Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1896-10-07
SENATOR BAKER.


pointment made by the republican CEN
trail committee, at the courthouse in this
city. His audience consisted mostly of
women and Popuiists though there was
a sufficient number of republicans in
attendance TO make the usual noise.
The senator devoted most of his time
TO the tariff, only touching briefly
on the financial question at the close.
He made great effort to impress upon
the minds of the audience that the
country was living under free trade
times and succeeded so far as the aver
age moss-back republican was concern
ed. But those who were not governed
by ignorance and party prejudice knew
that the tariff law, which Senator Bak-
er calls free trade measure, IS, in fact,
protective tariff measure. They knew
that it is measure providing for a
higher rate of tariff, generally speaking.
than any tariff law IN operation for the
past thirty years, excepting the McKin-
icy law, and that even the Mckinley
law was only little more than five per
cent higher than the present free
trade" law. He got off that old chest
nut about everybody being frightened
when Cleveland was elected but he
didn't say what was responsible for the
hard times and widespread panic set
ting IN before Cleveland was elected or
even nominated.
If a Populist speaker had used the
language Senator Baker used he would
have been condemned by the republi-
can press as indecent and vulgar, but
coming from the lips of this dIStin
guished ~ redeemer 1t was we'll and
good from a republican standpoint.
The speaker consumed several hours in
making attacks on the Peoples party.
telling cute stories and evading the
political issues as much as possible.
He roasted Cleveland numerically but
commended his 20 icy. 1t would
be we'll for the republican committee
to give the senator tip IN regard to
this way of abiding to the fat presi-
deut. 1t must be remembered that
OlCNCldlIu 10 OuO VI IlOSU
enthusiastic supporters and these slight
remarks, if Grover should happen to
hear Of them, might have a tendency to
make him mad; consequently he would
no longer boiler down Mes rain barrel
Well, we waited and waited and wait
ed! we had almost given up liz despair,
but finally the senator said he would
talk about money, it was a most de-
lightful thing to talk about. He began
by telling the old story about the com.
paratively limited amount of silver
coined from 1868 to 1878, but, of course,
didn't say that foreign coins circulated
as legal tender during that time, and
that the population of the country had
vastly increased. He didn't say that
we were then en- q bimetalIic basis and
that the value of commodities was
measured by silver rs we'll as gold.
Like all republican speakers, he put in
most of his time in informing us about
the amount of silver coined under the
Bland Allison and Sherman laws, but
he did not defend the repeal of those
laws by the republican party. He stat
ed that the republican party passed the
Bland Allison act but he did not say
that President Hayes-a republican
preSdent-vetOed the bill, and had 1t
not beer for democratic support the
bill would not have become law. Then
he thought he would tell something
funny. He squared himself. swelled
his chest and his abdomen, squatted
himself until he looked more like a
toad in cool cellar on hot summer
day, than like u. S. senator, and said
''Our pop friends are ignorant, this
country is not on gold standard, we
have blmetallism III this country to
day." This, of course, made the sig
norant pOps' grin. If Senator Baker
is right, the republican national plat
form which says 1.-The existing gold
standard must be preserved" is wrong.
1t is Baker VS. Hanna. We believe
Hanna is boss. "What do you think"
Baker.
In one thing we were disappointed.
we DdU 0ApcCC0u ludG OuI SCIldCOT
wonld clear up what to us is a mystery.
While he was yet a state senator and,
for that matter, when he was elected 10
the U. S. senate, he was as rank free
silverite as any pop that ever breathed.
He could tell about the ''crime of 49,"
and how one half of the peoples money
had been destroyed, how that we need
ed an enlargement of the currency, in
fact he was one of the free silverite
leaders in the state. But as soon as he
was uShered into the national senate
chamber he changed his views and in the
space of two weeks or a month he was
a more rabid gold standard advocate
than he ever was free silver man. We
had hoped that he would inform US
why this sudden change. But as we
have just stated, we were sorely disap-
pointed. He was as mum as a clam.
He talked as though he had been gold
bug all his life and DO one would have
suspected that he ever did advocate
free silver. But the ways of the dema-
gogue do surely surpass all understand
ing.
Attorney Chas. Rumsey came up