Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-10-10
MASON In MOLINE.
Rattiing Statements Made h, a RAFT.
ling Statesmnu

mat congressional snake charmer
Billy Mason, spoke in Moline last night
de did not come to talk about facts but
TO dwell in fancy. Billy is good tslker,
good story-teller and capital compsn-
ION in social boisterous way and eener-
ally makes a good impression on plat
form, and particularly so when he thinks
be can wade in. dashing the facts from
right to left: that is, whenever ne thinks
1t worth while to touch upon facts at all.
When Mr.. Billy makes an assertion that
doesn't coincide with the facts he justi-
fies himself by saying it is so much worse
for the facts. BY this means Billy is al>
ways ahead. However. to one I'D tree.
1t looks ss if Mr. Gest would have an
peared to better advantage if he had left
billy at home. or placed him on the plat
form merely as an ornament and to whom
he could have pointed as a moral support
by his presence as to what he was saving.
But he didn't do so and the people there
had an opportunity OF observing the diff,
ference between a man of activity, of
glibness of tongue, and one who finds it a
difficulty to express himself in An ord;na.
~ language even.
Mr.. Mason told what Gest had done in
congress, but as everybody knows that it
is not necessary TO repeat it. and it is dol
lars TO Dickels that Mason's attention was
not drawn much towards Mr.. Gest in
Washington. Mason had all he could at
tend to himself. He was drawing So
600 year from his Chicago constituents
to look after their interests, and among
these was to see that the Illinois Central
railroad did not encroach upon the rights
OF citizens there; and at the So ne time he
was drawing $4,000 year from the same
railroad company as one of its attorneys,
to see that the interests of Chicago peo-
pie in the same matter were stolen or
bartered away. This will to some extent
go to show what a faithful man Billy is,
and how his word may be implicitly re-
lied upon, particularly in desperate
cause which he found himself champion
ing at Moline. And it also goes to show
the meeting Of congenial spirits in the
same line of action-Mason handing over
the interests of Chicago to It's enemies,
Gest handing over the interests of
the people in the Rock Island
bridge to the ferry company. Two
souls with but q single thought, two
hearts that beat AS one
MIR. Mason took a spool Of thread to
illustrate the tariff question and said for
many years We had to pay ten cents a
spool for English thread. Then we asked
for tariff on thread and We got it and
now this country manufactures better
thread at five cents SPOOL He omitted
to explain that if this country could man
ufaoture spool of thread for five cents,
thus showing that American Industry and
American machinery could beat the
woild, what was the necessity of placing
q restriction upon the foreign article?
With the spool of thread disposed Of
Mason left the tariff and plunge into the
Force bill and showed What a beautiful
thing it was. OF course, southern out
RACES came in for notice. 1t would
scarcely do to come all the way from
Chicago to eniighten the people
in Moline and not speak of the
terrible people in the south The old
soldier, too. was not forgotten. At the
mention of him Mason slmost wept the
strain on his sympathy was 30 severe.
But he got over it ard said he would
rather see the country going to the bow
vows and all Uncle Sam notes protested
than to see old soldiers without means.
In fact, Billy would see the Illinois Cen
trail railway mortgaged before the old
soldiers should want That's the kind of
a man Billy is-st times
But Billy had to tell whopper before
he got down. He said the eight hour back
pay bill had been passed. and we were in
debted to Mr.. Gest more than anyone else
for this grand victory. Taxing into con-
sideration the fact that tins eight-hour
bill did not pass, one can think of the
man and his methods who said it. If he
had SAID that Gest was the cause of the
sunrise every morning. Gest would
have nodded assent. and told Billy to go
on. Telling downright lie to the work
men who were assembled to hear him did
not inconvenience Mason in the slight
est II was good joke on the work
men, and Mason does so love Joke. To
pay these men under a law that does not
exist to pay them. Mason said it would
take three million of dollars. but what of
THAR They should have their money if
1t took all of the revenue of the
United States. AS no one threw any
rotten eggs at the speaker, he
went on. He must have thought them
fearfully ignorant or he would not have
told them a downright lie, especially as a
few moments before Gest had admitted
that the bill had not become q law, but
that he had hopes OF it sometime in the
future.
How Mason must have chuckled as he
entered his room last night Il have
stuffed those fellows in an awful way,
but they believe it. Am | not a CEN
gresham fresh from Washington where
l have had a tussle with Reed, and has
nv name not been on everybodys tongue
for good while back? They are gull
ble--suckers will bite at anything q man
says il they learn he has a name. And
I'm Billy Mason, and I've got name, you
bet. Here, waiter, bring us another sour
Dash the expense. it all comes out
of the campaign fund. o what big
fraud the whole thing is In some places
dare not be so audaciols, but what's the
difference9 I'm Billy Mason, am