The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1894-08-10

out Nool7 growing people cannot compete
with the unequal and degrading condi-
tions which will confront them with wool
on the Tree list. They are American citi-
zens. and as such they live and perform
the duties incumbent upon them by their
citizenship and by our American civiliza-
ton. They are not ryots, coolies or serfs.
who receive the wages of slaves and live
upon the coarse proyender of animals
The lowest class of beings are to be the
competitors of American sheep herders
and flock masters"
A Sharp Answer to the Democratic Cir
cular Regarding the Wiscon-
sin War Debt.
A dispatch from Madison to the Even
ing Wisconsin lays bare 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
ment, and the answer to it is as follows:
Madison, Wis, July 1S.-The Demo
cratic press Of the state has been fur
nished with and is widely circulating a
screed which is universally headed i'll
big, black type. "Wisconsins Debt-A
Legacy Left by Our Republican Friends"
1t then goes on to relate that Wisconsin
has public debt Of $2,25l 600 on which
it pays an annual interest Of S151 80,
and designates the debt as "a monument
to the incompetent craftsmanship of Wis
consin Republicans 1t declares that this
debt is unconstitutional, and quotes sec
ton q of Article VIII. of the state con
stitution, 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
auth hn Stnta ..n,atp urt
a public debt This is lie pure and
simple. The very next section Of the
constitution. section of article 8, pro-
vides that the Legislature may also bor-
row money to repel invasion. suppress
insurrection, 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 Jul
dicially, and there is no likelihood that
it ever will be. When the bill autnoriz-
ing the issue of the war bonds which cre
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 to demolish rebels
months after the war was closed" The
facts, which are so easily obtainable as
to leave no excuse for falsifving save that
of malicious intent. are that the debt was
first 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 fam
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 1, provided
for fitting out six regiments of state
troops at an expense not to exceed
81 l.OOO, 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 a 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 we'll known to the men
who have made Wisconsin what she is to-
dav, 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 undsputed and well known fact that
the Legislature, to provide these funds.
loaned the money to the state from the
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 S2OO.OO0 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 Il 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
nossibIe 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
IN the incompetent craftsmanship OF Wis
consin Republicans" the plain and un-
colored facts taken from the records
show that the state debt was created as
= natriotic measure to aid in carrying on
the war for the preservation OF the
Union. and that its consummatlon was
effected by one of the wisest pieces OF
tinanciering the state has known.
RI. Armv Bill and the Bourbon Tariff
Bill.
IF measure is to be passed in Con-
gress authorizing an increase Ia the army
e. tho United States il should be append
al ~ the Bourbon bill for the impoverlsh.
mont of the farmers and wage-earners OF
the United States. Before Cleyelandlsm
snread dismay and privahon among the
tp;lars If the land, slenced the hum Of
industry and evoked the spirit OF An
nrchy. there was no necessity to increase
the army in order to repress popular as
content. American worklngmen had EN-
ployment at wages that insured y con-,
fartable support American Industrial
80 80, ayfan1inr IFS ODpratlOuS