The Forrest City times., 1888-09-15
All BEN'S RECORD.
Harrison's Connection with the Great
 Strike of 1871.
Speech of State Senator Bailey to the Railroad Mon of Indianapolis Facts Regarding Harrison's
 Labor Record.

tion to the welfare of the laboring masses
 and then passing to his principal topic, said What ] shall have to say tonight will be with reference to the Republican nominee
 for the Presidency, Hon. Benjamin narri-
 son; the influences which brought about bis
 nomination, his attitude toward laboring men, embracing in some detail his record in the great railroad strike of 1s77 as st has been gathered from the most authentic sources, such as court files, accounts pub
 lished at the time, and interviews with men who participated in the trouble of tha. period and have a personal knowledge of
 what Mir. Harrison said and did. I shall avoid all embellishments or exaQreratinn
 laying before you the simple evidence as he has made 1t and upon which he must stand
 before the people in this campaign And
 In my investigation of the subject in hand
 wish to acknowledge the very material aid or one whose great heart and intellect
 were with the boys in those dark days
 wholly and valiantly. At the head of a
 great daily newspaper, Col. J. R, Maynard
 stood fcarlessly in behalf of those strug- ! gling employees. He was maker of records then. He opens them now.
 In the early days of our repubiic-at the ! very first formation of our Constitutions | great battle was waged by the two repre-
 sentative Een of that period. Alexander
 hanniton, the English autocrat, contended | Tor a strong central government HE would have clothed tho President of our | republic with the mantle of king. empow-
 ering him with authority to appoint Gov | eth0Is and members of Congress for lie ' His doctrines have since been frequently | approved in public speech by Republican l leaders. Thomas Jefferson one of inc l founders of the Democratic party, sought | 10 establish a government of the people. for the people aud by the people,
 And so it Is to day. These extremes are | represented by the two chief party organi- | yufiDno HVhiph mi fsyhf ho
 mated the aristocratic party and the Demo cratic party It is power wealth, class in- tercst against the plain common reople for their constitutional rights against that cor porate power which would enslave and de- stroy them. Burdens far less oppressive present day brought on the war of the Revolution resulting in the independence of the original colonies. As nation we started out on correct principles We laid
 the foundation deep and solid
 Our government has no parallel Ancient
 republics were, and modern monarchies are
 but the mockeries of human rights.
 WHAT NOMINATED HARRISON.
 In line with the foregoing thoughts, let u view the influences at Chicago which SC
 cured Gen. Harrison's nomination. It was
 body representing vast aggregation of capital It is said something over sI .000 : 000,o0o. It would be intere sting to know the amount with certainty, but surely the
 banks, railroads, trusts, land -grabbers and bondhoders Were in the ascendency Ncni-
 inally they spoke for a party of sey eral mil lions but in fact only one clement was con sidere1 One railroad alone owing a debt of over s2,000,Oo0 to the United States was numerously represented by it's agents and solicitors. Chauncey NJ. Depew, president of the Vanderbilt property of near s30O, ,0to : 090, asplred for leadership. He held the Empire delegation under perfect control. fear of a revolt in the agricultural West alone checking his personal ambition. but
 he could dictate the candidate, and did He sought lelder as far from the people
 and as close to the corporations as possible one whose life, record and sympathies were
 in close accord with his own A conference Of money magnates at the Grand Pacific Hotel, in Chicago, eanvassed the field and
 aereed upon their man. His name was Ben amin Harrison. In the work of cboos ing this distinguished railroad lawyer Of Indiana, which was soon after confirmed pro forma by the convention, he called to his aid such men as Dodd of Council Bluffs who was Mir Gould's Wabash receiver un- uldecapitated by Judge WalterQ Gresham : Greed HaYmond of California. solicitor of the Southern Pacific, and Fred Crocker Yiee-president of the same road: H K Wa'cott of Colorado, solicitor for the Den yer and Rio Grande; J. N. Thurston, q Washington lobbyist and solicitor of the 0Ilpu IdflilC. senator OpOONpr or WlScOn-
 sin, solicitor of tho Chicago and Northwest ern: Steve EliSins of "Maverickn fame and
 cattle partner of Mir Harrison: the general
 manager of the Missouri Pacific; Clarkson, vice-president of Gould's lines in Iowa {; | k. E. Landon of Wyoming, a brother-in- | law of Depew Senator Stewart of Nevada | solicitor ofthe Central Pacific; w J. Sewall
 and John l. Blair, the railroad millionaire l of New Jersey; James F. Wilson, solicitor l Of the latter's Western railroad property, ! and T. T. Minor railroad lawyer of Wash | ington Territory. who gained much notori- l ety on the Pacific slope by defending the | Chinese in their recent riot at Seattle | Thesc arc among the few who directed the l choice of the Chicago convention. Mir | Harrison is the man thus named, standing upon a platform of high taxes and free whiskey, to which the American laborer is
 asked to look for his personal protection | and prosperity. Is the picture inviting ! l Docs it have the clear, honest ring of fair | dealings and an unbiased treatment Of | popular rights, Will the laboring men of | this country place their hopes in the control of these Chicago jugglers! Or can they
 have less distrust in product of their
 creation,
 The question of labor and laboring men is
 in this campaign.
 President Cleveland, in his message,
 says:
 sAn will a knowledge the force of an l argument which involves the welfare and
 liberal compensation of our laboring people '' | Mir. Cleveland states fundamental fact in
 political economy. There is no develop.
 ment, there is no progress. without labor
 Strike down labor and, as if by
 decree of Jehovah, you stop the f wheels of progress. Strike down
 labor and you remand the world to a wilderness and t0 savagery. Strike down ] labor and another keel would never cleave
 the waves, another railroad train would never thunder across the continent. and the
 man who would cripple labor, who would ! impoverish it, who would degrade it, who would place obstacles in its pathway, who would reduce it's compensations and i'm l bitter it's life, like vice,
 Is monster of so frlghtful mien
 As 10 be hated needs only to be seen. Labor is now coming to the front It is de- ] handing audience and recognition. It pro poses to challenge candidates, to propound | to them certain questions and to have | answers without prevarications.
 Benjamin Harrison entertains the same | opinions of workingmen in lSss as he did ! in 1877 He has not changed. There is no | record of change It is nowhere asserted | that Gen Harrison was ever the friend of i the workingman; that he ever engaged him | self in bettefing their wages or conditions l; | that in the Senate of the United States he 1 ever cast vote, introduced measure or ! advocated one that was intended in any de gree to ameliorate the burdens or em-
 barrassments of anything or anybody which did not attach to it's signatures the imprint
 of Q corporate seal.
 HIS CHINESE RECORD.
 shall refer to his Chinese record but briefly. Fourteen times he voted to permit them to swarm in upon our home laborers He read an article before literary so- ciety in Indianapolis strongly defending his position: number of the race residing here
 attended the Sunday School of his church and have been assisted by it to establish themselves in business It is said but twenty Chinamen were ever naturalized in
 the United States. At least seven of that
 number took their papers in Indianapolis;
 they all voted the Republican ticket In 1881
 Gen. Harrison was elected to the United
 States Senate. A lawyer by the name of
 Vinson Carter candidate for the Legisla-
 ture, who was elected from this county and
 voted for MT. Harrison, with the aid of