Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 May 1903 — AS TO “HONEST ABE.” [ARTICLE]

AS TO “HONEST ABE.”

The town elections will take place Monday. It is announced that the stork will again visit the home of expresident Cleveland. Thus Teddy’s race suicide views are being repudiated on every hand. , Yes, at this writing there are still upwards of twenty unsatisfied judgments, amounting to thousands of dollars, upon the judgment dockets of Jasper county and against Abraham Halleck, president of the board of commissioners of this county. Jtis not to be wondered that General Nelson A. Miles is losing caste with the g. o. p. In his report on conditions in the Philippines he says that there have been numerous outrages committed by soldiers acting under command of their superior officers, and that the abolishment of the army “canteen” or government whiskey shop, has been beneficial to the army. The “canteen” has been the special pet hobby of the politicians and many of the army officers, who, no doubt, were among itß best customers in a quiet way, and they will not take kindly to Gen. Miles’ remarks concerning its abolishment. A party of forty-six German agriculturists will arrive in New York the first week in May and will make a 10,000 mile tour of the United States studying the agricultural methods of this country. The expected visitors are members of an “up-to-date” German agricultural society whose members make an annual excursion to some foreign country with a view to learning improved methods and being able to estimate the competition which confronts them in the various departments of agriculture. The party will be accompained in this country by representavies of the Department of Agriculture who will afford them every assistance in seeing the country. They will first visit the northwest, then go on to the Pacific slope and return through the southwest section of the country.

The people of Jasper county ha d a striking object lesson of “Honest Abe’s” enmity and the lengths to which he would carry his personal animos—at county expense, of course—in the street improvements about the public square. The contraot was let by the city, it will be remembered, to parties whom Abe had a personal spite against, and he kicked continually from the time the improvement was let until it was paid for. First, the bedding material was not thick enough ? The brick were no good!. (And finally the brick makers offered to pay the expense of the county commissioners visiting their plant and other towns where these brick were being used and seeing for themselves that they were the same as other cities used, and were of good quality. And they did pay the expenses, and the commissioners went on this junketing trip, and we were told on their return that Abe was so afraid he would be convinced that be wouldn't go in the briok-mak* ing plant at all.)

Then the work of laying the brick was not done right, although an expert brick street layer was employed from South Bend to superintend the work. Then Abe took the j matter into court to resist payment, and as soon as the judge—a Hammond gentleman, and therefore unprejudiced —got to hear something of the case he unceremoniously dumped Abe and his weak-spined cohorts out of the court room window, figuratively speaking. Then it was that “Sim the cattle dealer” —who never had an idea on public matters except as he absorbed it from Abe—made his brags, so we are told, that they (Abe and Sim) could hold up the pay. And this was done for several months, by continuing the claim from term to term, and it was not until Way mire and Denham, strange as it may appear, took the bit in their teeth and allowed the claim that the contractors got their pay. But during all the time this claim was being “continued” by Abe, the county was paying interest on the same, and the total extra oost occasioned by this uncalled for an contemptible piece of spite work to the tax-payers of the oounty, was about S2OO. When nothing further could be done in the way of irritating and troubling the contractors at county expense, then Abe is alleged to have said, to justify his position, “You’ll see! Wait until next spring; when that brick street goes through a freezing winter it will be all hills and hollows.” Yet two winters have passed and the brick streets are in excellent condition. The above is a fair illustration of the methods used by this man to punish his enemies while he has been a commissioner of this county. All his attacks and beratings of The Democrat man, the cutting of our bills, etc., could have arisen only from pure- spite and cussedness. His contention that the bill for ballot printing was cut because the council had appropriated a lesser sum, is not honest, for we have shown heretofore that at the same session in which he cut our claim he allowed the sheriff sl4l for services when but S4O had been appropriated! Had he applied the rule used on The Demoorat man to others there might be some justice in his present contention. But he did not do this nor never has, except as it suited his purpose, at any time since the county council law has been in operation. Abe is smooth, but his actions will not bear the light of truth and justice. A large number of the best men of his political associates have discredited him and openly refused to support him for office, while the support given him was of the half-hearted sort and the fear that the henchman he does control would slaughter the whole ticket if Abe was not carried through.