Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1898 — POLITICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLITICS OF THE DAY

WAYS AND MEANS FOR 1900. Through the recent action of the Democratic National C mmittee the following Committee on Ways and Means has been appointed: James K. Jones, Senator from Arkansas and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee; Wm. J. Stone, ex-Govcrnor of Missouri; John P. Altgeld, ex-Governor of Illinois; Wm. V. Allen, Senator from Nebraska; and Henry M. Teller, Senator from Colorado. These five gentlemen represent each of the great p li.ieal parties which gave support to the Chicago platform in 1896, and the representation on this committee is not only in about the proportion of the vote cast by each party, but is by the recognized heads of the three organizations.' It means a unification of the forces that are striving to better the condition of the laboring man and the great middle class of our citizens which forms the warp and woof of this republic. There is no representation on the committee of that pernicious element now in power that seeks only its own individual advancement and prosperity at the expense .of the common welfare. The committee has organized and opened its office at Room 1044 ‘ Unity Building, Chicago, Ill.; Mr. W. H. Harvery, author of “Coin's Financial School,” has been appointed by the committee as its general manager and

.will personally direct the work. Mr. Harvey’s writings on the financial question have made his name a familiar one to all our readers, and his disinterestedness and honesty in his advocacy of the remonetization of silver are so well known that his name will inspire additional confidence in the success of the work this committee has undertaken. The plan adopted and approved by the committee is to secure a subscription from as many persons as possible to pay one dollar per month for each month from now till October, 1900. Thus a person subscribing to the fund of the Ways and Means Committee in October, 1898, will agree to pay one dollar per month for twenty-five months, or in all, $25. One subscribing in November following will agree to pay one dollar each month for twenty-four months, with the last payment due Oct. 1, 1900. A subscription in December, 1898, means twenty-three payments, the last dne Oct. 1, 1900, and so on. The number of payments depends on the month and year in which the subscription is made and all ending on the first day of October, 1900. Where one is willing and able to pay more than $1 per month, the subscription will be accepted for such Increased amount as the subscriber is willing to make. Where one tis hat able, in his judgment, to subscribe one dollar per month, he will be expected to get one or more to associate themselves with him jointly in the subscription for the one dollar per month. It is the opinion of the committee that it is only In this way that the money heeded can be raised—that it must come from the .people whose rights and interests are to be protected. All money collected will be paid to the National Treasurer of the committee and no money will be paid out except as appropriated by the committee in session deliberating upon its expenditure. When subscriptions received at the office of the committed, a receipt is sent and also blanks governing the details of remittances to the National Treasurer. It is from the earnest, honest advocates of this great cause that subscriptions are expected, and as it will come from all sections of the country and be a spontaneous offering In aid of the great struggle for human liberty, so will it place the leaders of the allied forces under obligations to the people for their victory, and the voice of the latter will be all powerful In shaping the affairs of state. Bismarck and Silver. Bismarck, the creator of the German empire, is dead and his works live after him. He was the great statesman of the century, for he succeeded fn accomplishing his purpose In spite of great obstacles. When Bismarck was called to the task of governing Prussia Germany was composed of petty states. He undertook the giant’s labor of consolidating them into an empire, and it Is because he discharged It completely that he stands forth in history as one of the few great statesmen of the era. Happily for Bismarck, the .king, his master, was also a great and wise man, with strength of purpose to maintain hl3 chosen minister through good and evil report. Where in history can be found a parallel of three mighty minds working in unison for so many years as the Emperor William 1., Bismarck, and Von Moltke? They humbled Austria, and crushed France, and through the political sagacity of Bismarck united Germany, neaped to the full the reward of the victor. He gave the German people confidence in themselves and on that confidence Bismarck built the German empire and made his king an emperor. He did- not shrink from the harness the task demanded; more' than once he committed great crimes against the people in the belief that it was necessary for their preservation and the unification of the fatherland. Many of his acts were dramatic, and he stooped to ignoble subterfuges to attain bis end. He disdained the old-time diplomacy, and his knowledge of the diplomats of Europe enabled him to outwit and bewilder them, and the gibes and jokes with which he taunted them made him feared and respected, but in many cases hated with a bitter hate. From our Democratic standpoint he was a tyrant and caused untold woe to the people of Europe by the militarism that- he did so much to build up and foster, which nothing but revolution can undo. On economic questions Bismarck was dom-

inated by the money power, brought about the great necessities of the Ger* man government before the large indemnity extorted from France was acquired. He demonetized silver at the command of the Rothschilds, and it is said that he was led to this by the. promise of the great increase in value of the French indemnity if paid in gold. In his later years he advocated bimetallism, seeing that the Increase in the value of the standard was weighing too heavily upon the German people. Upon the consolidation of the German states he established free trade, but reverted to protection to appease the agrarians, whose vote he needed in his management of the German Parliament. __ Sixteen to One. O, what is the cry that is rending the sky, All over the South and the West? From far and from near the same slogan we hear, With never a pause or a rest. Though faint in the East, it is ever increased, As you follow the course of the sun, Till the Rockies are passed, with a wild trumpet blast, For silver at sixteen to one. It sounds to the tramp of the far mining camp, Then comes over mountain and plain; Till caught in the mouth of the planter down South, While the farmer takes up the refrain. Wherever ’tis found ’tis a magical sound, And a wonderful work it has done. Here, there, everywhere, it is filling the air. Free silver at sixteen to one. From the far Golden Gate to Washington State, Thence east to Superior’s beach Take your course; and then ship down the broad Mississippi, Till the shores of Kentucky you reach; Up the fair Ohio past Virginia go, Thence eastward the boundary run; You will thus understand that threefourtihs of the land, Is howling for sixteen to one. Though goldbugs berate, and their partisans prate, And their newspapers fill up their spate; They tremble in fear when that slogan they hear, And find it growing apace. Though they fume and they sweat, we will wallop them yet, And won’t we have oceans of fun, As we bury them deep in their ultimate sleep, ’Neath ballots of sixteen to one? As fair futures ope through a glory of hope, To the vision enchanted of youth; As the forces of right come on like the light, And triumph with justice and truth; So the prospects we see of a swift victory, When the battle at last is begun; Things are coming our way; ’tis the break of the day, For silver at sixteen to one! —J. A. Edgerton, Lincoln, Neb. Alger a Jonah. President McKinley has clung persistently to Alger, although the wiser members of the Republican party have urged him to throw overboard the Jonah whose presence threatens to bring disaster to the g. o. p. There are good reasons why the President refuses to part with Alger. The two men are linked together and must stand or fall together. McKinley’s political appointments to the army were approved by Alger and Alger’s actions were approved by McKinley. It Is evident, therefore, that McKinley cannot afford to ask for Alger’s resignation. Nevertheless, many Republican newspapers, realizing the menace Alger is to his party, are urging his dismissal. The Philadelphia Ledger, a strong Republican newspaper, says: The heavy load of Algerism is threatening the Republican congressional ticket in many parts of the country. It is reported that the Republican party managers are awakening to the danger of defeat, and are sending appeals and warnings in all directions tha-t great diligence and watchfulness must be exercised to avert disaster.

Unfortunately, while they recognize the risks of defeat, the political managers refuse to see what is plainly apparent to every one else, that the only hope for salvation is for them to insist on the dismissal of the present incompetent Secretary of War, for, not to save his best friend could the incumbent be induced to resign of bis own accord. To cling to Alger is to invite defeat; to be rid of him promptly is to strengthen the chances of success. What the Ledger says is undoubtedly true, but McKinley is not in a position to take its good, advice. The best he can do is to abide in hope that his whitewashing committee will help him and his party out of their present dilerotua. V Democrats for Congress. Since j&en. Wheeler has given his testimony before McKinley’s investiga4ing committee it is more evident than ev4r that a Congressional inquiry into the charges against the War Department is the only method of arriving at an official discovery and decoration of the truth. Demonstration has been given that the McKinley committee is engaged in a wholesale whitewashing business and that only such testimony is acceptable to it as is friendly to the administration. Why is it that Gen. Wheeler’s remarks are given out in full and exploited with the most extravagant display by administration papers, while the testimony submitted by the experts employed by the New York World is carefully and completely suppressed? But a Congressional investigation will amount to nothing if the House continues to have a Republican majority. Its members are bound to the President by the ties of mutual guilt in the appolntmen of incompetent staff officers, given places in the army for political effect, and this being the ease no effort should be spared by the people to change the political complexion of the House. There is a demand on the part of the people to know who is responsible for the death and suffering in the army, and this demand also contemplates the punishment of the guilty mCn. For this reason a Democratic Congress must be elected. The people owe this to the soldiers, and should not fail to do their duty in the fall elections.

WILLIAM H. HARVEY.