The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-11-18

i initiate American institutions, and II
God will help me / will show you be-
fore get through the mode in which
each and every one may do something
to arrest that appalling calamity.
And shall plow up the whole field
The first evil that threatens the ami
hilation of our American institutions is
the fact that political bribery, which was
| once considered a crime, has BY many
come TO be considered tolerable vir-
tue There is legitimate use of money
in elections, in the printing Of political
tracts, and in the hiring of public halls,
and in the obtaining OF campaign ora
tory; but is there any homunculus who
supposes that this vast amount of
money now being raised by the polit-
zeal parties is going in legitimate di-
rection? The vast majority OF II will
go to buy votes Hundreds and thou
sands of men will have set before them
so much money for republican vote
and so much money for q democratic
vote. and the superior financial induce
ment will decide the action. You want
to know which party will carry the
doubtful states 1 will tell you. The
party that spends the most money.
This moment, while 1 speak, the
peddlers carrying gold from Wall
street, gold from Third street, gold
from State street and gold from the
Brewers association, are in all the po-
litical headquarters of the doubtful
states, dealing out the infamous in
ducement.
There used 10 be bribery, but it held
its head in shame 1t was under the
utmost secrecy that many years ago
railroad company bought Up the Wis
consin legislature and many other pub
lie officials in that state. The governor
of the state at that time received s5O,-
900 for his signature. His private sec
rotary received 5000. Thirteen mem
bers of the senate received S175, 900
among them in bonds Sixty members
of the other house received from 5000
to SO, 900 each The lieutenant-gov-
ernor received SO, OOo. The clerks of
the house received from $1,000 to $4,000
each. The bank comptroller received
$4,000 Two hundred and fifty thous-
and dollars were divided among the
lobbyists. You see, the railroad COM
pany was very generous. But all that
was hidden, and only through the Sc
verest scrutiny on the part of legisla-
tive committee was this iniquity dis
played Now, political bribery defes
you. dares you and is arrogant.
Unless this diaboilsm ceases in this
country, Bartholdi's statue on Bedloe's
island, with uplifted torch to light
other nations into the harbor, had bet
ter be changed and the torch dropped
as symbol of universal incendiarism.
Unless this purchase and sale of suf-
frage shall cease, the American govern
ment will expire, and you might as well
be getting ready the monument for an
other dead nation, and let my text in
scribe upon it these words: ''Alas,
alas! for Babylon, that great city, that
mighty city, for in one hour is thy judg-
ment come" 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 destrue-
ton of American institutions is the
solidifying Of the sections against each
other. A solid north, solid south If
this goes on we shall, after a while,
have a solid east against a solid west,
we shall have solid middle states
against solid northern states, we shall
have a solid New York against a solid
Pennsylvania, and a solid Ohio against
a solid kentucky. 1t is twenty-seven
years since the war closed, and yet at
every presidential election the old an
tagonism is aroused. When Garfield
died, and all the states gathered around
his casllet in sympathy and in tears,
and as hearty kilograms of coincidence
came from New Orleans and from
Charleston as from Boston and Chicago,
l said to myself: Il think sectionalism
is dead" But, alas. no. The difficulty
will never be ended until each state of
the nation is split up into two or three
great political parties This country
cannot exist unless it exists 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
exist unless 1t exists as one family, and
you might as well have solid brothers
against solid sisters, and solid bread
tray against a solid cradle. and q solid
nursery against a solid dining room;
and You might as well have solid ears
against solid eyes, and solid head
against solid foot What is the inter
est of Georgia is the interest of Massa-
chusetts: 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 COM
pound fracture
Another evil threatening the destruc-
ton of our American institutions is the
low state of public morals.
What killed Babylon Of my text?
What killed Phenicia? What killed
Rome? Their own depravity, and the
fraud and the drunkenness and the
lechery which have destroyed other ma
tions will destroy ours unless a merci-
full God prevent To show you the low
state of public morals l have TO call
your attention TO the fact that many
men nominated for Offices in different
states at different times are entirely
unfit for the positions for which they
have been nominated
They have no more qualification for
them than wolf has qualification TO
be professor of pastoral theology in
flock of sheep, or blind mole has quail
ifcation to lecture class Of eagles on
optics, or than vulture has qualifica-
ton to chaperon dove. The mere pro-
nunciation of some of their names makes
a demand for carbolic acid and fumiga-