Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-09-25
A Disguised Democrat.

JASESVILLE. w L.. sept. 81 am q
disgnsted democrat. A few weeks
ago we selected delegates to repre-
sent us in the democratic convention
to nominate candidate for congress
in this district. Well, the convention
met and nominated man named Par
ker, Of Beloit. Who is this Parker
and what is he, that the democrats of
the First congressional district Of
Wisconsin should vote for him? Why
he is an old hoary-headed republican
Of the most radical type. He has
grown gray in the republican party,
and now that he has turned green
backer they ask democrats to vote for
him. Now, l have been a good DEM
ocrat all my life, and come of good
old democratic stock. My father was
a Jackson democrat, and fought un-
der him in 1912. Ny grandfather
fought in the Revolutionary war, and
supported Thomas Jefferson for pres
ident. I fought and shed my blood
in the late war for the preservation
Of that government which my ances-
tors helped to establish and maintain.
We have always believed in the good
old Democratic doctrine of maintain
ing the national credit, and paying
our debts, both public and private, in
good, honest money, according to
contract. at first, like most others
of our party, opposed the plan of is
suing greenbacks, but finally accept
ed them in good faith, and have al
ways advocated such financial poll
cy as would tend to appreciate their
value, and finally make them equal to
aud convertible into coin and say
that any man who now advocates the
plan of issuing lot of irredeemable
liat currency, is either a fool or n
knaye. There is no mistake about
that. Any many who "dont know
enough to know" that the proposed
fiat money would surely and rapidly
depreciate to nothing on the dollar,
don't know enough to be citizen of
this free and enlightened country,
and had better emigrate. No human
power could prevent such result.
Nothing short of the power of AL
mighty God could keep such cur
rency in circulation at par or any,
where near it. Old Peter Cooper
vocating the issue Of enough Of this
Kind of money to pay off the national
debt | suppose he would send it TO
Europe to pay off our bonds held
there; but he don't state where he
would get enough vessels to trans.
port it. He might load the Great
Eastern from stem to stern with ST..
600 bills of the stuff, and when he go,
to England or Germany he could no,
buy 500 bond with the whole Of it.
But if Peter Cooper was fifty or sixty
years younger, he would not make
such foolish proposition.
In looking over the situation We
find that the leaders ofthis damphool
party are lot of sore-headed dema,
gogues, political dead beats, and f.
nancial bankrupts from both the old
political parties. Look up the pedi.
gree of any one of them from Ben
Butler and Sam Cary down to the
one-horse, cross-road politician like
this Parker, Of Beloit, and you will
find either a chronic office seeker, {
victim of disappointed ambition, al
old played-out political hack, who
has been laid on the shelf or been dis,
missed from some government Office
or else man in financial difficulties
who has the vague idea that a new
era Of inflated currency and wilG
speculation would enable him to re
trieve his broken fortunes.
Such men are the leaders OF this 60
called greenback party, and that thel
shod obtain any considerable number
of followers among men who claim
to possess common sense is one Of the
most amazing events Of this century
l am very much mistaken if ma
ijOrity of the true democrats of Ok
Rock County, and the First Congress
sional District of Wisconsin submit
to be led astray by the false and per
nicious doctrines IF this bastard
party, and vote for the old pol
itical renegade who has been placet
in nomination by the men who mis-
represented the party in the late so
called democratic con vention of thi
congressional district. b.