Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, November 3, 1900, Page 10

= THE DODGER. ——SBLACKLISTHE A _” QW BILL TO PROWBE-VESTIBULE 5 ~ == FOR MOTORMEA ON BILL TO_TAX RAILROAD LAND ON BILLETOLROVIDE_= +- h REELEVATORS WILL THEY GET HIM ACROSS? Report of Prison Managers Shows Result of Last Year’s Operations. Grain Inspection Wins Un- qualified Approval of Deal- ers and Farmers. Record of the Republicans on the Gross Earnings Tax Bill. The Twine Trust in its attempts to discredit the prison twine plant, and obtain a pretext for having it shut down, has secured two enthusiastic champions in the persons of Hon. Robt. Dunn and the Hon. J. F. Jacob- son. These two gentlemen have been going about the state telling the peo- ple that during the past year the pris- on twine plant ran $300,000 in debt, and was a miserable failure generally. Now, there is no more effective way for a political party to discredit itself in the eyes of the people than by at- tacking the opposition with deliberate and unqualified falsehoods. Every voter instinctively feels that a party which is dishonest in its campaign would also be dishonest in the admin- istration of the government if it should be placed into power. Moreover, every voter knows that a political party will not resort to de- liberate falsehood, if it has a ghost of a show to win out on truthful facts and arguments. A campaign of false~ hood is a confession of incompetence, it is an admission that the party in question has no case against its op- ponent. that it has no actual facts and arguments to base its campaign on, and is therefore forced to manufacture them out of whole cloth. A policy of falsehood and misrepresentation will discredit a party on the start in the | eyes of all thinking people. And now, after these honorable gen- tlemen have been going about the state telling the people that Governor Lind’s management of the prison twine plant was an absolute failure, and entailed a loss to the state’ of $300,000, it must be very disagreeable and uncomfortable for them to read in the official report that the state twine plant actually netted a profit of $16,000 during the past year, and the people of the state will form their con- clusions concerning these gentlemen that have gone about peddling out de- liberate falsehoods. This report is indeed a very satis- factory one—one that the administra- tion can point to with pride, and one that shows more than anything else could, the honest efficiency of the pres- ent management, making the prison plant a financial success in spite of the fact that the Twine Trust had corner- ed the market of fibre from which the twine is made so that the Prison Board was forced last spring to buy its supply at an exhorbitant price; in spite of the fact that the market had gone down when the time came to sell the manufactured twine. Yet, instead of showing a deficit as might be expected under the circumstances, the returns show a net gain of $16,000 for the year. That this cornering of the fibre market and raising the price when the Prison Plant had to buy its stock of raw material and cutting the price when the time came to sell the finished product, was a premeditated and preconcerted plan of the trust to make the Prison Plant a financial failure, and discredit it in the eyes | of the people, and thus‘ obtain a pre- | text for having it shut down, will sug- gest itself at once to every one that is not bound body and soul to Mark | Hanna’s doctrine, ‘There are no trusts.” The honorable gentlemen above mentioned say that the balance on hand July 31st, 1899 of over $200,000 has been used up. That is true. It was used to buy material with, and of the material the twine was made which was sold to the farmers, and for which the farmers In return gave their notes with first-class security, and covering the entire cost of the material and the cost of manufactur- ing. More twine has been manufactured this year and at a less cost than ever before. The law requires the price of the twine to be fixea each year for the entire season by the first of March, and it cannot be changed afterwards. It was fixed accordingly at the date required by law at a price only one cent a pound above the cost of the raw material, and several cents below the price charged at the same time for the twine manufactured by the trust. In this regard thé president of the Board of Managers says in his report: “The price of twine had been fixed on Feb, 8th, 1900, at 10 cents per pound for sisal, at which time the price of raw material in New York was 9 cents a pound, to which was to be added freight, cost of twine, oil (in- creased in price 200 per cent from the previous year), the allowance of 50 cents a day for convict labor, and all expenses of the manufacturer.” The estimated output of the factory was sold before the end of March, and in order to begin the manufacture of the twine, it was necessary to pur- chase the raw material as soon as the orders were booked. In this connec- tion the report says: “The raw ma- terial for the year 1900 cost $559,000, as against $314,000 for the year 1899, an excess of $245,000.” And now ‘the above mentioned Honorable gentle- men would blame the administration for being obliged to pay $245,000 more for the raw material this year than last and the previous, when the fact of it is that a Republican trust had cornered the market of fibre and had | raised the price to suit itself, and in this way robbed the farmer of the state of several hundred thousand dol- lars, and now the trusts have sent ‘their Republican lackies abroad into the land to tell the people that there !are no trusts, and that they should | be given a chance to run the country ,So as not to interfere with the inter- jests of the trusts. | Moreover the above mentioned Hon. Mr. Dunn says that there is now on hand $375.000 of notes, and then offers the following gratuitous insult to the farmers who have given these notes: “The indications are that there will be a large sum uncollected on Dec. ist this year.” By this statement they. can only mean that the farmers either cannot or will not pay their notes jwhen they are due. He certainly cannot mean to say that they cannot pay, for then we would be forced to conclude that this boasted Republican prosperity is all moonshine. If he means to. say that the farmers will not ,pay, he then charges them with | dishonesty, and that is an insult which | the farmers certainly will not be slow to resent. | In former years under Republican rule the output of the prison twine | plant was sold to the dealers in large quantities at a low wholesale price, (and if the farmers applied, they had to pay a higher retail price. The result of it was that the dealers bought ;up the output of the twine plant and ;sold it to the farmers at the same price at which they sold the product of the trust, thus making from 3 to 5 cents a pound, while the farmer gain- ed no benefit from the state plant whatever. In this regard, the Board of Managers in their report says: “During the past season not a pound of twine, so far as we are able to ascertain has been sold to a dealer, The entire output of the factory hav- ing gone to individual farmers or farmer clubs, the price having been the same to all; this has to a large extent obviated the dissatisfaction which resulted from the former policy of disposing of a large per cent of the output to the dealers, and discrimin- ating in price between small orders and car load lots.” The report of the managers so ef- fectively disposed of the mis-state- ments and deliberate falsehoods ad- vanced by the above Honorable gen- tlemen, that the only thing left for the Republican calamity howlers was to attack the quality of the twine made this year. forth the following indignant letter from Mr Hanlon,who has been the su- perintendent of the twine factory ever since it started, and having been in control long before the advent of the present administration, he certainly cannot be accused of being unduly biased or of being a creature of the present administration. His letter ap- | peared in the Minneapolis “Journal” October 15th, and reads as follows: To the Editor of the Journal: I no- ticed in last night’s paper the follow- |ing statement, referring to the prison twine: x “The twine was overloaded with oil, was uneven and short in length; the |raw material was as good as ever; the machines were the same machines that | have been used in the past, beside ;some new ones; the workmen were the prisoners, as in the past; yet a plainly inferior quality of twine has been turned out.” I am now, and have been ever since the twine factoryg started, its superin- jtendent. I have “had and now have absolute control of the manufacturing department. My assistants are men of long experience and second in care- fulness and skill to none in this coun- try. The quotation from your paper }is a direct reflection on them and on jme. The twine manufactured this year has been as good as any sisal or ,Standard ever made tn this prison. The prisoners under my supervision ;have never done their work more in- telligently and willingly than they jhave this year; as a matter of fact, | we have not used as much oil in pro- portion this year as we did last. At various times during the past season I have secured balls of twine made*at other factories, and with two exceptions have found none equal in quality and length to that made by us, I still have these samples. With ,the possible exception of three facto- This attack called ; ries in the United States, there is no twine made nor has there been any on the market this year as good as that’ sent out from the prison. We have on hand now about 800,000 pounds of twine, and I challenge any man or committee from any part of the state : who honestly wants to know what sort of twine we have made and are mak- ing to cor * over here, select from this vast , Antity a bale at random, and compare it, ball for ball, with a bale of any other sisal. I have no hesitation in saying that it will be found, both in length, quality and evenness, to be equal to any sisal or standard twine made in this country. Yours respectfully, Thomas Hanlon, Superintendent of Twine Factory. The farmer will find that nearly every Republican politician and deal- er in Twine, is howling about the way the Twine Plant at the Prison has been mismanaged. By selling direct- ly to the farmers the Prison ‘Twine Plant has incurred the ill will of the dealers, and it is their object to de- stroy this competition so that they can help the Twine Trust to. the farm- ers as it was done in former years. It is the Twine Trust and its agents that are running down the Prison Twine Plant. In the case of the agent this can be readily understood, but it is a matter of surprise that two pub- lic officers should allow themselves to be made the tools of the Twine Trust in an attack on a state industry which has saved the farmers of Minnesota thousands of dollars in the past, and which will continue to do so in the future, as long as the farmers keep the Republicans from scuttling it, as they did in Kansas with the Twine Plant that the Populists had put in there. There is however, one thing that the farmers of this state would like to know—they would be very much in- terested to hear Tams Bixby tell how much money the Twine Trust has con- tributed to assist Republican orators and newspapers to destroy the Prison Twine Plant. GRAIN INSPECTION. Two years ago John Lind as a can- didate for Governor made the un- equivocal charge that the administra- tion of the grain department of this state under Republican rule had been incompetent and unfair, that in the matter of grades uniformity had given way to favoritism and that in the treatment accorded the producers and | small shippers, justice had been prac- tically lost sight of. This accusation, which no one to- day will honestly undertake io refute, he followed up with the promise that, if elected, he would correct existing abuses and pursue a policy having for its object the establishment of uniformity and stability of grades at all stages of the market and in all seasons of the year—a policy which would give the same grade in the fall when the grain is in the uands of the producer as in the winter or spring, when it is largely in the hands of the dealers; a policy which would give the same grade when wheat is depressed and low as when wheat is boomed and high; a policy which would give to the producer a grade as high as the character and condition of his product would warrant ‘and to the dealer a_grade no lower than the qual- ity of his store demanded. In other words, John Lind promised equality to all, discrimination against none. That this promise has been faithfully fulfilled the following significant comparison will suffice to show. During the present administration criticism has been lodged against th work of the department just as it was directed against the system of in- spection under Mr. Clausen, but with this remarkable difference: Under Republican rule every com- the independent shippers; under the | administration of the present inspec- tor, Mr. Reishus, the complaints have been confined almo:t exclusively to those having their inception in the editorial offices of the Republican press. Under Clausen, the injustice and in- equality of the inspection was so flagrant as to result in the holding of indignation meetings throughout the farming districts all over the state; under Reishus, the cordial treatment and approval which the department has received at the hands of both growers and dealers, signifies that, in spite of the difficult character of the inspection during his term, the work of grading nas proceeded with satis- faction and success. Under Clausen, complaints from the farmers received as a rule but little |or no attention; under Reishus the most thorough investigation was af- | forded in every instance. In fact not ja specific charge has been made j against the department’s work that |has not been cleared up to the entire satisfaction of the complainant, the investigation invariably showing that the department’s position was just and right. Under Clausen, hundreds of thou- sands of dollars were lost to the pro- ducers of Minnesota through unjust and unnecessary discrimination; un- der Reishus thousands have been sav- ed to them in a single year by ac- cording them no more than was just- ly their due. Nor are the distinctions befween the two administrations by any means confined to the matter of grades. Under the old regime, for example, employees were retained on the pay roll whether their services were re- quired or not; under Reishus these useless appendages were dispensed with as soon as the complexion of the railroad commission permitted. To illustrate—on Noy. 3rd last In- spector Reishus pointed out to the commission that. the services of Cashier Becker, Deputy Curtis and Helper Kirk, of the St. Paul office, could well be dispensed with and recommended their discharges. The commission, at that time however. was not in harmony with the administra- tion, Mills and Becker being in the majority, and by a vote of two to one decided to ignore the inspector’s sug- gestion. Cashier Becker was accord- ingly allowed to draw salary till the 15th of December and the other two until the beginning of the new year. Whereas had the inspector been al- lowed to let them out, when he found that their services were not required, instead of being compelled to wait until Knox succeeded Commissioner Mills, the saving to the department in salaries alone would have been over $500. A small amount you may say, but sufficient at least to show the difference between the two ad- plaint came from the producers and | ministrations in their conceptions of duty and economy. Again under’Clausen it was the cus- tom of the inspectors to appropriate grain samples: for their own profit. The effect of this practice certainly was nothing if not demoralizing. Be- sides the petty jealousies and tricks resorted to by those eager to secure their share of the plunder, there was always the temptation to take un- necessarily large and numerous sam- ples. Cars could thus be looted of thousands of dollars in the course of time without the slightest fear of de- tection. Estimating the value of the samples at no more than $1,000 a year, which is unquestionably a low figure, the aggregate taken from the ship- pers and growers and converted into the pockets of the inspectors under Republican rule amounted to no less than $14,000, a snug sum, to say the least, with which to perpetuate this and other abuses. Under the department as organized by Commissioners Ringdahl and Knox all this has been changed. The de- partment now sells the samples and devotes the proceeds to defraying the expenses of inspection. This is as it should be. The samples belong to the shippers, and inasmuch as it is im- practicable to return them to their rightful owners, distributed as they are through several states, it is but proper that the proceeds should go to curtailing the expenses of inspection, which the shippers have to meet. Any other disposition would be irregular, unbusinesslike and contrary to law. Since stopping the practice, in vogue under Clausen, over $1,700 have been turned into the inspection fund from the sale of samples and this too in less than a year. Now, is there a farmer, a shipper or a business man anywhere who in view of these facts, will not concede that the inspection service has been improved, that the integrity of the Officials has been strengthened, and that it is to the interest of the state and the general welfare to retain in office men who will institute such re- forms? The statements made from the be- ginning to the end of this article are facts borne out by the records and by the testimony of farmers in every grain growing county in the ~ state. They are facts which it behooves every citizen to consider, not from the standpoint of partisanship but from the standpoint of business and common sense. Governor Lind and the men whom he appointed to undertake. these re- forms—Commissioners Ringdahl and Knox—are candidates for re-election. Associated with them, as the third candidate for railroad commissioner, is that sterling and honest citizen, S. M. Owen. Can you afford to defeat them and thereby run the risk of a return of the old state of affairs? Think it over and we feel assured that as citizens, desiring integrity in the management of affatrs and zeal for the public interest, you will cast your votes for John Lind for Governor, and Ringdahl, Knox and: Owen for rail- road commissioners. The continuance of fair and economical administration of the grain department will be as- sured if entrusted to their hands. FOREWARNED, FOREARMED. Roorbacks and Falsehoods to Be Ex- pected from the Republican Press Bureau. The Work of Vandiver, Who Forged a Speech of Lind tn 1896. It is so plain that the Republicans of this state are in sheer desperation, in their frenzied determination to carry the election, that it would seem that no word of warning would be necessary to put the people on their guard, or to stimulate our friends to action and to precaution against the wiles of this unscrupluous enemy. But the fact is that from all parts of the state, come reports that indicate that all previous estimates of the ef- forts that the eenemy will put forth have not been large enough. Aside from the bald use of money and the instruments of coercion and intimidation, which they so well know how to use and have so unscrupulously and effectively used in former elec- tions, it is plain that the entire Re- publican Press of the state, with a few honored exceptions, is to be pros- tituted in the last days and hours of the fight to the circulation of every sort of calumny and falsehood, to af- fect their purpose. Against the use of money and in- timidation the law affords something of protection, but against this base use of press and circular there is no protection, except in an appeal to the intelligence and good sense of the people themselves. But it will assist them, if it be made clearly known that disreputable instruments are used in the propogation of such falsehoods and roorbacks of the press. It should be known to every man in this state, who will come in con- tact with this insidious means, that the chief instrument which the Re- publican State Committee uses through its Press Bureau is the notorious J. S. Vandiver, who was taken from the St. Paul Dispatch, where his editorial work had made that paper a stench in the nostrils of the people, and given full charge of this work for the Re- publican Press Bureau in this cam- paign. In the 1896 campaign Tams Bixby simply used Vandiver for cer- tain of the wicked work, the most striking job being the forgery of a speech for Governor Lind, which was used to show that Governor Lind was an atheist. After the élection Gov. Lind had the St. Paul Dispatch prose- cuted, convicted and fined for the libellous speech, and Vandiver con- fessed to being the forger. This cam- paign Vandiver has been in full charge of the Republican Press Bureau work and is the instrument to be used in the remaining hours of the campaign. It is a knowledge of all these facts which should forewarn our friends to expect any act, however outrageous and to hear any charge, however false and malicious from such sources. Be- ing forewarned they are forearmed. Boers Sleep in Biscuit Boxes. ‘The Boer prisoners at St. Helena have retained their conservatism and their love of home to such an extent that they have built a number of little huts out of biscuit tins, each man who can secure a sufficient number of box- es making a residence for himself, in- to which he crawls to sleep, prefer= ring this humble domicile to occupy- ing a tent with ten or twelve others. | PATENTS, List of Patents Isnued Last Week to Northwestern Inventors. Henry S. Bryan, Two Harbors, Minn., car construction; John Harmon, and A. T. Fay, Minneapolis, Minn., ladder; assigned to K. F. Hersey, St. Paul, Minn., electric alarm system and testing apparatus; Ole W. Olson and P. ‘A. Myllenbeck, Ruthton, Minn., cord-knotting device for grain bind- ers; Seneca M. Salisbury and E. E. Salisbury, Aberdeen, S. D., fountain pen holder; John A. Sandell, Minneap- olis, Minn., beer-cooler. Lothrop & Johnson, patent attorneys, 911 & 912 Pioneer Press Bldg., St. Paul, Minn. “THE LATEST HOPS,” A JOKE. Dr. William Mason Tells the Follow- ing Anecdote Concerning the Musi- clan, Gottschalk. Returning to Gottschalk, a funny thing happened one day. At a time of which I write, forty-five years ago, William Hall & Sons’ music store was in Broadway, corner of Park Place, and was a place of rendezvous for mu- sicians. Going there one day, I met Gottschalk, who, holding up the proof sheet of a title page which he had just received from the printer, said: “Read that!” What I read was, “The Latest Hops,” in big, black letters, after the fashion of an outside music title page. “What does this mean?” I asked. “Well,” he replied, “it ought to be “The Last Hope,” but the printer, either by way of a joke or from stu- pidity, has expressed it in this way. There is to be a new edition of my ‘Last Hope,’ and I am revising it for that purpose.”—Century. Fixing the Responsibility. “Say,” said Biggs to his friend, Diggs, during a heated argument, “you are a fool.” “Yet you say I am your friend,” an- swered Diggs. “Yes, of course,” said Biggs. “Then,” said Diggs, “what I'd like to know is this: because I am a fool?’’—Chicago News. Fame. “Opportunity comes once to every man.’”” “That's right; and any man is bound | to become famous if he only lives long enough.” - “Oh, I don’t quite believe that.” “You don’t? Suppose a man lives to be 150 years old. Wouldn’t that make him famous?”—Philadelphia Record. ‘Would Do His Best. “Couldn't I be squeezed in there somehow?” asked the pretty girl, as she vainly sought entrance to the crowded car. “If you can get in, I have one arm free,” exclaimed a young man in the center of the car. And the conductor rang six “go- ahead” signals on the fare register.— Baltimore American. One act of friendship is worth ten thousand words of love. Am I a fool because | I am your friend, or am I your friend | Two Big Pains seem to be the herita; human family everyw! Rheumatism and of the re, viz: Neuralgia but there is one sure and prompt cure for both, viz: St. Jacobs Oil ees GRAIN: THE PURE GRAIN COFFEE Grain-O is not a stimulant, like coffee. It is a tonic and its effects are permanent. Asuccessful substitute for coffee, because it has the coffee flavor that everybody likes. Lots of coffee substitutes in the market, but only one food drink— Grain-O. All grocers ; 15c. and 2c, sq BRAN? A2) Bl Don’t be fooled with a mackintosh [wind or rubber coat. If you wantacoat#l¥ NSION Westinzion, p-0: ts ully P ites Ci rote 108, urease in civil war, 15 adjudicating claims, atty since DROPSY fix micrmacucerors cases. Book of testtmontuis and 10 DAYS treatmens FREE, DR. H. H. GREEN'S SONS, Box E, Atlanta, Ga. HOW WEAK CHILDREN ARE MADE STRONG, VIGOROUS AND WELL Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hallows, of Peckham St., Globe Village, Fall River, Mass., have cause to thank Dr. Greene’s Nervura for restoring to health, and properly, preserving the life of their little son. Almost from infan ‘allows was troubled with indigestion and nervous troubles, ani Everets no’ seemed to help him. Finally Dr. Greene's Nervura was recommended and tri with success. A few bottles were sufficient to effect a cure, and to-day the little one is enjoying the best of health. By the use of Dr. Greene’s Nervura the sickly child was transformed into a happy, hearty, robust boy. Dr. Greene’s Nervura for the Blood and Nerves Thousands of other children can thank Dr. Greene and his wonderful remedy for the strength and health they enjoy. Children to whom it is given vigorous: have less sickness, better health, better wth, and longer and more lives, Parents should realize that it is their duty to give it to every child who is not in perfect health. There are no diseases more dreaded by parents than fits, epilepsy, and St. Vitus’dance. Yet no child would be troubled by them if Dr. Greene’s Nervura were given when the first symptoms appear. Charles L. McBay, a highly esteemed police officer, who resides at 14 Myrtle St., New Bedford, Mass., says: “ About two years ago my little daughter became run down in health and suffered from St. Vitus’ dance. after she prostrated hich severely affected her low limbs. * ‘i ‘i = ifiaayia, ¥ ing various remedies without o| relief, she . Greene's Nervura blood and as? benefit Bho continued its use,and after appetite returned, her pains cence: esl ak eee personally or by Petter. nerve remedy, and inking ive Pots her rheasatian was practaly cre Her was again al walk it ann atl Sy aipiest bint ann Oh cles ee oie Dr. Greene’s Nervura blood and nerve remedy, is ihe peeetiehion of the well-known Dr. Greene, of 35 West 1 w Y pes fd is the most successful specialist in curi: chronic complaints, and he can be consulted and 4th ork katt conor ok ous dae cals. trve of Carre si painscersceanseemaesneneaiesnaapae