Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1874 — WHAT WILL YOU DO? [ARTICLE]

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Mr. M. D. Richardson, formerly a citizen of Jasper county, has been nominated for re-election to the .office of clerk of Missapkee county, Michigan. Their election will be hold in November. Contracts on the Chicago & South Atlantic railroad, between Delphi and Monticello, were let on the 14th instant. Lyman Bridges & Co. were awarded the depots, tanks, etc.; Gautche & Co. the grading and Tippecanoe river bridge; and John Troxel & Co. the Wabash river bridge. Col. Frederick Grant and Miss Ida Maria Honore were married in Chicago, day before yesterday.— Col. Grant’s father is President of the United States, and his wife’s relatives are very wealthy and aristocratic ; therefore all the toady papers in this glorious Republic were filled next morning with the details of the affair, in which they even published an inventory of the feminine guests’ underclothing. To a class of people it was very interesting reading! The vote on Congressman in the counties of this district, on the 13th day of October 1874, was as follows:

In O I ft B H E. 1 3-5 Counties. IS— n 3 I= “ EE. Ft. Joseph 21)90 3045 Laporte 2475 3231 —Porter . 4641 f lisa Lake 1478 1119 5tarket......77............ Pulaski 7)6 1015 White 1281 1331 Carro'l 1845 2071 Jasper., 875 761 Newton 761 557 Haymond'e majority ... 543

Returns' from Starke county will probably increase Dr. Raymond's majority to over (500. The official vote for Prosecuting Attorney in this district last week was as follows:

- Kepuhticn. t^enreefts I jl H < f |-| B C C - L ~couu m. rs iI- § | in! r i B-ulon y.... 325 | 481 115 707 Newtou ........... 408 j 75 61 766 Jasper 631 |4f}2 623 | 10 l’ulifki...: 644 148 146; 440 Total. 21361 805 j 1153!1923

Benton, Newton on.] Jasper gave -majorities for the Republican Mate ticket, while Pulaski went Democratic; vet the latter was the only one that gave Mr. Thompson a majority. Had the Republicans united on Jlr. Thompson, and the oppose lion had but one candidate, he would have been beaten. Either Mr. or Mr. Yeoman could have defeated him. Mr. Thompson has beeii an energetic officer, but for some reason he does not make a strong political race.

Let the people in every township Keep agitating the subjeet of a political party pledged to the interests ot the laboring classes. The Indianapolis Joutnt/. is crying out to the leaders of the Republican party that that organization must become more a people’s and less an officeholders party, and that it nib St absolve itstli of the third term heresy if it would he the dominant power of the future. These are admissions that nevts-wotrftf have; been made did they ndt feel the. scepter slipping from their grasp. It is only on death beds, or while suffering the agonies of remorse or tear, that such admissions are made. Let the people go on in the way they have oommeiTced and sot falter or be turned aside from their purpose, until the power of monopolies is broken, political rogues are swept from offiee, taxes are lowered, official salaries bear a juster relation t* the earnings of men in private life whose labors are of a similar character, and until and not money is the controlling influence with those who make and administer the laws. The little brush ou the 13th was only a skirmish. Two years hence a batitle will be fought. Importanthave been gamed, now d'ortify and strengthen them by jbonesfy of purpose and judicious -work. Organize in every school district and debate the purposes of this popular movement with £very a.uler,

Every person who lives in Rensselaer, orhasifcVer visited the place, will agree thjat it is delightfully located in the midst of a fertile country. Surrounding the county seat of Jasper county are some of the finest farming lands in the State. Ordinarily they produce excellent crops of corn, oats tots, grass, fruit, vegetables, and the like. The cattle, horses, mules and hogs bred here compare favorably with those raised under like circumstances and with similar care anywhere. Corn, on these farms, yields sixty to seventy-five bushels to the acre; oats about thesame; wheat of good quality can be grown when the crop is properly cultivated, (though it sometimes winterkills and is not so sure a crop as corn or oats), and yields from filteen to twenty bushels an acre; timothy and clover grow luxuriently and produce from two to two and a half tons per acre; rye yields well; Hungarian grass and millet produce splendid crops ; potatoes produce bountifully when they escape the ravages of the Colorado hug ; sweet potatoes anti yams are cultivated successfully by many farmers and in nearly every garden; beans, peas,cabbage, turnips, melons, vines and all varieties of garden vegetables known to the latitude require only ordinary cultivation to make prodigious growth; while apples, pears, cherries, and small fruits are a sure crop almost every season, and peaches and plums come m prof ustoit .whcit;. ever the winters and springs are not too severe. If one does not care about farming, he may turn his attention to the dairy. And there is not a finer field for dairy operations in i’ e known world. Natural pasturage is abundant, or if tame grasses are preferred, blue grass, white ■ctorver.'tiHiothv or red clover can he easily cultivated. There is a good home market far cheese and ! butter, always, the year round — To-day cheese retails at our stores for twenty-two cents a pound, and butter is selling for .twtmtv-five cents. Certainly there could not j be better prices desired for these articles when the small expense connected with their production is j taketttntoCM Farms are easily made in this region. There is plenty of rich, black, loamy, prairie land for cultivation, which only needs to have the sod turned over to produce,a fair crop the first season. There are no stones to gather up and cut l out of the way, no forests to cut down and clear off, no grubbing to he done; but all that is necessary to do, is to put a team to plowing, and let the planter follow after. — Although people do not have to cut away timber to make farms here, there are groves and belts of oak sufficient to meet all present demands for purposes of fencing and fuel. After a field or farm is enclosed, farmers now pretty generally plant hedge rows for their outside protection, using usage j orange for this purpose. It does admirably and in the course of only a few years—froin five to seven —will turn cattle or horses and continues 4o grow better ever afterwards, only needing to be kept trimtueiLdowu in proper shape. The people now inhabiting this region are active, intelligent, hospitable, kind and, liberal in their opinions. Neat school houses are found in every settlement, and they pay teachers rather more -wages than is paid them in neighboring counties, and we believe a little better than average rates, taking the balance of the State over. A great many newspapers and periodicals are taken by the people, public libraries, are well read, and everybody strives to keep posted upon the current topics of interest. As a matter of course such a community avoids litigation, and there arc comparatively few crimes committed in it. During fifteen years only four persons have been sent to the penetentiary from -the county and.but two sentenced to jail; and two of those sent to penetentiary were not residents of the county. There is no jail in i in Jasper county, nor has there been since its present organization fifteen or .sixteen years ago, ;il-

.though its quiteanght thousand souls. A ■ Religious subjects receive as much thought here as elsewhere, and among the denominations reprepresented, which man tain church organizations and support ministers are the Baptists, Free Will Baptists, Disciples, Church of God, Episcopal Methodists, Protestant Meth odists, Presbyterians, United Brethren aqd Roman Catholics.— Other denominations also have individual representatives in this county, and there arc to be met Episcgpalians, Unitarians, Universalists, Spiritualists, and besides these there are many Freethinkers. Although people are good citizens and excellent neighbors here; although the climate, soil, and location are good to excellent; although there are many improvements of a permanent nature, and although it is a very desirable place in which to settle and make a home, yet there are drawbacks even here and a lack of perfection. Rensselaer is twelve miles from a railroad. have churches, schools, shops, stores, printing offices, public buildings, mills a.ud hotels, but we are away back from the world. Corn, oats, and other produce sells for good prices, but they must be carted many miles to market ; dry goods, lumber, iron, drugs, medicines, hardware, groceries, coal, and every other commodity which we import lor use, has to be brought by teams miles and mil6s before it (Uhl reach our doors.— All this costs money. It costs each year the’iutorest on a - big sum of money. Every thousand feet of lumber used to build houses, costs twenty-live per cent, on first investment to bring it from the railroad; every ton of coal costs front forty to sixty per cent. And all other things bear a greater or very little less proportion. We need a railroad. Every farmer within ten miles needs a railroad built through Ren § selaer. Every person in Rensselaer suffers iu his business every day for want of railroad advantages. With a railroad, Rensselaer will quadruple her population m live yea; s, and Jasper county would double hers in the same time.. We can have a railroad before another crop is ready for market, it all who would be benefited by it will go to work with a determination ter secure it. The Chicago and South Atlantic Railroad company have let contracts, and are at work within thirty miles of' us both north and south, and soon they will ask us what we propose to do about it. From present indications tl.at enterprise is sure to be completed, and will be in running condition between Delphi and Chicago within twelve months. Shall it call at Rensselaer on the way, or shall it go six or seven miles east and ruin ns forever ?

The Chicago Tribune , commenting upon the Republican disasters in Ohio and Indiana, advances the following theory Troiu its point of observation: What arc the causes of this series of disasters? In our judgment, they do not signify that the country is warming toward the Democratic party per se, but rather! that the sins of the present administration are too previous to be borne, and that, unless there is a speedy and radical reformation in that quarter, the people will even vote for an old-line Democrat for Pfesidentin order to have a change. That the Administration of Gen. Grant has been the most profligate, reckless, and corrupt, and the one most indifferent to public opinion, that has ever borne sway in-Wash-ington, is the private opinion of hundreds of Republican leaders who have not the courage to give tongue to their thoughts. Look back no farther than the developments of the last Congress—at the Sanborn frauds which brought no other punishment upon the Secretary of the Treasury than his appointment to an office of life-ten-ure in the Court of Claims Look at the District of Columbia investigation, followed by the renomination of- Boss Shepherd to the Chairmanship of “District Government. Look at the Fort Snelling swindle, which has not been investigated at all. Look at the Salary-Grab. Look at the official brutality with which the State of Louisiana has been treated from t.he beginning These things coming upon the heels of a long list of unblushing frauds perpetrated m the previous four years of

Gen. Grant’s Presidency-—frauds which were said to have been dis- j proved by his re-election, but which were not disproved nor even condoned—have at Last begun to tell on the supremacy, and even'on the life of the Republican organization, j Added to all this is the penumbra ! of a third term casting its chill upon the party. The shameless i abuse of the appointing power, and the conversion of post-offices and collectorships into political engines to advance the interests of a* few individuals at the expense of all others, is a chronic malady too deep seated to be cured by preaching. Nothing but the terror of condign punishment at the ballotbox will be of any avail to arrest that evil. The whole tone of public life has been lowered by influence and example of the present Administration to such a degree that many have fairly desponded of Republican institutions. In a good, sound, common sense editorial upon “Bayonets as Peacemakers” the Christian Union of thfe 14th instant, makes these observations : * * * Every Democratic convention declaims about carpet-bag misgovernment, the invasion of State rights, and so on. But the commentary on the text is that with these same professions the party in Congress has shown, as a party, nothing better than blind partisanship and undtscriminating opposition. The tone of Republican conventions toward the South calls for fuller consideration. We observe but one strain of talk at these gatherings, and in the platforms which they put forth. “The negroes are being abused; the old slaveholders’ spirit is rampant; the government must defend the freedmeu in their rights.” Men as able as Mr. Conklin and Mr. Dawes have nothing but this to say about the South in their respective State ponventions; and all the strict party organs re-echo the cry. But a different sentiment appears in the more impartial journals of both the secular and religious press. The treatment of the Southern problem as a revival of the issues of the rebellion is ceasing to satisfy the better sentiment of the North. It is widely felt among intelligent men that the outrages upon the colored people are greatly exaggerated fur political effect, and, in special, that Federal military interference is not the best way to stop - There is no .doub t that in certain localities the freedmen have had ill usage, and in some cases very gross ill-usage. But, as to the extent of it, testimony is to be received with great rare. There are at the South a class'of adventurers whose political existence depends on keeping the country in a state of alarm in behalf of the freedmen. Many of these men hold office under the general government, and at the same lime control .the local Republican vole: thus they have double access to the public ear, through governmental channels, and through partisanorgans at the North. Thanks to these gentry, the reports of ku-kluxism which flood the ebunt'-y just before an election have to be taken with large discount. * * * You cannot civilize men by bayonets; and a Southern community cannot be brought to the New England standard by the intervention of United States marshals with the army at their back.

Gen. Brady, Chairman of the Republican State Committee, started tor his home in Delaware county last night; but, before he left, I sought the opportunity for a conversation with him as to what be thought the causes of the defeat. Tie is firmly of the opinion that it arose from the discontent of the people over national affairs; tjiat the campaign was silently worked ; out in the minds of the people on | that basis; and that State politics and tbe State Administration hart very little to do with it. Had the people and tbe National Government been en-rapport with each other, with the splendid record of the officers of State who were presented for reelection, there could have beep little doubt of the result But the people would not listen to argument. Political meetings everywhere were a failure ; Stator Pratt nowhere in tne State had a j really respectable meeting. Men | had their minds made up, apparent- j ly, and it seemed impossible to move them. In this regard, the Democrats were no better off than Republicans ; and the General believes that the total vote cast will show that the Republicans have been defeated by their own voters staying away from the polls, in tjbte hope that a defeat brought about from such causes will teach a lesson from which profit will inure two years hence. He proposes, as editor of the Muncie Times, to take this position squarely in his paper, and attribute the defeat to Republican mismanagement. When he assumed charge of the campaign, he made a preliminary visit to each

of the counties of the State, and returned to the Capital impressed with the belief that the only chance of success to the Republican party was in creating a diversion in the public mind in favor of the temperance issues as presented in the platform. He believes it possible to avoid an enthusiasm upon the local-option proposition which would engage the minds of the people, and temporarily draw them fronf the consideration of National politics. But he was overruled.— Senator Morton opened the campaign in bis Terre-Haute speech, which utterly failed to infuse any vigor into the canvass. Speakers everywhere fought over the old issues. The Civil Rights bill, the tariff, the currency, etc., were de bated by all the politicians, and to people whose ears were dull to the seductive tones of the antiquated tunes. The canvass was utterly spiritless. As a dernier resort, after Senator Morton’s return from Arkansas, the attempt was made to change front. The Louisiana outbreak furnished the occasion, and, under the lead of Morton, the train of “Southern outrages” xvas fired, and for a few days there was a popping and fizzing that passed for real enthusiasm and indignation with a great many. But it was a melancholly failure; the Northern heart refused to be aroused by the troubles of Mr. Kellogg and* his associate rogues, and the result was, ) that tte Republicans lost heavily by the maneauver. It was like changing front in the face of the enemy; a dangerous tactic, and never resorted to by a skillful commander. It is possible that victory could have been achieved had Gen. Brady’s plan been adopted, but the hard times had burned and seared its lessons deeply, and it is questionable whether, even with the enthusiasm attending the temperance movement in the early summer, people would have consented to postpone the day of retribution to the party they held responsible, as people always do and always will, for every ill, real or fancied, from which they were soffering,-*- Cor. Chicago Tribune. The success of the Democratic party is no cause of congratulation with us, and never, until victory perches upon the banner of the independent party, will we see a sufficient cause to rejoice. We have east our lot. with the Independent party in good faith—knowing that through assiduous labor it can achieve success, ami that by the success of the Independent party alone, will the rights of the laboring man be recognized.— Those who have predicted that the People's Press would abandon the party in whose interest it was startecf, adopt the role oT the' time-serv-ing who follows with fulsome adulation those who have achieved success, will be mistaken; for now, more than ever before, has the cause of the laboring man i.eeome our cause —their interest our interest—their defeats our defeats—and their victories our victories. With them we will bear defeat with fortitude, and accept victory with moderation. Nor are ! we alone in this contest; there are earnest, honest thinking men, who have ignored both of the old poitical parties, who are acting with us, and in their co-operation the success of the organ that represents their principles and interest is assured. —Kentlaml Press

If is again universally- admitted that our election machinery is very defective in the method', of counting the vote, but will anybody apply the remedy ? Public opinion has long ago settled to the conviction that this remedy may be found in providing a counting board for all the precincts where the vote ex- 1 * ceeds one hundred, both boards to act as counting boards after the polls are closed. Extra ballot boxes, properly guarded, would keep the machinery all at work, and the result could thus be reached before the human beings composing election boards had become wearied into stupidity by closeconfinement, monotonous labor and loss of sleep. The present system is as clumsy as going to mill with the grist in one JgntFof • the bag and a stone in the" other, to balance it. Let it be amended. We respectfully call the attention of our newly elected Cass county Solons to this matter. —LoganspoH Journal. V On Wednesday Mr. Fowler paid $13,600, the balance of Lis very large donation of $40,000 on our new court house. As this beautiful temple approaches completion, every citizen points to it with pride, as a public building in every way wortny of the progressive and growing interests of Benton county, and one that has few, if any, equals in point of finish, convenience and elegapce. There were no “put up jobs” or “steals” in its construction, and for $55,000 we will have the best (though not the largest) and most complete court house in Indiana, wbi'e it will, show the work for every dollar put in it. —Fowler HeruM. j