Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-09-28
GREENBACKS AT OTTERYILLE.
Tremendous Outpouring of the Masses.


Last night our Greenback friends held
their first public meeting in this village.
A goodly aaray of speakers presented
themselves. There was Mr.. Gaylord,
PROF" Goodrich, and j. d. Russell, but
Miller and Russell did not arrive until
quarter past o'clock. AT 8 o'clock
Prof" Goodrich began his speech, his
audience consisting of six Republicans,
two Democrats and Gaylord; no more,
no less. The small audience was ac-
counted for by the fact that the posters
miscarried, and the only notice that the
faithful Greenbackers in this vicinity
had Of the meeting, was through their
organ, the county Greenback paper.
The two Democrats present were in
formed of the meeting by kind-hearted
Republicans, showing that they do not
fool away their time and money on their
newspaper organ
And so Prof" Goodrich began his
speech. He is fine looking man, and
was dressed with faultless elegance.
His introduction was elaborate, classi-
cal and ornate. At ten minutes after
eight he had finished his skyward intro
ductory flight, and returned to business
and to Otterville. About this time,
four boys and another Democrat, who
had been fshed up, entered the school
house with quite unnecessary noise; but
the speaker gracefully waited until they
were seated, and then proceeded with
his speech, to all appearances totally
unembarrassed at the huge proportions
to which the audience had attained. He
spread upon the table seven distinct
sets of manuscript, with sundry news
paper scraps and pamphlets. His whole
speech was pedantic and historical and
if he is not elected County Superinten-
dent it will be partly because he makes
too many speeches; though we confess,
Judging by his audience on this occa-
sion-it may be urged in opposition to
this view that very few people of the
county are likely to hang upon his elo-
quent lips" He informed us that his
own salary had been cut down from 500
to $50 per mOnth-hence the financial
policy of the government is all awry,
and the national banks should be extin-
guished He called the rich men OF the
country-whose money has built our
railroads and developed our State
bloody bullionists," "bloated bond-hold-
ers," "Shylocks of Wall Street" and so
on, all of which showed very high
state of culture in the speaker; but he
put his foot into it through excessive
zeal. He said: ''the market is not glut-
ted-it cannot be glutted Ask the
poor man whose children are naked and
barefooted and hungry, ask hin. if the
market is glutted.'' This was bad ado
vice from the Professor" for if one Of
his audience should ask the poor man
why his children are in such destitute
condition. the answer would be: Il am
out of work" why are you out OF
work?" Because the factory is stop
ped or the shop is closed" WHY'S the
factory. stopped?" Because there is
an overstock of goods and the market is
gluttcd" And thus the poorest man in
the country would convict Prof" Good
rich of what, in any other person but a
candidate for School Superintendent,
would be superlative ignorance, but
which in his case is only a proof that
the man who dedicates himself to great
ness, who spends his life in pursuit OF
the fine arts and bellesletters, who scars
into the infinite and revels in the in
comprehensive, cannot be expected to
come down to the level Of plain, vulgar
fact.
Next came Mr.. Gaylord, and though
the change was only from G. to g., it
was great relief. We did not have to
strain our little wits to comprehend his
big words. Mr.. Gaylord's language is
plain and his ideas are clear. You are
not left in doubt as to his meaning-un-
less he means to leave you in doubt:
He cut and thrust right and lett, and
brought his monster fist down upon the
table like sledge hammer, determined,
if he could not beat his logic into our
heads to take his revenge on the mani
mate mahogany-or, to speak precisely,
pine. He poured hot shot into the ma
tional banks without conjunction, de-
claring that our whole financial fabric
was conceived in sin and brought forth
in iniouity, and that the authors and
abettors thereof have robbed, and are
now robbing the widows and orphans OF
what they never had; and that they
would continue to rob until those sweet
disciples, Spangler, Goodrich " Co.,
were somehow boosted into office, and
and the guilty resumptionists boosted
out. Oh, Shade of Chase, the great au-
thor of our money system, look out for
Gaylord, for he is after you'll
After listening to Gaylord, and hear
ing him detail the dreadful character of
our present currency, | felt guilty for
having any or the mean stuff in my
pocket, and would have destroyed it, but
upon examination foun,l that a ten-cent
shinplaster was the extent of my pile.
This | would have rent into little
pieces, when my little boy stopped me,
saving that he thought he knew OF a
Greenbacker who would take it in pay
ment for q watermelon.