The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-09-26
WATSON COMING BACK.
John f. Willis Says the Dis
turber VIII Return
And Make Speeches in Kansas
in October.
May Turn the State Over to Nc
Kinley-Mr. Willis Says That
the Leaders Are Able to Fool
a Majority of the People
All the Time

a Majority of the People
All the Time.
John F. Willis has returned to town
and is working to perfect the nominal
ton of the electors named by his com
mittee as the Bryan and Watson elect
ors for this state. In talking of the
matter Mr.. Willis said:
We are getting all the names that
we want to our petitions and will have
plenty of them. We will open head
quarters in this city as soon as we can
secure place that is suitable and con
venient. have been looking around
but think that it will be impossible to
get located till after next week. as every
place that have looked at seems % be
rented for that time"
Did you see Watson when he went
through?"
mo, I did not; I was not here then
and did not see him. I have heard
from him, however, and when I have
some further correspondence with him
I expect to be able to say when he will
be in this state again and open the
campaign
You expect to have him back again?'
'Oh, yes. He will come back here
just as soon as he can get through with
the state campaign in his own state
Georgia They are having a. very hard
fought campaign down there and he is
stumping the state for them. I think
that we viii show a good big gain down
there this time
DO you have any hopes of carrying
that state this time?"
well, we will come nearer than ever
before. It is an awful hard thing to
carry an election against the machine.
| They have a machine there that is
! nearly as bad as some that we have
( F1r \ h +rf ~,TH1I he. h fEr
surprise to Sewan though. if Watson
should carry Georgia at this election,
wouldn't it? We hope to be able to an
nOunce in a few days when Watson
will open the campaign up here. He
will probably start out here in To-
peka.''
Have you been able to make any
estimate as to what vote the Watson
electors will poll in this state?"
No, I have not. There will be a
great many that will vote for them
that won't want to come out and say
so. If the vote that was taken at the
meetings that Watson held while in the
state are any indication as to what the
voters of the party will do, he will get
| nearly all the vote Of the party Wnen
those audiences were asked whether
they preferred to vote for Bryan and
/ Sewall or Bryan and Watson they all
voted for Watson. OF course, you can't
| tell as to how they will really vote.
We'll said W. H Bennington, who
| was present, s'if those that were pres
ent at those meetings and voted do not
vote for Watson they are liars that's
ALL
will the Watson electors in the state
have any effect on the state ticket?"
| mo, I think not. 1 have not been
around enough to form an idea as to
! the general sentiment in the state, but
/ from what I have heard and seen
! should judge that the state ticket Will
! be elected. This is a hard year 10
! guess at results, though, as all party
| lines seem to be broken and you can
hear any and every kind of report
| Some people even go so far as to say
! that Bryan will carry New York and
| what do you think about it?'
1T has been said by somebody that
| if there is anything that God Almighty
| does not know about, it is the result
| of an election in this country, and am
! of the opinion that that is about right
| I have no idea as to the exact situation
| in the states back east, and perhaps the
| people back there have not. There are
| people going to vote for men that have
! no idea what they are voting for al
/ ways think of a story that a man who
! had fought for the cOnfederacy told me
! when was down south once. He said
| When the war first broke out the cry
! down there was that the north was go
| ing to come down there and take all
/ our slaves away from US. That was
! what we all went into the army for and
/ what we talked in camp. One day
! when we were in an engagement
| thought of this particularly, and then
| I looked down the lines at my company
! and realized for the first time that they,
| all together, did not own a single slave.
/ We were fighting to keep the Yank
| from taking our niggers away from us
! This represents the sense that some
| of our voters are exercising today. They
| are crying for q dollar that they can go
| to Europe and spend, and lots of them
! never had enough money to take them
/ out of the state where they have lived,
| not to say anything about Europe. The
| creduilty and ignorance of the voters
/ is only surpassed by dishonesty of par
| ty leaders. These are the two things
/ that our government has to cOnten
| against and it is hard for principe to
/ win Abraham Lincoln said that you
! could fool all the people some of the
time but that you could not fool all
/ Of the people all the time. I think that
4 he ought to have added, that you can
! fool the majority of them all the time.
| That is what is done and that in this
/ country amounts to the same thing as
/ fooling them all, all the time.
| THE corporate interests in this cOun-
/ try are in power and they seem to
| be able to get enough people to believe
/ in their side to keep in power. As some
| one once said: There never was a war
vet that was not a rich mans war, but
/ the poor men did the fighting 1t is so
/ in politics. And you can't tell what
| the leaders will get the voters to do
/