Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-03-10

This Monstrous Measure of Blackmail
and Oppression How the Republicans
win Lose the House-Attorney General
Griggs . Tool of Plutocrats-More Cele-
brated In Gastronomics Than In the
Law.
Especial Washington letter.
The present congress is making a rec
ord which will damn the Republican
party for all time. The further it goes
the worse it gets. It's another case Of
"After us the deluger' and it will be a
deluge and no mistake. There are not a
dozen districts in the United States in
which the Republican candidate for
congress will not be busy Explaining
from the start, and the candidate who
makes en- explaining" campaign is al
ways heavily handicapped and general
ly is lost. History repeats itself. Mo
Kinley's bill lost them the elections in
1890, and his administration will lose
them the elections Of 1898. After next
November divers disconsolate Republic
an statesmen will add to their vooabu.
larry a new verb, "to McKinleyize,"
synonym for "hoodoo."
"Black Saturday"
In 1890 the Republicans passed the
Mckinley bill, which ruined hundreds
Of thousands of honest and industrious
people. It should never be forgotten
that 1t was the Mckinley bill which
converted a surplus into a deficiency.
Feb. 10, 1898, which will be remem-
bered a "Black Saturday, " they passed
through the house a bankruptcy bill,
variously known as "the Torrey bill,'
'the Henderson bill" and "the Torrey-
Henderson BILL" which, if it finally
becomes a law, will turn over to the
tender mercies of United States mar
shals thousands Of unfortunates who
have committed no crime save and ex-
cept becoming incapable Of paying their
debts under Mckinley conditions, and
the federal courts will grind ~uneeasing-
~. This is returning with a vengeance
to imprisonment for debt, a performance
30 cruel and unreasonable that it was
long since abandoned in this country.
No other American bankruptcy law
was half as oppressive and outrageous
as this enactment of the McHannaites.
Judge Bells Startling Statement.
My readers must not take this state
ment as a reckless n made merely for
political effect. 1t is sober truth. In.
deed, as the queen of Sheba said to King
Solomon when she first beheld the
glories Of the temple, "The half hath
not been told" I have not in the fore
going remarks stated the moiety of the
iniquities of this monstrous and infa.
NOUS bill.
Judge John C. Bell of Colorado is
universally acknowledged to be one Of
the ablest and most conservative men,
bers Of the house. His congressional &C.
quaintannes, who have had opportunity
to study him, implicitly believe his
statements. They know that he does not
exaggerate. Our eastern friends appear
to believe that all Populists are wild
eyed and irresponsible demagogues with
out respectable antecedants and with an
inevitable tendency toward anarchy.
Nothing could be wider of the truth.
On the average they rank up well with
Democrats and largely surpass Repub-
licans in all the elements of good citi-
zenship. Judge Bell is a hereditary ju-
rist and statesman, being a cousin to old
John Bell of Tennessee, candidate for
the presidency in 1860 and one of the
greatest Wings that ever lived. He
served with distinction on the bench in
Colorado. He thoroughly studied this
bankruptcy bill, and after mature DELHI
Grafton he made this startling statement
on the floor of the house: 1.-The gentle
man from Illinois {Mr. Conolly) has
said that in the act of 1900 we had 20
causes for bankruptcy. While my in
genious friend finds in the law of 1900
20 causes Of bankruptcy a gentleman
who has gone over the four preliminary
pages of this bill and found the different
senses in which each of these terms
may be used tells me that there are Sd
causes for bankruptcy in the bill under
consideration. This gentleman was zone
other than n Of the senators who has
taken great interest in this bill. He fig
ured out that there were IS reasons, aft
er a man got into bankruptcy, why you
should keep him from escaping or OBJ
tanning q discharge"
After showing that the proposed law
Is much severer than the law of 1900 or
that of 1857 Judge Bell said: "Take
section Q. and what does it provide? 1t
provides that il any debtor permits an
execution for $500 to be levied on his
property and remain there for a period
Of 30 days he may be thrown into bank
ruptcy. Now, you know enough about
the laws delays and the powerlessness
Of litigants to realize that a shrewd
lawyer or u disreputable sheriff may an
noy a man for 30 days and prevent him
from releasing his property if he were
disposed to do it.
That statement is a deadener, but
here is a still stronger one by Judge
Bell:
San invincible objection to this bill
is that every retailer will have a mas
ter. His wholesaler will hold this law
over him, charge him whatever he sees
fit, and he cannot change while he owes
anything or he will meet his fate. Co.
casionaliy You will find a man vicious