Nevada County picayune., 1892-02-11
THE ovERsHADOWING ISSUE,

Ill., CnalTtnan OF the Democratic
state executive committee OF that
state visited Dallas, Texas, on the 2nd
inst, and was interviewed by the
Dallas News, as to Illinois State
politics and the general oit:c4l out
look, as follows:
Il suppose the people OF Texas
are quite as well advised upon those
topics as | am. The Democrats of
Illinois feel much gratilied TO know
it is once again in the Democratic
column. At the last state election
we elected our entire state ticket by
majorities ranging from 9 900 to "a,
000--something we had not been
able to do for over thirty years.
While Illinois always cast its vote
for Democratic presidential electors
prior to the war, yet from that time
until the last election we had been
badly in the minority. Gen. Palmer
is the first Democratic United States
Senator elected by an Illinois legs-
lature since Hon. William A. Rich
ardson was chosen to fill the un-
expired term of Stephen A. Douglass.
Illinois is naturally Democratic
state, and Chicago is naturally a
Democratic city. Our having been
Republican SO long is attributable
to the disturbances and passions
awakened by the civil war which
rendered it impossible to get the
people to reflect thoughtfully upon
the economic question that are always
OF such Importance to their prosper
ity. At the last election we made
the fight upon the tariff issue, plain
and simple. That is the great i'm
portant economic question in my
opinion, affecting the real welfare
Of the great mass of the people 1t
is thousand-fold more important
than the silver question or any other
issue now prominent. Upon its
proper solution largely depends the
question of. the number of hours
work the poor shall endure daily in
order that they may simply live.
When it requires ten hours work to
procure food and clothing, if by any
process, necessary expenditures to
insure comfort can be lessened one
fifth then for eight hours work daily
the laborer will enjoy all the COM
forts that he can now from the long
hours Of toll. This is the only solu-
tion which will enable workmen to
secure an eight hour day. The last
Congress expended over 81 900, 600.
900 and every dollar of it came from
the people. The woman that works
for ) dollars week, the laborer on
the railroad track who receives sips
per day and those who toll in every
department of life where the effort is
simply struggle for comfortable
subsistence contribute in the pur-
chase for their food and clothing far
more largely in proportion to their
means than do the wealthy to raise
this immense sum of 81 900, 900, 900
expended in two years. This is a
sum Of which no adequate conception
can be formed. Had one born at
the time Of the birth OF the Savior
been enabled to live until the present
moment and counted away one silver
dollar for every minute of time,
working nights and Sundays as well
as week days and daytimcs, he could
not until the present moment have
finished computing that immense
sum extracted by the insidous
methods of tariff exactious from the
toll and self-denisls Of the people.
The great question to-day Is: Shall
we have an economical government, i,
honestly administered, taking not
one dollar more from the people than
the necessities Of rigid economy re-
quire, or Shall we have extravagant
and wasteful expenditures which take
away from every man, woman and
child in the nation that which cou Id
make home comfortable, elevate their
condition, enlighten and improy e
their understanding and thus make
them more capable citizens of re-
public which must necessarily depend
for its endurance upon the intelli-
gence and patriotism of its people? ]?
There is considerable talk upon the
silver question, and while this is a
matter worthy of the most careful
consideration, yet it is one concern
ing which there is no absolute fixed
knowledge, and hence there is
division Of opinion as to what is best
among Democrats. The very fact