Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-17
ARTFUL ARGUMENTS.
Campaign Literature Scattered
Broadcast by the Leaders.
ONE WAY OF CAPTURING VOTES
Employed by Both Parties Regardless Of
the Strict Truth.
DEVIOUS WAYS OF BALLOT CATCHERs
rrRoM A STAFF coRRrspoNpEyr.1


in the history of the country nave political
parties shown such an earnest solicitude for
the farmer and the workiDgman and woman
generally. Jus. now tons upon tons OF
matter, franked or postage paid, are being
sent out from both headquarters of the Con-
gressional committees of the old parties, as
have heretofore described, and the great
bulk of 1t is intended for the enlightenment
of the farmer the farm workman, the me-
chanic and the laborer. No political teacher
seems to have thought it necessary to dis
tribute literature for the information of the
proprietor and capitalist They are sup
posed to know what side of their bread is
buttered.
In such publications as ''The Farmers
New Poor Richard Almanac for 1892, "a
Farmers Appeal to Farmers and Labor
ers," Farm Mortgages Not an Evidence of
Distress" Farm Implements Abroad, %
ga Fairy Tale by the Tariff Liar Ex-
ploded," "Better Dead Than Homeless, %
and other kindred pamphlets, the Republi-
can managers are endeavoring to show the
the Republican party have done for them.
Neither Side Tells tho Exact Truth.
The Democrats, in an attempt to offset
this showing, have very little to say of what
their party has done for the same element,
but make what they consider a startling
and discouraging exhibit of what the tariff
and the Republican party have not done
for the farmer and the laborer Of course
both sides exaggerate. Neither the cam
paign writer nor the campaign orator is eI-
pected to tell the exact truth when he is
presenting the argument straight to the
man, for the purpose of winning a vote
Probably no other campaign screed, how
ever, is so erroneous and absurd as one
which bears the official stamp of having
been report from Congressional commit
tee, and which is relied upon to catch the
attention and arouse the suspicion of the un-
wary farmer and farm laborer and lead him
into the Democratic fold 1 regret to say
that the report is from the Committee on
Agriculture of the present House, and that
the name of so good and worthy a man as
that of farmer Hatch, of Missouri, is at
tached to it.
Hatch is one ofthe most charming and most
scrupulous of men, frank to fault until he
comes to the work of getting up q report
which is to be used as campaign thunder. 1
can't believe, however, that Mr. Hatch had
much of hand in the preparation OF this
document
The Other Side Given No Show.
1t has Just been issued as campaign leaf
let, but strangely enough its twin report,
made by the minority of the committee,
does not accompany the report OF the major
itv. Had the views or the minority been
presented with those of the majority every
body could have taken their choice, and 1
fear the majority view would have suffered
from the contrast For instance, the asser-
tion is made and dwelt upon that prices of
farm property and products have steadily
declined under all the tariff laws enacted
since the war, while the protected interests
have been more prosperous and remunera-
tive; and that under the tariff of 1876,
farmers nioyed their greatest prosperity
The minority show conclusively that this
is untrue by simply quoting from statistics
that are within the reach of everybody, and
it is therefore apparent that the majority |
deliberately intended to mislead. A long
discussion of the decline in the
wages of the farm laborer, and their pur-
chasing power, is similarly wide of the
mark, and is refuted by all the official
statistics available, even to those of Demo-
cratic States which have bureaus of labor
statistics. But a single specimen of the
reasoning of the whole report will serve to
show how reckless were the hands that pre-
pared it, and how little credence will be
given to it by any person of ordinary in
telligence.
Instances of Misrepresentation.
In exhibiting the decline of prices of farm
products comparisons are not made between
the same years on all products Various
years are selected when the article discussed
was sold at high price at the earlier date
and at a low price at the later date, the |
Ias IL i'll H.
tirely apart from the tariff In attempting |
to give the percentage of decrease in price, |
the committee reaches the pinnacle of |
blundering when it asserts that live swine |
declined ITO per cent, that mess pork de- |
clined 11S per cent and timothy seed 230 per
cent between July 1, 1875, and July /, 1892,
and yet at the latter date swine were worth !
So Is per head, mess pork $40 10 per barrel |
and timothy seed 81 80 per bushel ANY
boy in the common schools who has studied
percentage" will recognize at once the I'M
and absurdity of this statement
On the other hand, take single instance
of Republican misrepresentation One of
the ''cute" little productions of the mana
gers of that party is a map about Axe
inches in size showing that the average
wage of farm laborers by the day, without
board, in Republican States is 81 80,
while the average in the Democratic
States Is put 81 cents per day.
Misleading Figures on Farm Wages
1t is observable that upon this miniature
map New York is printed in blue like the
other Republican States, as one of the men
at headquarters put it. Now, everyone
knows that the great bulk of the farm labor
is not paid for ''by the day, without board"
in the North, while in the South the farm
laborer is almost invariably employed with
out board, which condition would tend to
make the wage of the day laborer without
board higher in the North and lower in the
South At any rate the day farm laborer
With or without board is an exception in
The North, save in the harvest time or when |
there is special work to be done, and the
daily wage is, therefore, no criterion BY
which to decide the average pay of all farm
aborers.
A statement of the average wage of work
men by the month with and without board
s carefully avoided, though statistics on
upon the other were. The Republican
states, including New York, are printed
n blue. and the Democratic States, except
ng New York, in yellow. But all of the
-ellow States with the exception of Texas,
Missouri and Virginia, are crossed with |
ro~n bars, to show that they permit the
mployment of convict labor by private
'ersons or corporations, while only two
ue States, Nebraska and Washington,
ave the bar sinister This is an argument |
Thich will have greater weight than the
istorted wage argument, In the present
ceiling of the laboring classes, and in view
+ the war against convict labor in Tennes-
ee and other States
Quotations That Are Pertinent.
On the reverse side of this little '1abor
- !