The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-10-18

Tor the Newspapers, the Politicians, the
Legislatures, the President, His Cabinet
and In Fact Everybody in an Official Po
sition, Except, of Course, Himseif-Hi.
Fight with Corporations and His Potato
Crop.
Detroit, Mich, Oct 1.-THE long
looked-for book which Mayor Hazen S.
Pingree has threa tened to spring upon
the public was given private circulation
here this evening and will be public
property tomorrow. 1t is called Facts
ana Opinions; or, Dangers that Beset
Us To understand the interest that
attaches to its appearance-for it Is in
no wise a great production-one must
understand well who Mayor Pingree Is
and the position he occupies.
Three times has he been elected to the
mayorality in the formerly Democra tic
city of Detroit, each time by an in
creased majority, and again is he a
candidate for the Republican nominal
ton, with practical certainty of cleo
ton and nomina ton. He made the city
republican and at a So-called mass
meeting a few days ago was requested
by portion Of the 1000 people present
TO be a candidate. He said he could not
refuse.
He has become famous, first, because
or his bitter and successful fights on
corporations, notably the local gas,
electric light, and street car companies.
Detroit paid $3.50 a thousand for gas
when he first took the chair and now
pays but 81, with a certainty of seeing
80 cent gas in the not distant future
Horse cars were supreme six years
ago, while now one of the finest electric
street railways on this continent will
be completed before spring.
Detroit was paying thousands of dol
lars to the electric light companies not
long ago. Now 1T has its own plant. To
PinSree more than to any man or set of
men belongs the credit Of these
changes.
THE 'PINGREE POTATO PATCH"
Perhaps the ''Pingree potato patch"
has brought more fame to Detroit's
mayor than his corpora ton battles.
His scheme has been copied not only
IN many cities in this country, but in
foreign lands.
Pingree was a good soldier, a good
cobbler Of hoes, and is now shoe man
ufacturer of wealth.
Now for the book, which while it IN
doubleday voices his sentiments, is the
direct work of his private secretary,
James NJ Walsh, an erratic newspaper
man sof considerable locai note 1t
would probably have been of greater
literary merit had not Mayor Pingree
left his mark upon it The red flag to
this mayoraly bull is corporations and
newspapers, and to them much cpace
ds devoted. His introduction to the book
is twenty-four pages long. In ii he re-
veals the alleged fact that the regular
army officers called to Chicago to sup
press the Pullman rioters were practi-
cally on the point of refusing TO act,
owing to the fact that til Y considered
themselves ordered there solely for the
perpetuation of wrongs. The Chicago
papers, he declares, knew all about
these meetings of officers but suppressed
the facts in the interest of soulless COR
poraJtions, and declares that had the
opinions Of these officers been publish
ed at the time. it would simply have
shown that many of the newspapers of
Chicago We're lying in every edition,
distorting, garbling, and publishing the
policy of the paper in the headlines of
articles supposed to contain a simple
relation of facts" as he affirms they
also did Of the court-martials ordered
AS a result, but which never took place.
To newspapers generally, he pays his
respects as follows:
The money interests of newspapers
are bopelessly entangled with corpora
tons. 1t is impossible to disentangle
them. Newspapers are either the open
advocates Of an anarchical condition Of
affairs or guiltily conscious OF it, stand
neutral, and by emitting to denounce
1T are participa tors in the crime of de-
iivering the government to the hands
of the few through the criminal manip-
ulation of conventions and the practi-
cal disfranchisement Of the voters Of
the republic.
OF Detroit corporations he says:
My experience in fighting monopolis-
tic corpora tons as mayor of Detroit,
and in endeavoring to save the people
some of their rights as against their
greed, has further convinced me that
they. the corporations, are responsible
for nearly all the theiving and boodling
with which cities are made to suffer
from their servants. They seek almost
uniformly to secure what they want
by means of brides, and in this way
they corrupt our councils and commits
sions.
In various places he attacks nearly
everything and everybody handling
the laws machinery, including legis-
Iatures in general, the president and his
cabinet, and both branches of congress.
In fact MIR. Pingree practically says he
Is the only sure thing peoples friend
in this or any otheE country.
The book tells of the mayors strug-
giles with the corporations and then re-
lates how they pursued him, all OF
which is local gossip.
ALL IN CORPORATION HANDS.
To his honor every state is in the
grasp of corporations. and nearly every
court and high dignitary debauched by
them. He stands for state and munich
al IT,, IS,
ever kind. and is supposed to be free
silver man and a bit of a Populist. In
fact a widespread belief in his lack of
LOYALTY TO the Republican party AT
whatever point il may fail TO aid him
IS his greatest weakness at present. |
With the laboring classes here he is I'M |
deniably immensely strong. His fav- |
orite target is United States Senator |
Mcmillan. a many times millionaire |
and a business man with vast manu- |
featuring and railway interests. He is |
ever spoken of as Jim by the mayor, |
and ever painted a 5 a devil Of blacklist |
hue. The senator's return hunt is a |
still one.
As TO arbitration he says:
The condition and welfare OF the la |
boring classes is a question OF wages. |
Greed will ever try TO reduce wages. |
The only weapon Of the laboring man IS |
70 strike, ne has 10 pt9SE EeCuuTSS 1
sgainst injustice and oppression. To |
me 1t seems that arbitration is q better |
solution than-b3yonetS and bullets. Let |
the government encourage that method |
TO settle questions of wages. As long.
however. as the oppreSsor is assured /
that troops Will come 10 his rescue. pro- !
vided he can cause TO be committed /
some overt act which can he laid az the 1
door of the strikers. he Viii say, There 1
IS nothing 10 arhitrate."
In wage disputes the side which will l