Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-11-01
WESTERN POLITICS.
a, auaus,a Man lust Returned From West and
Interviewed BY Journal.

:. .uusta, who had recently been in the
wo., and asked something about the con-
dition of politics there.
GAN the talk one hears on the cars is
.hout politics and warm campaign is going
IN all through the country. tits surprising
10 see how different it is now from what it
wa, two years ago. Il remember that at
,ba, time one could see the object lesson
stuck up in all the windows; the working
mans tin pals, clothing and everything &C.
Commanded by some unfavorable comment
m the Mckinley tariff. At that time
,bougbt it was a great hit for our friends,
the enemy, and it proved SO; bat there is
another kind of an object lesson out there
and you see it from the cars, and in almost
every town. 1t is lot of manufactures
all closed up. saw iron works carriage fac
tories mills and number of differents plants
al shut up and often the word closed painted
m a board nailed across the main entrance.
It is really surprising to see the change
which has come in two years. was not
nrepared to see so much evidence of the
truth of common reports. Ne
81 was talking with ranchman from
Nebraska, who told me great deal of the
destituton among the farmers there, and
how depressed they were over the agricul-
tural prospect. You hear this kind of talk
everywhere coupled almost invariably with
the conviction that our party will get back
in '9G and that good times are sure to come.
There is no lack of faith anywhere, East or
West, over the ultimate recovery of pros
perity. There is desire to make business
lively again and strong feeling that the
voice of the people will be strong enough
this year to make further meddling with
business prosperity impossible. You hear
the same story in every direction and
one is led to believe that the victory for the
Republican party is going to be the most
emphatic and pronounced kind of one.
Down in Pennsylvania where the iron
and coke industry is so much affected the
feeling is one of desperation. You can
hardly understand, considering how Maine
has gone through this crisis, the feeling of
hatred which is manifested in regard to the
Democratic administration. You actually
continually see feeling of animosity,
desire to punch somebody, something very
different from the usual good nature and
easy going style of politics. The amount
of it is the people have been hit in the
pocketbook and they are convinced. You
can argue all day but when a mans wages
disappear he don't much believe in beauti-
full theories and he is apt to want to dust
up the earth with the theorist.
at is that sort of a resentful feeling that
you find all around, and it is particularly
strong among business men who voted
against us in 1892, as well as with the work
ing people.
"a barber in Western city told me that
where they were employed two years ago
at eighteen dollars they now get nine and
percentage of the receipts; so that his
wages are about eleven dollars to twelve
now. He told me considerable of the dif-
ferent unions and it was the same hard
times story with an intention to change it
this fall, among all of them. You get
straws of this kind on every hand. l re-
member two and three years ago whenever
Mr.. Cleveland's name was pronounced in
theatre it was a signal for applause, now
you hear nothing excepting jeers, for every
alluson to him is now coupled to som thing
about patches and freeing the workingmen.
It'll a style of joke which fetches the
house every time.
ain New York there is a great deal of
excitement and interest. People who are
familiar with the state told me that in most
years Mr.. Hill would be sure of winning.
He certainly has remarkable strength and
popularity there; but this year there are so
many things against him that they general
ly believe he will be sure Of defeat. He is
making a, desperate and wonderful fight
suchas no other man in the Democratic
party could possibly make, but l judge by
what was told that he cannot win.
Outside New York the trend of opinion
was all one way, and with it firm belief
that this election will show that the people
Know what they want and propose to have
1t. Mr.. Reed is much stronger in the coun-
try than had realized. There is great
deal of enthusiasm for him and for McKin-
ley, too, for that matter. 1t is gener-
ally thought that this is the begin
ming of their campaign for the
presidential nomination and people
are very anxious to see and hear them.
did not hear so much of Mr.. Harrison,
though there is no denying that he is very
strong with conservative and thoughtful
men who think the nominee may be some
one other than Mr.. Reed or Mr.. Mckinley.
Maine is a good State to hail from. We
nave taken such a prominent part in ma
uonal affairs through our congressional del
egation for 80 years, that the day has gone
by for ieerinu Of dovn ostera paOple re-