People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 June 1896 — NOTES AND COMMENT. [ARTICLE]

NOTES AND COMMENT.

•nap Shota Token at the Passing Fro- , cession. The democrats in Tennessee have come as near adopting a populist platform as the gold element and a proper respect for the seventh commandment would permit them. They declare, in their state platfrom, for a rigid restriction of t£e federal power, for the largest measure of individual freedom; for local self-government; for free silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 regardless of the action of any other nation; that both gold and silver shall be a legal tender from Dan to Beer Sheba; against the issue of interest bearing bonds; against payment in gold of government obligations; for the repeal of the 10 per cent tax on state banks;* opposition to national banks arid so down to 19thly. * * * That is to say they get on nineteen sides of the dear people in one platform and not a breath of suspicion of “ism” in it. In the populist platform proper there are about nine distinct demands or propostions, and we are accused of wanting the “earth and the fulness thereof.” But this Tennessee platform outreaches us at a ratio of 16 to 1 regardless of all that has been said heretofore. And not a hint, not a horn tooted in favor of trimming it. And now the question arises: how would the populists look trotting along side of such an imposing structure with a little bobtailed platform that didn’t have anything in it that wasn’t in the democratic platform, and with an apology on their lips from bringing that out in the race for political pie? * * * And the Arkansas democrats are going to follow now in a few days. They will not be a whit behind their brethren in Tennessee in building their platform. They have got up their free silver steam, and will have their an-ti-bank and bond pitchforks on hand. If they will take a pointer from us we’ll tell them how they can discount the Tennessee fellows and take all the wind out of the populist sails. Declare for the referendum. Of course they won’t know what that means but most of them will likely be too drunk to ask any questions, and if they do they can be told that it is a new kind of ballot box that will withstand the X rays of populist investigation. Just do this boys and make the Tennessee democrats mad with envy. Of course it don’t make the least bit of difference what you promise, you don’t intend to perform it anyway. * * * Old Uncle Ben Colvin lives at St. Charles, Michigan. He is an old greenbacker, one of the .anti-fusion and anticompromising kind. He has held his town in line against both old parties for twenty years. Some one wrote and asked him to give the difference in the cost of a SIOO bank bill for 20 years. Here is his reply: “A national bank SIOO for 20 years costs the people $230 to keep it afloat, while the government SIOO costs the people nothing but the printing of it to keep it afloat for 20 years. Now to prove: The bond under the bank drawing 4% per cent in twenty years would be S9O without compound. A banker never loans his money below 7 per cent. That would be $l4O in 20 years without compound; adding that to the s9o,.thej;e is a clean robbery of $230 drawn out, of the people and handed over to the banker. That same SIOO government bill is the redeemer of the national bank bill. Why not the government issue the money and save that to the people? * * ♦ The union carpenters of Cripple Creek have given an example of what some people will call foolishness, but the more thoughtful will characterize as an aunusual example of the spirit of fairness to and consideration of their fellow men in distress, which should, but does not, find imitators in other callings. After the recent fire had destroyed the greater part of that city the Carpenters’ union met in special session and resolved that the question for an advance of wages, which had been under consideration before misfortune had overtaken the city, should be indefinitely postponed, and that no advance on the old rate of wages would be asked pending the rebuilding of the burned district. Those having stocks of lumber, hardware an<l other building material cn hand were not so thoughtful of their unfortunate neighbors who were burned out. The business men took advantage of the prevailing distress and extraordinary demand t6r building material and provisions and advanced the prices of everything exorbitantly. There wap hone of that “fellow feeling that makes us wondrous kind” to be found among the business men. There are many examples of this

kind occurring ewy dag that prove a more sympathetic fooling among tho alleged lower walks of life than there are among the pillars of the commercial world. It in true that the rich and powerful stand together better than do the working classes, but then it is for the purpose of more easily robbing the weak and unprotected. They are not producers and their whole timers given to the Btudy of the science of fleecing their fellow man without running the risk of getting into the penitentiary. And this is called business. Collis P. Huntington secures an extension for the payment of the Pacific railroad debt and the right to fleece the people for anothe'r long term of years. It may have cost him several million dollars. What is that to him? The people pay the freight. The people sire cotitrolling the railroads, you know. Tho burning of towns and disasters of cyclones don’t disturb Huntington and his class. * « * The Star and Kansan says: “Up at Leavenworth last week there was a destitute woman with nine young children, who had to be provided! for the by charitable people tberq. Her husband was in jail for defrauding the United States government Ignorant of wrong he had used a cancelled two-cent stamp in mailing a letter; and for this crime he was sentenced to the federal penitentiary for two years! That is the 3ame sentence the republican state treasurer of South Dakota received for stealing $350,000. Think of it A poor man with a large family dependent upon his labor for support, and our '.vise and just and humane government ilives him two years iu prison for robbing it of two cents. Carnegie cheats ibe government out of hundreds of thousands by furnishing defective armor plate, and President Cleveland remits most of the fine imposed on him. But the poor man who defrauds Uncle Sam of two cents is left to rot in Jail, while his family starves. A beautiful system, a noble civilization and a grand government, surely! Can’t we improve tipen such methods and punish ihe big rhieves a little more and the small ones a little less. Can c we approximate a little more closely to justice and reason in our penalties? If we can’t, it’s about time to conclude that the experiment of human government is a failure. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” A social system based on the ideas of interest, rent and profit for idlers, at the expense of the toilers, can’t work out any better, though. It .3 the worst imaginable form of anarchy. * ■» * 1 ho Globe-Democrat, one of the most ao’.e.ul and loud boasting of the goldoug sheets seems to have given up all n-;.a of the gold men being able to control the democratic national convention. In a recent issue it says: “Probably the silver crusade in the democracy is not quite a 3 formidable -uj its champions believe or pretend, out it seems to be gaining in strength n the party in the south and west. It .3. immensely aided the inactivity ■it the sound money side. Here is the roe My dangerous feature of the situa.icn. Apathy has attacked most of the gold democratic leaders. A sort of Chinese fatalism has seized them, and .n a stolid and despairing way they watch tbs silverites capture delegation after delegation, anti appear to think hat the disaster which awaits their Party is a decree of destiny which can o: be averted. Heretofore, in fights .n finance, the conservative element of :ho democracy has managed to save the extremists from themselves, but in his instance the latter are allowed to ■ c-rk their c-.vn will without any seri>l.3 opposition from their party. It has jeen within the power of the gold element of the democracy to not only conrol their national convention, but to create a sentiment which would crush rut all the spirit of revolt apaong the silver men but their opportunity for ioing either is passing quickly from hem. * H? * The above ebullition was prompted ;y the declaration of Evan P. Howell, -he Atlanta Constitution. Mr. wowell said: “If we can’t get what we .vent.' in Chicago we will walk out and -o off and form a party of our own.” The Ciobe-Deinccrat admits that the .meat coming ircn> such a man as To,veH “means mere” than it would rom iillrnan end ether wild men who •re talking in this strain. Says tb.q Iche-Democrat: “There is a chance, of course, that rue oi me threats which have been .u.de oi bolts at. Chicago are bluff, de- - util to Lighten the sound money k e Into submission, and are not ini ruled to be carried out. Tillman’s ui.cndiary talk, or most of it, is prob,J7 this order. Yet Tillman conrcls the delegation of his state, and eiy likely can make it do his bidding, jven to tho extent of repudiating his nrty s candidate and platform if these ire for gold. To he sure, the primacy n the southern states which South mrolina snatched from Virginia when Calhoun went to the front in the ‘3os,’ ma which she held along to 1861, has teen lost since, yet possibly if she left the convention some of the other states of her locality would follow her as they did when she left the union. A large part of the south is tainted with the free silver virus in 1896, as it was with secession poison thirty-six years ago. A bolt engaged in by Georgia, the ‘Empire state of the south,’ would be especially dangerous.”