Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1901 — POLITICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLITICS OF THE DAY

In the discussion of possible Presidential candidates some are prone to segard the sectional question as of overshadowing importance. Those who live in what are known as the doubtful States are especially liable to this error, because they are naturally willing to furnish the candidates. It is not only customary to look to a few doubtful States to furnish the candidates, but it is not uncommon to have some portions of the country excluded from consideration entirely. For years it has been assumed that a Southern man was unavailable, and a Western man almost as much so. New York, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana have furnished to the two leading parties nearly all the candidates nominated since the Civil War. New York furnished the Democratic Presidential candidate in 18GS, 1872, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888,-and 1892, and in those campaigns the candidate for Vice President came from Indiana three times, from Ohio once, and from Illinois once. From 1808 to 1900 the Republican party took its Presidential candidate from Ohio four times, from Illinois twice, from Indiana twice, and from Maine once. During that time New York has furnished the Republican candidate for Vice President in five campaigns, Indiana once, and New Jersey once. Thus it will be seen that a comparatively small section of the country lias enjoyed a practical monopoly on candidates. This is an unfortunate condition, and one that cannot be defended by reason. Candidates should be chosen because they represent principles and because they are dtemed fit to serve the people in the executive office. Each party should be at liberty to select its best man, no matter In what State or section he lives. The race should be free for all. and then public men everywhere would be stimulated to offer themselves. Neither the Atlantic coast nor the Pacific coast should be barred out; neither the extreme North, nor the extreme South should be forbidden to offer its favorite* son. The local influence of a nomination is generally overestimated. State pride is a nice thing to talk about, but it does not count for much in votes. If a man has qualities which make him popular at home, those same qualities will make him popular elsewhere, but very few men will vote for a political opponent merely because he lives in their State, and what little support he wins in that way is offset by the partisan fear that his success may strengthen his party locally. A candidate's strength comes from the principles and policies for which he stands—the only personal element being the confidence that the people have that he is honest and will faithfully curry out his platform. For a quarter of a century the Southern States have been Ignored In the selection of candidates. The Republicans have had but few white Republicans in the South to choose from, and the Democrats of the South have voluntarily renounced their claims out of fear that they might embarrass the ticket. Certainly we are far enough away from the Civil War—certainly the passions aroused by that conflict are sufficiently cooled, to permit a Southern man to aspire to either the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. Even before the Spanish war called into the volunteer army both Federal and Confederate, the South had earned its right to be considered a part of the Union, but surely the commingling of the sons of those v.ho wore the blue, and the sons of those who wore the gray, and their service side by side at Santiago and at Manila, ought to silence those who have thought it unwise to place a Southern man on the ticket. Slavery has gone never to be restored, and the Democracy now dominant both North and South eonr.es nearer to the Ideals of Jefferson and Lincoln than does the commercialism of Hanna or the Imperialism of Roosevelt. It is not time yet to select candidates for 1904, but when the time arrives, the Democratic voters should see to it that the platform represents their wishes and that the candidates fit the platform. If some one living south of the Ma-son-Dixon line is chosen for either the first or second position on the ticket, his place of residence will not weaken him—not though be be an ex-Confeder-ate soldier. )Ve are engaged In a mighty struggle against plutocracy, and we need the whole nation to pick from when we select our standard bearers. Merit, not section, should determine the nomination; fidelity to principle, not locality, should control.-Bryan’s Commoner. The Great Prosperity of “We.” There seems to be a certain uneasy feeling In some quarters that the McKinley prosperity of the present, which has come from the golden Klondyke and our own mines, should be regarded with chastened joy. It Is as if It was too good to be true, and rather puzzling at the same time. The prosperity proclalmers feel that there Is somebody singing flat in their chorus. They have not located the sound, but It is there, and Its discord, faint and muffled though It may be. Is so Insistent that It cannot be utterly disregarded. Not long since the New York Herald devoted considerable space to the 3.828 millionaires of the Vnlted Htates, and In doing so became Impressed with the power of these gentlemen: "One two-hundredth part of one per

cent of the population of the United Slates, or one person out of every 20,000,” says the Herald, “controls about one-fifth of the nation’s wealth; that is, 3,828 millionaires out of a population little in excess of 76,000,000 own 810,000,000,000 of the $81,750,000,000 at which our eaitire property Is fairly valued. In the first quarter of the century just closed there were not more than half a dozen millionaires ih the land, and two only—John Jacob Astor, in New York, and Stephen Girard, in Philadelphia, bad sufficient wealth to make them particularly conspicuous. Now we are nearing the 4,000 mark.” There is a certain subdued tone about this that is refreshing. The Herald actually seems to admit that millionaires at one end of the line imply paupers at the other; - that, given so much money in the world, the more some people have the less others must expect. If A and B start out in a game with $lO between them, an A has S2O bis pocket at the end. B is likely to go suppc-rless. The question arises, is this prosperity? There is more money in circulation than there was a few days ago, but labor’s chances for getting hold of it have not increased with anything like the rapidity of the opportunities of capital. J. D. Rockefeller is probably the first biHJonaire the earth has ever seen, but he has wrecked a good many other men in the billionaireing process. Such men make or lose, by a single fluctuation in stocks, more than most men can earn in a lifetime of unremitting toil. Money makes money; It buys the first little home and saves the rent, and accumulates a little at a time, until some investment comes along and gives the industrious man a chance to better himself. Many great fortunes have begun with a very small nucleus, but opportunities of that nature are decreasing. The wolf is never very far from the door of the workingman. Contrast the chances of the employer and employes in the following trades from tills table, compiled by Dr. Thomas, of Washington: In every SIOO worth of hardware, $24.70 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of furniture, $28.77 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of boots and shoes you buy, $20.71 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of men’s furnishing goods $18.24 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of clothing $17.42 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of cotton goods, $16.91 goes for labor. In every SIOO worth of worsted goods, $13.65 goes for labor. Add the cost of raw material, shipping, etc., and the balance is still immensely out of proportion. When the Herald says, “We are becoming wealthy,” the “we” refers to the 4,000 gentlemen alluded to, not to the 75,000,000 who are controlled by the all-power-ful “we.”—Denver News.

Sampson's Culpability. It was he who sent all manner of contradictory orders to Admiral Schley, who suppressed one important dispatch from his reports, who then charged Schley with “reprehensible conduct,” and who, finally, assumed all the glory for the victory over the Spanish fleet at Santiago. One of the questions which Schley's counsel will undoubtedly desire to ask him Is: “Why were not the alleged shortcomings In Schley’s conduct reported at the time of their occurrence Instead of not being discovered until the 10th of July, a week after the battle, when Sampson learned from the newspapers that the whole American people were shouting Schley's praise?” The Man and the Dollar. The people of the North may be honestly at a loss for the real reason why the people of the South object to the negro as a voter. The voter is a sovereign. The tax returns of Fulton County show a total of $52,378,885. There should be some parity between the man and the dollar. The whites of Fulton own. .$51,424,810 The negroes of Fulton own. 949,075 A white preponderance of .$50,474,735 Is It any wonder that the $51,424,810 refuses to bow down to the $949,0757 Atlanta Constitution. I.avaon Rooyevelt la Learning. The lesson which Mr. Roosevelt Is learning now is severe. He has allowed himself to be'bunkoed in his own party. He sui rendered New York to his Republican enemies when he accepted the Vice Presidential nomination. He put himself out of the line of effective fighting for the Presidency and put Odell in the line Instead. Roosevelt Is a fine fellow, but a mighty poor politician. The politicians are liavlng fun with him right now.-St. Louis Republic.

The Conspiracy In the Navy. There is not a particle of doubt that there Is a scandalous conspiracy In the navy department to do injustice to a brave and efficient officer of the navy, and any Congressman who would dare to lend hhnself to sueb an Intrigue or fall to do all in his power to prob© the matter to the bottom that strict and impartial justice may be done will find that he has made a very serious mistake when he conies back before the people to solicit their suffrage.— Peoria Herald-Transcript.