Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-09-22

An Open Letter From a Late Prom
inent. Republican
John Madden Arraigns the Republican
Party at the Bar of Public Opinion
Its Many Sins of Commission
and Omission.

The Kansas Democrat publishes the
following letter, written by John Mad
den, of Cottonwood Falls, Kan. to J.
NJ Simpson, chairman of the Republic
an state central committee. in answer
to Mr. Simpsons Macedonian cry,
Stand up for Kansas" John Madden
was republican presidential elector in
1888 and voted for Harrison. As let
ter writer and hard hitter he takes rank
with Judge John Martin. Indeed, his
arraignment of the republican party is
one OF the most powerful documents
ever produced by pen, and will prove a
terrible stumbling block to the repub-
Hcan party of this state. John Mad
denis position for the right is but an
other illustration of the very, very rapid
disintegra ton of the republican party:
COTTONWOOD FALLS, Kan, Aug Is. 1892
Hon J. NJ Simpson, Chairman Republican State
Central COMMITTEE, Topeka, KGn.:
DEAR SIR-Your letter of the 9th inst re-
QueS ting my services for the state campaign in
behalf of the republican party duly received. I
viii state the reasons why cannot accept your
invitation and hope the same NAV be received
by you as SUFFICIENT; they are not intended TO
be personal and hope you will receive them n
the same kind spirit in which they are penned-
They reasons why oppose = system which
in my Judgment is not truly American
have never been what might be termed
partisan, for the reason that I could never see
anything sacred In political doctrines when
they did not impress the eonsciences of men
being right.
have always been opposed to the protection
of one class of men at the expense OF the great
wealth producing masses, and never supposed
any party would be short sighted enough to at
tempt thing OF that kind find I have been
mis- taken, like thousands of other men who
have been voting with the republican party,
W of r.
laboring classes surrounded by conditions
which absolutely appalling, and the great
question now is to save them before IL Is too
late.
am an American by birth, training and edu-
cation, and as such am unalterably opposed
TO any political movement of that tends to
set aside the simple faith and loyalty of the
fathers and create conditions unnatural and un-
American, whereby capital becomes heartless
ohgarchy, and labor drops down to the level OF
homeless and hopeless peonage.
Partisan prejudice cannot close the flood
gates through which rush the clear and living
waters of truth: neither its blind dogmas
draw unto themselves respect, veneraton or
reverence, when hungry thousands clamor for
bread and labor's voice is heard at every gath
ering demanding protection, and 1t Is answered
by Pinkerton bullets
The motto, "Stand up for Kansas" your
letter head. in view of the condition to which
the toiiing masses have been reduced; in view
of the fact that your political system has con-
tracted the peoples money. so that obligations
cannot be paid; in view OF the fact that homes
are being sold under mortgages ard passing
into the hands of syndicateS; in view of the
fact that the people have been robbed by rail-
road cor porationS and tranSpor ton lines; in
view of the fact that trusts and combines con-
troll the peoples market and get what is left;
IN view of the fact that you passed an in
iquitous law extending municipal aid to rail-
roads, and now great number Of the
counties of Kansas are resting in the sleep OF
death under bonds voted by hired voters
of the companies through the operation of such
a law in view of the fact that such u
system of municipal aid has been maintained,
even when its repeal was urged by your patri-
Otto governor, John A Martin; in view OF the
fact that our immense wheat crop of this year
is being already absorbed by the railroads and
wheat com Dimes; in view OF the fact that the
most Industrious can scarcely maintain them
selves and families, the motto, Stand UP for
Kansas. - is unnatural, inhuman and ghoulish,
and sounds like the hollow moclery of winds
blowing over graves
You say YOU want speakers, capable Of ex-
pounding party doctrine and especially the
magnificent services which the present admin
iStration has rendered the farmers and labOrlng
of the country
AS you know, four years ago as one of the
presidential electors of Kansas, cast my vote
direct for Benjamin Harrison; 1 hoped then a
change of administration would benefit the
country and tighten some OF the burdens rest
ing upon the people
In the campaign OF that year advised the
barefooted men whom met at political meet
ings in western Kansas to vote for republican
supremacy. shall never forget the pathoS OF
some of those gatherings, when / stood in the
solemn presence Of toil-wo-n men and women
whose faces indicated that they needed bread
With these things in mind and deeply i'm
pressed as am with the frightful condition of
the people, / in no mood 10 eXpound the
''magnificent services which you say this ad-
Ininistra ton has rendered the people.
If the services have been you claim, the
no NJ of
would speak for themselves. The fact is. the
administration has rendered magnificent ser
vices" not TO the farmers and laborers, but to
the CarnegieS, with their Pinkert tons; the Nc
Leeds with their coal trusts: the Armours,
with their beef combines. and the Goulds with
their railroad systems; and. in fact. ali of the
many agencies formed for the purpose of con-
trolling the output of the mines, the shops, the
fields and the farms.
I fear your party has departed from the
teachings OF Lincoln, Stanton. Seward and
Chase fear that spoilsmen dominate your
councils, ana lobbyists corrupt your law max
ing body. fear that you follow leaders who
by slow but sure transitions lead you TO do the
bidding of the most cruel and heartless power
this country had ever known-the money power
Your rank ard file are honest, but they are de
ceived by sophistry and false logic Your lead
ers stir up prejudice and set men against their
neighbors- They light the fires of sectional
hatred, and arouse partisan bigotry. They
have placed your party practically on the side
of capital, which is nothing but property chat
tel, and against labor, which is humanity in &C
ton Humanity is above all the chattel prop
erty on earth It holds within it mighty poten-
tialifies human hearts and immortal souls
which cannot be made TO long submit to use
less cerenonials, empty formulas and question
able doctrines.
With 10 coo coo men organized in the various
industrial and political organiZa tons OF the
country protesting against the conditions that
now confront them; demanding that the bread
winners and wealth producers receive equal
distribution in the democracy of life, admonish
that something is wrong with the machinery
Of government and that 1t should be adjusted
Great social problems are living down among
the people, and are continually presenting
themselves for solution
Senator Palmer, in the United States senate,
in speaking of the Homestead trouble, sprung
some OF these problems. and he was denounced
by the republican press socialist because
he said labor had property interest in that
which II created II this belief is socialism as
understood by the old and existing order, then
proud of the honor OF being enrolled IN the
new school OF political thought and here enter
my protest against a system which enSlaTes
and degrades labor by denying TO il equal pro-
lection with capital-a property interest in that
which il creates, and an equal distribution in
the proceeds of its earnings
Your tariff theories surface questions and
very incomplete because you do not take into
account the social questions and inequalities OF
adjustments that lie back of the theory OF pro-
lection Hence you need not be surprised TO