Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1900-10-19

N"S - ouS0W0 0AAO oAR0It0UC0O
politician he IL we'll aware Of the fat
tering effect that apparent personal
solicitation has on the average voter,
and is taking full advantage of that
knowledge, and is sending under his
senatorial frank, thousands Of what
purport to be confidential personal let
ters to individual voters. These letters
are really printed circulars, printed in
imitation of stype written letter, and
are worthy Of notice, not only on &C.
count Of the deception as to their indi.
vidual character, but as to the decep-
tive nature of their contents. In the
class of these letters which are sent to
the "old soldiers" the senator exhibits
the common demagogue's estimate of
the war veterans, which has long been so
disgusting and abhorrent to every self
respecting old soldier, considering him
only as a p%ensioner who is ever and al
ways demanding his "rights" at the
hands of an unwilling government.
This professional politician has evil
IDENTIFY been accustomed to commune
with the professional "old soldier as
he proceeds to gush the usual twaddle
OF how much more he has done to Sc
cure their rights than anybody else
ever did. The fact is there has hardly
been a pension claim allowed during
the past ten years, whether he knew of
its existence or not, that he has not
fastened to inform the claimant that
it had been secured by his efforts alone.
The pensioners have q fool idea that
the general pension law which was
made before Mr.. Pettigrew was q men,
Der Of the senate, has something to do
with it but they must be mistaken.
The senator denies that he said q
year ago that he is ashamed Of his
country, but all the same it has been
abundantly proved that he did say just
those words, and moreover he has not
taken occasion to repudiate Joe Moore's
reasonable ~utterances when he pray ed
the god of battles would aid Aguinaldo
in the defeat of our army; as Joe hopes
to sit in the lower house while Petit
grew fills u place in the senate, the sem
ator's failure to rebuke the sentiment
is equivalent to an endorsement of it.
In fact the sentiments of the two men
are the same but the senator has more
sense than Joe and expresses himself
better.
These letters deplore the existence
of slavery by treaty in the Philippines,
and the fact that the public records
show that there is no such treaty in
existence makes no difference; the SEN
stor has fallen into the pop leaders
habit of undertaking the intelligence
of his readers. He weeps over the
broken Declaration of Independence
in the governing the littls brown men
without their consent, but is not moved
by the deliberate violation of the con.
~stitution in the DISTINGUISHING of thous-
ands of our citizens at home Who have
been voters for a generation. While
he still holds the constitution as the
most sacred document ever framed, he
is willing to allow its violation by state
action. JEFF Davis was the same brand
of a patriot as this man who seeks re-.
election to the senate at our hands. It
is a safe statement to make that Sena.
tor Pettigrew never was a republican.
The record of prosperity and good gov
eminent made by the party since he
has been in public life, was, and is be-
ing made under the action, first of the
Mckinley, and now of the Dingley tar
if laws and he did not vote for either
of those laws. Four years ago he said
in a speech at Custer that "one who
worked three months for the election
of Bryan in that campaign did more
for his country than one who served
three years in the civil war;" and he
then expressed his honest opinion of a
soldier. At Cleveland, o., shortly after
McKinley's election, he said in an in
terview that the Mckinley voters were
mostly fools. and now he has the gall
to confidently ask these same fools to
help him to hang onto his Office. The
fact is the senator is not the power he
once was. The failure of the sensa.
tional scheme of the free silver sens.
tors, which was inaugurated four years
ago, and which was to shatter the old
parties and land them in high place
and power, "broke him all up" He ID
unpopular among the senator's, and II
is even intimsted that his game Of
poker is not nearly go strong as it was;
he cannot control his emotions, and he
fears he has lost control of the voters,
But while the republioan national and