The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-07


never known before, and ask us TO elect
him again. They say they have made mon
amount into the treasury, they have COM
PEELED the telephone company to divide rev.
enue with the city so that every one gets a
benefit. In indianapolis there are $50 900
people-the money amounts to just cents
each on the tax duplicate.
What else have they done? They say
they have conducted the administration
without increasing taxation. There is tax
alton and taxation. i does not matter
what rate we pay, but the amount we have
to pay. 1t is $4,000 year more now than
three or four years ago. Property is APP
praised higher than it was. When every
thing else is going down a Democratic or
Republican administration should re-
duce''
ON THE PARK TIE~UP.
Mr. Harris spoke Of the wonderful park
system which they have started" IF
were going to buy a farm said he, Il
would not borrow the money until l had a
title to the farm They said we borrow the
money and then see what happens"
Mr. Harris told how the Journal pub
lished the fact one day that there was
question as to the constitutionality of the
park act on account of the term of office
being made five years instead of four or
less, as the Constitution requires. He said
tilat ne knew something of lawsuits and
showed how ridiculous the action of the
administration was in bringing suit itself
against Itself, having all the papers filed,
the trial heard and record in the Supreme
Court before shutdown. Il am giving away
no professional secret said he, when
say that NO people cannot agree TO a
lawsuit go into court and get judgment
that VIII be binding. He spoke of the fact
that the question of the constitutionaiity
or the park act was presented to the man
who had drafted it. IF / could go before
man every time that wrote the law"
sad he. Il would insure for a very small
premium what the decision would be- Be
cause an injunction suit mad been brought
TO tie up money that was drawing interest
lhey call this a business administration and
ask for votes. Mr.. Harris had declared
that II Mr. Harding had been mayer he
would have said: The Circuit Court has
declared this law valid, and L will go on as
far as possible"
Would you expect a man that wanted to
invest $500 600 to buy it all in one day?
Il would be proud to see money spent
Tor parks. don't want to see it wasted in
digging dirt out of creek. don't want
TO see money spent in digging dirt out of
Fall creek"
You mean Pogue's rum" called some
body in the audience
Yes, Pogues run, of course But I sup
pose they are not doing much harm l am
tod by those who have seen them that they
an hour"
Mr. Harris said he had read in the News
last night an editorial which said that the
sewer scandal ''smells fishy.' That must
mean that 1t stinks," said Mr. Harris, and
II 1t Stinks it must have come from stinky
pool Now, when you talk about fishing
l.
lar with That is my trade, and / know
that a stinky fish was never caught out
OF pure water. If the fish smelled bad it
must have come from a bad foul-smelling
pond, and you may rest assured that where
one such fish is caught out of a pond every
fish in the whole place smells bad
Mr. Harris said he was fishing when the
Democrats held their convention, and he
picked up paper containing the platform.
From force of habit, acquired in examining
the signatures to important documents, he
q net moi lCrV1 HrC DT11 OYIy
that the party pledged the candidates to
the principles and declarations in the plat
form. A principle, he knew, was funda-
mental truth, and this anybody would be
pledged to, but why the declarations? Then
he looked further for the declaration and
found that it was on the financial policy of
16 to l. He thought it ludicrous situation.
Taggart would have to take oath to make
anybody believe he was in sympathy with
the declaration. Il am not a betting
man." said Mr.. Harris. "Rhody Shel does
that Rhody Shiel will make bet, and win it,
that no man in this city will take an oath
that Taggart is gold Democrat or that he
is a silver Democrat Mr.. Harris said that If
he were gold Democrat and considered
that in the coming election he certainly
would vote for Harding, and If he were a
silver Democrat he would be afraid to vote
for Taggart.
MR.. OVERSTREET TALKS.
The Hon. Jesse Overstreet was introduced
by Chairman Woollen as the man who had
challenged the opposition with figures
which remained unanswered, though pro-
posed at the beginning of the campaign.
Mr.. Overstreet said he was glad to greet
so many of Mr.. Harding's neighbors. He
thought that if the meeting indicated the
feeling of the neighbors toward Mr. Hard
ing they must regard him as good neigh
Dor; to be good neighbor he must be a
good citizen. He said some fun had been
poked at Mr.. Harding in the beginning of
the campaign because he proposed making
this a speaking campaign, and the Demo-
cratic organ had declared that all the
speaking would have to be done by the
other side. But the interest had become so
great that the Democratic candidates had
been compelled to come out into the open,
and few attempts at speechmaking had
been made on the subject of parks, but
they had been driven until, within the last
forty-eight hours, they sought SecluSion in
the White river sewer.
Mr.. Overstreet went on to discuss some
of the figures relating to the Taggart mall
administration which he had used on a for
mer occasion. He said he could not under
stand why the administration had appro-
priated $4,000 to clean out Pogue's run at
such late time, for if the run needed
cleaning a month before the election it
needed it twelve months before. He said
the News had criticised him for dealing in
totals in his figures rather than with items.
why, if / were to come down to items
would not have time between now and the
election to tell of the Taggart extrava-
gance," he declared.
THE Democrats are making a big to do
about the public improvements they have
made, he said. "They claim that out of
the moneys taken from the taxpayers they
have expended $1,000 for needed public i'm
provements, against All expenditure of only
$4S 900 for the last Republican year. That
may be all true, and / will not question
the need of the improvements which the
money will go to pay for, but of that $119,-
900 they borrowed $4,000"
Mr.. Overstreet thought that If the people
were anxious to learn how far the Demo-
Gratis would carry their mismanagement
make the experiment, but he thought it
would be an expensive one. He said the
people were forewarned, and would deserve
little sympathy if they allowed the crime
against which they were warned to be per-
petrated. Such a thing would mean the APP
prevail of Taggart's extravaganza; it would
mean the approval of paying men to dig
out the bottom of Pogues run for cam
paign purposes, the approval of borrowing
money to lie at interest for months and
maybe years before it could be used; the
approval of a course which enriched the
men at the head of the administration at
the expense of the city. Such a course
would be nice for Taggart and his cohorts
but disastrous to the taxpayers.
HEALING ON THE SEWER SCANDAL.
Joseph B. Healing followed Mr.. Over
street. He emphasized some things which
he had said before during the campaign
and added some more of his convincing
argument. He said in the appointment Of
the eight garbage inspectors at $75 a month
each Taggart had compelled the taxpayers
TO contribute 5000 month to the Democratic
campaign fund, for the contract with the
garbage contractor required that the gar