People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-12-16

vast amount or money now De1nS raised Dy
the political parties is going in a legitimate
direction? The vast majority of it will go
to buy votes.
Hundreds and thousands of men will
have set before them SO much money for
a Republican vote, and so much money for
a Democratic vote, and the superior f1nan-
cial inducement will decide the action.
You want to know which party will carry
the doubtful states day after tomorrow
will tell you. The party that spends the
most money. This moment, while !
speak, the peddlers carrying gold from
Wall street, gold from Third street, gold
from State street and gold from the Brew
ers' association, are in all the political
headquarters of the doubtful states, deal
ing out the infamous inducement.
There used to be bribery; but it held it's
head in shame. 1t was under the utmost
secrecy that many years ago a railroad
company bought up the Wisconsin legis-
Iature and many other public officials in
that state. The governor of the state at
that time received $4,000 for his sigma
ture. His private secretary received S., 900.
Thirteen members of the senate received
$4,000 among them in bonds. Sixty
members of the other house received from
$1,000 to $4,000 each. The lieutenant gov
ernor received $4,000 The clerks of the
house received from S., 900 to $4,000 each.
The bank comptroller received $4,000.
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
were divided among the lobbyists. You
see the railroad company was very gen
erOus. But all that was hidden, and only
through the severest scrutiny on the part
OF Legislative committee was this in
Equity displayed. Now political bribery
defies you, dares you, is arrogant and will
probably decide the election next Tuesday.
A TERRIBLE DANGER.
Unless this diabolism ceases in this coun-
try Bartholdi's statue on Bedloes island
with uplifted torch to light other nations
into the harbor, had better be changed and
the torch dropped as a symbol of universal
incendiarism.
Unless this purchase and sale of suffrage
shall cease the American government will
expire, and you might as we'll be getting
ready the monument for another dead ma
ton and let my text inscribe upon it these
words, "Alas, alas, for Babylon, that great
city, that mighty city, for in one hour is
thy judgment comen My friends, If you
have not noticed that political bribery is
one Of the CHASTITY crimes Of this day, you
have not kept your eyes open.
Another evil threatening the destruction
| of American institutions is the solidifyino
| of the sections against each other. A solid
| north. A solid south. If this goes on we
| shall after awhile have solid east against
a solid west; we shall have solid middle
states against solid northern states; we
| shall have q solid New York against a
| solid Pennsylvania, and solid Ohio against
a solid Kentucky. It is twenty-seven
- 4 ]
presidential election the old antagonism is
| aroused. When Garfield died and all the
states gathered around his casket in sym
| pathy and in tears, and as hearty kilograms
| of coincidence came from New Orleans and
| Charleston as from Boston and Chicago, ]
said to myself, II think sectionalsm is
dead" But. alas, no! The difficulty will
never be ended until each state of the ma
ton is split up into two or three great pc
litical parties.
This country cannot exist unless it ex,
| lists as one body, the national capital the
heart, sending out through all the arteries
of communication warmth and life to the
very extremities. This nation cannot ex-
ist unless it exists as one family, and you
might as well have solid brothers against
solid sisters, and solid bread tray against
a solid cradle, and a solid nursery against a
solid dining room, and you might as we'll
have solid ears against solid eyes, and solid
head against solid foot. What is the in
terest of Georgia is the interest of Mas
SachusettS; what is the interest of New
York is the interest Of South Carolina.
Does the Ohio river change its politics
when it gets below Louisville? 1t is not
possible for these sectional antagonisms to
continue for great many years without
permanent compound fracture.
HAS THIS NATION FORGOTTEN GOD?
Another evil threatening the destruction
of our American institutions is the low
state of public morals.
What killed Babylon of my text2 What
killed Phonicia? What killed Rome?
Their own depravity, and the fraud, and
the drunkenness, and the Iechery which
have destroyed other nations will destroy
ours unless a merciful God prevent. To
show you the low state Of public morals
have to call your attention to the fact that
many men nominated for offices in differ
ent states at different times are entirely
unfit for the positions for which they have
been nominated.
They have no more qualification for
them than a wolf has qualification to be
professor of pastoral theology in a flock of
sheep, or a blind mole has qualification to
lecture a class of eagles on optics, or than
a vulture has qualification to chaperon a
dove. The mere pronunciation of some of
their names makes demand for carbolic
acid and fumigationl Yet Christian men
will follow right on under the political
standards.
[ have to tell you what you know al
ready, that American politics have sunken
to such low depth that there is nothing
beneath. What we see in some directions
we see in nearly all directions. The pecu-
lation and the knavery hurled to the sur
face by the explosion of banks and bust
ness firms are only specimens Of great Co
tOpaxis and Strombolis of wickedness that
boil and roar and surge beneath but have
not yet regurgitated to the surface. When
the heaven descended Democratic party
enacted the Tweed rascahty it seemed to
eclipse everything, but after awhile the
heaven descended Republican party out
witted pandemonium with the star route
infamy.
My friends, we have in this country people
who say the marriage institution amounts
to nothing. They scott at it. We have
people walking in polite parlors in our day
who are not good enough to be scayengers
in Sodoml Invent over to San Francisco ten
or fifteen years ago-that beautiful city,
that queen of the Pacific May the bless
ing of God come down upon her great
churches and her noble men and women!
When | got into the CITY of San Francisco