The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1889-03-22
rooiiSe. THE rAnMERs.

The campaign which closed last Noyem
Der was properly called an educational
campaign. II set people TO thinking, to
hunting up facts and figures TO which they
had given but little, II any, attention dur
Ing The past quarter Of century, and turn.
cd The public mind toward the great prob.
lem Of revenue as nothing had done since
ante-beilum days. But II was precious
little correct information that the rcpubli.
can orators gave, When, by any means, It
was possible to avoid II. They resorted
nnscrupulously to the most glaring mis- !.
statements whenever they thought the
Ignorance Of the people made such proceed
urc safe. William M. DIackstock, writing
over his own name In the Ametieaa G,a,gs
Bailefia, an agricultural and not political
paper, tells how the honest farmers OF In.
diana were fooled Into voting the republi.
can ticket Everybody knows how the
votes OF the dishonest ones were secured.
Here are few incidents that fell under
Mr.. Blaekstock's personal observation. He
says;
'frhe real Issue In the campaign was
whether the annual surplus OF about $Ioo,.
100000 should be reduced by lowering the
tax upon the common 'necessaries Of life
or by taking the internal revenue tax off
spirits and tobacco. Advocates Of the lat.
ter course feeling the unpopularity oi the
cheap tobacco, cheap liquor idea, about 30
days prior TO the election, asserted from
press and stump everywhere that there
was no surplus 10 the treasury. heard
the wealthy Mr.. AmIdown OF New York,
president Of the american Tariff league.
nnblushlngly declare that there wins not
dollar of national surplus, and every other
speaker which heard address the farmers
upon that side OF the question. reiterated
the--no surplus. have seen these teach
ers night after night, IL the rural districts
Of this county Of Tippccanoc, ,fndiana,wrise
on the blackboard sSisooo.ooo. which they
asserted was the exaet and only surplus In
the United States treasury, and in.ihe face
Of the republican senate bill TO reduce the
surplus S74.ooo.ooc. those same men kept
on telling the haekwoods farmer about the
mere trihing balance Of Sis,ooo,ooo, and
10 this day 90 per cent of our high tariff
farmers firmly believe that there never
was any surplus.
again, in an adjoining school district, !
saw a aehooi house full Of tariff voting, ig-
ncramnses uproarioasiy applaud an orator.
as he made them believe that they got 40
cents tariff from every bushel Of their
wheat, by simply telling them that wheat
was that day selling for only 10 cents In
free trade Liverpool. and he had the docu.
naents to prove @ h, while the price was
os cents IN Lafayette, Ind. lie said Eve
cents more would place The same wheat 10
New York at rs cents. and, said he. ''the
difference between rs cents In New York
and os cents Ia your home market In La
fayetse, u yenr 20 cents tariff" The cor.
rect Liverpool price was Siis, instead Of
the fictitious 10 eenss.r
II was with such missiatemenss as these
that the farmers, not OF only Indiana, but
the west In general were deceived ard Ben.
jamin Harrison takes his seat as president
Of these United States by virtue Of a whole.
sale system Of misrepresentation use
no stronger term-whlch deceived thous-
ands Of western men into voting for him.