The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-10-26
Chr 5]1ailg Arous.
Concluded from second page.)


was asked for and the distribution of the
property among The members demanded
the colony had no debt worth mentioning
In fact, some of the trustees said at tha
time, that the colony was able to buy an
other colony aud still be free from debt
Therefore the colony must have beer
worth Sl,OO0000. Had that amount o.
property been distributed among the mem
5ers possessed of health and strength a
! they then were, with economy and industry
they had hitherto shown, the increased
value Of their property would now have
| been not less than S3,0O0,0OO. But whaI
is the condition now? Where is the mon
ey gone to? This is problem which ut
common philosopher can solve.
! 1t is true that some OF the property has
of late been distributed to the members,
but every foot of the land so distributed Is
under mortgage for debts which the trus.
tees contracted and still are contracting
and besides this, the members have been
assessed at several times, amounts of mon
ey which ought to have fully paid for the
land they received in the distribution, not
taking into consideration that the members
paid into the colony all the money they
brought from Sweden and have worked
hard for oyer twenty years, and lived and
dressed in the cheapest way possible, &C
cording to the prescriptions Of the trustees.
Among the colony members 2l5 are
from SO to 81 years Of age. They have
worked % long years in the colony; are
now worn out, and cannot be expected to
begin anew, or work for living in their
old age. Their future is exceedingly
gloomy, and the only prospect in view for
many of them, is charity in the county
poor house. But such is not the condition
of the trustees they are all more or less
in prosperous condition.
Large tracts OF the distributed lands
were last year sold under execution to sat
isfy such debts as the trustees made, Tor
what cause has not yet been made known /:
and other tracts are expected to be sold
soon under the hammer. So it seems to
be the calculation, that although the foxes
have holes, and the birds Of the air have
nests, }" the members Of the colony shall
have nothing to lay their heads on,
The General did not say that the indiyi-
dualsinterest of e.colony ough to be sacri-
feed that the Western Air Railroad
might be built but what he did say
amounted in substance to the same thing.
The charter was not repealed, and the
building Of the Air Line was lett TO the
trustees The contract, involved over So
OOO.O but the road is still unfinished,
The colony lost more than 100000; and
the counties, towns, and individuals along
the road, who subscribed to the stock, lost,
perhaps, $4,000 more. Had the char
ter been repealed, the building of the road
would not have been attempted, and that
amount of money would have been saved
to corporations and individuals.
This is. in short the result OF Gen. Hen
derson opposition to a great portion of
the Swedish population Of this congression-
al district. 1t has never before been
mentioned, and would not now be a sub
ject of consideration, had not his claims
been pressed upon the Swedes for sup
port to high Office. The wounds made
so many years ago. are still bleeding and
have now become incurable; no rene
dy can ever be prescribed that will allevi.
ate the pain,
We appeal, therefore, to the impover-
ished, worn out and aged among us, wrong
ed by all these acts, whose rights have been
considered unworthy of notice; we appeal
to the liberal minded upgrowing genera
ton among us; we appeal to our true
hearted countrymen around us 1--WE are
children of same consanguinity) the old
runcs on 'Manhenes' Cannot speak yet
to US of our ancestors, concord and har
monv whenever foe attempts to invade
our rights. Like them, let us hold togethss
cr and show that an enemy to the free
dom Of portion Of US, is an enemy to
us all.
The Swedes in the sixth congressional
district have the balance scales in their
hands On them depends the result of
the election, We shall blush when the
news reaches the shores of our native land,
our relations and friends, that the enemy
of the Swedes aud the friend of the oppres-
sors of our countrymeu has been h0nored
and distinguished above others-rewarded
and exalted to an office that should be
procured only by noble deeds.
The despots Of Europe consider our Re
publican form of government as humbug,
and predict its downfall and would delight
in nothing so much as to find us incapable
of self gOvernment. Shall we now give
nourishment to their malicious pleasures,
and prove ourselves unworthy Of the liber
ties Of this country by voting for a man to
represent US in the congress Of the United
States, who, here at home, has been the
main tool to sustain and strengthen a dcs-
potism more abominable than any other OF
its kind?
How can we depend upon the man who
having once been sent to represent us in
the state legislature, guard our rights,
promote our prosperity, make our laws,
ntrusted to mitigate and abolish oppres-
sion and all kinds Of wrong, that the bless
ings of liberty and civilization might be
obstructed; who, instead Of listening to the
complaints of his constituents, treated
them with disdain and contempt, debased
his dignity and trust, aud became youn-
tary tool in the hands Of despot5, to ad
vance their plans and thereby he p to
bring out the miseries Of which the above
describes only a small part.
With these facts before us, and many
others which his own party criticise, it
would be lack of fidelity and ambition
for our adopted country to distinguish and
promote the General and to his good plea
sure surrender the right to conclude the
destiny of the nation.
MEMBER OF THE COLONY.