davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Freed from the Slough of Despond.

Occurring separa tely. the increase in
loans and the decrease in failures would
be encoura ging. but coming coincidental-
ly. they do now. they tell q story at
which the country should felicitate itself.
The expansion in the one shows that bust
ness is the increase. while the con-
traction in the other proves that business
is carried under better conditions than
prevailed recently. This is a state of
things which justifies financial confidence
and cheerfulness- The country is not vet
entirely out of its slough of business de-
spond. but it has advanced so far in that
direction that its complete extrication cam
not be long delayed.-St- Louis Globe
Democrat.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
The Campaign of Calamity.

To read the daily wailings of the organs
of free silver and free trade will con-
vince any fair-minded person that those
noisy journals have started in to fight the
calamity campaign of 1896 all over again
They are prea ching the Old pernicious dog
mas of discomfort. disorder and disaster
with all the reckless rhetoric of the dem
agogue and the anarchist. Processing
friendship for the cause of la bor they are
wickedly striving to arouse the working
man against his employer; pretending to.
favor the restoration of prosperity, they
are deliberately trying to stifie the grow
ing spirit of confidence in business en-
terprise; and, while ostentatiously mourn
ing over the depression of industry, their
whole influence is being exerted' to make
it perma nent and hopeless.
Such are the real purposes of the new
campaign of calamity In furtherance
of them its organs publish daily columns
of dispatches to show that trade and in
dustry are steadily going from bad to
worse, and that the condition of labor
is becoming more and more desperate
To these prophets of evil the report that
a factory has closed its doors. that a fur
mace has banked its fires. or that mill
has curtailed its working force is a mes
sage of joy story of business failure
or abandoned enterprise is a delight;
tales of idleness and want are hailed
with glad acclaim. and every line that
tells OF paralysis In trade. loss in CAPT.
tai and earnings or despair among those
who toll is eagerly welcomed and osten-
tatiousiy displayed as a fuitillment of
gloomy prophecies.
Back of this eager quest for evil It'd
ings is stealthful purpose to provoke
anita gonisms between labor and capital
and thus undermine the foundation of
the rising structure of business pros
perity. Good times mean death to the
agitation for free trade and free silver
The calamity organs know IT, and this
knowledge is the inspiration of their
desperate attempt to postpone the day
of returning confidence and prosperous
business
The intelligent masses of American
wage-earners fully understand the situ-
alton Their condition is far from what
it ought to be in employment and pay.
but on the other hand il is much less
distressing than the mouthy oracles of
chaos would have it appear The conduct
of the great body of workingmen under
the harsh conditions which now prevail
has been admirable in its patience hope
fulness and seif-restraint. The attempt
of dema gogues and chaEatans to incite
disorder and strife in the ranks of labor
will receive its sharpest rebuke from the
workingmen themselves
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10

act signed two days before his retirement,
was the 'sMorriH" tariff act, thoroughly
protective measure, whose passage was
made possible at that time because of the
fact that large number of the Southern
Democratic members of the Thirty-sixth
Congress had withdrawn. leaving Con-
gress in the control of the Republican
party, which thus placed tariff act upon
the statute books two days before the in
auguraton of Lincoln.
President Lincoln, who was inaugural
ed March 4, 1861, signed his first general
tariff act ON Aug. of that year. and this
was followed by the passage in July, 1862,
and June 3, 1864, of other tariff measures,
TO which his signature was attached.
Grant, who became President March 4.
1859, signed on July IA, 1870, his first
general act relating to revenues. by which
the internal revenue taxes were reduced,
this being followed by another reduction
on June g, 1872.
President Hayes, who was inaugurated
March 4, 1877, signed no general tariff
legislation, the House being Democratic
in the first Congress under his administra-
ton and both branches Democratic in
the latter half of his term
The Garheld-Arthur administra ton,
which began March 4, 1881. did not wit
ness the enactment of any general tariff
legislation until March 3, 1888, two full
years after the Inauguration
:. Cleveland's first term was not marked
by the completion of any general tariff
legislation, the Mills bill, which passed
the democratic House in 1888, failing in
the Senate, which was so closely divided
politically that it was found impossible
to pass through it a measure satisfactory
to the administration. the substitute
winch was adopted by the Senate being
rejected by the House. where the Demo
cratic divisions on the tariff question, now
SO strongly marked, was then beginning
to make itself apparent.
Benjamin Harrison's term began March
4, 1889, and the first general tariff act
passed under his administra ton was sign
ed Oct. 1. 1890, eighteen months after his
Inaugural ton.
Clevelands second term. which began
March 4, 1893, with his own party in con-
troll in both branches of Congress, did not
witness the completion of it's tariff meas
ure until Aug. %, 1894, nearly eighteen
months after he took the oath of Office.
A study of the above history of the tar
if from the beginning of the Government
down to the present time will indicate to
those who have been inclined to criticise
what they assume to be the slow action of
Congress that instead of its action being
unusually tardy. it has been unusually
prompt. and especially SO in view of the
fact that the party in control of the ad-
1nnistration controls only one branch of
Congress, a condition under which it has
seldom been possible to pass tariff meas
ure, even in a much greater length of time
than has been or is likely to be occupied
in the present instance.
GEORGE MELVILLE.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
DIDN'T KNOW II WAS LOADED.

The Sugar Trust Screamers Find Their
Attacks Reacting ON Themselves.
There has been some especially sharp
talk in the Senate and some of the people
who are seeking to make political capital
by throwing dust with reference to the
pending tariff bill have suddenly dis
covered that there are two sides to almost
any story. Two or three Democratic
leaders seem to have reached the conclu-
sion that they could once more fool the
people, and that their most convenient
way to do it would be to charge that the
sugar schedules of the tariff bill as agreed
upon by the Republican caucus were ia
vorable to the sugar trust. So they pro-
ceeded upon the stop thief" plan to make
all sorts of malicious charges of this kind,
taking advantage of the fact that Repub-
hcans IN the Senate have been refusing to
discuss any features of the bill not abso-
iuteay necessary to be explained, simply
Tor the purpose of gaining time and get
ting the bill through as promptly as pos
SIDE. The gentlemen have found, how
ever, that there is limit to the endur-
ance of the public who are being imposed
upon with this sort of falsehooi and the
newspapers of the country have suddenly
revived the fact that the very men who
are now shouting sugar trust with refer
ence to the pending tariff bill are the
ones under whose guidance the 'tper-
hdy and dishonor" bill of 1894 was franz
ed and its sugar schedule so shaped as to
create the greatest scandal that has been
Known in political history in many years.
Attention is called to the fact that the
three men, Senators Vest, Jones and
Mills, whose mouthings about an increase
IN prices of sugar trust stock as result
OF the pending tariff bill have been the
features of the week. are the very men
who framed the sugar schedules of the
Wilson bill under which sugar trust
stocks advanced &c per cent. while the
advance during the entire consideration
of the present bill is only per cent. and
this mere incident of the general adj
vance which has been strongly marked
meantime in all stocks. That the three
men whose manipulations in the schedules
of the Wilson bill caused an advance of
66 per cent in the price of sugar stocks
should now be screaming like madmen
because sugar stocks have increased 6 per
cent during the consideration of the pres
ent bill would be unaccountable but for
the fact that they are apparently doing it
to not only make political capital against
the Republicans but at the same time
conceal as far possible their own rec
ord in this very line.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Disappointment for Popocrats.

Disappointment follows disappoint-
ment among the Popocratic leaders. Not
only are they disappointed in the fact
that the Republicans have presented a
solid front on the tariff question and fail
ed to quarrel among themselves upon cur
rency, or any other question, but they are
even more distressed to find their own par
ty falling to pieces on the question of pro-
lection as well as silver, since their vote
against the protective features of the tar
if bill is growing weaker daily, while
their arguments in behalf of free silver
are being disproven by every weeks de-
yelopments since the election.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10

Among those who have spoken in this
vein is Russell Sage, a veteran hnancier,
who is cautious in statement and not
prone to rush into print for the-expiolta-
ton of his views on current matters. L
think" he said. "that we are going to
have steady progress toward far better
times. I do not look for any boom, but
a gradual improvement from now on Inc
railroads are getting more trafhc, and
they are working more harmoniousty. Inc
settlement of the tariff question will be
great relief to the business community
After the rates of duty have been agreed
upon and bill passed we can settle down
with the assurance that we shall not De
again disturbed by tariff measures for at
least twenty-four years The properties
in which I am interested are doing Well
Yes, I think there is every reason to be-
lieye that we have long ago passed the
turning point"
This sentiment is widespread. and
though there may be some interruptions
politicians who would block tariff legisla-
ton until after the fall election in the
hope that thereby the opponents of the
Republican party would be able to gain
some political capital and advantage. 1t Is
possible that better counsels will prevail
and the bill will be passed sooner than
was expected.-Albany Journal.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Some Free silver outcasts.

Some individuals, who bolted the Re
publican party last year and voted for
Bryan, held a meeting in this city ana
organized what they call 1.-The SILVER Re
publican Party of the United States:
For some reason they do not care to JOIN
the Populists or the free silver Demo-
Gratis. They seem to think they will nave
a better chance of picking up offices II
they have distinct organization
These boilers cannot be prevented from
forming new party, but in doing so they
ought to state clearly to the public what
its principles are and what reason there
is for its existence. That has not been
done. Ex-Congressman Towne declares
that
"This is a movement that has taken
deep root and will grow until the restora-
ton of silver to an equality with gold mas
been accomplished"
What is this equality that Towne ana
his associates are going to devote tne
rest of their lives to securing? Does ne
intend to say that the time will come
again when sixteen ounces of silver viii
exchange everywhere for one of gold
Towne should look the facts in the
face. The price of silver. which was 15o
cents an ounce in 1870, is 60 cents now
In spite of the low price the silver miners
of the United States put 56,OOO,ooO
ounces on the market last year and MADE
money at the business.
The demand for silver by silver stand
ard countries is decreasing because the
number of those countries is diminishing
Japan, the most progressive of Asiatlc
nations, with a population of Al, OOoooo,
has adopted the worlds gold standard
Peru and Bolivia, though silver-producing
countries, are preparing to do so.
Does Towne really believe that his lit
tie movement will be able to raise the
purchasing power of 81 grains of silver
until it becomes equal once more to the
purchasing power of twenty-three grains
of gold? 1t is difficult to believe that any
intelligent man who knows what the
present silver production of the world is.
and how much more cheaply it is pro-
duced than of old really magines any
thing of the kind.-Chica go Tribune.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
History May Repeat.

Twenty years ago, in 1877, the country
was enshrouded in the gloom of a bust
ness depression, consequent upon the pan
ic of 1873 There were plenty of prophets
who predicted that the times would never
get any better, and the mass of the peo-
pie were discouraged and about ready to
concede that the prophets of evil were
right
But in the fall of 1877 signs of improve
ment began to appear. The general the
DRY was that a more hopeful feeling was
induced by the approach of the date for
the resumption act to go into effect
There was doubt something in this
theory; nevertheless plenty of Estates
men" were found who asserted that re-
sumption would be a failure, and that
business would be injured rather than
helped by the attempt to resume
But in spite of all the talk. the times
continued to improve steadily. They
were much better in 1878. and in 1879 the
rising tide assumed the proportions of
something like boom. Some of our Min
neapolis people who carried real estate
through the period of depression, and
nearly broke their backs doing so. will
remember that by 1880 it was salable at
advanced and advancing figures. In the
next few years the prices of realty here
and elsewhere in the country reached the
highest prices ever known before or
since.
The history of this country appears to
show that panics and recoveries run in
about twenty-year periods. There was
the panic of 1873, followed by five years
of depression; the beginning of recovery
in 1877; the full tide of recovery in 1879.
followed by period of prosperity lasting
until 1892. Then came the panic of 1898,
followed by the period of depression
which We are now experiencing To
some there are as yet no signs of improve
ment discernible. while to others there is
already faint glimmer of dawn. Many
are looking forward to the passage of the
tariff bill as the starting point of a new
period of prosperity. But whether from
that or some other cause causes, it is
quite probable that history will repeat it
self, and that in the fall of the present
year. or the beginning of 1898, shall
witness notable improvement, followed
by perhaps ten or a dozen years of great
prosperity.
The cycle is nearly completed We
have experienced nearly five years of de-
preston since the election of Cleveland in
1892. 1t is about time for n change in
the natural order of MISUNDERSTANDING.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Political Pith.

President Cleveland pulled down the
American flag in Hawaii; President Nc
kinley pulled it up again
One-third of the Southern vote in the
present Congress has been cast for pro-
lection.
Every days consideration of the Sena tie
schedules of the tariff bill brings them
more in harmony with those of the House
bill. and it is probable that the bill. when
it goes into conference. will differ but lit
tie from that which passed the House.
The shades of the late Samuel J. Ran
dali are now being invoked by the Democ-
racy of that section which fought him
most bitterly during the closing period of
his useful career.
With one member of the Democratic
team pulling in the direction of free trade.
another towards protection. still a third
in favor of free silver. and a fourth head
ed resolutely toward the gold standard,
the Jeffersonia NJ acksonian band wagon
is not making much progress.
The recent "silver Republican" confer
ence is said to have had as its real object
a plan to unload Mr.. Bryan as the leader
of the silver cause. Mr.. Bryan has too
many ''isms'' and is to cratic to suit the
men who are putting up the money in be-
half of the silver cause.
No subject is being more carefully con-
sidered by President Mckinley now than
che Cuban question. 1t has been the
from the beginning and there is good rea-
son to believe that his plans are we'll de-
veloped and will be recognized as wide
and satisfactory when they become
known
The trade reviews and the daily papers
of the country unite in the assertion that
business is frightening in all parts of the
United States. More men are employed,
the volume of new orders is increasing,
and the amount of work done is steadily
gaining. With the final action on the tar
iff bill, which may be expected during the
present month. an increased improvement
is confidently expected
People who are surprised that the Re
publicans in the Senate are not answering
in detail the attacks made by the Demo-
Gratis upon the pending tariff bill need not
suppose that it is because of lack of argu-
ment or facts upon which to base them.
Their silence is simply because of their
unwillingness to consume a moment of
time more than is absolutely necessary
in getting the bill before the Senate.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Tariff Prospects Are Helping.

The progress made by the Senate with
the tariff bill has given some impetus
to general business and has created
more hopeful feeling in all departments
of trade. The matter is not entirely SEN
timental or at all partisan. The doubt
and instability which have plainly sur
rounded every commercial avenue and
which always exist while tariff uncer-
tainty lasts will in all probability soon
be removed. For the first time since
1887 the business of the country will be
in a free and untrammeled position and
the favorable effect on credit and individ-
ual action canot be too highly estimated.
The manufacturer and the distributor
will be able to see clearly into the future
and the money lender and the money bor-
rover will be able to act understandingly.
The prospect has already caused some
activity in the iron and steel trades. and
has given definite assurance in other di-
rections. The great majority of the
American people hope for and have con-
idence in substantial results. The gen.
eral situation is ripe for the change
Money is abundant at low rates Price
is on a level which practically guaran-
tees judicious opera tons.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Politicians Working Country People

FOIIt1clanS w Ork1ng country FeOpIe
The dangerous characters who were last
fall hired to stir up dissatisfaction and
SOW seeds of anarchism and riot in the
cities ere now being sent through the
country districts for the same purpose.
They travel in gaudily painted wagons,
bearing false or misleading quota tons
from distinguished men, which are dis
torted into apparent support of the free
coinage of silver, which is now worth less
than one-half what it was when these
utterances are alleged to have been made
To conceal their real purposes these men
free silver publication, with which is fur
nished copy of a book by Coin Har-
vey, whose writings are now recognized
as not only untruthfuI and misleading,
but purposely and mahciously and an
imposition upon those before whom they
are placed. This attempt to distribute the
seeds of distrust. anarchism and riot In
the agricultural communities for the pure
ly selfish purpose of making a market
for the property of silver mine owners
and pla cling a few politicians in office de-
serves the contempt of those upon whom
it is being imposed. 1t is of the same
class as that by which the tin peddler
wagons spread falsehood through the
country in the Congressional campaign of
1890, but is vastly more dangerous to
the country from the class of employed,
the doctrines they disseminate and the
desperate schemes of those who support
them in this performance. The silver
mine-owners and their political allies have
resorted to this new device to deceive the
people, who are, however, rapidly discov-
ering the impoSitions they practice. t.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10

The proposition for a bounty on staple
agricultural exports is not new subject
1t is departure from the protective pol
icy. 1t has been considered for some
years by the farmers. especially by the
members of the National Grange, where
it has been fully discussed but not get
Endorsed by a majority of that body. Some
of the propositions seem to be favorable
but it is doubtful whether the giving of
bounty on agricultural products would be
beneficial to the farmer. There might be
some temporary benefits, but if it stlmu-
lated production the effect would be dis
astrous to the farmer What troubles the
farmer row and makes low prices for his
productions is the fact that he is now
producing more than the market will read
lily absorb of certain commodities So
long as he continues to do this he must
be content with low prices. If this boun-
ty should stimulate the production and
increase the surplus offered in the mar
kets of the world. it would have the eff
feet of creasing the price received by
the farmer rather than increasing it. As
I said. it is a departure from the policy
of those who believe in protection. The
protective policy advocates the encour-
agement of production in those lines
where we are now not producing enough
to supply our own people, but are depend
ent to an extent on foreign countries for
our supply This proposition does not
have such a purpose 1t proposes simply
on products exported, and it is doubtful
whether it would at the most have more
than a temporary beneficial effect, with
a tendency to bad reactionary results
From interview with Assistant Secretary
of Agriculture Brigham.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10

If farm prices do not stop advancing
and silver prices do not stop their down
ward course, there will be nothing left to
sustain the chief theory of the free COIN
age orators of last fall that prices of
farm products kept pace with those of sill
yer. Leading farm products have in
creas ed in price from so to 100 per cent.
since this beautiful theory was exploited
on the stump last fall, while the price of
silver has meantime steadily decreased.
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10

of the clouds even in advance Of the
proper 1egisla ton" which the Secretary
looks for The passage of the pending
tariff bill, whatever may be its conditions,
will give the country a truce on that head;
the promise of the grain fields is most
cheering; and though the currency ques-
ton awaits solution, it is far less COM
plicated with the menace of free silver
than it was six months ago--Philadeiphia
Record Oem.).
Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1897-07-10
Moving with Caution.

Every side of the Cuban question is be.
ing considered by President Mckinley
now and course of action is likely to be
indicated in the near future The import
ance and gravity of the issues involved
and possible consequences of a mistake
are so great that the President and his
advisers are moving with the utmost
caution, as any judicious citizen would
do if such grave responsibilities were
placed upon his individual shoulders.