New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-13
ruE CAMPAIGN IN IOWA.

Tho Iowa Democrats, led by Governor Boies'
40 conducting q queer kind of campaign. APP
',o,o,+Iv II is their idea that they will win
,.otos Inv denouncing their State, its resources
and il opportunities. BOieS himself struck the
Lovnote of this tune by declaring during bis
recont visit in New-York City that " for the
lost ton wears the farmers of Iowa have cultlyat-
cd their fields at loss" and that I" the state
,r,s covered thick with mortgages" reaSsur-
inc statement, truly, to those who might be
thinking of making Iowa their home or inc
como If their investments. The motive OF this
cruel SANDER upon the community that had llil-
od Mr.. Boes into sudden distinction by making
him their Chief Magistrate was, OF course, W
;nure the Republican policy OF Protection Mt.
no;os was simply repeating the old, old driver
ahout Protection increasing the cost OF every
ching and was proving his charge to the MINDS
of his New-York hearers by telling them that
Iowa was the home of pauperS, the lana OF III
dustrial gloom, where money hopelessly SoushO
for safe inves tment and labor was thrown away
-"alI on account of" the tariff. 1t IS prooaoie
that Mr.. BoieS did not think about the chicken
he had Matched here going home to rooSt' he
was talking to Newly orkers, not to sowaiis'
For partisan political effect he was giving teSu-
mony as the Governor of a great agnculturai
State concerning the effect of the tariff upon
agriculture. He was talking to those who pre-
sumably knew nothing of the facts and he
didn't calculate how his crazy nonsense would
sound in the ears Of those who did know ana
had votes in the coming election. lie thouent
he was far enough from home to be safe IN
slandering his people if only he could gain
a political end at their expense
His words, however, travelled swiftly Dack
TO Iowa and created, naturally, the pro1oundest
INDIGNATION. The people who, according to
Boies. for ten years had been galloping into
bankruptcy and were now overwhelmed with
mortgages, knew, as matter OF fact that thelr
tbirtv-fve years of Republican Self-government
had left them with scarcely dollar OF state
indebtedness and with good balance IN BANK.
They knew that during the ten years mentioned
bv Boies their population had increased from
I 624.615 TO 1.91l,S96, or at the rate OF 1854
ner cent. and that their State and county in
debtedness taken together had decreased per
capita from the trivial sum of 50 IS to the still
more trivial sum of 81 81, leaving them as to
public Indebtedness second in honor rank among
the forty -four States of the Union 1hey Knew
that the mortgages with which their Governor,
the man of all men who should have defended
their financial station, had said the whole state
was covered in point of fact covered only
BIB per cent of their total acreage, ana repre-
sented a form of debt that argued growing pros
perity instead Of adversely, debt cohtrac'eu
for land. stock, machinery and Improvements
all of which were working at proht. Ihey
knew that they were growing one'seVenth OF
all the corn and one-twelfth OF all the wheat
grown in this entire country and were using
less than third of their available land to DO IL
in They knew. in a word, that despite short
crons in the last two years, there was no po-
litical division on the earths surface whose
farmers as a whole were better off than that
described as Iowa.
The Republicans, whose government bad ac-
complished these results, thought Logically thd'
the best answer to make to Governor BolcS 5
burtfrl attack upon the State would be the
nomination of a representative farmer VINO
would stand out rs an illustration OF the men
who were cultiyating lowas fields " at loss.
Accordingly they nominated Mr.. Hiram "
Wheeler, and the Democrats are in laushaDie
dilemma. Mr. Wheeler is shown to be worth
about $500, 600, made out of loWaS fruitful
soil, and a portion of the Democratic press Is
attacking him as an arStocrat and bloated
CAPITALIST. But it is also shown that ne owes
about EGO 600 on a mortgage, and the other
half Of the Democracy are denouncing him as
| bankrupt anG-citlng him in proof OF the Gov
ernor's charge that farming in Iowa is fail
ure. This is ludicrous situation, and the
| Democrats must get out of it as best they can
| So far as Mr. Wheeler is concerned, he is will
ing to give them all the votes they can OBJ
tain. whether in an attempt to show that farm
ing in Iowa is bad business because it produces
milionaires, or that Iowa is delusion to home
seekers and snare to capital.