The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-09-17
MORE ABOUT HIM
The Fraud Polk and Ills Comrades
Exposed.
The Methods Employed to Fleece the
Farmers.
A RECORD THAT is TERRIBLE TO SEE
as They Exist in This COun-
try To-day.

MONTGOMERY, Ala, sept. 12.-"trec
Pass Reuben they call him hereabOuts,
and they pray the Lord to give them
good riddance Of him. He is dictator Of
the farmers alliance in Alabama, and his
other name is Kolb-Captain Reuben F.
KoIb. He has not made so much money
at it as Nacune, Of Washington, or LiV-
ingston, of Atlanta, have, but his oppor-
tunities have not been SO great as theirs.
Kolb is no more a farmer than are his
fellow cOnspiratOrs. The nearest he has
come to farming since the war was when,
travelled about the state with party Of
hangers on at the states expense, and
turned farmers institute meetings into
third party hurrahS. His record, as pub
lished and on file in the capitol building,
is that of mendacious, plundering dema-
gOgue who wants to be governor.
Kolb is not president of the Alabama
state Alliance for the same reason that
Macune is not president of the national
aliance-he makes the presidents and
promulgates the law. Moreover, he has
been commissioner of agriculture for the
last six years, and as such he can get
over the field oftener and WELD more
authority at less personal expense than
he could in any other capacity. Both he
and all the presidents he has made are
celebrated for their fidelity to the great
scheme managed from the National
Economist office in Washington. His
admiration for Pat Calhoun is only Sec
ond to that of Livingston, and as for the
officers Of the Louisville and Nashville
railroad, words fail TO convey aD idea Of
his gratitude for favors past and relied
on for the future. That is why they call
him Free Pass" Reuben. The objection
is not so much that he rides on free
passes, but that he charges the state for
his fare the same as though he bad paid
it. When this system of managing the
bureau of agriculture became so notori-
GUS that the newspapers commented on it
freely the governor ordered the examiner
port. This report, recently submitted,
covers three pages Of the Montgomery
Advertiser, the paper which KOlb Or
dered the farmers of Alabama to boycott
when il first told the truth about him
five years ago. The report presents
proof that Kolb charged the state for
twenty nine railroad rides which he took
on free passes. It also shows that KClb
charged the state with seVenty-fve rides
on the Louisville and Nashville road, a
road with which he was known to be On
the friendliest terms. But the. examiner
could not prove that those particular
rides had been taken on free passes, be-
cause on inquiry at the Louisville and
Nashville Office he was informed that
the conductors records of the period
specified had been destroyed. Another
little item mentioned in the examiners
report was about $1,000 worth Of ferIi
lizer tags unaccounted for. Everything
considered, it looked to the examiner as
though the commissioner Of agriculture
had been making quite a success of his
office-from his standpoint.
This report was the cause Of tenn
porary GOODNESS between Kolb and his
former friends. They had on objection
to his riding free on the railroads. On
the contrary, those of them who, even in
the legislature smothered in committee a
bill inspired by Governor Jones calling
for the recognition of that section of the
constitution which prohibits the accept
ance of free railroad passes by Legislators,
were indifferent as TO the passes. But
what displeascd the farmers was that
KOlb should have both these free rides
and the price of them out of the state
treasury. They fOrgave him, however,
and it was not three months before KOlb
was up to his old tricks. He and two
went on a Pullman palace car excursion
TO hold farmers institutes-that is 20 say,
to live at the best hotels for lodging and
meals, and tell the farmers how to pick
cotton between times. The governor,
whose duty it is to audit the department
bills, took special notice of one days .ex
penses at Mobile. Kolb. and his two
friends had rooms at the Battle House for
SIG, and three meals at restaurant for
50. The charge for rooms looked pretty
high, but the bill would have gone through
all right had not Kolb included the ex-
10 the laundrying of dirty
linen-of eX-Mayor Reese, of Mont
gomery, who accompanied the party 10
organize citizens alliances. The COVER
nor decided that such a luxury as Mr..
kolb was sufficient for a modest agricul-
lural state like Alabama, and SO the citi
zens' alliance viii have to pay for its own
From the Office of commissioner OF
a griculture Kolb directed the politics of