The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-09-27
} Windy Pete at Weldon.


A respectable crowd of Office contin-
gents and postmasters from Leon and
surrounding towns gathered in the park
at the Christian church to hear the man
who once said (when the republican
party had more good in it then in one
minute than it has now in all the years
of Mckinley's administrator that "the
republican party had become so corrupt
that the man in the moon had to hold
his nose while passing oyer Washington,
d. g."
Well, Peters forerunner, Mr. Everly,
opened the ball by telling story about
a farmer who had a yoke of oxen he
called Buck and Berry, and that he sat
beside democrat the other day and he
got close to him as democrat never
learned anything only by absorption,
and it did their souls good (if demo.
crat has souD to absorb something,
and asked the democrat if he wanted a
change of the present times to such as
Cleveland times, and the democrat said
mo" He wound up his speech by
telling the "yaller dog" story, but never
said word about the fact that the Nc.
Kinley administration is following in
the footsteps and by.ways marked out
by Cleveland and himself.
Mr. Everly said during the democratic
administration Coxy's army marched to
Washington to plead for better times
but never said word about the one
hundred and thirty thousand anthra-
cite coal miners that are out now Oh a
strike on account of only receiving
starvation prices for their labor, nor did
he say one word about the $4,000 per.
sons at Fall River, Mass, that are
thrown out of employment on account
of cut of 10 per cent. in their wages,
they refusing to submit to the reduc-
ton, nor did he say that the great cor
poration trusts had increased the wages
of their section men from one dollar
and ten cents to one dollar and thirty
five cents per day but required their
section bosses to do the work with four
men instead of five, nor did he tell his
hearers that while wages for section
men had advanced fifteen per cent.
their living cost them an average Of 25
per cent. more now than when they
received one dollar and ten cents per
day. Nor did he mention about the
strike at st. Louis this summer or at
Cleveland, o., last summer on account
of the reduction in wages, but he did
abuse the democrats, and try to mis-.
lead and deceive the young voters and
those who do not read, and if they do
only the discussion of the one side Of
the great issues now before the people.
This sophistry was so thin that every
time any one except the "ofiice contln.
gent" looked at it there was hole
made in it, until it reminded one of the
spots on their historic cattle in Lots
Reign.
Then came Peters turn. He advanc.
ed to the front of the stage and asked
permission to sit down and talk, as his
high living i'll Washington, being ban.
quoted by the corporations and trusts
in whose interests he works had made
him equity, and while it only affected
his legs and not his head he could be Al
rest while he talked. (You know, il
there is anything latter day republi
can enjoys more than another it is more
rest.) Peter said in part, that the
very ground upon which we stood wat
acquired by expansion and then eulo
gized Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and
Jackson for their high conceptions O
right, and their will to do it, and the1
spoiled it all in the closing remarks O
his speech when he made his appeal tt
the young voters, those who were abou
to cast their first vote. He said
"Young men start right, go into party
that does something, don't go into til.
democratic party for it always sits dowr
in the britchen and holds back Will,
the republican party went into the col
lar and pushed forward" A flat con
tradiction at the close of the statements
made at the beginning of his speech.
In his remarks on Imperialism, ir
speaking of w. j. Bryan he said he hae
come to this conclusion that Bryan wa
either an idiot or consumate ass, ant
many were the remarks made by repub
:. llcans after his speech that w. P. Hep
burn had lowered himself in their es
timation very much. First by his dis
: graceful talks about Bryan and secon,
:. by his vulgar talk and swearing befor
the ladies. With very few exceptions
only those people whose party ties ar
higher and more binding upon ther
than their religion, they all condem
v and censure Hepburn for making use {
j such terms about an honest, pure an