The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-10-28
THE MASK IS OFF
The Rank Hypocrisy of the Republican Party
in South Dakota Laid Bare.--Their
State Platform Dissected.

" . - oSo oSNu ASAS ," WV
n the battlefield without help, the sick
wereIwithout tents, without blankets,
nurses or medical attendance, and the
dead are buried uncofined on Long
Island. The little care they have re-
ceived is mainly due to the women Of
the Red Cross, who have begged the
funds from the charitable public, while
the %plethoric treasury has been depict
cd to pay e%xorbitant prices tor the
yachts of millionaires. =
This war plank Is funny, ia view of
the fact that Mckinley desired to arbi-
trate the destruction Of the Maine and
declared the starving OF the Cubans
was none of our business. He was
practically forced into action by the
p%roddlng and the votes of the silver
forces in congress-.
"We pledge them our efforts to Sc
cure fair and liberal treatment of the
Indians and to work for the enactment
OF q free homestead bill"
This Is a cheap promise. 1t was
promised in the St. Louis platform and
yet in q speech in congress last winter
Grosvenor, the Ohio congressman and
special spokesman for Mckinley, de-
clared that plank was put IN "only to
catch votes" and that it Was never in
teudee to be carried out. The free
homestead bill has already been de-
feated by the republicans In congress.
A pledge Of that kind now is worse
than q farce. In the house OF repre-
sentatives when this bill was upon q
division of the house, every republican
but ten voted against it and every sill
vel man but six voted for it. The bill
had alre ady passed the senate which
had . silver majority. Yet in. face Of
this remarkable record, tbs party has
the nerve to declare in favor of the
free homestead BILL"
I'VE pledge our nominees for con-
gress to use their utmost efforts to So
cure legislation aud the repression Of
corporate abuses. We further pledge
them to earnestly work for the extern
sion Of the interstate commerce act,
giving national commissioners full
power and authority to regulate inter-
state freight and passenger rates."
This plank pledging the nominees in
congress to use their efforts to repress
corporate abuses will make the citi
z n, Of this htate smile, when they re-
aect OIL the position of republican con-
gressmen in voting last June against
Senator Petigrew's bill to reduce the
amount paid railway corporations for
carrying the United States mail S6, 600,
QUO when not one republican voted for
it.
Senator Petigrew offered an amend
ment to the Dingley tariff bill which
would have destroyed all trust, and
the solid vote of the republican sena-
tors was ast against il. He also offer
d an amendment to the war revenue
bill taxing the income of corporations
and trusts for the support of the gov
eminent and the solid vote of republi-
can senators was cast against it. Will
any sensible voter OF this state believe
that r. j. Gambl. and Charles H.
B lrke, the subseryient candidates of
the corporations, will support the
above plank Of their state platform
against the dictates OF 4 republican con
gressional caucus?
The pledge given in the above plank,
that republicans will work to give the
Interstate commerce commission full
power to regulate Interstate freight
an ! passenger rates is another subter-
fuee which is fully refuted by the re
publican record in both branches OF
congress The rationale commission OF
railways during the session of congress
just closed ureW a bill and presented it
to the railway c ommittees in the sen.
ate aud house, nth Of which are con.
trolled by republicans, and neither com.
mittee would permit it to be repo rted
for a ction. hut they were quietly pig
eOnholed in the archives where many
similar bills sleep.
The republicans come before the cit
liens of this state with another plank
in their plat Orm that is q repetition OF
broken pledges made by South Dakota
republi cans for the past six years.
They now say:
"We rejoice in the passage by the
legislature OF the Iowa railroad
The special attention Of voters of
this state is called 70 this plank and
they are asked to go back to 1892 when
the republican party in their state plat
form made the following solemn pledge:
1--WE demand the enactment Of q law
said railroad commission
with power to establish local passen-
ger and freight rates."
Again in 1894 in party platform they
made this pledge;
"We demand Of the legislature that