Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1882 — WANTEF TO KNOW [ARTICLE]

WANTEF TO KNOW

of — ISAAC J. PORTER, Trustee OF MARION TOWNSHIP. 1. Why did you not turn in your lightning-rod vouchers on your last settlement with the County Coimnis slouersV This was the proper time they should have been accounted for was it not? ii. Was it because you were atraid to do so and let the people of the township,know what the lightning-rod luxury cost them until after the elec tion ? 3. Or is it because the Township is in debt for them yet and hence you have not come in possession of the vouchers ? 4. And i 1 so how can voa account for the $2165.42 of special school :c enufc turned ovar lo you two years bv trustee Coca and the $1223,59 of said revenue received up to your la«t c- tUemeut Oct. 18th 1882. making a total tmid of $3389.01 which has passed through jour hands? 5. How does it happen that the trustee <k Newton Township in buy jug the s arne kind of rods of ’he same man only paid $126 for rodding five houses while it cost you over SSOO to rod eleven houses?

6. How did it happen that the same trustee only paid .37 cents a foot for his rods while you paid over fifty cents? 7. Why do you 'carry on hand a balance of $761.26 in the Township Fuad when your aunual expenditures from the same cannot be over $350, were in fact last year but $339.83? 8. Do you not see it will take you two years at that rate to expend it* nud that you will have the free use of the money all that time? 9. Why did you propose to give a certain mechanic who did some work ou one of your school houses au order on Willey aud Bigler’s store for his pay aud which he indignantly refused? They are notjyour bankers, are they? 10. Do you not know that your administration has been the most extravagant of any the people of this Township have ever had? XL Do you think with this record they should continue you in office for another term? The above are reasonable and direct questions and the taxpayers of this Township thiak they have a right to demand a direct answer. A TAX PAYER.

We copy tbe following from the Republican of last week Wo are very willing that the bright geni us of its composer shall have the widest possible cireuiaton: £h'r«m the Rensselaer Republican, March 23, ’82.1 The April ElectionEne Republican By a recent change in the time of holding elections for certain township .-aices it becomes necessary to hold a general election throughout the state. Due notice has Oeen given of this election and convention# are being held and nominations made by both parties, t his fast draws party lines and makes the duty of •very Republican plain. At the same time the , lection is general, it is local, in that the offices to be filled are township offices. Thisfact makes the e ectlon the more important. The officers ti , olected are township trustees, roadsnperint -'dents, justices of the peace, and constable* i »r pilch township. This localizes the ©lection and throws the responsibility on each township. I . a county or state election a partial vote in one •art of the connty or stats may becounterbalanced St a fnil vote in another part ThU is not so in this election; the responsibility is individual In a lo'Telection of this eharacter. there are usually some very knowingly wise voters who wish to parade their political courage (on how little thev really do know) and vote an independen: ticket or a mixed one. Such action cannot he too severely condemned, such votes are lost to thefoartv which the voter represents, and do neither narty any good all this difficulty can be obviated oy nominating the right men for each office, upright honest men, men of opinion on qu* •- lions likely to|be presented to them; men wLo know to which political party they belong with, •nt being told; men who will perform the duties

of ’h-lr office fur th* good of the people ***l?)** uuri/ the/ r present. It •* bo time ® r . re /* r ?f ' are, lulf-breed* and Doinoeratlc-ufttionrislo be running ou KtpgbllMD lUkut# »»d c.aiming KeP °lt l * wnth P MudlV to carry a «!«»• »®fro*b«p ttaw tt ciiMu cotisjfv: a county tbtn & clow It i« al»o easier to hold what yon have than to let It go to the opposition nud then reclulm U, ao it follow* that If a Bnfflelcat number ablp* cun l.a carried at the April o\tet\o»,tbc conntr can ba furled at the f !L* e hcca'rrie* *ii flic-lent number of lb. conntlc* canhcearrieO rheo the *tatc will remain where #ne is point e lh*t the movement* oftl>e*tepnb’.lcan party in thl. county are net watched by tha present connty offiecra of the r him notice the gyranaaticeof those officers Even the Connty Superintendent, a maS C .o thoron”hly non-partfsan a. to inatrnct hi. committees at connty institutes to prepare non political resolutions to be passed bythatbody,* laboring hard to secure a majority of democratic trustee*, that hl» re-election to that office may be e \Vhat do these things mean? They mcan J2*'"’ ocratic continuation in office: they mean ocratic supremacy in the conntv and state, net Republicans mid r-t.nd thl#. hj t them andar 4 t}.f’: then be* Ht , r } on (Iny. vote the ticket* p**rlucle to do*o, and carry the elections in V.,rr town-hip in the county. v I >3E . AwAKB .

Tue following reply by Mr. Nowele vum urt:<u for publication in the IP publican but cannot be admitted o ih-dr columns, and we tuerefore furnish the necessary space: Editors Xls.vssei.aer Rei’i-blioak: Will you kindly give me snaee in your valuable column# i'jr tue following? , , , . •• ide Awake, in your mist Issue coses his article entitled —The April Election' with an nu •ail Ml for allusion to me which I lcol culls for a reply, lie makes several statements w hich or# is fur front the truth anil a* intentionally ml»eadiug as the name he writes over. That he wishes to shirk responsibility for his statements is evident from his assuming a fictitious name. \s to his ideutitv he has left ns to guess, but idging him out of his own mouth we may safclv conclude that he is a"Stalwart of the Stalwarts” —that happy brotherhood of w bioh G u ileau claim s to be a member in good standing. For he severey criticises independent voting and ns a natural consequent independent think ing, iie denounce# those who have the courage to sapport the best men, even though|the) .'liefound'en another ticKet, is ignoruu; anu untrustworthy. . The true animu* of his article, however, is clear, when he makes .he startling declaration that the Republican party should make its nominations exclusively from among such men as he, for, says ne, ‘‘lt is no time for reformers, half-breeds aim Democratic-nationals to be running on Republiau ticket* and claiming Republican support. Gan it be that W.-A. is a hungry offleo-aeeker?— He wishes to.cxelude all but the most Stalwart from his ticket. He cun trust the offices in no hands except the select few w hich are left afier excluding ail he mentions. Rut who does he mean by the ‘ reformer* which he wishes to exciudo? Does he mean the g»od temperance people of our county and State who are socking the reformation of the wretched drnuknrd as well as the laws which regulate the liquor traffic? They, indeed, stand boldly unri bravely at the front as reformers in the truest sense of the word. We ask again, does he mean them? Is there, as he says, no pluco on the Pe publiean ticket for such? Does that party, which has made the idle boast of feeing the God and Morality party of this country now wi»h to turn it# back uponreformers and reformation ? So W.-A. would have us believe. There is, also, ho says, no place upon his party's ticket for “half-breeds!” What-does he mean by this? Who are “half breeds”? Let W,-A. answer. •Half breeds” i« u t«rm used to designate the whole-souled supporters of President Garfield’s administeatlon from the followers of Grant, Conkliug and Stalwartism. Those Republicans of broad, liberal and patriotic views, those lnde pendent thinkers whoclaimcd the late President as their loved and honored leader. Thay.too. were “reformers," seeking to reform our civil service, and emancipate it from the accursed spoils system, and Pres. Garfield fell by the hand of an avowed “stalwart” for the advocacy of this doctrine. The crime of such men is not that they love their party less but that they lo\-e iheir country more. Does W. A. mean what he says when he declares that he no/ his party has iio room for “reformers” and “half-breeds” upon the Republican ticket. Then, God pity his party!— Ho separates the sheep from the goats and says to the goats, “Come ye blessed,” *c., but to the theep ho says, “Depart front tn«, ye cursed,” Ac. Independent thinking and independent voting, which W.-A. condemns so harshly, has been, and will ever be, the salvation of our free institutions - -the very bulwark of freedom itself. The officers under our government are the people’s public servants. Every elector has the unquestionable right to decide whom he wishes to be his servant, and every infringement or attempted infringement by another of this right deserves the severest condemnation. A voter is not likely to turn away from the man on his own ticket and cast his ballot for another unless he thinks he has fonnd a fitter man for the place. If he thinks this, his action Is justifiable and cannot be censured. But W.-A, seoks to conceal the weakness of his position by the o d and familiar dodge of “Stop Thief!” For he says the opposition, and psrtic ularly the County Superintendent is trying to secure the election of a majority of Democratic Trustees that the office may be secured to him for another term. This is absolutely without foundation. The present County Superintendent It no “third termer,” mv friend. Did he belong to your ranks there might be some atom of truth in your assertion, for, excluding all “reformers” and ••half-breeds”, your tenure of office prcclivitles would be well represented by the “immortal 30*!” Do not juoge others by yourself so closely. To disabuse your terror-stricken miad, the County j .Superintendent will inform yon that he is not a candidate for re-election, As to the “non political resolution” referred to, I have to say that I most heartily concur in the sentiment contained therein. But you are again at variance from the facts when yon state that the Committee was instructed. Connty lustitutes are not “packed” like your conventions. Let me tell you that the resolution expresses the feelings of iearly every teacher in our county.— Tbev can see the evils which will inevitably result to our schog!* if {he filth and pollution of politics are to be drugged across the sacred threshold of : the schoo! room. And law proud tv fay (for it is to their honor) that the teachers of our county sud State, taken as a class, are the most rational and independent in the use of the ballot of any other of our citizens.

But W.-A.. iu IroniQ language, *v* I am "nonpartisan.” That is, that lam an extreme parti san. Does he judge me by himself again? That I have political convictions I do not deny, noram I ashamed to express them, but as to my view* on the selection of trustee#, please refer to the i»»ue of your pap -r of April Ud, 1880. In an artl ele addressed to the voters just before the April election, 1 #ay; “We hope the best men. Irrespective of partle#. will be elected by the voters of Jasper county next Monday for township trustees." You may r#aci the whole article, W.-A., if you wish. And in the canvass for County Superintendent last June Isuid time and time again to the trustees, that if they did not conscientiously think me the best man for the position not to support me. Further, it my political views were the qualifications which recommended me for the office I did not wunt it. I make them my witn#iHes to thetrnth of this. No. Wide-Awake’s sole object is to fire the po litical passions of the voter* of this county, i rd he is trying to use the County Supcrintendei cy as a brand to kiudlo it. He fears the calm jut gment of men will lead them to support the fittest candidates irrespective of party in the towns! ip elections soon to take place Else why need ht evince such alarm? The Legislature placed he election of these officers as far removed from he general elections as possible to prevent the paitlsan strife and feeling which W.-A. seeks to exci e. Wc want the best men for the place. These sho d be elected, the poorest ones defeated. When trustees so elected come to ballot for the next Co. Superintendent they, as honest men, acting under a solemn oath to discharge their duty faithfully and Impartially, will not look at the political affiliations of the candidates, but solely at their fitness for the position. No entreaties, no threats nor bribes—not even a corruption fund of #IOO in the hands of W.-A. or his friends will ayail Their sworn duty is to select without fear or favor the best man for the place, and then put him in, W.-A. to the contrary notwithstanding. D.B. N.

To the Club, of Chicago, on the occasion of its celebration of Jackson’s birthday, Judge Jerry S. Black sent a long and interesting let er from York,Pa., containing reminecences of Jackson times and principles. He suid: If present I might take occasion to repel tho charge that Jacks n was the author of the pratice which now corrupts the civil service by making office the reward of partisan crimes. That was an invention of the Federal party, and was used by it so unifomly that when Jefferson was lnaugura ted he had not a single personal or political friend in any klod of public employment. He removed the unfit and the unfaithful, and gave the honest majority of the people some, but not by any means a full representation in the executive department. The second Adams commenced his administration by bestowing the high est office in hi* gift upou the man who betrayed bis constituents to elect him, and on this course he- went through so consistently t at when Jackson came in he found himself precisely where Jefferson had been thirty years before—a Democatic President without a Democrat in office to support him. Of course he followed the example of his great »redecessor, removed the most obnoxious of the political vermin, and let the others stand as monuments of the safety with which a current of opinion may be toletated when reason is left free to combat it. After dwelling on the necessity of local selfgoverment, Judge Black eon' tinued:

If I dared speak with the voioe of authority or even in a tone of ad mo nitlon to the Iroquois Olub I would

say: Resist tb**Be encroabments of the ' containers with all your might,maintain home rule for your domestic concerns, set your faces like flint against political corruption, tolerate no (laim of any President to represented at your election by thelbay** oiiets of bis standing army, enforce your right to the free bailor and a fair count, and give the love of your whole hearts to the memory of An«* drew Jackson, who, if he were heie now, would lay down his life rather than s e you fail in a cause like this.