Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-10-03
HOW ONE KANSAS POP FEELS ABOUT
THE KANSAS CONTEST.
SIGHS FOR JOHN BREIDENTHAL
CALLS RIDDLES CONVICT SCHEME 4
STUPID BLUNDER.
Employment of Convfcts in Conduct
ing the PopuIist Literary Bureau
Causing Much Embarrassment
How State Committee
Is Supported.

TOPEKA, Oct. 2.-(Special) 1.-The jig is
up. The Populst campaign managers
should close up headquarters and save any
further expense. We can prepare to va
cate. The slight chance we had TO win this
fall has vanished. Compelling convicts to
get out our literature has completely fin
ished the job
Thus spoke a Populst official at the
state house to-day. Don't use my name
if you write anything about it said he,
because l am not in good standing with
the committee, and it would hamper me
more than ever in my fight for re-elec-
ton, but l feel just that way about the
matter. 1t is the most stupid blunder that
could have been made. Oh. that John
Breidenthal were again chairman of the
state committee"
Nothing since Leedy's criticism of Pres
ident Mckinley as being 4 weak man has
arisen to embarrass the Populists SO much
as the expose of the Populist campaign
managers forcing the convicts at the peni-
tentiary to get out all the PopultSt cam
pagn literature. No one about the state
house seems to understand why the Pop
state committee should adopt such course
| unless the managers want TO get the work
! done for almost nothing and then divide
the fund they have collected from the
| Joints, insurance companies, state employees
| and corporations among themselves. All
| the Leading Populsts are indignant ana
there is talk of asking the committee man
| ayers to resign. This, they declare, Is the
| only way out.
In 1896 the state platform contained
| plank against placing convict iabor III
| competition with free labor. The Pops won
| that election. They controlled the eXecu-
| tive and legislative branches of the ST
| government. One of the first things Gov
| ernor Leedy did was to send Il special mess
| age to the legislature asking it to pass
law which would enable the penitentlary
| directors to dispose of prison .mlned Coai
| in the open market. The Pop legislature
| passed the law. Then the Pop poaro OIL
directors of the penitentiary put a num-
| ber of agents out on the road establishing
agencies in all the big towns for the SAFE
| of prison coal. This raised big row with
the miners. In order to placate them, wheh
| the present campaign opened the auihih-
istration withdrew its prison coal agents.
The Populist convention held here IN
June also put another plank in its platform
| demanding that the products of prison Ia
Dor be kept out of competition with those
of free labor. Thousands OF copies OIL the
Pop platform with this plank IN II are
being sent to the coal mining district III
Southeastern Kansas-and the work Vi
sorting out this stuff and mailing it is be-
ing done by convicts.
The Ponulist state committee had hun
| dreds of applications from deserving peo-
| ple free laborers, who wanted positions
| in the clerical department OF headquarters
| during the campaign, but they were al
turned down and the work was turned
over to the convicts to do. There Is more
work being done by the conv1cts IN thf
penitentiary in carrying on the Populis
campaign than is being done at Populls'
headquarters in this city.
| All of the working force at Pop mead
| quarters is composed of attaches of ths
state administration, on the pay roll o.
! the state in some capacity, except one
The exception is Joe Ely:
| Taylor Riddle, the chairman, has ia
. lob as a member of the Kansas live stocl
| sanitary commission.
w P. Upton, the secretary, is chief clerl
. of the penitentiary at salary OF sl,50o {
year
cratic end of the committee, is a directo
, of the penitentiary board of directors. H
, was appointed few days ago by the gov
, ernor.
James Morphy, press censor, is associate
editor of the Advocate, the official stat
paper which gets good slice out of tn
| treasury.
Humbert Riddle, son of Taylor Riddle
, and Chief Justice Dosters stenographer, a
: salary of SIS a month, is one of tn
: stenographers at headquarters.
w. p. Tipton's son. who has job a
the penitentiary. is another Stenographe
! for the committee.
1 There are still two other stenographer
who are on the state pay roll-Miss Juli
: ris, and Mrs. Wadleigh stenographer TO
| State Labor Commissioner Johnson.
The state house guides and janitors d
| all the messenger work for the committeee