Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1905 — “THE RANK AND FILE.” [ARTICLE]

“THE RANK AND FILE.”

The postoffice department has issued a fraud order against Wm. D. Owen, promoter of the Übero Plantation Co., charging him with doing an illegal business. “Billy” Owen was formerly of Logansport and was twice elected congressman from the" Tenth district on the republican ticket, and was also Secretary of State for two terms. He was also Commissioner of Immigration for some time. Judge U. Z. Wiley, of the appellate bench and a former Judge of this circuit, was mentioned in “The Tropical News,” a paper run by Owen to boom the Consolidated Übero Company, et al, as treasurer of the concern. company owned 3,000 acres of land in Mexico, and proposed to plant it in tropioal fruits and trees, coffee etc. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid in by the victims of the concern, of whom many were Indianians, and some in this county. The La Puerta Company, The Tropical Sureties Company, et al, are alleged to be all along the same lines, and Owen and a Bostonian of the name of Borges, whom Owen picked up at Logansport and who is alleged to have “done time” at Joliet, Columbus, Ohio, and other state prisons, were the promoters of each. Owen paid 10 per cent dividends out of the money that was paid in for stock, it is alleged, but practically nothing was done in the way of development. A supply of coffee was purchased in the market and put up in cans, labeled to make it appear that it had come from the Übero plantation. In each of Owen’s schemes, the department says, "‘the funds of the company which would have to be used to purchase the land and develop the property •were devoted to the pockets of the promoters through the selling companies.” It is utterly impossible, the department says, owing to the soil and climate, to grow any such fruits at Übero as advertised, or, owing to a lack of shipping facilities, to market them even if they could be grown. The department says that both of Owen’s ventures were conceived in iniquity.

At the Jefferson day banquet in New York the other night Hon. John W. Kern, of Indianapolis, was one of the principal speakers. The topic assigned to him was “The Rank and File.” Among other things, Mr. Kern said: “The time has forever passed when the rank and file of the Democratic party can be counted on blindly to follow any leadership, or battle to the death for any platform of principles which only bears the stamp of genuineness affixed by the chairman of a national or state convention. The reading, thinking and reasoning rank and file of the great Democratic army are as loyal to the teachings and principles of Thomas Jefferson as were their fathers a half century ago. The only difference is that whereas the fathers accepted the word of their leaders, that the platform was truly Jeffersoniaa, these descendants insist on examining the brand for themselves, and nearly every one of them regards himself as an expert in the business of determining whether the article presented is genuine or spurious. “It will be well for the men who assume leadership in the Democratic party to study the character and characteristics of that great body of men who constitute the real voting strength of the organization and to take the rank and file into their confidence to the end that they may have the confidence

of the rank and file. The work of organization in future campaigns must commence with the voters, and proceed upward, rather than commence in a so-called conference of leaders and work downward. If we would have victory, the masses of the rank and file must be given full opportunity for a fair expression of their opinion as to issues and candidates, in primaries and conventions fairly conducted, so that the state and national conventions will be composed of men who truly reflect the popular will as expressed first by the people themselves. “We may as well make np our minds that in the great central West, at least, the day of the ‘boss’ in Democratic politics is at an end, and "that ‘gavel rule’ in conventions will no longer be tolerated. “The hope of the Democracy is in the people, the great rank and file. If they are to be relied upon to bear the burden of the battle and win victories, they must have the privilege of choosing their own leaders and formulating their own platform of principles. This, earnest, intelligent army of freemen may be Husted to give expression to true Jeffersonian principles for they believe in none other.

“Ninety men out of every hundred of the Democratic rank and file, of which I have spoken tonight, want neither office nor money. They are patriots in the best acceptation of the word—patriots of the kind who, in the hour of national peril, are amongst the first to offer their lives in defense of their country’s honor. Such men can never be driven, and are not for sale. “In dealing with such men there must be no attempt at party governmetff, save with the consent of the governed, and when it is understood amongst them that socalled bossism has been abolished; that every Democrat, however humble, shall have equal voice fti formulating party politics and that the Democratic party is, in deed as in name, the people's party, there will, as if by magic, spring into being an organization of the stalwart Democracy of America, so complete and perfect in all its parts as to insure in advance a magnificent victory. Let us hope that we may be able to enter upon the campaigns of the future strong in a leadership ordained of the people and strong in a platform expressive of the popular will, so that we may confidently expect victory, for the reason that victory is deserved.” We could have loved John a great deal more if he had talked like this at that famous un-demo-cratic state convention at Indianapolis last year that selected the delegates to the national convention. It is refreshing, however, to note that he is getting wise on the rank and file of the Democratic party.