The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1870-09-29
WHOLE No. 100.

They have six Senators and eleven
Representatives and one of our Sena-
tors (Sherman, not Roger0 and the
Third district Representative Gen.
Schenck) to vote continuation OF
, the system. | propose, fellow citizens,
however, God and the people willing,
to get the power of the people on the
second Tuesday of next month to do
the voting of that district myself.
II Applause and cries of "good,
"good."
A very proper subject to be consid-
cred i'll connection with this business
OF paying debts and taxes is the facil-
tiles which these legislators furnish
the respective sections to pay. This
brings up the matter of 1- "a.t'~.
NATIONAL BANK CIRCULATION.
On this subject I refer to the report
of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The Third district has only one mil
lion and quarter of bank circulation,
whilst the three States named, which
pay less revenue, have nearly eighteen
millions. In other words, my Con-
gressional district pays more revenue
than Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont, with only one-tifteenth OF
the bank note circulation furnished
them. t+53 ~ .7
LAND GRABS.
Senator Sherman limps in that part
of his speech touching the great land
robberies. lie betrays ars ignorance
that is entirely inexcusable in Sena-
) tor, or is guilty of wilful perversion
of the truth OF his story. | should
greatly prefer to attribute his mis-
statements to the former cause, how
ever uncomplilnentary; but i5 is diff
cult to do so. He says that the sys-
tenn of granting alternate sections of
public lands for internal Improvements
!. !" had its origin with Mr.. Douglass in
the grant to the Illinois Central rail-
road" Historically this is untrue,
and the most ignorant citizen who has
been reared in Ohio ought to know
better. Our own canals were cou-
structed under it. A half century
since Senator Sherman's predecessor,
Jacob Burnet, representing Ohio in
the Senate, introduced the first bill
and carried it through. 1t was this
grant that enabled Ohio to make her
: canals. -.t.r Ha-..esy ra4,
In after years other grants were
made i'll moderate quantities before
the homestead bill was enacted, to en-
able Western States to construct their
improvements. Ohio having received
such donations, it was proper Ohio
: should extend similar benefits to her
younger sisters. But Senator Sher-
man and other Republicans ingenu-
ously withheld one important TACT
connected with this subject. Always,
in every instance where Congress
made the grants up to the time the
Republican party came into power,
they were made to the people of the
I States. The Legislature of the States
elected by the people alone had con-
troll and guardianship of the grants.
1t was the Republican party-not the
Democratic party-that inaugurated
the system OF granting immense guam
titles of the public domain to incor-
porated companies of speculators, Or
ganized in Wall street, New YorF, and
elsewhere, who were not settlers in
the West, or residents of the States
and Territories whose interests were
involved. But the Senator promises
/ to reform on this point, conditionally.
He says: -....
g As one OF youy agents. 1 will feel bound by
this decIsiOn. and Will vote for no Tu1kher
grant Of lands to railroads, eceep. that I shdH
feel bon. d to 9ice 10 Southe,m Iacifc railroad
the same that hare been giceR to tile Northern and
Central roads,
lie '@shall feel bound" to do what !?
Let US see what he and my competitor;
Gen. Schenck, have already done for
his friends, the capitalists and bond
holders, in this land grab business.
From the official statement have be-
fore me, see that they have only Civ
en- to three of these Incorporated COM
panies- not to the people of the
States and Territories of the far West
the small tract of one hundred and
i forty -four millions of acres This is
an area six times as large as the whole
State of Ohio, The grants are as fol-
f0ws: otr l.a
To the Atlantic and Pacific R. R. Co. AZ 600 600
To the Northern Pacific g -. 81. 900, 900
To the UniCn Pacific -. .35OUO, ,090
Total IA ,OOO, 900
/ presume General Schenck will
make no promise to stop. SO long as
there is an acre of your public lands
left but Senator Sherman says he
will check up just so soon as he can
grant to one other company of monop-
olists the insignificant potato patch of
sixty-seven millions of acres. Laugh
ter and applause.l Isn't he bird in
the wav of land reform? Renewed
laughter.
1 understand our temperance friends
are holding a convention to nominate
a candidate for Congress, That's all
right, / suppose. This is a free country
where everybody has right to nomi-
nate candidates, or run for Office if
they choose. How would they regard
such pledge as Sherman's? Suppose
the convention to have a candidate for
nomination before it to give pledges.
Staggering to the platform he con-
fesses that he has been tight one hun
dred and forty-four million times, and
that he means to quit 6 except that he
ahall feel bound to get on seventy
seven million more benders." GAp-
plause and laughter The temper
ance men would hardly confer the
honor of a noininatlen upon such a
pledge of Iefoun. 1t strikes me
| forceably that the people will see to
it in proper time that Senator Sher-
man be sh0rn of his power thus to
slual der their lands. ..l' l,-.!. -.
There are other questions of inter-
est that contemplated discussing on
this occasion, Want Of time and the
feehle state Of NIX health forbid it.
Desired especially to arraign the Re-
publican party on the question of
their ~ ..''..i = q ~. To
HIGH PRoTEeFIyR 4ARRR
Here ia another extensive field from
which to gather facts to prove the
charge that made at the outset, Wig:
that their legislation all tends to en-
rich the wealthy capitalists at the ex-
pence of the laboring producer.
In the year 1871, Sherman 1 mean
RogeD the Connecticut shoemaker,
who signed the Declaration of Inde-
pendence and helped make the old
Constitution, was member of the
United states seuste, He voted for
a tariff. It imposed duties averaging
I OF snb non II 1QNN 1latrxt No a,