Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1892 — MALCONTENTS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MALCONTENTS.

A STORY FOK AMERICANS OWntSlttO BT CORA 8. HOOD. CHAPTER VI BRAMBLE BVL*.

Idle turnaces. dismantled factories, Silent mines, unemployed_workm«u and general dlstresß are the snra huthtngsrs of DeraooraUc Victory.—Bon. William McKinley. At ia&t the exchlng electoral canvass was •ter.' Its remit was seen .In the victory of the Polk and Dallas party and JanjoiK. Polk was Inaugurated with due caremdny, March 4th, Manufacturers sighed and submitted, WhHe labor was jubilant, ihe seeds of dissension, eo unscrupulously sown, had. resulted la a bountiful harvest of workingmen’s votes and biasing bonfires and shouts of triumph testified to tlielr joy at the result of Democratic ■Victory. A year passed by and- for a WhHe Ml went on as usual In and without the Fletcher Works, out, even before that period had ex-' pired, a suspicion waaawnkening in the minds of the people that a great fraud had been hidden behind.that cry of “Polk, Dallas and the Tar IT 0f’42.” vS? Manufacturers throughout the oounttry began to fear another low tariff era and their fears were not without foundation, for In 1846 toe party, la power did indeed repeal the famous tariff of ’42, which they had so eoiuittnly promised to defend, and that repeal was only made possible by the casting vote of toe traitor protectionist, George M. Dallas t Although the bill, now introduced lor a very low tariff, was bravely fought by the Whigs in Congress and by Protectionists throughout the country, It was established in spite of toeir protests and too tariff or ’46, the lowest tariff the United States has ever known, and which was praettoniiy Iree trade, became a law.

That immediate ruin did not result was due to extraneous onuses. A famine in Ireland, snort crops in Europe, tba Mexican war, the Crim. an war and the discoverv of gold in Ca'lxornla all contributed to postpone the evil flay, bnt as soon «* these unusual recourses Were out off, the old disastrous consequences enßueu. ~=* - ~ - • —-— ; The British free trade doctrine, out Into praotice by the tariff of ’46, destroys! our chief industries, i>«p>!yzed all business and epaln were thousands or men and women thrown into enforced idleness. —-Merchants and manu(»oiurers grow pale with apprehension and labor in turn grew rest-' ivo. The country was flooded with foreign goods, many factories closed and others kept on working at lowered prices. Manufacturers, workingmen, morohants nnd farmers ali shared in the general rulnand distress. “Wages must ooma down I" at lost cried Capital throughout the country. sering no<oostte dowjtt *" Bhrieked sufAs the months passed by times grew worse instead of better; mnnufao: urerebecame bankrupt and street corners in the numerous towns nqd citios were fllled with idle, excited men. ■ - . - - • Thorpe Fletcher, through all the trouble 6! these years, had kept his workmen employed and we I paid, but at length be saw that the heavy tosses he was daily incurring would soon result in immediate bankruptcy and ruin, and he too wag obliged to join the gener al ory and to declare that wages must be reduced. The result was one of the most disastrous riots in ibe State. - ‘One evening, during this time, three men •at crouching over a miserable fire kindled on the Kelly hearth. They were Gaffer Gwynne? Joe Dartle and Gentleman .Kelly, and they ?JR° ke . *“ wh'spered, confidential tones, although Mrs. Kelly had bean sent to the corner •tore and the ehlidren were la their beds. k'ttle Nora, grown into « tall, thin, deiloate girl, hud been very ill since Uhristmas and **y ,°n a couch in the corner, tdssine uneasily with pain and raverr 8 „ T e fL ®uttered Kelly, with an oath; an the folne doin'* goia’ on op to the house Just the samq, wld the mm a dylu' like sheep in the town! There’s to be a grand it addin’ in a few days and them hyperorltcs Is tosail fer forrin'parts. Mm. Peytou, she» to be,” be cave a mookIng emphasis to ths name, ‘•nn’ a prouder, more risteeratlo hussey ’twould be hard to lolnd. ___■ *v >■ . -■ ■ ‘"S l *’? ® bare week In and week out an’ faith she* sot my own family op again me and thin eke and Fieteher pertlnds thewanfof H°r rak aB lOtS m,n Iw Dlevllngs brighten a* they tak ’ their flight. Work bad been waiting for many years at Kelly’s very doer yet nev P desire to embrace It until it was beyond hisVenoh. »*» »» wer s ® or " whipers between the men and Kelly ended with: ’But we’ll take our revinge out of ’em, b’ys. Fieteher an’ his Miss Ithel 1 Damn shrill, trembling voloe cried tJFVILJ*?* y«r damn my Miss Ithel, you d«ro yer? I hate I hale yer I" h# * 1 a °’ *“ 11 * toh y#r wu doad 1 « <KI h ® r tl»lo, white face workt l r* k u h f r ,p un y ? 8t la (SttSSSSiSSIf* r Half on hour later Mias Floieher, sitting idly ULWk* l * Dre ’ lookfld »P *e see a white 1 . by p “P«oemraily bi’illiaut eve*, * lo *® sgalast the window pane, The bilL.ta b t o^i 0 J 7 l ti v and Ht® threats she f dreadful, that ths aross with a shriek of terror, then ashamed of her mooroaaod th » worn and threw back the window. Stjte w, i ll * ra (?ged shawl covering her bare head and a scanty, torn dress hangsjSSSaSSSSS? iSutStlSf *“* <U UU°me/’* *** * llttls, and then you can Mulched her thin throat wRh jya.xar’ffira Si *” *" ®«> °“ <JS'v&tsvtisivi » wEsSpbsmi

They’* to Are It to-night, true ns there’s a God they Is, fayther, Gwynne an’ Dartie?" There was suoh terrible earnestness In, Nora’s voice that Ethel Fieteher never paused to doubt. • • ' f The next Instant she was In the hall calling to Fieteher and Peyton, and by thhysound-of clanging doors and hurrying footsteps down the path, the listening otilld knew that her words had been heeded. When Miss Fletcher returned she found Nora unconscious on the floor, a tiny Stream of blood staining the white fur of the hearth rug on whieh ebe bad fallen. AS Ethel Fletcher knelt and raised the sad, unohitdiike face to her besom, Nora’s dark • yes opened with a look Of Ineffable happiness. "Would yer mind a fcfsstn’ me, Miss Ethel?” Then, ns the kiss touched her lips, “l couldn’t let him damn yer, no, not if he is my fayther 1" A pau-e, in whieh she labored lor breath, and then, looking once up at the pitying ey»» above her and clutching her loved teacher’s hand, she asked: ‘•yer quite sure, Miss Ethel, about Jeans, his a lovin' me, an’ wantin’ mo in Heaven?” And Ethel Fletoher, her hot tears falling upon the stiffening tom in her arms, did not speak, for she knew by the smile on the dead ohlid'e lifts, that the answer had reached her. As Fletcher and Peyton drew near the works the oouoting-room windows wsre Illumined from within, and tiny streams of smoke were curling through the loosened e«ehee. Fieteher drew his brea'h sharply, and tightened his grasp on Peyton’s arm. ’’We’re too late, the whole plaee is on Are from within 1 Bun, give the alarm, Peyton, I must see if some of the machinery can he saved." Regardless of personal danger he hurried to the side of the building with th»ldeaof forcing an entrance, and the door yielded to his powerful blows, letting out a blinding eloud of smoke as it tell. As hsstspped backward, halt sillied, he ran against* matt who was trying to slip past him In the darkness. In an instant be had turned, and, graspiag a small stsewy figure by ths throat, recognized, by ths now bright light from the burning building, the smooth, villainous countenance of Gen tinman Kelly. - - - . “ This la your work is it, you eowardly hound P* orled Fletoher. Then a sense of this man’s base ingratitude, and a realization of what those ruissd buildings meant for him, caused him to tighten his grasp on Kelly’s throat, and to Shake ths cowardly wretch until he whimpered for maray. A shot, sharp and cruel, rang out upon the air ; in the blaze Gaffer Gwynue stood revealed for one instant, a smoking pistol m his old, trembling hand, and, as Fletcher with* groan relaxed his hold on Kelly’s throat, and fell lifeless la the doorway of nla burning faotory, G Wynne’s unshaven, terror-airloken tae« disappeared In the darkness. ’ f CHAPTER VII. " ; v DALLAS HIOHTOAPB. The cry of bard times reaches us from every part of the country. The making of roads is stopped, factories are olosed and bouses and ships are no ieager built. Faotory hands, roadmakers, carpenters, bricklayers and laborers aro Idle and paralysis is rapidly embracing every pursuit In the country—Jv*w rarkePrUnm Jan. US, 1858. Weeks passed by after the burning of Fletcher’s factory bringing no relist to the starving poor. The buildings that had partially escaped the Saaee stood wltn blackened walls, olosed doers asd tall smoke stacks covered with barrels to protect them In their Idleness from the rusting frost and snow. These barrels were mockingly dubbed “Dallas Nightcaps” by the starving, desperate man whose votes had placed Dallas In power a few years before, and they oould be seen for miles around, hanging, weather beaten signals of distress, over ths silent factories where once happy, busy life had reigned. Ons cold winter’s day Margaret Gwynne and Joe Dartle again confronted each other In the path, which led to Margaret's home and looked down upon the ruined factories. Margaret’s face was pale asd wan and Dartle’s eyes, desperate and hungry leaking, gleaned Is his tu»shavsn fees with wolfish fierceness. They met ia anger and there wae a shrinking as of fear before! -An’so," sneered he, “ye’ve gone baok an poor folk,” then reading only too plainly the terror In bor eyes, ha sat down by the wayside end with a groan hid his face In his rough tkft&dfte -Damn ’em,” he cried,« tor takin* ye from me I What good has their lamin' an’ fine wars dams ys. Keg? Is aro starvin' Uke ths rsstof us, an’ they leave ye to die P The girl’s eyes, looking down at him with almost unearthly beauty, ware filled with team, Bhe clutched at the folds of her bleak shawl sad strove In vela to answer him. Seeing her weep, he loot all eontroi of hie paeelon, and, rising in his wm*. ha lifted Msclenohed hands toward heavsa t •Don’t yer be a eryte’ my girl, dent yer, or m true as them’s a God to heaven, I'M nse thoughtTr** MM * > IhM munJ “ *» my “And what good will murder dor* asked Ota trembling girl, calming him with a touch a? her hand. “If yog bad read and J«v

you would see It is your own fault that you are starving and not the fault ol the men you would murder." He gazed gloomily at her, yet stood quietly funder an influence that seemed to bring oalm and oomiort to his desperate mood. ‘Dock at yonder factories,” she continued, with unconscious oratorical power, raising hot young voice and pointing to the silent buildings below, ‘ “look at them, Joe, with their closed doors and :smock-staoks covered with those barrels to keep them from meting these idle days. Who closed those doors? Why, tho men you followed a few years ago. Whore is Lemuel Buckthorn? In Congress again; put there by your votes. Why, the boys call the barrels banking there ‘Dallas nightcaps, 1 yet, they themselves sent Ur. Dallas to Washington." . _ “le’re mighty wise," growled Dartle, with mingled anger nnd admiration. “I s’pose the grand folks ut the bouse told ye this. What else hev yer learnt?” "Miss Ethel taught mo many things in those bsppy days,” answers Margaret softly, “and now that she It gone It seems sometimes os though my lUe had gone with her. Yon know When grandfather was dying, Joo,” hero she struggled with a sob and smoothed the folds of her black dress, “Mr. Fieteher oame and talked to him. Oh,” with a wonderful lighting of tho eyas and a tremble in the rich voice, “how he talked 1 If you and I oould always listen to such we would never wieh hum to one of them again. He was pale from the very shot grandfather gars him that night you men burned, his factory down, and yet he went up to grandfather’s bed and said; ’Margaret tells me that you aro si ok and suffering, Gwynne, and I thought it might make you feel better If I called and told you that I bear no 111 wilt. God knows, l feel only pity tor you misguided men with your mistaken hatreds and atarving families.’ “Grandfather—he died the next day, you know—Just turned his ftos to the wall and orled like a ehihl. *God bless you, sir,’ he said, ’for coming. It is on my conscience that I raised a hand against you. You’ve been a good boss, and I know it Isn’t your fault that ths people are idle and starring. Would to Gbd we tad. listened to you from the first I* ’* Tlcept up as long •• I oeuld,’ wrM Mr. Fieteher, ’without reducing wages, and then I called the men together and told them I must give them lees until the pahle was over, but would not sloes tho works unices obliged tp. You know wbat happened then. They burned my faotory, threatened my life and home, and now I must go elsewhere; but If It is any comfort for you starving men to know it, I go a ruined man.’ Joe, Mr. Fletoher Is a good mas!” t “Yet yor ’good man’ leaves yer to starve, it seems,” sueered Dartle. Margaret’s pale face crew warm with the crimson blood as she replied: “I oould not take money from him 1 God knows he tklata 1 have plenty, tor, after Miss Ethel’s marriage, just before she walled, sh« called me and said: •Margaret, these are hard times, and worse days are ahead, and I could not tool happy if I thought of you as suffering. I have pittoed • sum of money In the bank far you, and you oan draw It as you need It. My brother will try to sell our home sad his property here, and will follow us to England soon—so use what 1 leave you carefully, and In a few months I will write and SSSB&S.(KA* ”»—»“• m Margaret paused many times to wipe away the tears ns she repeated the words. “Well, on’ where's yer money, then?" demanded Dartle, “Jos,” answered Margaret, with tar dark, earnest eyas turned toward tho quiet town, “do you think that I could have money in the hank and see poor folks a starving around me? I've drawn ont every penny, and thank God I had itto givel" ‘•An’ n starvin' on’ freezln’ yourselves to do It T* orled Dartle, “I am yoong and strong end It doesn’t matter.” said the girl. “There are many slok and old ones in tho town that need U more than I.” Dartle looked at her glowing. Inspired taee with awe, while e new emotion wee born in his breast and mastered him. With something very like a sob he bowed his heed. “An* ye such a slip of a girl, too 1 God be thanked tor such as ye, Msg. I’ve been a tad man, but God helpin' me, from this hour on Pm a changed ons 1” With a smile of aowly-horn trust Margaret took the hand held out to her, and together they wont down Into the fotnlne-eUloksn town. CHAPTER Will. THS SHADOW OF DEATH. ’’Who to hungry? Go sad ha You that era full ted and know net whet It ts to be hungry—perhaps never esw s hungry mam—go sad so* Go and MS thoaaoads. sun sad womea. bors •ad girts, old sad young, block sad white, at all ssssjSTJSfiisS’js .sr.i.t'Er *fy waives than human hetngs. tn a land ot BPvsrSagKessasSs (^•lasasiMnAWisfii mors abundant, end labor again bo to Osmond —ism Ttrk JHfasK, January It, 184»,

In spite of the general distress throughout the country, the Democrats were so thoroughly Imbued with the doctrines of British Free Trade,' that they persisted in maintaining the low Tariff, and foreign goods oontlnued flooding the markets, pebple were unemployed everywhere and money became soaroe In oonse luonoo of the enormous Importations. Soup. houses were opetted in the cities and towns, and thousands of starving peopis flooked to them dally to be fed. Margaret Gwynne and Dartle upon reaching the town entered one ot the soup houses and found Thorps Fieteher, with two other aentiemen, standing ia the midst ofthe motley crowd. “I hear that this soup kitchen Is one of your oiiarlties, Fletoher," said one of them. “A Christian work, the only trouble is we need more ot them daring these sad times.” “Yes," replied Fletoher, “I sustain this one but It is oontrary to my principles. Ido not like soap houses. They are a doßradation to this free oountry. Every man In town should be taking soup from Off his own table.” “Oh, they are a luzy lot,” drawl-id the other young man in a lower voloe, “This is easier don’t yon know than earning It Ours Is the grandest government on the taoa of tba earth for now everything Is obeap tor these poor devils. Did you ev.-r know a time before wh> n boots and shoes oould be bought for a m- re pittanoe? Why, our working msn ought to live like prlnoes I” “These ore disastrous times, sir, and you city politicians know it," retorted Fletoher. “What matters It to me U things are cheap If I have not the money to buy? lam oompeUed to start my faotory abroad la order to live but none the Icbb shall I mourn my ruined oountryl I consider these placards marked ‘cheap,’ displayed in all our shop windows, as badges of poverty, signals ot distress and couriers of famine and financial ruin!” The etnngsra turned to leave and Fieteher followed, altar speaking pleasantly to aome ot his best known workman in the orowd. As he crossed the room Margaret detected many an evil glsnee directed toward him. “Damn that aristocrat," muttered one man; “he pertanda to be our friend, and yet, ourse him, he’s a takin’ the gold we put in hie pocket to forrin’ parts and tanas us Jm» M starve." “He’s trying to sell his grand plus sod the plant,” said another. “Dtvll ot a plant we left him,” ofalmed in Kelly’s familiar brogue. “Faith, we seed to that ths night we were either smrahln* his windy* aa’ puttin’ a torch to the pile. Shura, he’s a white-livered coward, fer he nbrer so much ss lifted a finger aginet a man ot us, an* now he’s far runnln’ away wld thegowid we anted far him, and hopes to shtop our mouths wid a aoup house I” “fie damned if he do it P’ shouted the now excited crowd. TO BI OOHTINOXD.

CHARLIE DANA—“Serves you all right now for eating these nasty green apples. Here I had cut a nice ripe watermelon for you, too.”—Judge.