The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-02-28


holding public office. HIS history since he
has been at the head of the insurance depart
Imcnt has been continuous scandal. Not only
has he been accused by the press ana puollc
rumor cf dishonest practices, but he has twice
been presented to the senate for Impeachment
for high crimes and misdemeanors by the gov
ernor Of the state weekly tRdsrTr.ter.
Mr.. Gurus, of Horpcrs weekly, discourses
rs follows on the Stalwart declaration that
"A strong man" is needed at the head of nation
al affairs;
| There is no mere ntolcrablc and unrcpuh-
! lican nonsense than the talk OF thc necessity OF
"A strong man in the Presidential chair. 1t ~
! the cry of distrust Of American institutions III
| is cry of welcome to those who dcspise he.
public and disbclevc III it. What we need Is
! not the government OF strong man, but OF a
strong peOplc--that Is, of a people strong IN
their LOYALTY to law, strong IN their falth IN
! free popular institutions, strong to MAINTAIN
| every bulwark Of liberty and the Republic
which the experience of u century and the eN
ample of our best and wisest patriots have
erected. our Government can not be strong
cr than it is without Ccasng to be popular
Government There Is no necessity Tor The Ike
publican party to make the only nomination
which would arouse an indignant protest
To the safety of the country, and that the sound
est, conservative rules and traditions must be
OVERTHROW in order to put the executive power
into his hands"
Very many newspapers which are ardent adj
vocates of a protective tariff have printed arti
Giles favoring the passage of Representative
! Forts blll to reduce the printpaper tax and
10 free from duty papcrmakers soda ashes ana
other chemicals But do not our
brethren of the journals which favor protec
tive tariff see their inconsistency? For selfish
motives they would admit paper and the ma
tcrialS required in its manufacture free of du-
ty. If it is advisable to exempt these articles
why not cXcrapt every other article The pro
teetve tariff has too long proven hindrance
to American prosperity, and the whole high
tariff system must GO Public sentiment is
rapidly coming to that conclusion. Protection,
as practiscd in this country is robbery. There
never was any benefit III the artificial bolster
ing up of industries Down with the monopo
lies that the tariff has fOstered Free trade is
the international common law OF the Almigh
I,y."-Troy (N. ~ Press.
Even with the encouragement of many of
our Legislatures, and with qualified ballot
placed in their hands, wOmans ardOr in the
line of the rights of citizenship hardly justl-
tes the noise made by our distinguished advo-
Gates of woman suffrage. Hardly two thou
sand women voted last November IN Massa-
chusctts In five cities, out of twenty-five trus-
tees seven were women, and yet in all proba-
bility had the votes of women been struck
from the lists the result would have been the
same. The fact is patent, then, that the great
obstacle in the way of wOmen's gong to the
polls is that they do not care to go. If the Civ
ing of the ballot to women works no material
oh IN, hn If
that it will be useless to hope for good in other
great questions of the day--tempcrance, for
instance-unless by continued agitation they
become educated up to the idea that voting is
q duty, and not luxury.-ErdmlRer.
General Grant has differed from other Presi-
dental candidates only in not seeking the nom
nation by the methods usually employed by
ambitious men lie is silent but consistent
and works by not working for the control of
delegations Although he has never yet voted
a Republican ticket IN his life he has gravi
tated into liking to Rcpubicanism, but his
late Chicago speech was a wellconsidcred de
| iveranCe indicating his preference for break
ing up Of parties as now organized, and his
election to the Presidency on the spontaneous
combustion principle One thing is known to
all who are not the verlest political idiots
that while General Grant will not seek the
offered to him by any party capable Of dellv-
ering it, without commanding his prompt ac-
ceptance PhNadelphia Times,
The New York SIM says; The robbery and
villainy in the Indian Bureau and in the Post
Office Department under the Hayes Admins
tration have probably never been surpassed
even at the worst of Grantism. The plumber
is counted by tens of thousands, hundreds OF
thousands, millions; but what else Is to be cX
pected OF an Administration which began its
career by stealing the Presidency? How can
honesty be expected of set of men who con-
spred to count Hayes in rs President when
ITilden had been elected?
To dun debtor by a postal card has been
| decided by the Supreme Court OF Ohio to be
unlawful. The court held that anything so
written that is liable to injure the credit or
reputation of any one Is crime. The decls.
| ion was made in the case Of a man who dunncd
debtor for an Old account on a postal card
and in that manner made the matter public to
the dctriment of the latter's credit elsewhere.
|-Er.
The State Supreme Court rendered an inter.
estpg decision last week upon the question
whether n man can mortgage in advance the
crops that he expects to have next year. They
decide that such "a mortgage would hold good
on the hay crop or fruit crop, for they already
have their roots in the ground, but would not
| hold on corn or grain that is soNn subsequent
to the date of the mortgage.-Er.
The Chicago InterOreW ls comparing the
trials and triumphs Of Washington with those
OF Grant. Just to show what an old fogy Wash
! ington was for not wanting a third term any
more or less than he did the first-tfnctnHdtl