The Topeka state journal., 1898-10-20
MAKES SOME GOOD POINTS.
For His Party, Does Attorney General
Boyle Last Night.

Hamilton hall last night to hear Attor-
ney General Boyle speak. It was a
mixed audience, composed of all politi-
cal faiths, and it heard an address free
from abuse of political opponents and
dealing directly with the issues of the
campaign.
The hall was cold-extremely. so. The
steam pipes were a little warm early
in the evening. but there was not heat
enough In them to make an impression
on the atmosphere five feet away, and a
line of men stood up in front of them
and kept what little heat there was
away from the rest of the audience
and even the pipes themselves got cold
before the meeting was half out. Men
sat there and shivered, and turned up
their Overcoat collars, and showed their
hands down deep in their pockets, but
hardly any one left until Mr.. Boyle had
concluded, and that was after ten
o'clock.
The asylum band played a few pieces
on the street and afterwards in the
hall. The MOdocs were there and sang
their ever popular America Forever -
and were then recalled by the audience
and sang Comrades in Arms"
George W. Clark presided and in in
Producing Mr.. Boyle he said:
1.-TWO years ago there residedin south
eastern Kansas a young lawyer, whose
acquaintance outside of his own county
was confined almost entirely to the legal
profession. The triune forces nominal ted
him for attorney general but they did
so with misgivings. With the balance
of the ticket he was elected. All eyes
were then turned toward that young
lawyer. His success is evidenced by the
fact that today he is the idol of his
party. More than that he possesses,
what can not be said of any other state
officer, past or present. the confidence
and esteem of his political opponents.
He is one of the men whom the cor
porate interests would like to defeat"
Mr.. Boyle was greeted with prolonged
and enthusiastic hand clapping by the
audience. When it had subsided he
said:
Il assure you that after the f1attering
introduction given me by the chairman
L am somewhat EN- barraSSed about ap-
preaching the questions which you are
here to hear discussed. Less than two
years the present state officers came to
live among you. Since then we have
been neighbors. Another time has rolled
around when the people have to ex
press themselves on certain public QueS-
tions. I believe that no one in the state
is better able to express themselves in
telligently than the people of Topeka
among whom we have lived and who
have watched the work of this admin
istration.
I'm a political discussion we too fire.
Quently allow our prejudiceS and our
passions to control US. What is the
personnel of these tickets tC the men
who have to labor for their daily bread?
whether Leedy or Stanley is governor,
so far as the personality of the two
men is concerned? 1t is not the men
themselves so much as it is the policy
that is behind them"
Mr.. Boyle then launched into a dis
cussiOn of the functions of the state,
and the differences between the political
parties. Il represent he said, what
is known as the reform movement. 1t
may be a misnomer, but that is the
way it is designated"
He then began a discussion of the
laws enacted by the last legislature, be-
ginning with the text book law. THE
school book question" he said, has
been before the people for years. There
is no politics in it. Every man who had
a family to educate had to purchase
books. I say that anything that is
common necessity should not be under
the control of one man or a set of men.
We were obliged to have these books
and we had to buy them of a set of men
who controlled them. Any one knows
that you could go to any book store in
Topeka and purchase a set of Shake
speare, or Byron, or any of the classics
for 25 or so per cent less than you could
purchase school books, and they would
be bound the same and be printed on
the same quality of paper. One dollar
a year too much from each member of
society flowed into the Golfers of the
men who controlled the books to edu-
cate your children. don't claim that
the rank and file of the Republican
that the party's representatives and
senators in the legislature were corrupt,
but the influence of the green room OF
the Republican party was closer to the
school book trust than it was to the IN
terests of the people. You remedied this
by taking charge of this great common
business yourself, and saved the people
of the state $500, 900 a year.
Mr. Boyle then discussed the scrip
and screen laws, aying thatwhen labor
ers went on a strike they were con-
stantly warned to obey the laws but
when an attempt was made to regulate
corporations the corporations violated
the laws until they were compelled to
obey them. Some people think the
Populist party wants to tear down cor
poratiOnS; that when we see a corpora
ton we hit it. Such is not the case.
1t is our policy to allow corporations to
pursue their business with profit but
to disarm them Of their weapons OF op-
preston
Mr.. Boyle referred to the stock yards
and insurance fights, and then began
on the claim made by the Republicans
that the war is the main issue. He
said that it was not Republican war
but an American war, and all parties
were alike patriotic. He referred to
the Hutchinson platform and said: 'If
you can find anything in that platform
that advocates a policy or sets forth a
principle. I'll vote the entire Republican
ticket You may not like everything
in the Populist and Democratic plat
forms-I don't like everything in them
myself-but you will have to acknowl-
edge that those are the conventions
that said and did things. The Republi-
cans refer to their glorious record in
the past. Does it not occur to you that
they are rather weak when they are
compelled to compare 80 years of their
record with less than two years of Pop
uliSt rule? They would not discuss
state issues until they got hold of the
Wetmore letter. Then how eagerly they
rushed to the front waving that letter
and crying, g Wen discuss state issues
with you now -
Mr. Boyle did not deny the charges