The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1896-05-07
MR.. CLEVELAND SCORED
Ex-Governor Fishback, Of Arkansas
Writes Letter.
HE ARRAIGNs THE EXECUTIVE
Congestion of the Country's Wealth,
Results of Glass Legislation, Plum
dering Experts, Etc.

The st. Louis Post-Dispatch lately
gave publicity to an open e,ter writ
ten by Ex-Governor Fishback, of Ar.
kansas, and addressed to President
Cleveland. which reads as follows
Dear Sir: Your evident letermin-
alton to force upon the democratic party
the alternative of adoption of your
financial schemes Il use the word ad
visedly) or disruption of our great
organization. imposes upon every pa
triOtic democrat in the United States
the duty CT breaking out in Indignant
protest
Il feel it especially incumbent upon
myself since having been invited by
the national democratic committee to
canvass Indiana and New York in your
behalf, during the presidential cam
paign, and Iahaving, | regret to say.
cheerfully complied with it's request
under the belief that you were an hon
Orable man who would carry out the
pledges Of the party to the people. am
not willing by my silence to become
a particeps criminis to the inexcusable
deception through which You attained
q second term III the presidency
"There is abroad in the land, Mr..
Cleveland, Il not unfounded suspicion
that you are not aware Of the existence
Except upon the map) Of any other
portion Of the great country over which
you preside than New York and the
states east of the Alleghanies and north
OF the Potomac.
III you We're aware Of the existence
OF this great oatlying empire, includ-
ing the rest Of our union, it would be
difficult TO decide whether you were
reckle5sly ignorant on criminally reck-
less OF its interests.
1.-The founders Of our government
wisely ordained that national census
should be taken every ten years. For
what purpose do you suppose, Mr..
Cleveland: Was it for mere iun? Was
it not that every intelligent voter and
especially every government official
might learn what effect upon national
prosperity national policies We're pro-
ducing:
"Our constitution makes it by impli-
cation one Of the most important duties
OF the chief executive to study these
census reports and to make such recon-
mendations to congress as his informa-
sources may suggest.
Ii you have not studied these CEN
sus reports i'll regard to the effect of
national policies upon national prosper
ity, you are recklessly ignorant and are
unworthy of the exalted position to
which conliding people have exalted
you.
"If you have studied these reports
and have seen how startlingly the pre-
diction of MI. Carlisle has been veri-
fled. SO far as the west and south are
concerned, as well as certain classes Of
other sections, when he said, Feb. 21,
1S7S-'The conspiracy which seems to
have been formed here and in Europe
to destroy by legislation and otherwise
from three -fourths to one-half of the
metallic money Of the world is the
most gigantic crime of this or any
other age. The cOnsummation of such
a scheme wOnld ultimately entail more
misery upon the human race than all
the wars, pestilence and famines that
ever occurred in the history of the
world your reckless disregard
OF the rights and Interests of upward
of ten n-elevenths of our union is crime
"a crime against justice, a crime
against humanity. and treason to your
country
~ am unwilling to believe that you
are criminal, but shall assume that
you must be ignorant of the disclosures
of the census reports, and have there
fore imposed upon myself the task Of
calling your attention to few statis-
tical facts which might well startle
every thoughtful, patriotic man in the
United States.
81 shall also assume that you are
sufficiently Informed to know that it
is an automatic truth of political econ
Omy that not the accumulation of
wealth, but it's proper distribution, is
the true measure OF the prosperity of
people.
For an illustration, a few corrupt
government officials, together with a
syndicate of money-lenders, might ac-
cumulate several millions OF wealth by
issuing national bonds of a country
and mortgaging without their consent
the entire property of the people to Sc
cure their payment, but this corrupt
accumulation of wealth would be
scarcely regarded as an evidence of the
prosperity of the people who would
have it to pay. Quite the reverse.
COLSeStlOu Ol wealth. III the DOuy
polite is as much an evidence of dis
ease as congestion Of the blood in the
animal body. That such congestion
has taken place in this country let the
following facts from the census reports
attest.
"That you may appreciate the full
force of these startling statistical dis
closures, let me resort to comparison
and contrast of periods.
~ select the last decade before the
civil war, from 1850 to 1860, when
economic conditions in the United
States were normal and, our govern
ment had not yet entered into corrupt
alliances with the law created wealth
Of the world, and the last decade since
the war, from 1880 to 1890, as being
freshest from the complications of war
and reconstruction.
I'm 1850 the New Enlgand and mid
die states combined (and these are the
only states whose interests you seem to
think entitled to your consideration
had more than twice as many miles of
as 'the sOnth' Ton vaarS of