People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 November 1895 — GOV. JOHN P. ALTGELD INTERVIEWED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GOV. JOHN P. ALTGELD INTERVIEWED.

“0, nothing,” he answered, with a broad smile, “it is not our place to talk. We have been laid out, and you know that in polite society it is regarded as bad form for a corpse to indulge in much back talk while the wake is in progress,” and the Governor laughed at his own grim humor. “How will this affect the silver movement? was then asked.

“O, I don’t know,” said he. “While the silver platform has been roughly treated in the Eighteenth District in this State, it has yet fared a great deal better than the gold platforms in the other states. Two years ago we lost the Eighteenth District by nearly 3,000. This time it seems Mr. Hadley has carried it by about 3,100. Considering that the causes which worked against the democratic party in other states also worked against it here, and the further fact that Mr. Tanner, as Chairman of the republican committee, had lately been in New York arranging to carry the Eighthenth District, the result is favorable when compared with that in other states. For example, lowa went democratic several times, but two years ago in the great landslide it went republican by about 33,000 majority. This year when the democrats held their state convention it was packed by postmasters and agents of the federal administration, and they adopted a platform indorsing Cleveland’s policy on the money question. As a result the great republican majority of two years ago instead of being held down has been doubled, Drake, the republican, who was a weak candidate for governor, having a majority upward of 60,000.

In Kentucky, the great stronghold of democracy, the federal administration by prostitution of patronage secured an indorsement of Cleveland and Carlisle on the money question, and as a result the democrats are in the woods looking for the remains of the once mighty party. In Ohio Senator Brice and Campbell defeated the silver plank in the convention and adopted a gold platform, and as a result even the phenomenal republican majority which McKinley got in the landslide of two years ago has been increased, Bushnell being elected by upwards of 80,000 majority. In New Jersey, which is really a democratic state, the democrats adopted a gold platform, and as a result the republicans have carried everything in sight. In Maryland, which has been strongly democratic for a quarter of a century, the democrats adopted a gold platform, and as a result there are not enough of them left to bury their dead.

In New York the democrats adopted a gold platform, and as a result the republican majorities'' outside of the city have been nearly doubled. In Massachusetts they adopted the same platform, and as a consequence the republican flood is neck deep all over the state. So that if the election is to be considered as a rejection of the silver platform in the Eighteenth District, of Illinois then It must be also regarded as the most emphatic condemnation of the gold platforms the other states of the Union have ever known.” “To what, then, do you attribute the general result, Governor?”

‘‘l have found that everywhere all the men who toil with their hands for a living feel a most intense bitterness against the federal administration, and as the democratic party is held responsible for it there was a general disposition to kick it. Second—Among democrats everywhere the feeling prevails that this federal administration has trampled upon every principle of democracy and has simply done dirty work for the republican party, and that it has gone farther in carrying out the principles of Hamiltonianism than the republicans ever dared to go. This feeling was so strong that public speakers found any reference to the federal administration simply provoked a storm of hisses. This feeling created apathy on the part of thousands of democrats and active hostility on the part of many others. Third—There is a feeling

among business men that this Federal administration is the weakest and most pusillanimous that this country has ever had. This, again, made it impossible to unite the opponents of the Republican party in one phalanx.

Fourth —For a great many years the Democratic party has practically stood for no definite principles. We seemed to be doing business under what was a sort of political false pretense. Our so-called leaders apparently did not expect to keep a single promise they made to the public and they under-estimated the intelligence of the American people by imagining that loud protestations in a campaign would always win, and that the talk about keeping faith with the public was simply a silly sentiment. In drawing a declaration of principles we aimed to straddle every conceivable question and we constructed a platform to mean one thing in one neighborhood and the opposite thing in another neighborhood. The whole business of government seemed to rest upon the plane of political trickery. While the Republican party in this respect was as bad as we were, we were not in position to arouse any enthusiasm for our side, and when the other causes that I have named began to operate against us we could not arrest them.

In consequence of all these causes that party which represents trusts and special privilege grabbers in this country has succeeded, and that party which should have represented the great producing classes of this country, but was false to its principles, was entirely overthrown. “What iq the end will be the effect of this election?” “While the first effect will be to give a new impetus to the trusts and to increase the corruption which they have introduced in this country, yet in the long run it will be highly beneficial to the Democratic party and untimately to the country.” “How do you make that, out?” “It is going to permanently retire a number of conspicuous men who have posed as leaders of the Democracy but for many years kept it from espousing any cause or standing for any principle, but used it only for a convenience. The result will be that in time new men will come to the front who will endeavor to place the party on higher ground and to make it stand again for those great principles of Democracy to which our coun-

try owes its marvelous career and its exalted position among nations.” “Governor, who are the men you refer to?” “It is not necessary to name them. The country will readily recognize most of them.” “Governor, do you think it was the question of Sunday closing, pure and simple, that caused Tammany to win in New York?” “No, it was the large allopathic doses of Roosevelt that destroyed the Republican party there. As a prominent Republican said to me, ‘New York can swallow Sunday closing, but will choke to death over Teddy’s posing.’ The fact is the Republican party in the city of New York is entitled to sympathy on account of the manner of its death. The Philistines were de stroyed by the jawbone of an ass, and no people have envied them the manner of their taking ofE, but the jawbone of an ass is a respectable instrument of execution compared with the jawbone of Teddv, which has neither tooth nor stinger, but simply a buzz at both ends and in the middle.”—Norton’s Sentinel. Farm for Rent— 24o acres, all good farming land, 4£ miles from town; good house and barn; two good wells; cash rent; known asWm. Haley farm. Inquire at this office.

Patrons of the postoffice are requested to place their name and postoffice address on all letters and parcels, both foreign and domestic. Mail to many foreign countries cannot be forwarded unless the postage is fully prepaid. An enormous amount of holiday mail is annually sent to the dead letter office in Washington, where, for lack of a return address, it is destroyed or sold at auction. It may not be known that smoking and profanity is positively forbidden in all postoffices, but such is the law, and those who may be careless in this matter are really placing the postmaster in an embarrassing position, and though he may not insist on a strict enforcement of the regulation, he is really taking chances in having his hair combed by some perambulating inspector.

Wanted.—A steady man to work in a dairy. Must be a good milker. D. M. Worland, Rensselaer, Ind. A. G. Anderson has plenty of good pasturage on the Wall Robinson farm 2£ miles northeast of Rensselaer. Terms reasonable. Keystone Corn Husker and Fodder Shredder. Sold by Robt. Randle.

NOT DEAD, BUT VERY SICK.