Prices For Raw . Wool and Cheaper Prices For Clothing | and Blankets, With More Work For Buiployes In the Mills—Free Wool a Blessing to. Everybody. Since the repeal of the McKinley blight and the enactment of the new , ■ Democratic revenue tariff the Republic-1 ans have ceased to taunt Democrats by I the cry of “Democratic times,” says the ( Evansville Courier. The tremendous redaction in all of the necessaries and I comforts of life since the new tariff ■went into operation on Aug. 28 has convinced everybody who has made purchases since theu that a Democratic tariff means good times for the consumer I however it may affect anybody else, i But it also benefits the manufacturer ; i and the wage earner. It enables the ; mill owner to employ more men at as good, and in some instances at better, wages than they have received under the McKinley curse. Here is a letter which shows that as a result of free wool wages have been restored: Lowell Manufacturing Company, 95 Milk Street, Boston, Sept. 21. JBernard Goldstein, Esq., Milwaukee: Dear SIR—In reply to yours of the 18th would say that, in accordance with the understanding the special reduction of wages made to take effect Dec. 26, 1893, was restored Sept. 4, 1894, said understanding being that the wages would be restored if the tariff bill, making wool free, passed. Yours truly, John Hogg, Treasurer pro tem. This is an instance where wages that were red need uud,er McKinleyism. have • been restores under the new tariff, for it should be remembered that the Mc j Kinley abomination was in full force up to Aug. 28,' 1894, the dajt on which the new tariff became a law. But this is not all. Free wool has stimulatect'the manufacture of American fabrics and t ven those who have stoutly opposed it are now warm in its approval. Here is a Striking instance of this kind, taken from a letter written by one of the leading woolen manufacturers •of '■ Philadelphia, a Republican, to a prominent dry goods merchant of Pittsburg: i The operation of the new tariff has | been a revelation to me. We are mak- | ing more woolens' because of free wool, , of a better quality, are selling more goods and employing more men. The operations of the new tariff are “a revelation” to this manufacturer because he had been deceived by his party leaders into believing that to make raw wool free would destroy the wool-grow-ing industry in the United States and compel all" home manufacturers to rely entirely upon foreign wools for their supply" But it is already apparent that ; the number of sheep will be increased | under the new tariff because the increased demand for wool consequent ' upon the removal of the tariff from wool i and the preparation of American woolen j mills to turn out goods fine enough to compete with English and French made cloths in the world’s markets, has already strengthened the wool market and will undoubtedly advance the price of wool grown in the United States. Domestic wool is not suitable by itself 1 for the manufacture of the finest grades i of goods, but mixed with Spanish wools, which now come in free, it answers every requirement and our woolen' i ttiijls need no longer hesitate to reach out for the best trade in every part of the world. The Philadelphia mill owner is firmly convinced after two months’ experience with the new tariff that he can compete with English and French goods, not only in the United States, but can successfully invade English and French markets with American “all wool” cloths. No wonder the result of free wool has proved “a revelation” to him. He has been following false prophets and never would have known it had not the new tariff law, with its free wool schedule, taught him by actual experience that the Democratic position has always been right; that he can make better qualities of goods at less cost than thbse of inferior quality have cost and that the increased demand makes' it necessary for him to Employ more men. CLAMBAKE AND BARBECUE. The Former at Peru, the Latter at Salem. Cheap Railroad Rates. The enterprising and progressive Democracyof Pera is making extensive preparations for a huge clambake Wednesday, Oct. 31. Nobody who attends this unique entertainment will go hungry, as 50 barrels of clams, four tons of fish and 100 head of sheep have been provided. The orators on this occasion will be Vice President Stevenson, General John C. Black, Senators Voorhees and Turpie, Congressman Bynum, Captain W. R. Myers, Hon. JohnW. Kern, Hon. R. C. Bell and Hon. A. N. Martin. As cheap rates, have been secured on all the railroads the attendance promises to be very large. An old fashioned barbecue will be given at Salem Nov. 3, at which a number of prominent Democratic orators will be present. Among the speakers will be Hon. Asher G. Carath of Kentucky, Hon. D. P. Baldwin and others.

•:Ton Can Scarcely Guess-:-M III 1 F \ w CsSSS JI I v PiFa WHAT A VARIETY OF BARGAINS WE ARE OFFERING IN OUR IMirnr tame Sale I Goods are so Cheap and the Special Low Price we are giving now almost gives them away. But we must do some business whether we make any profit or not Goods must go at some Price YOU SAY < -> “Sprang & True are most always busy.” , Very true. We believe in pushing trade by giving Low Prices. Come in with the Cash and we will surprise you how many goods you can buy with a , V-/9 ' w DON’T FORGET THE PLACE, SPRANG & TRUE. / BUGGIES.?/ S i«IKINGt»i 3 ■ B s & I ! RAILING. § L SL /wagons. \ ■ ■ A

IS A REPDBM AID. The A. P. A. Merely a Past of the Republican I J It* A!>«*.rd mid Scnrrllon* Circulated by tlie Republican National Committee, Which Selle Republican Congreumeii'a Frank* With Wfdch to Circulate Ob.oene Literature—The Illluol* A. P. A. Try In ir to the Edward* School Law. The American Protective) association has at last about thrown qff its mask and no longer pretends to bo much more than an adjunct to the Republican party. In every state and county in the union it is assisting the Republican party, fre- , quently openly and aboveboard, but ■ more often in secret. Over in Illinois I the state president, C. P. Johnson, has issued instructions that members of the order, shall support the whole Republican state ticket, although the A. P. A. I has a separate and distinct ticket of its own in the field. President Johnson is 1 especially urgent in behilf of those leg- | islativiTcandidates who favor the re- ; enactment of the Edwards educational law which prohibited the attendance of ' children at parochial a-hools. This law | was repealed by the Democratic legislature and the A. P. A. hopes to have it i re-enacted by a Republican legislature. ■ The Same Everywhere. But what is true of Illinois is true in i greater or lesser degree in every state in ; the union. In Missouri it has prac- | tically captured the Republican organization which is making a knownothing campaign in many of the congressional! districts, notably in the Sixth, in which Kansasfity is situated. Here in Indiana the A. P. A. is everywhere working in harmony with the Republican machine. In Marion county ’it dictated every nomination on the county and legislative tickets. The same is true of Allen county. And at Terre Haute all the leading Republican officeholders are members of the order. . At the National Capital. At Washington it has come out that' the Republican congressional committee is behind that knownothing movement called the A. P. A. and is furnishing the money to print and circulate their documents. Already ever copies of Congressman Linton’s [Republican] attack on the Catholic church aud its members have -been paid for and circulated by the Republican congressional , committee and a sum, said to be not less ■ than SIOO,OOO, has been raised by the i Republican committee to assist in organizing the A. P. A. movement in doubtful congressional districts. The most recent publication stealthily circulated by the Republican coibtnUtee j is a pamphlet entitled “Popery jn New | York and Washington/’ iu which the absurd charge is made ‘{that a cardinal ; and prince of the church from his throne in the cathedral at. Baltimore, the capi- | tai of this archrli<x?ese, dictates the po- ) litical activities of the capital of the , United States in the interests of the sov- j ereign from whom he derives his title 1 and his powers, placing the sovereign authority of this nation, as legally con- I stituted," in practical subordination to that of his foreign and usurping master.” The Republican* Help. Every sane American knows that there is not one word of truth in this statement—no one knows it better than Mr. Babcock, the chairman of the Republican congressional committee—aud yet he has descended to the dissemination of such falsehoods, knowing them to be such, with the hope of creating a religious, or more properly speaking, an antireligious sentiment that might be the cause of picking up here aud there a doubtful congressional district. Verily, the late “Grand'-.Old Party” must be in dire straits, when it can lend itself to a knownothing movement, which at the best can have bnt a temporary effect, and must, inevitably, iu the end, injure any party that touches it. But the paragraph we have quoted is decent as compared with some others contained in the publication mentioned. Here is one specimen of the less decent of the assertions made in this pamphlet issued by the Republican congressional committee. Touching on the government printing office the pamphlet iu question says: Go where you will over that immense building which contains 2.500 workmen and the air is foul with the filth of foreigners whose arrival in America is so recent that the odors of the steerage still lingers about them, while the Irish brogue confronts you at every step. We have seen men come from early mass at St. Aloysius, drop into an Irish “she-been” in the locality, get drunk as a fiddler’s dog, and then stagger into the government printing Office to go to sleep on a pile of papers in the wareroom and sleep off the drunken stupor for hours, and promptly draw their pay when payday comes around. And as to the department in which women are employed—well, for the sake of the few respectable women employed there we, will pass by this phase of that delectable institution. Truly, how low has the party of Lincoln and of Sumner descended! Selling Republican Frank*. When the immortal Jefferson was about to lay down this mortal life, he dictated the inscription to be placed upon his last resting place. Upon his headstone he did not direct to be cut the long list of honorable offices Which he had held, but simply to commemorate the fact that he was the author of the Virginia declaration for religious freedom. From the beginning of the government to this day the Democratic, party has stood upon the rock of separation of church and state and the largest freedom to the individual. It has never coquetted with religious or anti-religious movements. It has seen knownothingism expire in the arms of its Whig allies, and will yet witness the death of the A. P. A. movement in the arms of the Republican party. " •< To this obscene pamphlet is added the following notification for franked speeches of Republican senators and representatives: Literature on the Roman Catholic Record apd. embracing

Messrs. Oullinger, Da al, L.a >. an i / others will be shipped in frauko I envelopes rtndy for mailing "t :.<2. .0 pct" thousand copies of the pamphlet. Government franks sold by the Republican commit tec! And this for the purpose of proscribing a largo part of the because they exercise their coustilntionul right to worship God in their own way. HOW TO VOTE. Point* That Every Voter Should Bear In Mind. 1. Get your ballots of the polling clerk in the election room. No other ballots we permitted to be used. 2. Stamp within the largo square containing the rooster and nowhere else. The stamp must be placed within or on the square or the ballot is void aud cannot be counted. Do not stamp elsewhere on the ticket if you stamp within the square at the head of the ticket. 3. Do not mutilate your ballot, or mark it either-by scratching a name off or writing one on. or fli any other way, except by stainping on tlr* square as before mentioned. Otherwise the ballot will not be counted. 4. After stamping your ballots first see that, the ink from the stamp is thoroughly dried; then fold them separately so that the face of them cannot be seen and so that the initial letters of the names of the polling clerks on the backs thereof can be seen. Then hand your ballots to the inspector, the stamp to the polling clerk and leave the room. 5. If you are physically unable to Stamp your ballots, or cannot read English, so inform the polling clerks and tell them how you wish to vote and they will stamp your ballots for you. But the voter and clerks must not permit any other person to hear or see how the ballots are stamped, fl. If you should accidentally or by mistake deface, mutilate or spoil your ballot return it to the poll clerks and get a new one. NOTHING TO " OFFER., Republican* Mean Only to Tear Down, Not to Build Up. One of the prize puzzles of this campaign is what the Republicans intend to do iu the event, of a Republican victory. Benjamin Harrison doesn’t say. McKinley is trotting around the country declaring that it means the restoration of the-law which bears his name—a law which closed down every factory in the land, lowered the price of all farm products and increased the cost of every manufactured article used by civilized man. Jyhu Sherman lifts his weatherbeaten voice to state that Republican victory means a restoration of the single gold standard of monev, with the resultant transfer of control of the treasury to the bondholders. Senator Cullom is prancing up and down the prairies of Illinois loudly vociferatingthe pledge that the Republicans will let the Democratic tariff law stand. Naturally enough, people are puzzled to know what the future has iu store for them in the eVent of Republican success. Some of them have been asking the Indianapolis Journal, the organ of the Indiana Republicans and first fiddle of the Harrison boomlet, what they may expect. And here is The Journal’s answer: “As there is s no possibility of the Republican party gaining control of all three branches of the government before March 4, 1897, it is not necessary to formulate any plan of remedial legislation at present.” Was ever such a confession made before? Hereii the Republican organ and the special spokesman of Harrison admitting that the party has not any fixed principles, any definite plan. It has nothing to offer, no hope to hold out. Its object is to be merely a destroyer, not a builder. It is purely anarchistic, only desiring to wipe out the existing order of things, leaving chaos behind and trusting to chance to bring some order out of this chaos later on. It is the theory of the materialist. It promises death for a certainty and gives no hope of life hereafter.

INTERNAL STRIFE. The Row Between Ketcham and Gowdy Goes Merrily On. The Republican camp is being torn by internal dissensions. Gowdy-Journal crowd never did like William A. Ketcham, the candidate for attorney general. The beginning of dislike dates back to the time when Ketcham filed a law brief charging Harrison with Selling out a client. The Journal people also had some sort of grievance against Ketcham and fought his nomination vigorously, threatening even to bolt it if made. But they didn’t. However, there was no purpose on the part of Harrison, or the Journal, or the committee which is controlled by them to permit Ketoham to become prominent. He is an aggressive, bold fighter who never knows when he is whipped and has ever been in outspoken opposition to Harrison. It was quickly recognized that if he came well to the front he would prove a formidable foe to the future ptesiddhtial hopes of Harrison. So from the first the machine began to knife him. At the outset he was compelled to pay a $3,500 assessment, though the salary of < the office to which ho aspires is but $2,500. Then a systematic series of snubs was put upon him. His dates for speaking at large cities were canceled and his meetings in small towns were unadvertised, so that he had no crowds. Then the committee threatened to leave his name/ off the ticket ' when it was certified £o the election commissioners. But this was not done. Now Ketcham is runnifig his own cam■naiern, reizardless of tie committee, as feovey did in 1888 Xd Chase in 1892. The committee is kriflng him where- _ ever it can without Aurting the whole ticket, and there is pme reason to believe that his friend/are doing * little cutting jn retaliatuA themselves.