The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-03-19

until dewy eve, shedding crocodile
tears DER the woes of humanity, and
we knew his tOiling wife was at home
hewing the wood and drawing the
water.
We laughed at his pretensions of
reform, and We said, "surely, surely,
in a state as progressive and intelli-
gent as ours, with a church dOtting
every mile and a school house on
every section, there is no room for
such grotesque fraud as the reformer
to gain foothold." We overlooked
the metaphysical truth that men, by
the dint of mere repetition of sonOr-
Gus nonsense, may finally come to ae-
cept it as a serious philosophy.
When the Kansas farmer first be-
gan to work at the reform business
he represented the highest type of
progressive, intelligent citizenship.
He had prOspered against difficulties,
he was proud of his achievements
and of the credit which his great
state enjoyed among the sister states
of the Union. He was a success. and
he was not, at that time, ashamed to
confess that such was the case.
But within six months from the
day when the modern Cassandrs be-
gan to teach him that it were better
for a man to reap the whirlwind than
to sow the grain: within six months
from the day when Doster began to
teach him that interest was robbery;
within six months from that day
when Leedy and Lewelling and Pef-
fer and Simpson, and all the crOaking
birds of political prey began to rOost
with him, have seen him from being
an independent citizen, become
creature who would sit all day upon
pine bench at a political picnic and
cheer because some adventurer was
calling him a ground down serf and
white slave.
If you will pardon me the liberty of
personal "reminiscences, l recall a
great political Saturnalia which l at
tended out in Saline county in 1890.
1t was one of those giant mauifssta-
lions of intellectual inertia and physi-
cal lung power, which began in the
morning with a ragamuffin parade
and closed with feast in the AFTER
noon. The speaker of the occasion
was advestised as Frank Forrest,
1.-The boy orator of the Smoky" He
stood before those people and among
other things heard HIM say, "They
tell us that the Republican party
freed the African slave, but L want to
say TO you farmers of Kansas the Re-
publican party has placed you in a
more degraded condition of slavery
than the African ever suffered under
And then from that audience of men
who helped to make this state what
it was, there went up cheer and a
shout of approval. 1t absolutely
seemed to make them feel happy to
think that they were in a condition of
slavery more degraded than that I'M
der which the African slave suffered.
But they tell us today that the
dropping mien and sOmber plumsge of
the bird of i'll omen have been chang
ed for the tawdry feathers and proud
strut of the peacock; that the refOrmer
is no longer prophet of calamity,
but man in whose heart there dwells
perpetual sunshine and love of state.
He himself is sending up a vigorous
kick because "Grub Street" has chosen
to accept as serious some Ofthe vicious
ISLANDERS which the refOrmer has been
uttering in regard to Kansas in the
last eight years. He invites us all to
join with him i'm an effort "tO save the |
fair name of Kansas" Then there
are other good friends of ours, who |
do not belong to the refOrmers' party,
but who always linger near the band !
wagon, and they are urging us to lay
aside all partisan feeling ana embrace
the reformer as brother, because he |
is at present victorious i'm Kansas.
The victory which was won in last |
November was not a reformers'
victory.
The reform party has never had the |
moral courage to hold its own conven-
ton, adopt its own resolutions and |
come out into the open and fight the
Republican party upon an indepen-
dent advocacy of its own principles. |
1t has always required a complete |
and perfect fusion of all the opposing
forces from the whining, holier-than-
thou, third party Pharisee, down to
the brass eyed relic of the saloon |
edcade 10 accomplish the defeat of /
the party of good government in Kan
sas. With the memory of the first |
land next to the last peoples party