The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1894-12-07
JUDGE NUGENT'S VIEW.


Judge r. l.. Nugent. when asked re-
Gently by reporter as to his views re-
garding the late election and the
the result. said:
The immediate causes of the recent
political slump is pretty close to COM
mon observation. The democrats
promised and failed to perform or per-
formed in such half-hearted way that
voters lost confidence in them. This is
the general statement applicable to the
country at large. The election was
clearly a vote of want Of confidence
The leaders forced the tariff question
to the front in the discussions
of 1892. promising, however. that the
silver question. next in importance,
should receive proper treatment 1t
was campaign of ever-growing prom
ises, followed by an administration of
constantly dwindling performances.
The farmers in the south and west
were told OF an economic paradise
in which they should forever enjoy the
happiness of reaping high prices for
their own products and paying low
prices for everybody else's products.
glory. He talked free trade and dill
gently sowed delusions while building
up great expectations in the agricul-
tural mind. When his highest achieve
ment proved to be high protective
tariff bill differing but little from the
eliminating atrocity' SO vigorously
denounced in his platform, the eco
nomic paradise seemed to the rural
mind like a vanishing dream. The
open hand was extended to clutci: an
ticipated wealth. but it dropped be-
meath the paralyZing influence of 4
cent cotton and 20 cent wheat. OF
course the tariff reformer was no
longer in it save where The cOnceit
| of democracy existed in SO malignant a
form that it could not be affected by
either rhyme or reason.
1T goes without saying that only
| widespread dissatisfaction could have
resulted from tariff legislation whose
| burdens were SO distributed as to arouse
the suspicion that the trusts were its
beneficiaries and the farmers its vic
/ tins. The poor farmer. haggard. worn
with toll, mortgage-ridden. wrestling
| these twenty years past with increas-
| ing ucDl anu low prices. ltlS
| like striking something. and his human
instinct led him to level his blows very
| properly at that vast embodiment of
sham and pretenSe-the organized ma
| tional democracy-whose contentious
had for so many years sported with his
wishes and whose leaders by species
OF word-jugglery framed to catch his
varying whims. had finally succeeded
in leading him into the camp of his en-
emies. the trusts.
''Gradually it has dawned upon his
mind that the tariff question as be-
tween the old parties is purely ques-
| ton of schedules. and amid all the din
OF campaign oratory he has found out
| that only two views OF this tariff ques-
ton are really honest. viz: Free trade
and protection. and that tariff for rev.
enue only. as the chief mode of raising
our vast and growing public eXpendi-
lures. is delusion. if not fraud. Is
it strange that the masses are in a state
of unrest and that they oscillate be-
tween the two old parties in sheer
wantonness of resentment when eXpec-
tations are not realized?
but the Juggling did not end with
| the tariff question. To denounce pro-
lection as unconstitutional and then
bring on bill with high protective
features-a bill continuing the sugar
bounty and framed. as Tom johnson
said, in the interest of the trusts-was
enough to drive the average tariff re-
| form voter mad: but when to this was
added the democratic record on the sill
yer question, the vast fund of con-
| fidence in democratic promises. which
for many years has remained as one of
the miracles of modern politics, suffered
an unexpected collapse. and as the Wis
ion of free silver. low tariff and high
! prices dissolved and melted away, the
aforesaid voter proceeded to punish the
party whose leadership had at last
| brought to him a sense of bitter diSap-
| pointment. lie voted with the repub-
licans in spite of the fact that theic.
| leaders had Endorsed the use of the
army at Chicago against all of his ideas
of state sovereignty. Dissatisfaction
with democra tic failures on the silver
and tarif questions, and the belief
that Mr.. Cleveland represents not the
people, but Wall street, caused the
slump. These were the causes which
operated considerably in the popular
mind. although their effect was in
tensifed by the ineXcusable delay on
the part of congress in enacting
such poor legislation as was final
ly agreed on. There were other
causes lying deeper than these. causes
that will continue to operate in spite
of the frantic efforts of partisan lead
ers to perpetrate a fast decaying re-
gime. The masses of the people as
rule are governed more by impressions
than ideas: but impressions in a sort of
chaotic form carry the germs of ideas.
They prepare the way for the evolution
of thought-indeed. constitute the
mental ground out of which thought
springs to blossom forth into action.
The campaign has been fruitful in dis
cussions of great questions-vital is
sues affecting fundamental social con-
ditions These have planted in the
public mind vast store of impressions,
which, however nebulous at present,
must assume ere long definite shape
and in the campaign of 1896 determine
the political action of thousands of
honest voters whose ballots this year
represented nothing but the prevalent
unrest and disappointment. The tariff
question, in my Judgment, has received
quietus for the present at least. The
money land and TRANSFORMATION cues