Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-08-09

our Wool-growing people cannot comnete
Mlln the unequal and degrading condi-
IONS Wnlch will confront them with wool
on the Tree list. They are American citi-
ns; anu as such they live and perform
the duties incumbent upon them bv tbai,
CITIZENSHIP and by our American ~ciyiliza-
u3h' Ihey are not ryots, coolies or serfs.
VINO receive the wages of slaves and live
upon the coarse prOvender Of animals.
Inc lowest class of beings are to be the
competitors of American sheep herders
dock masters"
~ sharp Answer to the Democratic Cir
cuiar Regarding the wiscon-
sin War Debt.
"A dispatch from Madison to the Even
ing Wisconsin lays bare a Democratic at.
tempt to deceive the people on the war.
debt question. The "screed' referred to
In the expose was prepared in the edu-
cational department of the state govern
hleht, and the answer to it is as follows:
Madison, Wis. July 1S.-The Demo-
cratic press of the state has been fur
nlshed with and is widely circulating a
screed which is universally headed in
big, black type. "Wisconsin's Debt-A
Legacy Left by Our Republican Friends"
1t then goes on to relate that Wisconsin
has a public debt of S2,251 900, on which
1t pays an annual interest of Sl57.57O.
and designates the debt as "a monument
to the incompetent craftsmanship of Wis
consin Republicans" 1t declares that this
b Is unconstitutional, and quotes sec
ton . of Article VIII. of the state CON
sttutlon, which provides that For the
purpose of defraying extraordinary ex-
penditures the state may contract public
debts; but such debts shall never, in the
aggregate, exceed one hundred thousand
dollars"
The article then states that mo other
authority is given the state to contract
a public debt" This is a lie pure and
simple. The very next section of the
constitution, section Z of article s. pro-
vides that the Legislature may also bor-
row money TO repel invasion, suppress
instruction, or defend the state in time
of war"
Whether this provision definitely covers
the manner In which the state debt was
created has never been passed upon iu-
ideally, and there is no likelihood that
1t ever will be. When the bill autnoriz-
ing the issue of the war bonds which Gre
ated the debt even the men who opposed
their issue publicly declared, on the floor
OF the Assembly, that they did not believe
the patriotic people of Wisconsin would
ever raise such an issue.
The screed in question further falsely
states that 1.-The Republican party was
creating a state debt 10 demOlish rebels
months after the war was closed" The
Facts, which are so easily o%btainable as
to leave no excuse for classifying save that
OF malicious intent, are that the debt was
hrst created by the passage of bills dur
ing the first years of the war authorizing
the issue of bonds to raise money in equip
ping state troops, providing for the fami-
lies of soldiers, etc. Two of these bills
were passed at the regular session in 1861
and another at the extra session in that
year. The latter act, chapter 4, provided
for fitting out six regiments of state
troops at an expense not to exceed
81, 900. 900.
All this is state history. possibly un-
known to the men whose principal expe-
rience in official life has been the prOpaga-
ton of roster jobs, and the prosecution of
treasury interest suits as q means of
winning public glory and at the same
time pocketing a fat fee ION the side"
and whose ear-marks are discernible in
the screed referred to, but which are and
always have been well known to the men
who have made Wisconsin what she is to-
day, one of the best states in the Union.
with a record to which her citizens may
well point with pride.
Another attack along the same line.
and from the same source, is based on
the u~ndisputed and well known fact that
the Legislature, to provide these funds,
iOdHtu Tie lnputs W TIE Sldte from lne
school funds, depositing state bonds as
security, on which interest is paid by the
state TO these funds. This is the whole
story. This act was passed March 13,
1862. In the argument for its passage
it was shown that over 100000 of the
school funds had been lost through the
manner in which they were then in
vested. and that these state bonds were
the safest if not the only safe invest
ment offered for them. At the same time
the plan provided a means for securing
| 100 cents on the dollar for the state
bonds, which in the then disturbed fnan-
cial condition of the country it was i'm
possible to do in the money markets,
some of them having in fact been already
sold at 20 cents on the dollar.
Instead, then, of being "a monument
to the incompetent craftsmanship of Wis
consin Republicans" the plain and I'M
colored facts taken from the records
show that the state debt was created as
a patriotic measure to aid in carrying on
the wal for the preservation of the
Union. and that its consummation was
effected by one of the wisest pieces of
financiering the state has known.