Griggs courier., 1894-11-02
A HOT TIME.
The Joint Discussion RE
tween David Bar.tlett
and W.T.. .McCullOch
Draws a Big
Crowd.

The joint discussion at the court house
last Saturday afternoon between Hon.
w. T. McCulloch and David Bartlett,
as was anticipated, drew a large crowd,
the hall being packed with standing
room at premium. E. w. Blackwell
acted as time keeper and introduced
David Bartlett, who had an hour IN
which to say his piece Mr.. Bartlett led
off by saying that as he wanted to be
fair he would repeat most of what he
had been saying IN the school houses
through the county. so that it could not
be said that he was saying behind his
opponents back what he dare not say
to his face. He took up just one ma.
tional issue, that of silver, and in clear
convincing manner showed that our
present financial system was great
deal better than the one proposed by
our populist friends. From the silver
question he went to state matters and
OF course the present administration re-
ceived an elaborate roast for the man.
ner in which they were jumping onto
the republican party for the same things
that they were doing themselves. Mr.
Bartlett showed by Governor Short
ridges own committee report that the
great cry that the republican board of
university and school lands had stolen
$4,000 was only a legitimate business
transaction and that tine populists were
crying stop thief at the republicans
while the populist nominee and present
state treasurer has been pocketlng the
the interest on money that should 90
into the treasury of the state. The
speaker very conelusively proved that
the present equalization board of the
state had lowered the assessment on
branch lines of railroads and raised the
assessments on farm lands, and in fact
he showed up where the present state
government had proved wholly incom.
petent to carry out the pledges made by
populists before they got into power.
Our representative, w. T. McCulloch
came in for share of the speakers at
tention, who clearly proved to the peo-
pie that this great reformer who has of.
fered himself rs the Moses to lead the
populist children out of the wilderness
of corruption into the state offices. was
always "absent and not voting' when
his voice should be heard, because the
'old farmer" didn't want to antagonize
the other fellows. Mr.. Bartlett closed
his argument by asking the voters to
send somebody to the legislature that
knows enough to vote whether they an
tagonized the other fellows or not.
Hon. w. L. McCulloch was then intro.
duced and with a yell and a flourish
that would be credit to Comanche
brave. he started out by saying the re-
publicans of Hope, Sherbrooke and
Cooperstown were gang of intrigucrs
and political pirates and that the repub-
lican sheet of Griggs county was edited
by "disreputable, dishonest shyster
and political heeler," who was body and
soul controlled by these political in.
triguers and pirates, gentlemen. He
then went on to tell of the horrible cor
ruption in the legislature, gentlemen,
and it Was truly pathetic when he told
in agonized accents how he fought and
prayed against the giant evils that beset
him, gentlemen, in the legislature, and
then turning to Mr.. Blackwell he said:
There is one honest republican in Griggs
county and l am glad that he was not
elected two years ago (of course he was)
because if he had been be could not
Withstand the corruption at Bismarck
and would also have beer polluted by
corruption and gone down in the mael-
strem oflegislative vice and wicke eduess.
This was too much for the crowd and
whom they realized what the "old
farmer" had suffered and the narrow
escape of Mr.. Blackwell, great sigh
swept over the audience and the dull
thud of falling tear could be heard on
the hard wood floor in different parts
of the building. But the "old farmer"
was proof against all this corruption
and peacefully dosed in his big chair on
the final passage Of seventy six impor-
tant bills. A stick of cordwood could
do do Just as we'll as this great political
Moses. He opened the journal of the
house and tried to excuse his absence by
producing evidence that numerous IT,
publicans were absent, but he could not
smooth over his own case because as a
reformer he was expected to show those
other fellows the error of their ways.
He tried to make out that Mr.. Bartlett
had misrepresented matters to them but
failed to establish one single case of
misrepresentation. He forgot to tell
Whv he voted AGAINST the nsurv hill. he