Iron County register., 1900-05-24
Republican Promises.

Z
to do. Those of them who find solace
in statistics haYe. already discovered
that falling off of 8 per cent. in the
Democratic vote of 1898 will result ir
the election of the Republican State
ticket. And yet if these men know
anything at all about State politics
they must know that the Democrats oi
Missouri will poll heavier vote this
year than they ever did before.
1t has been said good many TINES
that the Republican party of Missouri
should hire an attorney. Since 1860
it has not conducted an intelligent
campaign in the State. True it was
in power during the latter part of the
war and while so many thousands OF
citizens were disfranchised, but this
was the result of the war, and not
good party management. Undoubted-
ly it would be better for the Republi-
can party of Missouri to-day if it had
never been in power, for the record Of
corruption and bankrupt public fnan-
ces it left behind it has not yet been
forgotten.
At best these Republicans cannot
promise the people of the State any
better government than the Democrats
have been giving them since they OBJ
tanned control. It has long been a
rule with intelligent voters to not
change a good government for one
that cannot promise any better results.
The counties in Missouri to-day where
the credit of the local government is at
the lowest ebb, where warrants are
shaved two-thirds of the year, and
where progress has been retarded the
most, are Republican and have been SO
since the close of the civil war.
St. Louis is the worst governed part
of the State and it is Republican. AL
though the amount of taxes collected
is greatly in excess of former years un-
der Democratic administrations, the
debt of the city is kept up to the full
limit, more than $19, 900, 900 public in
terests have been sacrificed, the city in
stitutions are disgrace to civilization
and the revenue fund is in deplorable
condition according to the statements
of Republican city officials. The city
is being governed now very much as
the State was when the Republicans
were in power. They neglected public
mproYements, increased taxation and
public debts and squandered the last
cent of the States revenues. That
taxation has not been increased in St.
Louis is due entirely to the State con-
stitution adopted by the Democrats
which put a limit upon public debts
without the consent of the voters. And
it may be added that it is no fault OF
the Republican city administration of
st. Louis that enormous additional
debts have not been imposed on the
taxpayers of the city, for did not May
or Ziegenhein and his cohorts exert
their every energy to have Charter
Amendments adopted which would
have enabled them to have doubled the
city's debt?
In truth the Republican party of
Missouri stands for nothing. 1t has
done nothing in the past to win the
confidence of the public. 1t has con-
Quoted Its State campaigns on the
theory that by baying on the heels of
an honest State administration, some
thing would turn up to give it an ad-
vantage. lis leaders, such as they are,
never take into consideration the fact
that nothing succeeds like success. In
none of their fulsome promises do they
offer to give the people OF the State a
better government than they have been
adopted in 1875, while every person
who is at all familiar with Republican
hdOHS IU4l well tAab uOSd1uR
is to be expected from it save public
extravaganza and such legislation as
tends to make Princes out of a few and
paupers out of the masses.
If the people of Missouri really de.
sire change in their State govern
ment they had best wait for another
opportunity. Within a year from next
January the State bonded debt will be
entirely extingaisbed. 1t is the last
relic of Republican State rule now in
existence. Then, after this debt has
been extinguished and taxes reduced
lower than they are in any other State
in the Union, if the people feel that
they would like to pay off some more
debts and endure higher taxation, they
can elect republican State admins
tration and Legislature with the assur-
ance that they will get both.-Missou-
ri Democrat.
If troubled with rheumatism. give
Chamberain's Pain-Balm a trial. 1t
will not cost you cent if it does no
good. One application will relieve
the pain. 1t also cures spains and