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VOL. VI. NUMBER 25.
MRS. REED IN MEXICO.
GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBESTHE GREAT
SANITARIUM OF THAT COUNTRY.
What the Wayfarer Has to Eat and How
it is Cooked—How a Mexiean Kitchen
Looks to an American —Other Pen Pie
tures of Equal Interest.
Cuantla, Mexico, Feb. 10, 1897.
We left the City and Valley of Mex
ico some ten days ago to seek the
warm, dry air of the Valley of Morelos
as a cure for one of the wretched ca
tarrhal colds that Mexico City invaria
bly inflicts on the unwary visitor. Any
interference with the organs of respira
tion at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet,
when the lungs are already severely
taxed,'is not regarded lightly by the
physician, and he is very apt to shift
the responsibility of his patient’s re
covery to a lower altitude and warmer
air. Cuantla and Cuernavaca are each
favorite sanitary resorts, being only
a few kdometers from Mexico City,
both well drained and with an altitude
of only 3,500 feet
Cuernavaca has the historical inter
est of having been a chosen resort of
the Emperor Maximillian and a coun
try home of Cortez, but is yet several
miles from the railroad. We selected
Cuantla as our sanitarium, owing to
its accsssibility. When one goes to
live in the nineteenth century, with Mex
ican indians, it is something to know
that two steel rails lead back to civili
zation, to friends and countrymen and
to the good o d Saxon speech.
An hour’s ride through water and
marsh carried us through a gap in the
mountains out of the Valley of Mexico,
and we then began the descent of
4,000 feet to the town -of Cuantla. It
was a charming ride of four hours
doubling on our course in the bewil
dering maze of mountain railway en
gineering. The snowy peaks of Popo
catapetl and Iztacuahett played hide
and seek with us coquettishly as we
rounded the mountain sides, and as we
descended into the valley, both altitu
dinally and latitudinally, the country
blossomed into tropical life and color.
Beds of wild poppies flashed in the
sunshine, vines trailed their colors
along the ground, and even the forest
trees bloomed. *
THE HOTEL MORELOS.
At the depot of Cuantla was nothing
that could speak English, but follow
ing a path betw< en sacks of sugar
piled up among the ruins of an old
monastery we found a battery vehicle
that looked as old as Cortez, and it
brought us to our present home, the
Hotel Morelos. My. limited Spanish
was sufficient to secure us clean, large
rooms on the sunny side of a quite ca
, pacious hotel. The floors and stair
ways are of red tiles made in the val
furniture is of Mexican manu
laeture: the mattresses and pillows of
Mexican wool. The riming room is on
the lower piazzi and looks out on a
patio full of flowers and tropical fruits.
A parrot talks Spanish to us while we
eat and then sings a martial song, in
which he fires much artillery at the
French. The broad upper galler
ies, on which all the bedrooms open,
are delightful sitting rooms, though
the-hotel boasts a parlor that is a per
fect museum of the feather-work, nee
dle-work and wax-work, in which the
Indians of Mexico are so clever. In
the hotel office well-to-do Mexicans
spend their time gambling openly,
though quietly.
Our food is- happily free from any
attempt at American cooking, such as
afflicted us in the Mexican metropolis.
In the morning we are served only
with coffee and sweet rolls, but the
coffee is the best I ever drank any
where. It is from the berry grown
here, is unadulterated, parched and
ground fresh at each meal, made very
strong and diluti d with boiling milk
A MEXICAN MEAL.
And to think that with such nectar
before us, the doctors should tell us
that at this high altitude coffee is bad
for the nervous system! At noon we
are served with an elaborate breakfast
in courses. An omelet made to perfec
tion, with a dish of rice cooked in a
meat and tomato sauce, corn.es first;
then beefsteak and fried potatoes, fol
lowed by two other meat dishes whose
identity is lost in a comcomitant of all
kinds of known and unknown vegeta
bles, berries, nuts, etc. A salad of the
crisp valley lettuce and red tomatoes
comes before the inevitable dish of
their beloved frijoles (beans), and all
is rounded off by a preserve of the na
tive fruits and a cup of coffee fit for
the gods. I omitted the bottle of
pulque that all Mexicans take with
this meal and with their evening dinner
because Americans seldom learn to
like it, despite its healthfulness and
cheapness. It tastes a bit like sour
whey and smells like rancid cheese,
but is a cure forthe insomnia that often
afflicts one in this climate, and is a
promoter of digestion and a nerve
quieter in what is a very nervous cli
inate. The native fruits are served at
meals and sold in the market place for
a few pennies. The chirimoya has a
Suggestion of acid that is “taking;”
the mamal is rich and nourishing, the
sapidillo not bad and the avocada pear
a fine salad. Watermelons the size of
small cocoanuts are always plentiful
in the market, but rather sickly in
taste; the muskmelons very good and
homelike.
THE MEXICAN KITCHEN.
A Mexican kitchen is something of
a ouriosity to an American. It con
sists of a long brick table, in which are
holes on top for holding charcoal, over
which the kettles and frying pans are
simmering. A closed compartment,
with the receptacle for charcoal under
neath, answers for an oven.
There is neither heat, smoke nor
chimney, and no light except from the
open door. Many of the cooking uten
sils are of native pottery, light as paper
and extremely cheap.
Since everything usefl here is of
home production, living is very cheap.
We pay, in Mexican money, $1.50 a day
for board, .6 cents fora bottle of pulque
and a few pennies to the servants for
any extra service. The landlord and
his family treat us with a friendly
THE PEOPLE’S PARTY PAPEWi
’°o,/
courtesy that is fru. iart, ana
the servants show a ches?4.9i activity
and devotion that is very agreeable
after the bad service in the hotels of
the Mexiean capital.
If there were nothing in life but to
bask in the air of a perfect climate, to
eat good food and be surrounded by
cheerful faces, one might happily
dream life away in Cuantla for a cen
tury or so. Although Cuantla is more
than four centuries old, the cemetery
seems to have been needed for little
else than as a resting place for heroes
who yielded up their lives in battle.
THE LAND OF MANANA.
The guide books call Mexico “the
land of manana” (tomorrow), but in
this little, city it is the land of day after
tomorrow. Telegrams are delivered at
the convenience of the operator, and
the mail, which arrives daily—about
forty-five letters for a population of
10,000 —at Ip. m., is not distributed
until 4 p. m.
All Mexico goes behind barred doors
and closed windows from 1 to 4 p. m.
for a siesta, and gets up to 5 o’clock
mass in the morning.
The temperature of Cuantly is re
markably even, varying little’froin 70
degrees night and day.
There is a rushing little stream, fed
by the snows of Popocatapetl, that
furnishes water power for a corn mill
and drainage for the town. A 20,000
acre sugar hacienda gives employment
to 4.000 of the inhabitants, and the re
mainder of them cultivate the soil, sell
pulque and other merchandise or sit in
the sun in the market-place. They are
a quiet people,devoted to their families,
pleasant to stringers, happy in their
gnorance and piety.
* NOISY CHURCH HELLS.
Nothing is noisy in Cuantla except
the church bells. The fierce old patri
ot, Jaurez, who confiscated the wealth
of the churches, suppressed their mon
asteries and nunneries and laid the
regulating hand of the law on the
clergy, left the belfreys undisturbed,
and the ponderous old Spanish bells,
cracked and unmusical, disturb the
serenity of the day and ni£ht with
noises loud and discordant enough to
shake the snow from the top of Popo
catapetl. The quality of bell-metal
the Spaniards brought to Mexico is not
the least of the evils they inflicted on
Mexico. As in all Mexican towns, a
large proportion of Cuantla’s inhabi
tants are the class of Indians who live
in huts and eat only tortillas and
frijoles, but their huts are buried in a
forest of tropical fruit trees and look
very picturesque
They are a music-loving people, and
music is furnished by all the munici
palities.
All Sundays are feast days, and the
favorite Sunday tune of the orchestra
here is Sousa’s Manhattan Beach
March. They are not, however, a two
step people, and the tune is apt to make
an American, homesick. - •
in:’. where m Hie Uirrreil .....
one find a perfect climate, a contented
people, a bountiful nature, all the
comforts of life, and feel superfluously
rich on a dollar a day ?
—Emma L. Heed, in Brunswick Times.
national” reform press.
Populist Editors at Their Memphis Meet
ing Frown on Fusion.
The seventh annual session of the
National Reform Press Association is in
session in Memphis for three days.
President Paul Vandervoort in his
address referred to Senator Marion
Butler and Secretary Edgerton, thus:
“Believing that the life and preserva
tion and success of our principles de
pend upon it. I hereby recommend
that this association demand the resig
nation of Marion Butler as national
chairman and J. A. Edgerton as na
tioal secretary, and if they do not im
mediately respond that this association
and the members of the general con
ference depose them and elect new
officers and call on all our people to
recognize them. Many of our woes
during the last four years are due to
the fact that we did not depose our
former national chairman, who led our
party to the jaws of death. This is a
supreme moment in our history. If we
shirk our duty, millions will falter and
faint and our meeting will avail noth
ing. If we have not the power to pro
tect ourselves we had better disband.
Our party can never advance under
fusion leadership, and these men be
trayed us and our candidate, the gal
lant Tom Watson, of Georgia.”
Every sentence which declared
against, any form of fusion with either
of the old parties was the signal for a
noisy demonstration. Hats were waved
canes were flourished, and confusion
reigned during that part of the address
which demanded that Rozelle and But
ler be thrust out of the ranks as trai
tors to the cause of the people.
After the report of the committee on
credentials had been received and
adopted, a committee of six, composed
of Harry Tracy. Texas; L D. Reynolds,
Illinois; C. Vincent, Indiana; Paul
Dixon, Missouri; “Abe” Steinberger,
and “Cyclone” Daviij, Texas; was ap
pointed on address and resolutions.
At the afternoon session Frank Bur
kitt, of Mississippi, was elected presi
dent, and pending the report of the
committee on resolutions the conven
tion adjourned until to-morrow morn
ing at 10 o’clock.
Before adjournment a committee
will be appointed to secure names to a
petition t 6 be presented to the national
committee asking that they issue a call
for a conference of thd people’s party
of the United States to be held some
time between May 1, and July 1. In
the event the national committee de
cline to call the conference this com
mittee will, by the power to be grant
ed by this convention, proceed to call
a conference of the party, and dele
gates will be regularly elected by mem
bers in all the states where the party
has an organization.
George E. Washburn, who was in
charge of the Chicago branch of the
national executive committee during
the presidential campaign, is in attend
ance.
When farming becomes profitable
every other legitimate business will
flourish.—Ex.
OUK PARTY’S FUTURE.
■ HOW A PATRIOTIC GEORGIA EDITOR
VIEWS THE PRESENT SITUATION.
, Wilson of the Alliance Plow Hoy Reviews
the History of the Fast and is Hopeful
for the Party’s Future—Keep the Powder
Dry and be Ready for Action.
On this my 52nd birthday, I regret to
see that some of our journals and some
of our journalist friends seem to be dis
turbed about the future of the “Third
Party,” therefore I am constrained to
add my mite in the way of encourage
ment.
Is it a mistake to assert that the or
ganization of the People’s Party was a
public necessity? Is it not true that
corporate power was, and is yet, run
ning, rough shod, over the liberties of
the people of this free republic ? Is not
every department of industry in charge
of trusts, combines, corporations and
heartless money mongers? Yea, is not
the government itself, in a great meas
ure, dominated by a class who seem to
have no regard for the rights of others?
Are not millions of our fellow-men
without employment, consequently
homeless, half-naked and hungry, in a
land literally “flowing with milk and
honey?” How about the suffering of
innocent women and children? Have
they the necessaries to keep their
bodies comfortable? Does not igno
rance and vice stalk, hand in hand,
over this sun kissed land? Are not our
almshouses being enlarged, insane
asylums over-flowing, our jails and
penitentiaries crowded? Murders and
suicides are on the increase? These
can’t be denied. Yet, it can be asserted
without fear of successful dispute, that
not a voice has been raised to attempt
to stay the hand that brought this
once free and happy country to this
cursed “condition and not a- theory.”
Then is it any wonder that patriotic
hearts were touched—constrained
forced to look to other sources than the
old party organizations for relief? The
powers of the oppressor must be cir
cumvented. This could only be done
through the formation of a new politi
cal faith. Our western friends, whom
.we had met in the Alliance, said: “We
will not come into the democratic par
ty,’’’and we of the south said: ‘We
cannot go into the Republican
party.” So we all agreed to meet “in
the middle of the road” and form a new
party.” This was done and named the
People’s Party. But our western allies
seem slow to believe what it cost us
“old hayseeds” of the south to try to
maintain our positions. The ground is
literally strewn with the dead in Geor
gia, to which little attention is paid.
A slight retrospection of the battles for
the last four years may interest them
and encourage southern populists.
TUB STORY OF THE PAST.
It is useless tq repeat that the. Far
mers Alliance and industrial' union,
composed of the farmers and laborers
of the country, had adopted a set of de
mands, which they had urged before
congress without attention from either
old party. Not only so, but it is well
known that they were scorned by both.
Then came the convention at St.
Louis Feb. 22, 1892, composed of the
labor organizations of the nation, i
This convention endorsed the former .
demands of the alliance and entered i
into a political compact to have them <
legislated into law.
Thqn it was that the fight was on;
then it was that men showed their
true colors; then it was that cowards
“took to the woods.” The whole coun
try, Georgia especially, is full of cow
ardly deserters who fled at the first
fire of the enemy. Deserters were not
all, they took up arms against their
former friends. Scores of loud-mouthed
fire eaters, who literally flayed the life
“out of” both old parties, are this
minute ensconced in fat offices, procur
ed through perfidy to their former
allies. They have been rewarded for
treason.
HOW THB PATRIOTS FOUGHT.
But the honest patriots, encouraged
by promises of support from their
western brethren made at St. Louis
and conscious of the- justness of their
.cause, pressed forward and attempted
to stay the hand of tne oppressor.
This first battle was fought in 1892
against great odds. A party, well or
ganized, was met entrenched behind
unlimited capital and led by unscrupu
lous politicians. These were assisted
bi’ a thou- and or more trained speak
ers, as aides de-eamp. headed with free
passes and tickets .to lunch counters,
who had little regard for the truth and
less for the proprieties. But they were
backed by all the daily press and sus
tained by over one hundred and fifty
old established weekly papers in the
state. These alone were enough to
weaken the stoutest hearted But a
reserve force had to be met consisting
of the railroad corporations, banking
institutions, manufacturers, big preach
ers, and land owners, to say nothing
of ward-heelers and cross road politi
cians. Added to this array there were
three counters at every precinct, back
ed by the whole judiciary of the state.
Against all these and a few stale eggs,
thrown in for good measure now and
then, the indomitable Col. Peek in the
lead, the old “anarchist n gger equal
izer” was allowed about 70,000 votes.
“Faint heart never won fair lady,”
so the fight was continued until 1894,
with conditions little changed, when
Judge Hines, the jurist, was placed in
command, with every subterfuge known
to a wily enemy thrown in his way.
Intimidation, coercion, money, whis
key, ballot-box stuffing, counting out,
slander and abuse were continued
without let or hinderance. In spite of
all these 97,000 votes were counted for
Judge Hines. And up to this time few
fair-minded men will dare deny that
Hines was fairly elected, though coun
, ted out.
TIJE ’96 BATTLE.
The third and last battle, that of ’96,
was fought on the same lines and under
the same circumstances, with Seab.
Wright in the lead, except the adop
tion of prohibition brought the influ
ence of the distillers of the nation to
bear against the new party. True
many good people came to the ranks
» EQUAL RIGHTS 10 ALL ; SPECIAL PRIVILEGES TO NONE”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: FRIDAY MATCH 5, 1897.
but some were driven away. But
think, for an instant, of the barroom
, influences acting as a battery throwing
double charges of grape and canister
into the ranks of an army for two
months ! Is there any wonder that we
lost 10,000. Added to all these, the
enemy placed hunself behind “He
pardoned—Adolphus Duncan -a-negro
who-had-been-twice-convicted - of-rape
on-a-white -woman—and-sentenced--to
hang,” but lost over 12,000 himself,
showing that the new party had not
been organized in vain. We are al
ready a very formidable opponent to
plutocracy and ring rule, ’then why
not press forward? Why be discouraged
when the enemy is already disgusted.
In Gwinnett, the banner county, many
of the best element of the socalled dem
ocratic party say they will not enter
another primary, “too many pops and
niggers were induced (?) to take part
in the last one,” they say.
keep the powder dry.
Speaking nationally, the writer was
in the last convention, and in his hum
ble opinion, the western delegates
didn’t understand what they had aided
to bring on the South, or the ’southern
delegates didn’t understand what they
meant when they appeared to want to
force us into the democratic party.
Certain it is that the spirit engendered
there must be allayed before another
convention is held. How that is to be
done is left for older and better inform
ed men. Certainly no self respecting
nopulist in Georgia will re-enter the
democratic party. The republicans are
soon to be on trial. Let us wait and
see, but keep our “flints picked ana
our powder dry.” W. W. Wilson.
THEY 6 P PO SEFTJSIO N.
The Resolutions Adopted at the Memphis
Meeting.
The Reform Press Association adopt
ed the following:
“Elections being but incidents in the
life of the People's Party, this associa
tion appeals to the Populists to con
tinue the battle steadfastly for our
principles until each and everyone are
enacted into law and the peo'ple given
justice and equal opportunity to enjoy
the blessings of good government.
“We congratulate the people of the
United States upon the fact that the
Populist education is bearing fruit,and
that even now qur opponents jn many
states are mak ng efforts to enact some
of our principles into law.
“The failure of the leaders of the
Democratic party to carry out their
promises, by which they secured the
indorsement of their candidate for pres
ident, places the responsibility for the
defeat of the promised refermsupon
the organized Democracy, and serves
as a warning that no reliance should
be placed in old party pledges.
“We strenuously oppose all fusion or
entangling alliance with any other po
litical parly.
■ we call special attention to Hie fact
that the great railroad corporations of ,
the country have been freely and open
ly used during political campaigns by
the money power of the two continents ,
as one of the most powerful and effect
ive agercies for defeating promised
financial reform. This active and per- ,
nicious conduct on the part of private ,
corporations, reveals a new danger that
threatens the very existence of popular (
government. Therefore, the public
ownership and operation of transporta
tion of the country is not only necessa
ry to secure lower and more equitable
transportation rates, greater and bet
ter facilities of transportation, but it
is also absolutely essential to enable
the people to secure financial reform
and to preserve popular government
“We point to the appalling conditions
in which this country now finds itself,
as the best evidence that the princi-'
pies of our national platforms are right,
wise and necessary.
“With a firm reliance upon the pa
triotism of our press and party associ
ates, we emphasize the importance of
an educational campaign carried on in !
a spirit of fraternity.”
EDUCATE IS THE -CRY.
Georgian Anxious to Secure Open Diseus
cussions of the St. Louis Platform.
Editor People’s Party Paper:
I am still ruminating, and I believe
our boys ought to educate themselves
thoroughly on the several planks of our
St. Louis platform. We don’t believe
it is a time for “argufying” about the
present financial policy of the old par
ties. The “wave of prosperity” that i»
now on us, and that is wrecking banks
and divers business concerns almost
every day, will furnish plenty of object
lessons that will be far more convinc
ing to the average mind than any argu
ment that we might present. With
most men seeing is believing, and they
will not be convinced until they sei
and feel—and they will realize fully,
with these two senses, in the next few
years that the gold standard is an un
mitigated curse to the country and
they will wonder why they ever allow
ed political plaee hunters to make such
dupes of them. Can’t our boys in everj
county in the state organize clubs ami
meet at some convenient point and dis
cuss the several planks of our plat
form in a friendly way, inviting mem- '
bers of other parties to participate in
the discussion, thus bringing into closer
fellowship our farmer friends. If we
are going to send our farmers to our
state and national legislatures they
must be educated so that they may be 1
able to meet any class of men in de
bate. Our young men must prepare
themselves to step to the front and
nie& the obligations that will certainly
devolve upon them in the near future.
There is an abundance of material for
any demand with proper preparation.
Suppose Senator Carter had had the
advantages peculiar to those lawyers
pitted against him on 'he “committee
of investigation,” together with others
who may haze helped, what might have
been the remit we cannot tell. As it I
was he succeeded in convincing the
people—Populists and Democrats -that
those judges are guilty. In addition to !
education we need integrity and the
courage of conviction, like Hon. T. E.
Watson, Yancy Carter, W. L. Peek and
others. Let us know where Mr. Wat
son is in every issue of your paper, if '
no more. Yours truly,
Georgia. )
‘ ‘REFORMS IN DETROIT.
LI
“ MAYOR PINGREE TELLS HOW THE
r
PEOPLE HAVE BACKED HIS PLANS.
o
e
Street Car Company Fought Long and
Hard, Bribing and Bulldozing Alter
nately bnt it is Brought to the Feed Rack
at Last by Competition.
Detroit, Mich., a city of an estimated
t population of about 300,000, owns
- water-works, owns and operates an
3 electric plant, fixes the price of illumi
jr nating gas at $1 and fuel gas at 80 cents
1 per thousand feet, and has secured a
. three-cent street car fare during work
s ing hours. Governor and Mayor Pin-
- gree (his present term as mayor of
r Detroit does not expire until next Jan
-1 nary) became a national figure in his
t fight for some of these reforms, and his
successes in opposing corporations are
considered responsible for his recent
s elevation to the governorship by a
- striking majority.
s Mr. Pingree tells in the Outlook,
1 February 6, an exceedingly interesting
i story of his fight for reforms. He says
- that Detroit is.a city of home-owners,
) with a foreign population in the main
. English-speaking. “The anti-monop-
I oly measures of my administration,”
• he says, “have been supported by all
- classes, except what are called the best
. citizens. The small property-owners
- have supported them as zealously as
■ the wage-earners. A great many
■ among what are called the better elas
l ses have voted tor me, but they are'
generally careful not to let it be
known. If we had to depend upon
these classes for reforms, they could
never be brought about.”
the street, car fight.
The chief fight, and one not yet
ended, has been between the city and
the street-car c.omnanies. This began
during a street-car strike several years
ago. Mr’ Pingree says that the com
p mies were giving poor service and
working their men from ten to four
teen hours a day. He refused to call
out the militia at the demand of offi
cers of the company, and public sym
pathy supported his request for arbi
tration, which finally settled the dis
pute in a day and a half. “In my opin
ion,” says he, “no company ought to
get a franchise unless it stipulates its
readiness to submit to arbitration its
disputes with its men. Both men and
companies owe it to the public to keep
the ueace.” He continues:
“The public feeling against the com
pany which this strike brought to a
head made it possible- to keep up a
fight for a better street-car service.
At first most of the aidermen seemed
to be bound hand and foot to the street
car companies; but half of them are
elected every year, and we tried to
select-men who would stand by the
people, and get them, if possible, to
pledgil them selves. When once pledged‘
it was-prelty hard tor them to go back
on their word, but of course some had
their price. Not until the second year
was the Board of Aidermen really out
of the grip of the street-car company.
All this time we were fighting the com
pany in the courts in regard to its fran
chise. It was a long, bitter fight, the
ease being taken from court to court,
and finally costing the city from $50,-
000 to $60,000. While this struggle
was going on, with decisions some
times in our favor and sometimes in
theirs, they were trying to get a new
franchise, but I kept vetoing their
measures, and it was pretty hard to
pass anything over my veto. I used to
stir up the public by sending out
notices, and tin people would pack the
Council chamber and fairly terrify the
aidermen who wished to go back on
their campaign promises. We even
told them that we had plenty of rope
there and would hang them.”
the press fought him.
With one exception, a German paper, '
the newspapers were on tne side of the
street-ear companies. Mr. Pingree says
they misrepresented him, anc he had
to resort t" posting notices on chained
bulletin boards, to get a hearing. The
fight in the -ourts was a.most as aiffi
eult, to carry forward, he writes :
“When I got a resolution passed in '
the Council giving me the power to
retain two lawyers outside of those
abeady paid by the city, I picked out
one prominent Democrat and one prom
inent Republican. These men accept
ed the case, but the first thing I knew
the company began to bring pressure
to bear upon them The .prominent !
Democrat, who has held a Cabinet po
sition, took a smooth way to get out of '
the fight He said that he was in na
tional politics, and that this local
struggle complicated his position. The
prominent Republican did not drop out
so quickly, but I found we were having
a hard time to get the matter before
the court. Finally I insisted that he
must bring it to a head. A few morn- '
ings later I was surprised to have him
come in to see me and state that he
had been retained by the company and
could no longer serve as our attorney.
He said that he was poor and that they,
bad offered him such an amount that
be could not afford to let it go by. Os
course 1 gave this to the papers, ami
you can imagine the feeling it stirred
up.
LAWYERS IN THE STRUGGLE,
“Then 1 started around to look for
other attorneys, and found that every
able lawyer in town had been retained 1
except Professor Kent, who was not a :
jury lawyer but a good counsel. I re
tained him, and also a strong lawyer
from up the state. We carried the ease
through the lower court, and it went i
then from court to court until it came
to the supreme court. Then in some
way they managed to transfer it to the
Federal court; It was to have been
tried before a judge who owed his ap
pointment to the largest stockholder in i
the street car company. I took the po
sition that that judge had no right to I
try that case. I used some pretty
strong language, and think they would
have had me arrested if I had not been
right. As a result of these protests, i
the ease was transferred to a circuit i
court in Ohio and tried before Judge
Taft. He decided in our favor. Then
V was appealed to the Court of Appeals i
in Tennessee before Judge Jackson.
Our lawyers went down there, and the
. next day telegraphed back that the
judge had his mind made up to decide
against us, but he held the matter for
six months before rendering his opin
ion. About ten days before the decis
ion came we learned that a New York
firm had bought out the street-railway
company. When the decision was
handed down, it was in their favor.
What reason the New York capitalists
bad for thinking, the stock of a compa
ny whose franchise had been declared
void by the circuit court was a safe in
vestment will possibly never be pub
licly known.
CORPORATION METHODS.
“On the filing of the opinion of the
Court of Appeals the new owners be
gan to make overtures for peace on the
basis of a thirty-year franchise and
five-cent fares, but in the mean time
another factor had entered into the
problem. On the 20th of November,
1894, Messrs. Pack & Everett, of Cleve
land, made application to the Common
Council for a franchise to operate street
ears on streets not, as a rule, used by
the old company, and agreed to equip
sheir system with modern appliances
and sell eijjht tickets for a quarter, to
be good from quarter before six in the
morning until eight o’clock at night.
When the ordinance granting this fran
chise was pending before the Council,
the rew managers of the old company
exhibited the same short-sightedness as
nad their predecessors. They not only
refuse i to reduce fares themselves
publicly admitting that to do so would
have a bad effect upon their street-car
properties in other cities—but violent
ly opposed the granting of a franchise
to the Packet-Everett syndicate. Their
obstructive policy, however, went for
naught, and the ordinance was adopt
ed. The old company then announced
its intention to contest in the courts
the right of the new company to oper
ate the lines, and applied for an in
junction in that behalf. In this fight
before the courts, however, the old
company failed, and the citizens of
Detroit have now access to a street-car
system extending to nearly all parts
of the city, with the fare during work
ing hours practically three cents, and
with universal transfers. During the
last campaign there was, indeed, a
practical consolidation of the new com
pany with the old, but the combination
is bound to operate the franchise of the
new company upon the terms laid down
in the charter. Mr. Everett, of the
new company, was opposed to entering
the combination. He told me when his
company started that they would be
satisfied if they made money in a year
and a half, and afterward admitted
that they had made money almost
from the start His company at one
time proposed to the Council to oper
ate all the street-railway lines in the
city at the rate of two and one-half
cents per passenger, and pay the in
i.erchl wpou Giv |>.i of tfie’
street-car tracks if these tracks were
condemned by the authority of the leg
islature and the purchase price decided
by arbitrators. The fignt has not
ended, and may not end until the fran
chise of the old company expires. Fort
unately, the Michigan legislature was
long ago wise enough to provide against
perpetual franchises. All franchises
in this State are lor thirty yeears.”
BRINGING GAS DOWN.
In reducing the price of gas from
$1.50, Mr. Pingree proved by statistics
that gas could be profitably furnished
at sl, and although failing to secure
from the legislature the right of the
city to regulate the rates, he says that
the old company accepted a new fran
chise to furnish gas at sl. The munici
pal eh etric-light plant recently estab
lished has reduced the cost of lighting
the streets from $11.15 to $7.20 per are
lamp. The waterworks have been
owned by the city since 1852, and “no
one dreams of such a thing as return
to private ownership,” according to
Mr. Pingree. He is in favor of genera,
taxation to furnish free water as .well
a> free schools, parks, etc. He believes
in strict compliance with civil service
reform principles to secure efficient
administration. And from his experi
ence he concludes:
“The time is coming when municipal
monopolies will oe owned by the peo
ple. Detroit during my administration
voted by a majority of four to one in
favor of public ownership of street-car
tracks. If the tracks were owned by
the public, it would be easy to get the
service performed at competitive and
reasonable prices. We must not, how
ever, wait for public ownership before
putting an end to the extortion now
practiced by private monopolies. We
must, under the present system, com
pel the corporations exercising public
franchises to furnish their services at
the reasonable rates contemplated in
their charters. This can be done where
ever the city government is intent upon
accomplishing it, and the city govern
ment will be intent upon accomplish
ing it whenever the citizens wake up
to the extent of the extortions now
practiced upon them.”—Literary Di
gest.
If you can’t legislate a man rich or
poor, why do the .corporations want
legislation in their interests? Legisla
tion has much to do with the prosperi
ty of the people.—Truth.
The People’s Party Paper of Atlanta,
Ga., comes to us this week changed to
a large 8 column folio with an entirely
new dress. This is about the ablest
Populist paper in the nation. Every
true Populist who can, should sub
scribe for it and read the able editori
als of Thos. E. Watson. —Cleburne
(Tex) Herald.
We find on our exchange table, Vol.
1, No. 1, of the ’Granite City News, a
seven column, eight page, populist
paper, Messrs. Ed. L. Sutton and D. B.
St John, editors. It takes no little i
pluck to launch any new enterprise in
these hard times. We trust that the
people of Lithonia and of DeKalb
county, will give the new paper liberal
support. We feel sure that Messrs-
Sutton and St John will do their ut
most to deserve all patronage bestow
ed. i
NEWS OF THE NATION.
. EX-PRESIDENT HARRISON THE FOND
FATHER OF A GIRL BABY.
, South Carolina Legislature Will Pass an
Income Tax Bill —English Schemers at
Work on a Brazilian Revolution-General
Clay Applies for a Pension.
The Mardi Gras carnival opened in
New Orleans on March Ist.
Ex-president Wm. H. Harrison, is the
father of a girl baby in the 64th year
of his age.
Blondin, the famous tight rope walk
er, the first man to walk a rope across
Niagra falls, died near' London recent
ly- _
H. C. Pendleton, a young Atlanta
man was seriously if not fat ally beaten
in Chattanooga for making improper
remarks about a young woman.
The notorious Princess de Chimay has
< -ffered to fill an engagement at the
Olympia Music Hall, New York, at
$2,000 per week. If her offer is accept
ed it is presumed that her g.vpsy para
mour, Rigo, will come with her.
Col. Carey W. Styles, the founder of
the Atlanta Constitution, died at Steph
ensville, Texas, on Thursday of last
week. Col. Styles was a native Geor
gian and a member of the Georgia Se
cession Convention. He moved to Texas
about 20 years ago.
It is announced that Secretary of the
Navy Herbert, will not return to Ala
bama after his term expires. In be
coming the pliant tool of Grover, he
has lost the respect and confidence of
his people at home.
Miss Hulda Duestrow, sister of the
millionaire hanged recently in Missouri
for the murder of his wife and child,
has declared her intention of becoming
a catholic nun. She has an annuity ot
$30,000 which will go to the church in
case of her entering the convent.
The approaching execution of Jack
son and Walling for the murder of
Pearl Bryan is the exciting topic of
conversation in Covington, Ky. Mrs.
Jackson has urged her son to make a
full confession unless he is really inno
cent
At Soddy, Tenn., a negro, Charles
Brown, attempted an assault upon Miss
Lillie, Walker. Failing in his attempt
he hid in a barn. When diseoveied by
the sheriff's posse, he opened fi. e upon
them, fatally shooting deputy sheriff
Sadler. A mob quickly gathered and
hanged him to a tree.
The noted old Kentuckian, General
Cashius M. Clay has applied for and
received a pension of SSO per month.
Two years ago General Clay married a
fourteen year old girl whom he had
taken under his protection. Believing
.sb.e..WQuld uot.be eared for by his fami-
Iv after his death, he applied for a pen-l
sion to make sure of her future sup
port.
An income tax bill is before the
South Carolina legislature. -The bill
provides for a tax of 1 per cent on
incomes between $2,500 and $5,000;
per cent on incomes between $5,000
and $7,500; 2 per cent on incomes be
tween $7,500 and $10,000; 2% per cent
on incomes between SIO,OOO and sls 000
and 3 per cent on all incomes above
$15,000. The bill will likely pass.
Antonio Searwoski of Warsaw, Po
land, and Marie. Denits of Venice,
were fellow passengers on the steam
ship Scythia. Ou arriving at Jersey
City last week they sough, a justice of
the,peace and announced through an
interpreter that they wished to be mar
ried. Neither could speak the language
of the other but while crossing the
Atlantic they had done their courting
by looks and signs.
Consul General Lee’s telegrams to
Olney have been given to the public
In the case of Scott who was confined
for 14 days in a narrow cell with water
standing on the floor. General Lee in
sisted that war ships to baek up his
demands, if necessary, should be sent
to Havana or he would leave. Seott
was most barbarously treated, being
furnished with water to drink at inter
vals of 12 to 24 hours, and the dis
charges from his body were removed
from the cell only at intervals of sev
eral days. Olney’s replies to Lee are
not given.
A serious riot occurred on the streets
of Knoxville; Tenn., on Monday mor -
ing. At an early hour the Citizens
Street Railway Co., sit two hundred
negroes to tearing up the tracks on
Depot street. The city police arrested
the negroes and the Sheriff and his
deputies began to arrest the policemen.
The fire department was called out and
ordered to disperse the crowd by turn
ing their hose upon them. Serious
trouble may yet result from the con
flictof city and county officials.
The allied powers have determined
that Greece shall not take possession
of Crete, but that atonomy shall be
allowed the Cretans. It is recognized
that unless Bulgaria, Servia and Mon
tenegro actively supported Greeze.
Turkey would be able to overcome and
subjugate -Greeze and in the former
ease the peace of Europe would be
seriously threatened. Turkey is safe,
no matter what enormities she may
commit, until the great powers can <
come to a satisfactory and amicable
agreement as to how Iter territory may •
be divided among them. The Sultan
does not look upon such an agreement
as possible, hence he feels safe in the •
possession of his territory and his free- |
dom to murder Christians.
What seems to be a new chapter in
the history of Richard Ashe, the Aus
tralian murderer, has come to light. It
is declared on good authority that the
man of many countries and many ali
ases, is a deserter from the United
States army. So far as the police have
made public the information in their
possession, and so far as the murderer 1
himself has admitted, the man’s record <
runs no further baek than September <
1, 1891, when he shipped on the Star of i
Russia, at Newcastle, N. S. W., and ;
started for this port. If this story as to i
li is e.nl
army and his deser
may be thrown on another period of
' his history, It is claimed that he en
listed at Ogdensburg, N. Y., about 1888,
and was assigned to Company C. Fourth
1 Infantry, and soon after deserted.
International News.
Twenty tons of nitro-glycerine ex
ploded in an English factory, killing
six men. The shock of the explosion
was so great as to break all the win
dows in a passenger train twelve
miles away. A great hole in the
ground is all that ife left to mark the
site of the factory.
The wife of Genera. Rodriguez, the
insurgent leqder who was arrested last
January without charges and thrown
into a prison among degraded and
abandoned characters and without
leave to communicate with her friends,
has been released through the efforts
of General Lee and has arrived at Key-
West. Some people are disposed to
censure Consul General Lee for not
doing more, but it is impossible for any
man to hold office immediately under
Cleveland and still assert his full man
hood. Even such strong- men as Gres
ham and Carlisle were forced to go
back on their previous record and
lose their individuality when they
accepted office under Grover.
Since the Senate has made a preemp
tory demand for the liberation of Julio .
Sanquilly under sentence of death in a
Cuban prison and Shown, at the elev
enth hour, sufficient backbone, to
override Cleveland and Olney, the
Spanish minister, Senor De Lome, an
nounces that Sanquilly was pardoned
by the qneen a week ago. We fear
that there is a secret understanding
between Olney and DeLome, and that .
the pardon has been ’just signed and
dated back for a purpose—and but for
the Senate’s energetic protest the par
don would never have been heard of.
The Herald’s correspondent in Rio
Janeiro, Brazil, telegraphs that 8,000
fanatics are now concentrated in strong
trenches, receiving from sources un
known to the government great quan
tities of arms, ammunition and provis
ions. The chief of the federal troops
has demanded reinforcements from the
Brazillian government to make an at
tack on the fanatics.
There have been published in Rio
Janeiro startling revelations of the in
trigues of n en of a big European syn
dicate now negotiating for the lease of
railroads in Brazil. It is charged that
attempts have been made to bribe
many high officials. There was a b'g
reception in the government palace in
Rio Janeiro to celebrate the anniver
sary of the adoption of the new consti
tution.
The Italians who were damaged dur
ing the eeent troubles in Brazil have
filed claims in court asking for the re
tarded indemnity.
OUT IN
A Watson Elector Vigorously Denies that
He Was a Sewall Man.
Editor People’s Party Paper:
I have just read the able letter of L.
C. Bateman of Maine, in your issue of
February sth, and while he strikes
straight from the shoulder and drove
center mostly-; he overshot tne mark in
one instance as follows: .
“In every doubtful state a portion of
the electors were conceded to the
Populists, but not a man went on that
list who was not strictly pledged to
vote against Watson. Not a solitary
vote would Watson have received in the
electoral college if by any possibility
those votes could have elected Arthur
Sewall.”
I was a People’s party elector pledged
to vote for Bryan and Watson and
would not have voted for Sewall under
any circumstances. I enclose a letter
addressed to onr Secretary of State
showing that I was under no obligation
to the Democratic nominee for vice
president and I protest now a?ainst
being classed as one of those who could
have been induced to vote for Sewall
if I had been elected. W. H. Spaugh.
MR. SPAUGH’S LETTER.
“Florence. Or., Oct 16, 1896.
‘Hon. H. R. Kincaid, Secretary of
S ate, Salem, Oregon:
Sir —The ne» spapers inform me that
in pieparing the ballots for the ap
proaching election, you have certified
me a cai didate of the Democratic par
ty, People’s party and Silver Republi
can party for Presidential Elector, and
have so certified my name to the vari
qus county clerks. This does not con
form to the facts. I was duly nomi
nated for elector by the People’s party
and as their candidate I have accepted
that nomination and tiled my accept
ance, under the law in your office. I
have never filed any other acceptance,
and I hereby protest to you and through
you to the county clerks of the various
counties of the State, against being
designated as either a Democrat or a
Free-silver Republican on the official
ballot. I cannot consent that the peo
ple of the state shall be under any mis
apprehension as to my political posi
tion or party relations.
“I therefore request that you give
this letter out for publication, so that
the people, if they choose to vote for
me, may know exactly what my polit
ical affiliations are.
“W. H. Spaugh.”
It will be seen that Mr. Bate, an has
done Mr. Spaugh an unintentional in
justice. D. N. S.
Lost Brother.
Any information as to the where
abouts of one A. J. Barrett will be
thani fully received, the last heard of
him was at Knoxville, X enn - Three of
us, brothers, served in Co. A. 11th Ga;
Regiment during the late war. A. J.
Barrett is a traveling machinist by oc
cupation. Any information will be'
thankfully received. Address,
G. R. Barrett,
Cedartown. Ga.
T. W. Johnson, a young flagman of
the Georgia road, was crushed to death
on Sunday night, at Union Point while
coupling cars. Safety car couplers cost
money but there are lots of idle
young men to take the place of the
dead flagman.