Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1904 — PARTY ORGANIZATION. [ARTICLE]

PARTY ORGANIZATION.

The Democrats of Indiana cannot do a more Important work In the closing days of the campaign than give earnest attention to organization. Of all phases of the campaign It is the one that should Invoke painstaking care and earnest thought to the end that nothing may be left undone that may contribute to success at the polls. What are the arrangements in this county for getting out the full Democratic vote? Are there any voters who may be regarded as doubtful for any cause, and if so can the causes of the doubt be removed? Are Democrats at work and are they working effectively? Can the vote of the party four years ago be greatly increased, and if so, what are the means to be employed? These are some of the questions that should be suggested and effort should be made to find answers that, wilh bring about the desired results. The Indications are all favorable to carrying Indiana by a decided plurality, for the campaign was opened and has been conducted under the most favorable auspices. From its inception the Republicans have been on the defensive and their defense has been notoriously impotent in the face of the record they have made in state anfi nation in the past ten years. Congress and the state legislature have been extravagant with the people’s money; corruption has entered in and received encouragement from high places; graft has been exalted and old-time economy abased; the-trusts, fostered by a prohibitive tariff, have epten up

the people’s substance and have become more and more dictatorial with their long-continued lease of power; the Indiana board of tax commissioners has persistently and In defiance of right reduced the assessments of corporations and Increased the burdens of the people by increasing the assessments on lands from which our people draw their sustenance; every session of the legislature under a Republican majority shows an increasing expense, and extravagance and waste have been allowed to run unrestrained and with ever-increasing velocity. But, notwithstanding the favorable auspices tinder which the party opened its camapign, it must not be assumed that the opposition to Republican politics will find its fjTtl expression at the polls without effort oh the part of Democrats. Tliere is iibthing more pronounced than\the disposition to leave to others In politics the duty of righting the wrongs which all suffer alike and to shirk effort which might he put forth to good purpose. Every Democrat should be at work and should wdrk unceasingly till the polls close on November 8. The redemption of the state nation from Republican rule and Republican extravagance can be accomplished If all the forces of opposition are working unitedly to that end. The one fact alone that a Republican hoard of tax commissioners has increased the assessments of lands and Improvements on lands In excess of $27,000,000, while reducing the assessments of corporations more than $16,000,000, should excite the greatest alarm among the people and restore the Democratic party to power. Perfect the organization in every detail. Let every Democrat get to work and work earnestly for success and there will be no question about the result. State Statistician Johnson has given out some figures from his office that are distinctly suggestive of the kind of prosperity that is being felt over the country. He has recently investigated the question of mortgages and finds that the total mortgage Indebtedness in Indiana is about 15 per cent, of the total land valuation. There were 59,921 mortgages filed for record during the past year and they represented $68,902,762. which was an Increase both in number and amount over the preceding year. The average of each mortgage was about $1,149 and, taking this as a basis, the total mortgage indebtedness in the state is $105,410,000. Another suggestive fact brought out by the inquiry is that the number of mortgages filed lgst year exceeded the number canceled End represented an excess of $18,424,220. About one-half of the new Indebtedness is on farm property. Yet the Republican orators are telling the people that there were never times like these—and In one sense they are not mistaken.