The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-05-23
POLITICS IN 4 TANGLE.
The Genial Georgia Philosopher
Summarizes the Situation.
Bill Arp Says There Are In the Seventh
Three Candidates for Congressional
Honors-There VIII Be
Others


has begun in earnest. Candidates are
looming up all over the state and every
one is chock full of patriotism and
knows exactly how to save the country.
Those who are in Office have saved IL
several times and will do it again if the
people will let them. Five thousand dot
lars is a wonderful fertilizer to patriot
ism. And besides having saved the
country 2 man wants to be yindicatef.
He wants the people to rise up and say:
'.Well done, thou good and faithful
servant Then again there is the line
of promotion that must be observed. IL
the army a lieutenant aspires to be a
captain and captain to be a colonel
and colonel to be a brigadier. Just 80
the young lawyer must go to the legls-
lature few times and get acquainted
with the boys and by and by the boys
will elect him to the bench and that
brings him in contact with the people OF
his circuit and in course of time he
climbs into congress and then maybe
into the governors chair or the United
States senate. The professional cand1-
date wants to be climbing the golden
stairs all the time. and he could do it il
there wasn't some things in the way.
There are some selfish people in this
world who don't want a man to have but
little nor have that little long. BY the
time a man has fairly settled down lii
congress and learned how 20 save the
country and has fortified his patriotism
with $4,000 or $50, 900 he htLfs a voice
away down in his district say rotate,
rotate, rotate!" And by and by he hears
another and another and so he gets leave
of absence and comes home to mend his
fences.
But there is no telling where we are at
down here in the Seventh, for politics is
in an awful tangle. We have got two
democratic silver candidates in the
field right now and one independent,
who, like DR.. FELTON,, defies the field, and
there will soon be goldbug backed by
the administration and before long the
fusion candidate Of the populists and
republicans will give Comanche whoop
and let loose the dogs of war and "cry
lldhONh anu thu tOlto VI oliitts VI
course, the oldtime roek-ribbed demo-
Gratis will stick to their party if they can
find it, but there is lot Of restless souls
who say they can't be worsted and in
tend to vote for whom they dogon please.
They are diseordant, discovered, belli-
gerent, and, like King David's little
army, include .all who are in distress or
in debt or are discontinued" Ny good
friend, Newt Tumlin, said a long time
ago that the only way to get even with
the republicans was to line en- and
hear some old-time democrats say they
are going to do it if our platform don.
suit them. But if the fusion of popu-
lists and republicans does take place
then the republican platform won't suit
our disaffected democrats, for it will he
a straddle both on silver and the tariff
There are good many protection demo-
Gratis around here and more goldbugs,
but it is rare to find a democrat who
fayors both. Among the Office seekers
the spoils will cover everything, for as
one told me recently, these party plat
forms are only intended to get in on.
Passengers must not stand on the plat
form while the train is in motion. The
way it looks now platform cannot be
made that will harmonic the people
of any party. The cohesive power Of
public plumber may harmonic the lead
ers and the Office seekers, but the people
will not follow like they have done.
They are better educated politically
than they have ever been and will not
go it blindly. This is an age of surprises
and nobody can foretell who will be the
next president nor representative from
the Seventh district. We have not for.
gotten that DR. FELTON,, an independent,
carried this district three times nor
that the populists now elect their repre-
sentative TO the Legislature from this
county, nor that this county went re-
publican when Garfield was elected, and
there is more political dissatisfaction
in these parts now than ever before.
The people have good cause for their
discomfort. Take man who four years
ago bought good little farm for $4, 00o
and paid $4,000 down and gave his notes
at one, two and three years for the rest
of the purchase money, and still owes it
with interest, and he can't sell the farm
for more than s., 900 now. That man is
holding somebody to blame for his des
perate condition. He is like the Irish
nan who said he did not know what
party he belonged to, but, begorra, he
was agin the government. Take an
other man who owns mine of manga
nese, or who works in the mine or hauls
The ore to town and has made a fair liv-
ing in some connection with the min
eral business, and suddenly without
warning the tariff reform committee
takes off the duty on manganese and it
comes in free from Cuba and Brazil
and its price drops away down, and al.
this was done to please Carnegie and
the Chicago steel works. Well, OF
course, that man is agin the govern
nent, and there are scores of them right
here in Barlow county, and they are
all for protection. In this sublunary
world almost every man prays the Lord
for a blessing on 'mc and my wife, my
son John and his wife-us four and no
more" I've long been hunting for that
man who, when he was robbed of his
coat, gave the robber his cloak too. He
is as scarce as the wandering Jew.
Everybody wants protection of some
sort-especially if it comes out of the
public crib. An honest man is not the
uoblest work of God, but don't blame
Mr.. Pope for saying so. An honest dis
turber Of pttblic nancy is worthy of a