The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-09

talked outside the lodges, for purposes of politi
cal capital, and endeavored to impress upon the
two great political parties that the influence they
welded among the Knights OF Labor was all
powerful, and could defeat either the Democrat
ic or Republican party, as they willed
Last spring this little Greenback 'eoterle
deemed the time ripe for action,
and decided to reap some of the political bene-
fits of their 'iiawsmithing' words. One of their
number, Dr. r. t. Miller, who claimed to be "a
horny handed workingMan' on the strength OF
pulling aching teeth aud filling hollow ones was
selected to make the race for the mayoralty or
South Bend. AS the city usually goes Demo
cratic, the little clique of Greenbackers decided
to bend their efforts to make the Democratic
party nominate him, and they succeeded If
any man had told the Democrats of South Bend,
who are politicians only to the extent of voting
their principles that was going to be
nominated in their convention who had been by
times a Republican. a Prohibitionist, and a
Greenbacker. but never Democrat, they would
have told him he fit subject for COM
mission of lunacy. Yet Miller was forced upon
this Democratic convention, and nominated
His Greenback cla1uers claimed that he carried
three thousand Knights of Labor votes
in his pocket and was lnvlncible,
and so, through fear, the Democratic
managers nominated him. AS as
thu nomination was made. Miller arose IN the
convention and said he would carry out the
principles of the Democratic party when elected.
This statement was made to placate the old line
Knights of Labor. AS soon as the convention
adjourned, he 'set up the drinks for the boys"
This was to placate the saloon element. for he
had abused it unstintedly when assistant editor
of prohibition paper. The honest greenback
ers, even were dspleased with his demagogue-
ism, and there were many homogeneous ele
ments for him to please that, by election day, he
was the most despised man IL South Bend.
Honest Democrats and honest Greenbackers
voted against him, or remained away from the
polls while honest Knights of Labor. who real
lied that he had made their order base for po-
litical preferment, cast their votes against him.
The Greenback clique and the few Demo
cratic wire pulers predicted when Miller was
nominated that he would be elected by at least
$500 majority. He was defeated by nearly six
hundred votes The rebuke to demagogsm was
complete, and it was not only rebuke to Miller
and his clique by the honest knights of Labor,
but it was rebuke by the honorable element in
the Democratic party to the other element In the
party, which toadied and fraterniZed with these
demagogues, and thus brought the party into
disrepute
Nothing discouraged by the failure to secure
Millers election to the mayoralty of South Bend,
this same clique set about having one Of their
number (B. F. Shlvely) nominated for Congress
in this district. AS the district is Democratic
by several hundred majority, and for other OBJ
vious reasons, they wisely decided to force his
nomination by the Democrats at their Warsaw
convention. The members of this clique
called to their assistance few Green
0aCn
trict,1 and then pursued the tactics
they used to secure Miller's nomination. except
that their work was done more secretly. Their
greatest drawback that Shively had never
been Democrat. Before he was of age he had
made some Republican speeches. Later he be-
came a virulent Greenbacker, and in 1882 went
to the Greenback congressional convention with
the avowed promise of working for the nomina
ton of Colonel Parker of Elkhart, for Congress,
but deserted his friend and secured 1t for him
ate n0 hopAmA a Vfru1Ant
anti-monopolist, and in an insignificant little
sheet he published in South Bend, his rawlings
against any men who had accumulated property
were such as to indicate that, if he believed as
he wrote, he was not far removed from an
Anarchist. Still later he joined the Knights of
Labor, or rather with few of his Greenback
friends organized the first lodge in South Bend.
By what right he belonged to the order has ala
ways puzzled those who know him best, for
they know he always despised manual labor.
The farmers up in the Baubaugo country, where he
was born and raised, and where he is known as
'"rhe Eastwood of the Baueo, laugh immoder
ately when they hear of him being the work
ingmen's champion" as his admirers style him.
Two years ago Major Calkins when running
on the Republican ticket for Governor resigned
his place as Congressman from this district
against the earnest remonstrances OF the Repub-
licans rather announced that he would re-
sign This necessitated nominating candidate
to be elected to serve from the meeting of Con-
gress in December, 1884, to the 4th of March,
1885. Immediately Shively attempted to nego-
tiate with the Republicans for this nomination,
but his utter lack of political principles so
we'll known that he was given the cold shoulder
at once He then. through Harvey r. Harris,
chairman of the Greenback committee of the
district, opened negotiations with the Democrats
and frightened them into giving him this short
term" nomination, as it was called,
although the district is Democratic and could
have been carried with any Democrat on the
ticket with the long term nominee, Mr. Ford
The Green hackers of the district stood by the
combination houorably, gratifed at the idea of
having Greenba representative In Congress
if it was for but few weeks Shively distin-
guished himself while In Congress by claiming
and getting pay from the time Cakins resigned
up to the time of his own election, not cent of
which he nor any one else was entitled to, as the
district had no Congressman during this interim.
1t was case of Treasury pluudering, unwar-
ranted as to cause severe criticism among the
Washington correspondents. When Shively re-
turned home he went Immediately to Ann Arbor
and took law course and adopted the law as a
profession, although the Knights of Labor rules
specially forbid lawyers, gamblers and saloon
keepers belonging to that organization. He re-
turned to South Bend and the only law case he
had he lost
This in brief is the history of tho man se-
lected by his clique of friends for the Democratic
convention to nominate 1t did not seem posi-
BILE that this handful of Greenbackers could be
successful in their scheme, since Shively was
not Democrat. Not a hundred Democrats In
the district believed his name would be presented
to the convention. Not Democratic paper in
the district advocated his nomination, and two
of them-the LaPorte Argus and the Goshen
Democrat-warned the convention not to nom
mate man whose record as Democrat was
not straight. Ford, the present incumbent, was
a lifelong Democrat, and the st. Joseph county
delegation was solid for him, with the exception
of one mana Knight of Labor. Mayor Nye, of
LaPorte was another lifelong Democrat, and his
county was instructed for him. Other lifelong.
honest Democrats, with strong folowings were
LaPorte Heefner and l.. d. Wurner, of Elkhart
county; John B Stoll, of South Bend; Harry
Francis, of Michigan City, and other Democrats,
who had given the years of their manhood TO the
Democratic cause and were available as candi-
dates and strong in the district
It seemed impossible that some one Of these
men would not be nominated, yet the South
Bend Tribune. a leading Republican paper. in