The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1890-10-31

ceeded in utterly eXtlngu1shlng IL ana
squelching it, and in the midst of it. in the
very midst of this struggle, we did what
never perhaps could have been accomplished
but for the war, we made it an end to human
slavery, we abolished it forever Great ap-
plause. But. more than that, my friends,
there were other great things accomplished
during that war that few of us can think OF
now, because they were all Of less moment
than the abolition of slavery. But In the
midst of that war we acquired what we had
never had before,
A soUND PAPER CURRENCY.
The war gave us the greenback dollar, and
you know we had nothing like 1t before the
war. [Great applause In addition TO
that my friends, the war gave US sound,
good fiscal policy under our tariff
law. We laid heavy tariff under the stress
of our war necessities, but under that very
tariff this country grew and prospered as IL
has never prosperer before or since, And
after the war was over, and the problem OF
reconstruction came before US, the Republi-
can party took up that question, recon-
etructed those Southern states, restored
them back (if I may use the eXpression) to
citizenship, as members of the Union. In
addition to that the vast national debt that
we had accumulated in the prosecution of
the war was either funded at a low rate of
interest or paid. And from that day to this,
with the exception of the brief interregnum
of Grover Cleveland's administration, the Re-
publican party has managed the affairs of
this government and has managed them
with success, and given us all good govern
ment-as good as any under the sun, and
even the the Democratic party itself can
furnish US the proof of the fact.
~ thank God especially tonight, if there
are any weakened Republicans here. that
we can point to one event within the last six
years that demonstrates the soundness and
goodness of the Republican party. You re-
in 1894 how the Da10Ooratia nartv
brought before the American people (and
they came before the American people in
the guise of reformers) they said, they
whispered it on the streets, they told it in
their newspapers, their orators heralded it
on the stump-they said the Republican
party had been so long in power it had
grown corrupt; it is dangerous to leave it
further in power; put US in, and we
CAN OVERHAUL THE BOOKS
and set things right, and we will give you
an ample quantity of reform. The battle
cry was on the part of the Democracy:
and let the Democratic saints in"
Laughter and applause Well, my
friends, you ali remember the facts. By
means of the solid South, and by scratch,
in New York City, in the slums of New York,
if you please, Grover Cleveland got into
power. And what was the result? When
Daniel Manning and when Grover Cleve-
United States, not a penny was found short,
not single defalcation; there was not
thing, there was not single item in the ac-
counts of the government that they could
show was amiss In any respect. Tremendous
applausel. But they promised us reforms.
Now, my friends, did you ever reflect upon
the two great reforms of the Cleveland adj
ministration that they gave US? They had
come in on a false pretext. They had come
in on q pretext that there was fraud; there
was something crooked, because we had
been so long IN power; the books must be
oVerhauled so that they could see whether
the money was there and be counted and
then the next thing they promised reform.
But they got in. what reform did they give
us? One reform the treasury department
gave us was through Manning, and let me
tell you what it is, and you viii be aston
ished yourselves that you have never thought
of it.
'Under the law the secretary of the treas
ury is required to publish and issue every
month monthly statement of the national
debt, and also of the balances in the treas
different statements. Now Secre-
tary FoIger, and l think all Republican
secretaries before him, had been in the
habit Of stating that balance and stating
THE AMOUNT OF OUR PUBLIC DEBT,
how much it had increased during the month
or decreased, and in what respect, and
stating the transactions of the treasury in a
certain way, according to certain principle
of bookkeeping. When Daniel Manning
came in he, or some of his subordinates
invented new plan of making that state
ment. You all remember it was little con-
fusing, but it was the same thing stated in
different form, and that was the whole
reform that we got from that Democratic ad-
Applause. Yes, my friends,
there was one other little reform. Applause.
The Democrats themselves, as body,
don't believe in the CRY of fraud and in the
promise of reform, but they had one old
crank from South Egypt, Andrew jackson
Sparks. He was honest; he took his own
party at its word. He believed there was
something in the administration, and he
believed that he was the Moses to reform
it and correct il. And what did he do? He
got appointed commissioner OF the land
Office, and as soon as he was appointed there
he commenced to attack all these poor pre-
emption and homestead settlers on the West
ern prairies. That was his idea of reform.
You have all read about it and heard about
it. And the Democratic party, Grover
Cleyeland's secretary, Lamar This superior
officer), let old Sparks move about as long
as he confined himself to those poor settlers;
but bye and bye Sparks and Lamar came to
an issue about railroad grant, and when
that came up, when old Sparks, the honest
old crank-I can't help but admire him
daughter and applausel- when old
Sparks ran up against railroad grant,
why, he ran up against Lamar and Grover
Cleveland and they sent him back to Egypt.
Laughter and applause. And that was the
whole sum and substance of the Democratic
attempt and efforts at reform. Renewed
applause.
CHOW those things-the change in
KEEPING THE ACCOUNT
of the treasury departments and the man.
oeuvres of Bro. Sparks, Laughter are the
- <Nf rofn sid frOpo {h1
Mills bill Great laughterl that can charge
to the Democratic administration"
A voice: did you vote for the Mills bill?"
Mr.. Nelson: ''Oh, am coming to that
daughter. Be patient We will discuss
the Mills bill in moment. Now, gentle
men, as l said a moment ago, l am glad of
one thing, we can take lesson from it,
am glad that the Democratic party through
Grover Cleveland came into power. They
settled two things, that after the Republican
party had been over twenty years in power
ga years in power) there was not faint of
corruption about the administration of
the government; and further than this. it
shows that the Democratic party, although
they had been 25 years out of power, and
although at each recurring election they had
been promising us new reforms when they
got into power, there was nothing for them
to reform, nothing that the Democratic
bosom could suggest. Applause Their
attitude, my friends (and it is the same at
titude today and at each recurring election),
is exactly like An incident that occurred in
my boyhood town in Dane county, Wiseon-
sin. There was an old Norwegian farmer,
one of the early settlers, by the name of
Lars Dawson, a staid, sober, industrious,
hard-wOrking man. And he prospered He
was one of the fellows that came over in
42. There was an old quack by the name of
DR.. Hoffman who drove through the coun-