The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-03-07
The Senator Who Wars for the
Farmer.
He HAS SOME ODD TRAITS
He Proposes TO Revolutionize Things Po'
H.ical. Making the Country 10
Dominate the City.

Benjamin Ryan Tillman. the new sem
ator from South Carolina, is a wonder
Some people call him freak. but that
is small word to apply to such man.
The nation at large had an opportunity
to pass judgment upon the man few
weeks ago when he emptied fioodgate
of vituperation upon the head of Presi-
dent Cleveland.
Tillman from all standpoints except
that of long-distance study is uncom-
Portable. AS a study he is interesting.
What his precise object in life is he
would probably have some difficulty in
explaining. He has made himself clear
on two or three points, the first of which
is to annihilate Mr.. Cleveland political
ly. He wants also to bore a few holes
in the constitution of the United States
and limit the power of the federal gov
eminent in dealing with matters which
he claims are the exclusive rights of in
dividual states.
He would also like to wipe every cor
poration off the face of the earth and
TO pulverize the money kings of the ma
ton. He is an odd mixture of socialist
and populist. For generations his fore
fathers were democrats but if he had
the power he would smash the demo-
Gratis party to gain any one of his
ideals. He is a democrat on the tariff
question only. He is opposed to protec-
ton because he argues that protective
policy benefits the manufacturers and
their employees, while it makes the
farmers pay more for their needs with
-.
other words, he says protection benefits
the city at the expense of the country.
This latter perhaps forms the key
stone of Tillman's plan. His is war of
the country against the town. He is a
revolutionist, and would have the farm
ers dominate the cities. He claims that
of the seventy millions of people in the
United States probably more than one
half are farmers. This claim he uses as
a justification of his own stand. He
abominates the professional politician,
yet he is a politician of no mean capac-
ity himself. He has the country folk
of South Carolina more completely I'M
der his thumb than Tammany hall ever
had the city of New York. The cultured
people of the large cities in his native
state despise Tillman and hold up their
hands in holy horror at the mention of
his name. Those of the old regime take
melancholy satisfaction in comparing
Tillman with Wade Hampton to show
the degeneracy of the times.
A CAREER WORTH WATCHING.
Tillman's career in the senate will be
worth the watching. He cannot be sup
pressed unless his hot temper involves
him in a quarrel with a man who can
shoot quicker or WELD a knife more
surely than himself. This is no idle
provision for sooner or later Tillman's
propensity for personal abuse is sure to
involve him in many rows. Besides he
Is a fighter and comes of fighting stock.
His two brothers died with their boots
/ on in personal encounters, a third was
killed in the battle of Chickamagua,
and a fourth was killed in the Mexican
war.
Tillman's left eye was knocked out
when he was a boy. Some say that he
lost it in row with his brother. Others
claim that in his boyhood he was so
studious that he was in the habit of
| taking a ''lightwood" knot at night and
| going into the woods to study his books
by the pickering flame. Constant read
ing by this uncertain light caused a
/ PUPPY tumor to form on the eye, COM
pletely destroying the sight. Tillman
allows the world to chose between these
versions, for he is silent on the subject.
BELIEVES IN EDUCATION.
Tillman is 40 years old and he has
been married % years. He has six
children, three of whom can be called
grOwn-up. He is a great believer in the
power Of education and he is giving his
children the best that he can. He has
a wonderful memory and a most erratic
store Of facts at ready disposal. He
reads all the time without much system
but he remembers what he reads. He is
familiar with most of the classics. He
has a tumble of ancient and modern
knowledge which he filings into his
| speeches with reckless abandon.
Every time he makes a speech he
| tries to be quiet but sarcastic. But he
has no more control of himself than a
steam engine running wild. He be-
comes boisterous and sarcasm gives
way to vituperation. But when he has
worked himself into a perfect frenzy
his mind is clear and the man who un-
dertakes to criticise him will be imme-
diately enveloped in a cyclone of ora.
torical lightning. He often falls into
profanity, but it is picturesque profan-
ity. He doesn't swear like ordinary
people; in fact everything about him is
| unusual.
ONE OF HIS PLEDGES.
The day he was elected senator. Till
man said of Cleveland. when I get into
the United States senate I'll prod that
| old bag of beef in the ribs with nv