Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-09-27

OttumWa, Iowa, Sept. Ex-senator
Allison, a possible president had this
town wild last night. 4 great demon
stratiOn in his honor was given, and
the senator made Il campaigD-dOcu-
ment speech. The republican party
came into power, said he, in 1861, and
from that time until the 4th of March,
1893, practically controlled the legiS-
lation of our country and has been
with the exception of the brief period
of President Johnson and the four
year term of President Cleveland re-
sponsible for the administration of the
government. For a considerable pOr
ton Of this time, namely, from 1870 to
1881, and from 1888 to 1889, and again
from 1891 TO 1893, the democratic party
had u majority in the house OF repre-
sentatveS. During all this time the
senate was republican, except from
1879 to 1881, when it was a tie and
no vice president During these peri
DDS it was impossible for the demo
cratic house to change existing laws
without the consent of the republican
senate
These thirty-twO years of our history
have been years of uneXampled growth
and progress. The first four, under
President Lincoln, were years of trial,
of peril. and of sacrifice. The greatest
rebellion civilization had seen was
overthroWn. The blightin@ and desc
lating curse of slavery was destroyed.
Our country was reunited on the prtn-
ciples of liberty. TO re-establiSh the
union required great waste of treasure
and the sacrifice of the pest young
blood of our land. bringing suffering
to every household and desolatiOn to
many homes. but triumph came
through 1t all With all this sacrifice
our country developed like a giant.
The census of 1860 disclosed an aggre-
gate wealth, including slaves, of $16-
600, 100000; that of 1870, with the
wars deSOlationS of four years, and
excluding slaves as property, disclosed
an aggregate wealth of 100000 600;
onat of 1880 nearly $4,000 100000, and
that of 1890 $50. 100000 The de
velopment from 1880 to 1890 was mar
VelouS, the increase in ten years being
one third more than all the wealth of
the United States thirty years before.
The wealth per capita more than dOu-
bled in thirty years and the increase
from 1880 to 1890 was $3.50 per capita,
or about 40 per cent, whilst the DOpu-
latiOn in the same period increased -
per cent.
The greatest increase of wealth in
the aggregate and in percentage is
found in the states where agriculture
is the largest interest. During these
last ten years there has been an in
crease in the value of farm lands to
the extent of 30.23 per cent, and a still
larger increase in the value Of farm
lands in Iowa. showing our prosperity
i'll that regard to he greater than the
states around us. The value of farm
implements has increased nearly 81
per cent. and when we take into &C
count that the price of farm implements
has decreased one-half it shows the
enormous increase of the number of
implements and utility of farm ma
chinery as compared with 1880. / Go
not say that all this progress and
growth is due to the tariff and other
policies of the republican patty, but |
believe it is largely due to them. Our
commerce. our manufactures. and our
agriculture have grown side by side.
OF these latter products 90 per cent.
have found a market at home. Our
manufactures have grown from pro
ductiOn of S5,0O0,000,000 in 1880 to
$4,000, 100000 in 1890. Our internal
commerce has grown almost beyond
computation. We nearly doubled our
railway mileage, carrying by rail eight
times as many passengers as the total
population and moving 640,000,000 tons
OF freight in 1890. Our external COM
merce has increased year by year,
reaching its maximum of S2,00OOOO,-
900 in 1892, under the Mckinley law.
Our laborers have received better
wages by One-half than have any Ia
borerS on the face of the globe, and
twice as much as most of them in
Europe. These wages steadily ad
vanced, whether measured in money
or in purchasing power of the comforts
of life, until and during 1891 and 1892,
all were employed at these wages who
desired employment. Farmers received
between 1880 and 1892 fair prices for
their crops, with the exception of 1888
and 1889. when corn and wheat were
low
This was the situation in outline
when Grover Cleveland again became
President of the United States and a
democratic congress convened. 1t was
not expected and it was not certainly
known that the senate would be demo-
cratic until February, 1898. From
that moment deadly blight appeared,
increasing in intensity as the days and
months came and passed away. This
sudden and marked change should be
attributed to two potential causes,
aided by third and minor cause.
There was a just fear that a demo-
dent would carry out their proclaimed
policy respecting the tariff: that the
six thousand five hundred millions OF
capital invested in manufactures would
he imperilled if not destroyed; that
the four millions of laborers would
be thrown out of employment or be
compelled to work on short time a
greatly reduced wages; that there