Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1886 — DEMOCRATIC UNITY. [ARTICLE]

DEMOCRATIC UNITY.

Capt. David F. Allen, of Frankfort Gives His Views and Advice on Several Topics. (Indianapolis Sentinel.) Captain David F. Allen has been a soldier and also a member of tlie Republican party. About three years ago the Sentinel gave an interview with him on the question of the tariff which had the effect of alarming his former political friends very much and strengthening at the same time the convictions of his Democratic admirers that he ought to be a disciple of Jefferson and Jackson. In local matters he occasionally crossed the line of party, but it was not until the Cleveland campaign that he come boldly out as a member of the great Democratic party. He appeared as a forcible speaker at meetings in his county and vicinity and contributed greatly to the advancement of the interests of Democracy, notwithstanding the fact that many of his former neighbors and friends endeavored to dissuade him from what they called his blind course. He did not weaken in the least, as ke is a soldier by nature, and to-dav, altho’ the administration is not quite up to his expectations, he is nevertheless an admirer and defender of President Cleveland and his Democratic adminsstration. CLEVELAND HAS DONE WELL. On this point a Sentinel representative questioned Mr. Allen, drawing out the following responses: '"President Cleveland is a great improvement uoon his predecessor, not alone in his manly way of doing things, but especially in the moderation that characterizes his methods and his views. He has found rascals to turn out of course, and, indeed, it was only last night that I saw some figures showing

how largely he did send them off. Indianians can have no just cause for complaint in this respect, nearly every old hanger on has been cut loose and cast aside, and in nearly every case good men or women put in their places. A few remain clinging to the pnblic teats, but in his good time Mr. Cleveland will cut away their fastening, too. Besides three foreign ministers, he continued, Indiana eas also been given a representation on the Civil Service Board of Commissioners, which, though it makes me laugh to say it, is an opportunity for me to declare, through the Sentinel, that

“CIVIL SERVICE IS A SHAM. “It was inspired by the Republican party, in view of that party’s waning power and a sentimental Democratic Senator was made its champion; and now we have it perpetuating a privileged class of Republicans, many of whom, according to the President, can not be removed except for cause. Those, then, hold office while others, equally capable and more deserving, are barred through civil service scheming. lam for President Cleveland, notwithstanding. I think he is giving us an excelle t, conservative administration. And while I do not claim that it is as it should be in all respects, it is at 1 ast as good as we could expect under existing circumstances. A Democratic President is not expected to be a violator of United States statutes; nor, on the other hand, is he to be unmindful of his party’s interests and of the men who accomplished his election. “OUR INDIANA DEMOCRATS have an especial duty to perform this time. They ought to be united and save the State at the coming election. The Indiana Democracy has no just cause to break with the President, and it can not afford it even if it had cause. — President Cleveland and his Democratic administration must be the rallying cry by which the Democratic masses are to be enthused and united and solidified now that Vice Presid nt Hendricks is with us only in his works and in memory. lam ra her averse to saying so much since I am new in the party, but you know it is often said that converts are nearly always more enthusiastic than those to whose principles they have been converted. In fact lam not a convert at all in that sense, for I have always h d notions and fixed principles of my own, and I simply found that my political faith on some of the great questions up for discussion was such as I found existing in and taught by the Democratic party.”

THE FARMERS SATISFIED. Captain Allen continued, on being interrogated on this point: “I find in my intercourse with the farming and producing classes that they are generally satisfied with the administration. They are intelligent enough to know that, while times are not the best, yet what dullness we are experiencing is the result, not of what the present Administration has done or failed to do, but rather as a consequence of the maladministration of the Republican party. Steady prices if low, with a cutting of expenses and lessening of taxes, w.ll add to the popularity of the Democratic party with the farming and producing classes.

“THE LABOR TROUBLES “are all the result of the teachings and legislation of the Republican party. That party protected the manufacturer, but never considered the farmer or laborer as worthy of consideration. A year or so ago I was treated as a traitor because I differed from my Republican friends on their villainous tariff policy. The laboring people have been discriminated ag dnst, while the wealthy and the manufacturers have been legislated for; and now labor is up in arms asking for its rights. Why should it be wrong for laborers and mechanics to do the things that railroads and large corporations do? The

people of this city and county paid over a million dollars to get four railroads so as to insure us competition on rates, but now pool commissioner Fink says to these ra-1-roads, “You shall naul grain from Frankfort for twenty-five cents, but not one cent less— in other words, they strike and combine against the citizens and the business men. But as soon as the laborers or mechanics do-the same thing in their interests, they are hounded down, when the tactics they are following have been taught them by their corporations and by the Republican party. The great anthracite coal kings combine, and not a pound of coal do thev allow to be mined beyond that with which they propose to regulate the market, aud to do this they sometimes inspire and create strikes of their own. The same thing is the case with the nail mills and others of our leading industries.”

D. F. ALLEN & BRO. The firm of Allen & Brother is composed of D. F. Allen and E. A. Allen. They are tke largest manufacturers and|grain dealers in this part of Indiana. Their roller mills nave a capacity of 176 barrels,.. while they annually handle over a million and a quarter bushels of grain. Their elevators at Frankfort have a capacity of 100,000 bushels, while those at Qircleville ani Boylston are by no m°ans inconsiderable. The Allen brothers are the most prosperous business men in central Indiana. Socially they are equally notable and in every respect commend themselves to a host of friends and acquaintances throughout the State. Captain Allen served through the war in the Tenth Indiana Regiment and was wounded in the service.— The Sentinel has formerly given his record and can now point to him as a patriot and a citizen of high and honorable standing.