The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-03-01

the people and he made US demo.
feel az mean as u dog Tor ever
fallen into the trap. Before
l really thought | was doing Gods
In helping good patriots to save
country. One dark night l told
nay wife a lie about having urgent bust
ness at my office and wouldent be back
until late, very late, and l went out elk
miles in n country to an old millhouse
on Silver creek. Half a dozen officers
along with me and we instituted
q branch lodge up in the garnet Of
the old mill and got covered all over
with cobwebs and flour, and next morn
Ing my wife got up first and looked at
my clothes. She ruminated for o
minute and then remarked: had to
go to mill last night l see. | didn't
know that the flour was out" For
some time | had been o suspect with
her about this Office business at night,
for every time a accommodating meeting
was called little three, cornercd red
papers were seer on the sidewalks
about town, and it was norated around
that the know-nothings were to meet
that night. The next day our wives
compared notes and found out that
town hat night. Can't fool these
women. They don't like secret socie.
ties no how. A good faithful wife
doesent like anything that gets in be.
tween her and her husband. She has
no secrets from him and he ought not
to have any from her. Not long after
we were married l Joined d secret
society, and when she got to looking
over my under garments to see il the
buttons were ali right, she discovered
that the buckets were gone, and |
couldeEt explain it to her satisfaction.
But she found out from some other
woman, and whenever | got d new pair
OF drawers she asked me Ii | diden't
want the buckets cut off.
Well, the know-nothing party died
carly in these parts, for the people
found out that it was u political scheme
to get into office. Just so the politician
| got into the Farmers Alliance and took
charge Of it, and they got up an Ocala
platform and q big suStreasury scheme
whereby great warehouses were to be
built by the government in e%very,con-
gressional district where the farmers
could store the.- cotton n corn and
oats and sorghum and potatoes and
pumpkins, and draw money on thrm
and hold them in the warehouses un-
Til the price went up. One of the
leaders declared in q public speech at
Macon that they were going 10 hold
the cotton until 1t won't to 10 cents, and
he made the people believe it, and they
rolled him into Congress by q tlds,
wave. The Alliance looked upon law
yers as suspects and not tit to hold Of
fee nor fifteen to get fifteen, and so one
lawyer sold his ~iawbooks and burned
Gideon's band and swallowed the Ocal,
platform, subtrcasury and all, and the
contiding people rolled him into Con
gress. But he suffered u relapse il
due time and bought more law books
and now the last condition OF that nal
Is worse than the first. Another law
yer swallowed the platform bones AM
skin and ran for Congress on it and go
awfully beaten and has never beel
elected since to any Office by tho pee
pie, and to my opinion never will be
1t is just as old Abe Lincon said "Yo'
may fool all the people some OF tn
time, and you may fool some of the pee
pie all the time, but you can't fool al
the people all the time"
Now, the common people, the farm
ers and mechanics and t~oilers, are ger
orally unsuspecting and credulous, an
when a smart, shrewd politician tall
sweet and nice to them they are In
clined to believe him, but what lawye
Of any p~retensions or respectable
every believed in the Ocala platf0rr
. or the subtreasury scheme or ''sOmt
; thing better ?" or course, any statel
l men who al fit to hold office kne
l that it was utterly ~impracticable an
would bankrupt the government I
; build warehouses and advance none
l on crops, but 1t was a hobby on whic
to ride into Office and fooling the pc,
pie was OF no consequence. No,
wouldent trust any man who would d
1t or has done 1t.
Another way to fool tho people is
form little secret rings in every count
and divide out the county Offices an
. each ring nan must get his henchme
l be at the courthouse on convention da
and help elect delegates who belong
7 the ring. The cool easy, unsuspec
. Ing people don't know anything abo,
1t and before they know it the who.
county is committed to a nan the pc,
pie diden't want. The men who col
troll are smart and they are POLITICAL
INSCRIPTIONS and all together the
3 make a powerful combine.
l The offices belong to the people an
It is a prostitution Of power to fill the
, for personal advantage. But profe
, sional politicians all do it from tn
1 president down and this is polite,
, corruption. One day in my indign
1 ton | remarked in o crowd 1--WE are
nation of political tricksters," and a
} Office seeker close by whispered, Ca
: no names, Bill: call no Names"