Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-12-05
A FAsmER 10 a FARMER.
Two Very Entertaining Letters; And Espec-
tally So is the Last one.
MINGoNA KAs NV re 1ss

MINGoNA, KAs., Nov. IS, 1883.
/ FRIEND SwITZER: Did you see tile
account OF the late eclipse! For feaI
you did not, will give you short ac-
count OF II: On the morning of Nov. g.
1 1893, The banuanna rose IN all its glory
and little after eight o'clock a cloud
began TO gather over it; at noon Ii was
half covered, and at D. m, the eclipse
was total and visible throughout The
! United States and England. and the
darkness was so dense that the Demo-
Gratis ana Union Labor people have not
recovered their spirits yet. The fusion
OF Democrats and Union Laborites did
] not avail, as the entire Republican
county ticket was elected with majori-
/ ties ranging from IS to $50.
| There was grand ratification in Medi-
I cine Lodge last Saturday. and it was
/ better than any 4th of July, aud bet-
1 paying was in order. Sanderson is wear
ing a $1,000 pair of boots; hope they
Will last him well. Jerry Simpson is
nix.
| Did you see the sun shine on the 7th
/ inst. Well. it rose and the man of
destiny got-left. ''Hurrah for Harri-
son and Norton Harrison got II
majority in MiDgona township. Kansas
! spoke right out in meeting; also West
| Virginia; and Harrison gets 239 votes.
Some Of the Demos" say it was pref
ty close. The u. L. polled between 200
and 800 in Barber county.
Not much news since election news
cooled down. Are having fine weather
and all are well; hope you will not eat
I so much in that bOuntiful country that
you will get sick. Well, be good to
yourself and let me hear from you.
Yours Respectfully,
PETER MARTIN.
MONMOUTH, KAs., Nov. %, 1883.
My DEAR FRIEND PETER MARTIN {:
Your letter was received only yesterday
your very kind letter, will say, al
though L recognize haunting mood was
over you when you wrote 1T. take
pleasure in replying. With sore and
chapped hands and weary back, fresh
from the corn-field, 1 am putting in a
midnight hour in recognition of your
friendly taunt. and now if l should
speak plain, right out in meetin'
hope you will receive it as we'll as do
| yours.
did l see the account of the eclipse?''
Yes; with shame l saw it. Not that
feared, or cringed from jeers or taunts,
but on account of the political eclipse
of manly integrity and principles which
took place on November 9Th. my very
cheeks tingle with shame. The eclipse
is not over yet, but is doubtless just
coming on, and if deepening shadow
does not continue to rest upon the land
shall be most agreeably undeceived.
The result of the election, as tar as
Kansas is concerned, was indeed a sur
prise. 1t adds strong argument to the
calviBistic dogma of total depravity
1t tells the same old, oft-repeated story,
of gullability and humbug. and is a re-
newed, fresh and discouraging repeti-
tiop of the want of integrity and princi-
pies among the agricultural people of
the country. Never was there politi-
! cal campaign with so little on one side
and so much on the other as this one
Never was there a grosser illustration
of choosing the evil and refusing the
good. We had trusted confidently to
our own good state of Kansas as the
star of promise. She was first in the
war on slavery, first in the grand charge
on the liquor traffic, and we had hoped
that she was now ready to put on her
beautiful garb and lead the van in
placing the great agricultural and la
boring masses in equal representation
before the tribunals of this broad land.
Not so this time. But we will watch
and wait and hope.
The defeat this time cannot be at
tributed to ignorance. You were en-
lIghtened as to the entire emptiness of
the so called great issue that was before
the people. Tariff tariff tariff tar
if was the watch word. Tariff was the
battle cry,
What on earth has the tariff to do
with you or / or the agricultural inter
est of this country. If the Republicans
and Democrats had hollered boob /!
boob boob boob it would have been
just as significant. You were plainly
told before the election that Republican
tariff meant AZ per cent. and Democrat
ic tariff meant nearly 43 per cent.
Great, grand, gigantic issue of 4 6 10
per cent. between them.
asked Republican in the corn-feld
the other day his reason for voting the
Republican ticket. He just had one
answer: tariff. "What have you got
now that you did not haYe BEFORE" L
asked. do you buy salt for your
stOckp'' Yes" 'Will the tariff re-
duce the price?" "Hurrah for Harri-
son!" do you buy sugar for your fam
ily?" Yes" Isn't the sugar trust
sufficiently trustworthy without bolster.
ing it up with high tariff" oh"
be says, 1--WE want protection Yes,
verify zee do. "Whv are you preparing
to move to Illinois?" Because have
been trying to farm here four years and
can't make living" Then, / think,
somebody does need protection, but who
needs ItY" Does the Mccormick Manu-
featuring Co. need it, Does the Bell
Telephone Co. need It? The Armour
packing house; the Studebaker Wagon
CO.; do they need protection? Can you
think of any leading manufacturers in
any line whatever that have not become
millionairesY Do they need prote ctionr
Are they not already organized into
trusts and monopoIIes aud abundantly
able to protect themselyesg Then ,chO
needs protection?
Is it reasonable that the strong need
protection against the weak? WoulG
not a sensible man think the reverse
would be trqef
I'll tell you my dear friend Peter, my
heart is pouring out at my pencil poin,
as write. Twice | have been exiled
/ from heanfifnl homes and 20 wars q.