Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-09-06
An Open Letter.

La Enterprise ana democracy III
general:
| wish to make few comments upon
some of your late utterances on the
political situation and also upon other
party matters. ! infer from the fact
that you held lately in this county a
convention and expect to hold another
soon in Milwaukee that you intend TO
ask the suffrages this fall Of the Ameri-
can people in behalf Of the Democratic
party.
Now | want to know upon what
grounds you wish their cont ned
support? What promises do you wish
to make this fall? Have you new
stock or have you supply of the kind
YOU used in '92? You know you had a
big stock on hand then yes promises
galore promises you didn't fulfill, you
couldn't fulfill, and didn't mean to
fulfill. Perhaps you may say that in '92
there was a heavy Mckinley tariff on
things in this country and that you had
to use considerable shoddy in the
manufacture of your promises, but let
me remind you that there never was a
tariff on promises in this country, there
has always been ''free trade" in them,
50 that any person or party could make
them as he saw fit. Among others you
promised to rid the country of the
rnhber tariff that was q burden upon
tn" people and according to YOUR plat
form Of - i unconstitutional. You
partly kept that promise, !. e, YOU
shifted it from one hand to the CtIler,-
repealed the Mckinley tariff and
substituted for it the German bill, alias
Senate bill, alias Sugar trust bill, alias
the Best Efforts of the Democratic
Party bill-the same bill that President
Cleveland denounced as party perfidy
and dishonor" and refused to sign it
preferring to allow it to become law
through the ten days provision. You
promised to repeal the ten per cent. tax
on State banks, you didn't do 1t; you
promised free silver, you didn't dc
that; you promised the farmers in some
sections of the country 81 25 per bu. fo1
their wheat; theY got SOC. You promised
the laboring men shorter hours and
better pay for their labOr-they got
shorter hours, the shortest ever was
known, being idle most of the time
since, and as for pay if it had not beer
for the hands of Charity thousands
would have gone to their graves, and as
many more, cover the Hills to the Poor
House"
Laboring men everywhere were tc
get more for their work and the pro
ducts of their farms and be able to buy
what they wanted for less money
nothing Of the kind has come true but
the reverse can be found everywhere
Wool that helped many thousands OF
poor farmers to pay debts or buy some
thing to eat must now be given VI
because wool cannot be raised here fol
shilling Il pound. The sugar industry
that helped SO many farmers of the
United States is gwen over1O foreigners
and the Sugar Trust. The same may
be said of glass and tin plate works
pottery etc, that can only be run by
cutting down the wages of the laborinc
class to those of Foreign countries
The people who were Geluded by those
promises and voted the Democratic
ticket in 90 believed that if they
elected Democratic President and q
majority of both houses of Congress the
land would overflow with milk and
honey, all work would be done in
foreign countries, leaving the people
here nothing to do but to buy what
they wanted. Well they got the
President and Congress. The hrst thine
the President did was to enter into
partnership with Queen Lii, which
ended in complete fzzle. Hard times
came on. The Sherman law must be
lie cause, that was repealed. Hard
times continued. The tariff bill came
mp for i of a year and ended in one OF
the most remarkable failures in history
Democrats in Congress and the Presi
dent also, yet Il tariff bill has become
law that no Democrat on earth likes
and is us much protective though
sectional us the Mckinley bill In the
last Enterprise we read that it Is only q
Republican measure. How could the
writer say so without knocking splinters
Oft from the ninth Commandment
which says "yhou shalt not bear false
witness etc" You know the bill was
framed and prepared in committee
rooms where no Republican was
admitted until the corpse was fully
arranged and prepared for public gaze
when the Republicans were allowed tc
enter and view the monstrosity.
When the constitution of the United
States was framed the law making
pow, was made of three parts, viz
iIou>e of Representatives, Senate and
President One object being this, that
ii any obnoxious bill. that might be al
injury to the country should get through
one part of congress the other could
check it, and if it should get through
both houses of Congress that the Presi,
dent could stop it by his veto. We'll
let us look at the situation. The House
passed bill that if it became a law
would be most injurious to the country
the Senate refused If and nasSad