The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-07-11
VOICE FROM THE CELL
lE. J. Kelley Writes an Open Letter
to His Honor.

e. J. Kelley Writes an Open Letter
to His Honor.
CALLS HIM A PLUToCRAT.
Prisoner Like Bryan Lays His Fall to the
Money Power.-Letter Tells the Story
of an Ill Spent Life.
CRAWFORD COUNTY JAIL, !
JULY. 1899. !
To His Honor the Mayor of Denison:
1t would, take it, DO interesting to |
know ii your constituents, viz: the tax |
your drastic methods |
of dealing with simple DRINKS, who in
jure or harm nobody but themselves, in
consigning, them to Jail for month.
They, the taxpayers, one would sup
pose. should be the most interested, for
they have to foot the bills. And cui
bono? To satisfy the whim aud caprice
of a mayor and marshal of a 50th rate
municipality? Or is there something
beneath the surface, which If discov-
the nOn-politican from philosophical
ever, rather the reverse, for it takes
money out of the aforesaid taxpayers
pockets, and deprives the poor devils,
immured in this modern bastile- a
veritable cage in fact-from earning
their living in the open wholesome air.
What effect do you suppose a month g |
close confinement, with just enough of
food to sustain life, will have on. per.
sons, who are always engaged in open
air exerciseY Will they. do you suppose,
be in condition to do hard days work
when they emerge into the sunlight
again? If not, then what will be the re-.
suit? Be driven, nOlens, v0lens, to .Ho-
boism?" Many poor devil is on the
public highway to-day, a veritable pa
riah, who can lay his misfortunes at the
door Of you and your ilk.
There are or have been within a day
OF two sixteen inmates in the Jail. and
there are beds, or cots, such as they
are, for just eight, the balance having
to lie on the damp, hard stone floor!
And this in the great commemorative of
Iowa. one of whose citizens is a cabinet
minister, and another is slated for the
second highest Office in the power of
the people to bestow. l feel perfectly
safe in saying that if the real intelli-
gent thinking people of the community
gave this subject their serious attention
they would put thier foot down and
simply and effectually stamp it out; for
tits only the politicians that are re-
sponsible for such state of affairs, and
they, as matter of course, have some
ultimate object or purpose to conserve.
and care nothing for the sufferings of
those who are incarcerated at your hon
or's whim for the desperate crime of
getting intoxicated at their own ex-
!, pense- spending their own hard earned
money, and doing no injury whatever
to anybody or anything but themselves
and all this petty tyranny is imposed on
the hopeless tOpers to enable some of
their fellow politicians to make money
There is a certain class in every city
and town in the United States, from
the great metropolis at the mouth of
D the Hudson to insignificant Denison.
q who imagine that nature really des
tined them to hold political positions OF
some kind, and live at the expense OF
g the people and who, if deprived of State
i or municipal Pabulum, would expire
;. from inanition; and it is for the benefit
of this class that poor, friendless drunk
: ards are rammed into an iron cage like
e SO many wild animals, then to ruminatt
4 and ponder on the beauty of our glor
ious, free institutions, and exclaimed
with Cicero 20 Temporal o Mores!'
Perhaps you individually are ambi
tions to shine as stern martinez in of
flee, and become such terror to topper!
4 in general that in due time you maN
= succeed in Graduating the drinking
. habit altogether; or then again yol
t may have desire to pose as Father
t Mathew or John b. Cough, and sue
+ coed, where they failed, in abolishinf
9 the manufacture of Intoxicating drunk'
Il at least in-Iowa. II so, you are to b,
o highly commended for undertaking
J. such tremendous task. In stat,
where the rum power has not only
routed the Prohibitionists, horse, foo
y and artillery, and overridden the Stat,
d Constitution, requires man of extra
8 lordlnary courage and nerve to attemp
!. it's overthrow.
About ten or twelve days ago two ad
ditional DRINKS entered our hostelr!
> with thirty day requisition for board
II and the day after friend called upol
. them and informed them that he hat
. been to see you in their behalf, ant
n to turn out all DRINKS for the glorious
# Fourth. We all believed the story, a
i the individual II don't know his name
seemed to have, in political parlance,
g pull, as he was a guest at The hous
e where your esteemed marshal is tn
J. Boniface. Independence Day came
= however, and here we are, you failin,
- to fulfill the promise you made. that il
is if you did make such a promise.
10 Permit me here to quote a little para
Il graph from the Omaha World Heral,
- of the 5th inst. under the head OF Soutl
9 Omaha news. '.Police Judge Babcocl
y showed the proper spirit yesterda!
10 morning by liberatlng all the inmates
p OF the city Jail in order that they nigh
properly celebrate the Fourth" IL,
l. certainly did show the proper spirit
). and others might follow his example
d but there are certain natures incapabl,
q of performing high-minded, generous
. act. However, on more mature refiec
!. tive, we saw how unreasonable we wer.
b to anticipate release on the mornin,
b of the Fourth. when I'VE realized tina
= we were reserved as a special attrac
TO II; e.. =