Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-02-18

ity. | must be dead indeed to every
impulse of gratitude and every sen
timent of manhood, before l can for
get my obligation to the Tishmen o
Mil,Caukee. We shall have no temp
tation to seperate hereafter there il
one bond that will bind US forever
together they and | belong to Gods
great congregation-The Poor. Anc
if, in the changing fortunes of The
future, | should ever find it in my
power to aid an Irishman, [ will
think of ny obligations to the Third
Ward, and hasten to the relief.
Among our German citizens ]
have fewer acquaintances. From g
defect of early education, the conse-
quences of my fathers poverty, am
unable to speak their language and
it is onl y with few that have the
honor of acquaintainship. Yet to
that few | acknowledge nay deep
obligation. There are among my
most cherished friends, and nothing
in their power has been wanting to
promote my success.
And to my friends all over the
state, what can L say? To tho PEG.
pc in Rock county, who as one man
almost, rallied to my support, what
can | say? Nothing but thanks,
thanks, THANKS!
Now, my friends, let US look to
the future. And because the only
safe lamp to light our path is that of
experience, let me enquire what it
was, that despite the earnest support
of such friends accomplished my
defeat. 1t is not to complain of the
past, but to point out the shoals
upon which future political mariners
may be wrecked, that l refer to this
matter. My defeat is attributable to
two causes. CD We have a Wash
burn among US; (2) had offended
capital, in defending the rights of the
people. During
THE CAMPAIGN LAST FALL
the friends of MIR. Washburn had
been instructed to embarrass Repub-
lican candidates by exacting from
them, privately, pledges to vote for
Washburn upon a threat to vote
against them at the polls if they re-
fused to give the pledge. To illus
trate, Mr.. Farnsworth, of Sheboys
gan, the noblest Trojan that has
lived since Troy was demolished,
made pledge to several Washburn
men in his district, that he would
vote against me. This pledge he
would have kept but that those to
whom it was made, not only released
him from his pledge, but requested
him to support me, before the eau
Gus was held. Mr.. Osborn, of Rock
county, was elected in a district
good for two hundred Republican
majority. After he was nominated
by the Republicans, Democrat
threatened 10 get up an opposition
candidate unless Osborn would
promise to vote against me. This
promise he made secretly, and
although the men who elected him,
being large majority of the Repub-
licans of his district came to Madison
and besought him to support me, he
kept his secret pledge and the
result was that one Democrat cast
the vote of Osborn, although be was
representing district Of two hun
dred Republican majority. What is
true of Osborn, is true of most of
the so-caIled "Bolters." They had
been entrapped by the Washburn
men into giving secret pledges, and
then felt bound to obey them at the
expense of representing their con-
sttuents. Washburn entered the
field in
VIOLATION OF HIS VOLUNTARY WRITTEN
PROMISE
not to do so got fairly beaten by a
viva Uoice vote in the caucus, by
which he promised me, on the We'd
nesday before the caucus, he would
abide,-then helped to organize a
bolt his brother.in-law, Senator
Nevins, of La Crosse, leading it;
his newspaper, The La Crosse Re.
publican and Leader, defending it.;
and his nephew, the son of Elisha B.
Wash burn, advocating it. Politicians
are rather Indifferent as to the means
by which a man achieves political
success. But whoever makes such
an attempt in violation of solemn
promise, gets fairly beaten on ground
Of 10 hnIfc
will not be very favorably regarded.
But Washburn alone could not have
accomplished my defeat. His effort
was seconded by the Milwaukee &
St. Paul Railway Company.
In 1865, | delivered Fourth of
July address, taking the ground that
after slavery being abolished, the
next contest in this country would
come
BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND MoNoPo-
LIES
ar pointed out some of the ways
in which the great trinity of mono,
poly-railroad, telegraph and ex-
press companies-were depressing
the people, and suggested the neces-
sity of the peoples rallying to pro-
tect their rights. In 1869, in an
address before the State Agricultural
Society, at Madison, | went quite at
length into the subject, as regards
railroads, and the carrying business
between the west and the seaboard
markets; maintaining that railroads
were subject to legislative control
as public highways: and that Con-
gress had power as g regulation oil
Interstate commerce to fix a tariff
of rates for transportation of pas
sengers and freight between or among
the States. La September, 1873,
delivered an address before an agri.
cultural society at Rochester, ILL.,,
and maintained the power of Con-
gress to regulate the carrying bust
| mss oror railrooJa arnora1 in sntar.