Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-07-15
Senator Longs Address.

ED. INDEX: Senator &. |. Long, in
his speech at the courthouse last Sat-
urday, criticized very severely the ac-
lions of the Cincinnati conference in
advertising, by placard, In its hall. the
fact that there are 9,000,O0 mortgaged
homes in this country. Now, since 1t
is fact that the homes of the laboring
people are thus mortgaged, why not tell
it out by placard, or otherwise to these
representatives Of the laboring people.
assembled in labor conference, to
redress the grievances and relieve the
distresses of the laboring people. Com
mon business sense would dictate that
clear understanding of the situation
Is necessary to intelligent action and so
important and serious to the laboring
classes was this fact of mortgaged
homes deemed, that the conference did
not wish its members to forget it even
for single moment-hence the plac-
ard. But Mr.. Long is so much afraid
The credit of Kansas will be ruined if it
becomes known abroad that she is SO
heavily in debt. Now we fail to see
how the statement of $1,000 900 mort
gagged homes in the U. s." hurts the
credit OF Kansas any more than any
other agricultural section of the coun-
try.
These 100000 mortgages are dis
tributed all over the United States, but
OF course the money power of the east,
ana It's agents, the leaders of the two
old political parties, do not want the
people to understand the true condi-
ton of affairs. Their policy in the
past has been to lull them to sleep with
soft words and smooth promises, where
possible, and when not successful in
this, to keep the laboring people divid-
ed on some MINOR and trifiing issue. In
any event the people must not bother
their heads in trying to pry into and
understand the great living questions
OF the day such as finance, land and
transportation. The people of Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey must
not be allowed to know that Kansas is
heavily mortgaged, because it is better
for the money power and their afore-
said agents to have the people ignorant
of their true condition.
Mr.. Long charged the alliance men
in the lower house of the legislature
with ignorance and ridiculed the idea
of lawmakers, fresh from the people,"
This is nothing new. The old parties
have always told us that professional
men are the kind of persons best calcu-
lated to make laws for the people-la-
boring people and all. But it seems
that, lately, a majority of the voters OF
Kansas thought differently.
Mr.. Longs moral sense (?) is terribly
shocked because the laboring people
called their meeting conferences"
name, as he says, heretofore, applied
only to religious bodies. This he feigns
to regard as sacrllege of the worst kind
and his plea for holiness is truly pa
thetic and pitiful. But when we no.
tice the small amount of stock he, him
self, seems to take in the church, we
feel like telling him that it is better
to have political interest in the word
than to have no interest at all.
The statement that the alliance
House reduced the salaries of cooks
transfers and others who performed
common labor in the state asylums
was misleading, because he endeavored
to give the impression that the salary
of those doing clerical and professional
work in these state institutions was al
lowed to remain the same, while that of
the common laborer was reduced. AS
a matter of fact, and of record. the pay
of the professional people, clerks, ETC.,
was reduced as well as that of those |
doing common labor, in every instance |
where it was thought the pay |
was too high. X.