Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-12
A WRITER in iScribner correc,l,

mean party expects TO 1--we II must be
a party Of progress. II cannot
thrive on dead issues. II has gained
what il fought for in the war. What
it gained must be utilized but it can.
not always thrive on that any more
than man can always live on one
dinner. 1t must engage in new un-
der!akings. The Legislature of Wis
consin is Republican. The people
look to it as Republican body.
They look for Legislation useful to
the great industries OF the State. The
buzzing the members hear about
their ears at Madison is made by
the wings of drones who wish the
honey collected by the working bees
to be laid away in shelves easily sp-
preached by them. Our legislators
should listen especially to our farm.
ers, not to the men who strive BY
their wits to live on what toll has got
out Of the ground. Instead of trim
ming out the highways by which
sharp men acquire sudden wealth
without labor by cunningly abstract.
ing the fruits Of others toll while the
toiler's unsuspecting eye is averted,
they should so frame our laws that
all honest labor should have equally
reward.
And here We will call attention,
without specifying, to the high sal.
aries paid to persons in public places,
Almost invariably these salaries are
disproportionate to the times. II
they were not, there would not be
such scrambllng for public places.
Numberless men in the State eff Wis.
consin sslie around loose" without
visible employment several months
each year depending on what the
Legislature will give them. From
nomination day until the assembling
at Madison they will be writing, hob
nobing and intriguing for places, an d
they will get them, while those who
should have them are honorabley and
lsborious!y engaged at useful voca.
tons. The salaries of all our public
men, more especially those who hold
places by appointment and not by the
voices of the people, are too high.
When We think of how the masses oil
the people have to toll for 5000 OF
$500 or $1,000 and then how easily
these (their servants, so called) &C.
cumulate such sums We become
ashamed to name examples but un-
less there is reform in this direction
our party may depend upon it exam
Piles will stand out this year in very
bold relief
The question OF who pays aud how
taxes are paid is also one wanting
reform. The methods proposed by
our "Greenback" friends last summer
were ludicrous but their complaints
were just. More than half the
farms and more than half the shops
OF Grant county are under mortgage.
A man is nominal owner of q place
worth, say, $4,000. He is in debt
and has it nortgaged to the amount
of 81 900, at ten per cent The net
value of that farm to the money lend
er is 500 per year. The net value
to the nominal owner, with his years
labor thrown IN is absorbed by pay.
ing the 800 interest. Perhaps he
cannot pay all the interest, and in
time the debt grows and the lender
gets the property. 1t woull be fair
# the lender had to pay iaxes, at
least in proportion to the interest
he had in the farm ard that no
title by foreclosure could ensue until
he did.
Then the voice Of the people, and
we believe of justice, is in favor of a
reduced legal rate Of interest. The
States are all coming down to six
and seven per cent. Why should
Wisconsin be behind ? If law ia a
regulator of the traffic in money, it
should be made to suit the times.
There are other laws on our books,
put there for the purpose of enabling
other men, corporations and jobbers,
to get public property by taxation
and otherwise and appropriate it to
private uses. viii our legislators,
our Republican legislators, be equal
to the situation +?
And while we call upon the legis-
lators, can you, the people, be de-
pended nron to sustain those who
devote their knowledge and talents
to your interests, or will you echo
the expressions of blatent dema.
gogues and mouthy loafers who 90
about the country making business
of praising men who are always
secretly intriguing against the real
interests of the people. Didn't Judge
Mills try to do all for you last winter
that you asked and that should be
done ? and how many of you rushed
10 caucusses and conventions to hon.
or him and hold up his hands. Why,
Judge Mills was the only Republi.
can in the county who was at the
FIRST Republican State Convention
ever held. There was a quarter
centennial reunion of such Republi
cabs at Madison last year. Did you
step forward and give him creden
tials that he might there honor the
party and rejoice with its other iath-
ers, or did you send Cap Ferg, who