The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-02-26

Writes IN cpen Letter to Senator
Wilson.

Wl1tee a Vpen Letter 20 SENATOR
Wilson.
CaIsco, Iowa, Feb'y Ii, 1856.
Hox. J. r. WILSON, SENATE CHAMBER,
WAsHuo9ox, p. O.:
Tour two speeches Of April and
January last past have been eagerly
read by me. Tou admit the truth Of
rhe abuses which my letter 70 Allison
urges. Our difference Is that you
will b satisfied with tardv remedies
leisMrelv applied. Facts seem to
call lqhdly Tor prompt action: Our
best minds are fully satis0ed that
the 81. Paul q Milwaukee railroad
has taken In excessive. freight and
passenger charges In the last twelve
years from Howard county, more
than one million Of dollars; an
amount about equal to our present
mortgage indebtedness. One-third
Of the Inhabitants living here ten
years ago are now IN the dugouts OF
Dakota, and one-half Of those re-
naming are in q life and death
struggle for thcir homes. We gave
the 81 Paul road seventy thousand
dollars in lands to come through our
county twenty years ago. Since
which they have bought, killed, OF
discouraged every railroad which
was likely to come near Us and cause
competition. Cresco Is about mid
way between st. Paul and Milwau-
kee. On many articles Of commerce
NO have to pay nearly four times the
amount charged between the two
cities, or eight rates for like services
per mile. The Reagan bill provided
that no greater charge should be
made for less than tor q greater
distance"
Your vote seems to be recorded
with those WIN voted to thwart and
destroy this wise provision which
passed the House. How you can
harmonic this net with the admis.
sions and propositions In your
speech I leave other men to divine,
for 1t seems to me that they are in
direct conflict.
Far back II the worlds history we
find Demosthenes proclaiming the
rights Of the many against the few.
His oratoYy was long and loud, but
his acts were for the few. He excus-
ed himself by saying that the masses
had no time to make laws and sec
them executed. The lovers Of free
dom now regard him like the Owl,
chiefly o noise. Later on, We find
Henry Clay, the champion Of human
liberty Tor oil, SO far as wordy speech
cs and q grand display Of gestures
went; but he could never find the
exact time when the shackles should
fall from the slave and the bOndman
90 free. To day five millions Of peo-
pie, the mixed descendants Ham
Japhet pass by his tomb with the
same disgust that they look upon an
ant hill. They only desire to keep
the OCCUPANT away from them. Clay
allowed the mantle he might have
worn to fall upon Abraham Lincoln,
whose portrait adorns the cabins,
whose memory fires the hearts
whose magnimity Of soul will ever
liyei n the minds Of whole people.
To day Iowa has q Wilson. In his
speeches he proclaims the peoples
needle. He declares their wants and
sets forth in unmistakable sentences
the r. r. aggression upon their
rights. Is Wilson sincere or are
these words the merest sophistry
His vote is to substitute the Commits
sioner bill (the railroad bilD for the
Reagan bill (the peoples billy which
declares that no greater charge shall
be made by r. r., for less than q
greater distance. And extortion is
allowed to go on.
To-day Iowa has her Wilson. To-
day one-half million toilers in the
northern part OF the Hawkeye state
are looking to him not only to plead
their cause but to
VOTE THEIR WISHES.
Does Wilson desire at death no
part in gratitude's mantle like that
which now enshrouds the immortal
Lincoln? Does he desire that his
only mourner shall be some soulless
corporation which will hang out a
hall. yard OF black rag for three weeks
and then let him sink into an endless
oblivion. Shall such be the fate OF
James F. Wilson?
Fraternally Yours,
NJ. B. DooLITTLE.