Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1884 — To Workingmen. [ARTICLE]

To Workingmen.

(From the Albany A-gn.) Has not the Republican p-irty controlled the national administration for almost twenty-four years? Has it not enacted all the laws during that time? Has it not executed the laws by men of its choice? Has the party brought prosperity to you and your families? Are you working for good wages all the time? Are there no mills closed? Are wages not cut down? Do you find living cheap, rents low, provisions abundant and low-priced, clothing and other supplies down to the cut in pay? How many days have you been idle since last New Year’s? Can you tell' when work will be abundant and wages good? Are business affairs satisfactory to you? Did not the Republican party make business affairs what they are and as bad they as are? How much more are your wages today than they were four years ago when this same Republican party promised you more pay and more work if you would support its ticket? Who has grown richer in the last four years of Republican policy, you or the men who were rich then and who seek to allure you with the same sort of arguments now? The “Esq.” and the “Dear Sir” in Calkins* assessment letter to Mrs. Dunoan indicates that the body of the letter was written after a general form that was dictated by Calkins and sent to all the postmasters of the district. The signature is supposed to be genuine, but in any event, Calkins does not deny his full responsibility for the letter. Under the civil service law, enacted since this letter was sent out and for which Calkins voted, he could be fined heavily and imprisoned for making such an assessment on an office-holder.

Calkins is a lawyer and he knows that the County Auditor cannot sue him on the school fund loan until the land is sold, and he knows the land cannot be sold for the appraised value of S2OO, whichjs at the rate of $1.25 an acre. Being a lawyer, he knows that the taxpayers have to furnish the money to pay the interest annually, and the situation has enabled him to feel serene for eight years, although he has all that time owed this honest debt Unless Major Calkins’ fairly and squarely explains away his treatment oKthe Widow Duncan, he should be defeated one hundred thousand votes in Honest and decent Republicans by the thousand will demand a satisfactory explanation, and the Major should be much more prompt in this than he has been in the school fund transaction, beside which this last disclosure is like a mountain to a mole-hill. — Huntington Democrat. For eight years the Auditor of LaPorte county has been trying to find a purchaser for Calkins S7OO land for the price of S2OO, but no one can be found to buy the swamp at that price.