People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1893 — Our Senior Senator. [ARTICLE]

Our Senior Senator.

The elevation of Senator Voorhees to the chairmanship of the senate finance committee, the very harmonious relations existing between him and the president, the quick succession of startling events in the financial world, and the certainty that grave questions, seriously affecting our national finances, -will be the all absorbing matters of the next congress, very naturally bring Senator Voorhees into prominence and cause him to be regarded with especial interest now. What he may or may not do in the present crisis is of deep concern to the west and south, therefore a partial review of his past record will be of especial interest now to all Pilot readers. On the hustings for the past twenty-five years, Mr. Voorhees has been the loudmouthed advocate of labor’s rights, but has always deserted them when needed. In 1878 he side-tracked the Greenback party of Indiana by posing as a better Greenbacker than the Greenbackers themselves, boldly declaring the resumption act must be repealed, but when the election was over, Voorhees’ opposition te resumption ceased, nor was it heard of afterwards. When it became known that the silver dollar was dropped from the coinage list, he flung himself into the arena as theroystering advocate of free coinage, and howled himself hoarse on every platform in Indiana. But notwithstanding his ten years ravings on that subject, when brought into the presence, of Big Girth, of Buffalo, in 1885, he flunked most miserably. When taken to task by a prominent Indiana Democrat for his obsequiousness, his answer was characteristic of the mafi. “What can I do?” said he, “here are the boys who have worked for me

for twenty years, expecting reward when we got into power, and now when in, if we antagonize we can’t get anything, so I ask what can I do?” Duty, con-

viction, and the public welfare must all be sacrificed for the spoils, and while Cleveland and Manning waged fierce and relentless war on the greenback and the silver dollar, his chosen idols, no one was so quiescent as our Daniel who, up to this time, had been spoiling for a fight with such enemies of the people. From the war to the present time Sherman has stood for a protective tariff, the British system of finance, and all the extreme coercive measures of the Republican party toward the south. Voorhees has combatted all of these for the past thirty years- before his Hoosier audiences, and those familiar with Daniel’s fears have been led to believe that our senator regarded John Sherman and his policies as the greatest dangers to our free institutions. Under such circumstances every one expected to see Mr. Voorhees anxious for the retirement of the Ohio senator, but in 1891, when the farmers of that state seemed to be making common cause against old John and had good reason to expect help from our senator, if talk indicated anything, what did Voorhees do? Did he join in and eliminate John and his policies out of national affairs? Not at all, on the contrary he lent Sherman his influence, and said “his services -were so valuable to his country that it could not do without him.” Once more -we will speak of him in connection with Sherman. After denouncing Sherman for thirty years for converting our -war money into interest bearing bonds to burden the people, in 1893 he voted for Sherman’s infamous bond scheme, the worst and most inexcusable by all odds of Sherman’s bond measures. In the campaign of 1892 Mr. Voorhees held thousands of Democrats in the party by creating the belief in their minds that Cleveland favored free coinage r when he must have known better. Mr. Voorhees must know, if he knows 1 anything, that a more pronounced enemy of free silver than Mr. Cleveland cannot be found. • Looking at Mr. Voorhees attitude to-day in the light shed upon it by a shiffling and inconsistent record of thirty years, we are far from .being hopeful of the future. To some there may be. but to us there is no assurance. But this tergiversator general, and political Bob Acres, is near the end of his tether. The progress of human affairs and the changing fortunes of parties have brought him to the point where further dodging is impossible. He has been boisterous, blatant and defiant of Wall street and the confederated monopolies in Indiana, and flunked most shamefully in their presence in Washington. He no more than anyone else can serve two masters. Senator, you are an old man. It is possible for you even yet to fill an honorable grave. A bold, manly and courageous defense nowinthefaepof the enemy of those principles upon which you have so often ridden into power, will go far toward Telieving you of former political cowardice and inconsistency. By bravery and consistency now, it is possiple for you to be remembered as a statesman and patriot, failing in these you will only be known as the roaring wind-bag of Indiana. In the mean time the Pilot will surely do its duty by keeping the light turned on so that the people shall see exactly the material you are made of.