Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1890 — INDIANAPOLIS NEWS LETTER. [ARTICLE]

INDIANAPOLIS NEWS LETTER.

Indianapolis. Aug. —, 1890. Around the hotels of this city almost Any evening the observer may find a gathering of politicians discussing matters of political issue and canvassing the situation. Tha Democrats most affect the Grand and Bates, while the Denison is the most favored resort of the Republicans, but a sprinkling of each party will be found at all the hotels. A gathering up of the political gossip as it is dropped at the various hotels will give a very good idea of the drift of public opinion. The pension Question is still agitating a good many feoule, and a small portion of the old veterans are still trying to make a great fire out of nothing. A day or two ago”, kanong the hotel gossippers I met an 'Old veteran, one who had seen much Add hard service during the war, and Asked him tb give me his opinion on (the pension question. He said: “Well, I was strongly in favor of a service .pension, and am not certain that I am tyot still in favor of it, but my views considerably modified from what lihey were a month or so ago. Like a Hbod many others I had reached the jobnclusion that the government was dealing with we old soldiers in a very niggardly manner, but when I got to thinking of the millions th*t were being paid every year in pensions, and the many thousands of old soldiers who were on the pay roll of the government in one employment or another, End of the magnificent honms that have' been built and endowed for the of- the veterans, I came to the conclusion that after all the government been pretty liberal. There were itill hundreds and thonsands of the boys who were noton the pension rolls, jmd they are getting old and from various reasons cannot work as they onoe could, and now that the pension ; [oils have been opened to them, and hey have been provided for, in a great neasure at least, I guess we have little fWt to complain of. It is likely the me will come when a service pension ill be given to all who took part in the War, but it does seem to me that the demand now so urgently made takes away, in a great measure, the merit of our sacrifices for the Country. When we gave ourselves to the service it was not with any expectation that after the close of the war we should ba pensioned, and it does seem to that to now clamor so loudly for legislation of that kind is to say to the world that we place a money value on our sacrifices. I find this feeling growing. The new law is not in all things as we would like to have it, but it is a great step in advance of anything that has before bben done, and there is not an old soldier in the land who is fool enough to believe that had the Democrats remained in power, it would have been taken. All the pension legislation on the books is of Republican origin and became laws by Republican votes. The old soldiers are not to be caught by Democratic chaff.” Among the gossipers the other evening was a prominent farmer from one Of the,sfbhffiern counties, a leader in the new movement among the agriculturists. I asked him what he thought of the condition of affairs and what it Was the farmers dts'red. -“Congress has already done much that we desired, and I am gratified 1o say that it has been done in advance of our asking. In that they have somewhat disappointed us. and we are disposed to feel a little sore over .iL—MLe—had made up oar finds that we could not get what we wanted without a struggle, and we are making { reparations for the struggle and we are disappointed ! at not having a light. The silver bill w 11 be a great boon to tb9Country, and ' farmers are already beginning to feel the benefit of it. \Y r e believe It will causa a general increase in prices which will be to our benefit. We are not as raid of the tariff bill, but hone it will pass in such a shape as to protect our home market. I saw in a Democratic paper the ether day a comparison of land values in certain counties in Ohio. One of the counties was peculiarly agricultural and the other was filled with manfnetories. The price of land in the former had greatly deprecated, and in the latter it had greatly increased, and the paper dedeuced the argument that the depreciation in the one was owing to the tariff, and therefore, the farn.e *s ought lo be opposed to protection. The editor forgot that farmers are able to reason for themselves, and that they would at once reach the conclusion that if the value of farms was owing so their proximity to manufacturing centers, the farmers would or oi/ght to be in favor of that policy that would build up manufactures. But. after all, we are more interested in State matters than in national just now. for there is where the shoe pinches. We demand that debt-mak-ing on the part of the authorities shall cease, and the 'pay-as-you-go’ system be adopted instead. We demand that extravagance shall cease in the buildlag and equipping ol public institutions. We are satisfied with plain ingrain carpets on our floors, and think we are living in luxurious style when we have them, and we are opposed, so furnishing $3,001 “orth of Persian rugs Tor the office ot an insane hospital. We believe in taking away from (County commissioner? the power -to contract debts, and in cutting down the fees and salaries of county officers. iAU of these thirgs the Democratic party has in the past opposed. If Congress will now do what it can to jmakc trade with other countries more •easy, either by reciprocity or aiding in khe building of steamship lines, so jth&t we earn find a good market for our surplus, the farmers of Indiana will te khe most prosperous people in the ww h ui 8 w,TV Ia ? in

and anyone who will linger around the hotels for a while and hear the views there expressed, will reach the conclusion that Republican success this year is a thing that can reasonably be counted on. The Republicans are not only hopeful, but enthusiastic, while the Democrats are despondent. They don’t like the talk about the State debt. Tfc wnrrloa tham 'Let them worry. Nicodemus.