Omaha daily bee., 1894-04-16

I'm the west we want congress to apprnpri-
ate money for the construction OF irrigation
bitches and kindred enterprises; in the east
we want congress to appropriate money for
the construction Of roads, thus giving en-
ploymeut TO the idle thousands. II congress
viii furnish employment for three years the
people viii be upon their feet once moro and
an era Of prosperity will again prevail. When
that time comes men who are willing to
work will not be riding over tho country,
objects of charity. When that time comes
the tramp will be a thing of the past and
there will be more equality among the men
of the nation.
Talk about hard times. This is the rich
est country in the world and there is no rea-
son why a single individual should beg for
bread. Right here In this state you can
raise enough corn and wheat to feed half Of
the United States, but instead Of doing so
you are letting the soil remain idle, simply
for the reason that your produce is not mar
ketable. This Is not your fault, but the fault
OF the men who represent you at Washington,
the men who make your laws. You say that
you are not to blame, but YOU are, for you
have not made your demands. Owing to the
fact that you have let matters go by default,
we are going to see what We can do for
you and the rest Of humanity. We do not
ask you for money, but we do ask you for
your moral support and prayers. II you give
us these you will hear from us, for / tell
you that when We reach Washington and
camp in the white house grounds. 5000
strong, your congressman and the others will
see that this movement means something.
NO NEED OF MILITIA.
Owe do not want to annoy you. but we do
want to be let alone and be allowed to pro-
coed on our way unmolested. Today 1 see
around me the soldiery Of your state. called
here by your governor. Why the gentleman
has called out these boys in blue is a ques-
ton that surpasses all understanding. Pos
sibly the honorable gentleman has an idea
that we are all born robbers, but let me in
form him once for all that we are gentle
men, poor but honest, and that not a dol
lars worth of property shall be injured by
a member of the Commonweal. We have a
mission to perform, which mission is to Sc
cure legislation ana not to steal and plumber.
Until we have accomplished that mission
you can laugh at us, but when it is accom-
plished we will turn the laugh.
RICH here | want to say that | want
you people of Iowa to get up Il petition, ask
ing Ireland to help us with home rule, as we
have helped it in the past; and, in con
clusion, let me say that the next time that
an army Of Commonwealers passes through
your city, inform your governor that it will
not be necessary to call out the militia of the
state to protect lives and property. These
soldiers look fine on dress parade, but in,
my opinion it would have been far better
for the community If the money that it
cost to bring them here had been spent in
buying food and clothing for the needy and
suffering of your state"
At the conclusion of the generals speech
he was given three rousing cheers, and then
the hat was passed through the crowd.
When 1t was returned to the commissary
car, it was loaded down with silver and
bills, aggregating $105.7 10, which was turned
over to Colonel Baker, who is custodian of
the company funds.
During the afternoon the crowd was enter
tanned by speeches delivered by local orators,
with several Omaha and South Omaha
gentlemen taking a hand.
During the day the recruiting officer mus
tered in one company, which, during the bal
ance of the journey, will be known as com
Tany /. This company is composed of fifty
two men, all from Omaha and Council Bluffs,
and is under the command of Captain Frank
Fentress, originally from Wisconsin,, where
for a number of years he was foreman of
one of the rafting crews in. the vicinity of
Black River Falls.
Captain Fentress amassed a fortune of
SO 900 and four years ago went west to bet
ter his circumstances. He settled in the
orange district of the golden state and tried
fruit raising. In this he was successful, and
at one time had an orange plantation that
gave promise of being Il bonanza, but about
this time he commenced to dabble in Los
Angeles real estate, and to use a coast eX-
preston, he bit off more than he could mas
ticate, having the greater portion of it on
hand when the boom collapsed. Leaving his
wife and three girls. the oldest but 8 years
of age, in a cottage in one of the suburbs, he
went to there hoping to find
employment at his trade, that of a car
penter. In this he was unsuccessful, and
when the Commonweal movement started
Fentress was foremost in the ranks. The
captain is one of General Kelly's most
trusted officers and is in favor of free and UNI
coinage.
SPENT A QUIET NIGHT.
The army camped in Council Bluffs last
night and the men bivouacked alongside the
cars which had hauled them over so many
weary miles from the far west.
At shutdown last evening the men prepared
for supper. Soon fires were brightly blazing
in a long row down the Union Pacific tracks
near the transfer depot. The soldiers gath
cred up piles of driftwood, old railroad
and other material and soon made
comfortable. After supper the
squads gathered around their fires and told
stories or sang songs. Many of the men
are possessed of good voices and some Of
the companies have quartcts which furnish
some very good vocal music. They sang
and comic songs and then one
struck up an old familiar hymn and
the whole army joined in, swelling the
chorus with more than a thousand voices.
Through the kindness of the Union Pa
cifc company the men were permitted to
Bluffs. and they were as comfortable as
under the circumstances. Many of
he men preferred to wrap themselves in
heir blankets and lie down by the fires,
~ Aii6 nv Nliiy |
The camp was that of the pickets patroling
back and forth. AS soon as the men went
nto camp General Kelly ordered the pickets
IN duty and they were relieved every two
hours. The general gave strict orders that
40 soldier should be allowed to go out of
or he would arrest him and turn him
'ver to the civil authorities as a vagrant.
Then outside of this guard was the picket
guard of the state militia, which patroled
he vicinity all night.
AS some people We're apprehensive that
'ome of the soldiers might be carrying arms
or an unlawful purpose General Kelly issued
,rders to all his captains to search the men.
This was done and not a weapon of any kind
'ould be found, unless a few razors which
hey used for shaving might be termed
Weapons.
Sheriff Hazen, who had been up for two
lights in succession, went to bed early, hav-
ng issued his instructions to the com
handlers of the militia, which were to the
fleet that they were only to patrol the camp
nd see that none of the C~ommonwealers
we're allowed to get outside the lines, but
here was no need of even this, for the poor
elbows were worn out with their long
Quincy, Governor Jackson did not con-
ider that he could be of any service and
vent home with a relative who resides in
'ouncil Bluffs and retired early. Only for
he smouldering camp fires no one would
been aware of the large crowd of men
Who were sleeping in and near the cars.
General Kelly was invited tn SnplI1 tho