The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1900-10-12

I i"i " w h'ahC VIC SetIIeIS , Ou pu y
lie lands who received some ben
eft from the Free Homes Bill
believe that he is entitled to al
the credit for the passage of tha
! meritorious act. The settlers or
the Sisseton reservation in Gran
and Roberts county have beer
receiving personal letters from
the Senator urging that they owe
him their votes in consideration
for his work for the Free Homes
Bill. 70 Justify his demand for
votes he quotes the Compression
al Record The HERALD AID.
VANCE has always tried to be fair
with Senator Pettigrew, though
differing widely with him polite
ally and at one time in the early
history of the Free Homes bill
thought he was doing some effec-
tive work. Without going into
an extended history of the vari
Gus vicissitudes of the Home
stead Bill, we would suggest that
the settlers on the reservation
lands remember that the first
Free Homestead Bill that applied
to South Dakota lands was intro
duced by Maj. Pickler, then a re-
publican congressman from this
state. Senator Pettigrew at that
time was a repu blican and in let
ters that he wrote the settlers he
stated that he had little hopes for
the passage of the Free Home
stead Bill, because the Democrat
ic administration was against it,
the Democratic administration
he referred to was composed of
the same men who are leading
that party now, among them,
Adlai f.. Stevenson who is again
a candidate for vice president
The election of 1896 turned the
administration over 10 the Re
publican party, but South Dako-
ia elected two Populist congress-
men, and Senator Pettgrew had
betrayed the party that had elect
ed him and gone over to the Dem
ocrats. The Silver wave
throughout the west had left
Gam BILE, Pickler and Flyn of Ok
lahoma, who were the hardest
workers for the free homes out
of Congress- The Populists who
them were without in.
huence and wholly without ex-
perience as legislators. Petit
grew 5 influence was gone and
the fact that he favored a bill
hurt it rather than helped it. AS
soon as Congress convened, Pet
tigrew, Kelly and Knowles began
personal attacks on al
most every prominent man in
either House Of Congress and
when the Free Homes bill came
up it was killed by those who
~eally favored the blll but repu-
dated its sponsors. Another in
cident that injured the prospects
Of all the legislation that Pettl-
grew was in any way connected
with was the exposure of his con
nection with a bill that had it
passed would have given 500, 900
to a few attorneys, a large part of
It going to Pettigrew's brother
lnlaw. The eastern members
who were unfamiliar with condi-
tions in the west became suspic-
Gus of Pettigrew and his bills.
During the campaign of 1898 in
his letters to settlers and in. the
campaign Pettigrew practically
gave up all hopes of passing the
Free Homes Bill and threw the
responsibility on the Republi-
cans. A campaign circular issu-
ed by him in 1898, after giving a
long history of his work for the
bill Pettigrew says: 1T remains
for Republican House to redeem
the pledge of its party. Will the
do it? The people
residing upon reservations in the
west should insist upon the pas
sage of this bill by the Houseand
if it is not done, they should in
the future vote with those parties
that have and will keep their
promises. y In these sentences
Pettigrew gives out the inference
that the Republicans will not
pass the Free Homes Bill, so vote
for the Democrats and Populists.
At that time he was asking the
settlers to vote for the Demo
Gratis on the record of what the
Republicans had left undone,
now he is asking for votes for
himself on the record of what tue
Republicans have done.
Congressman Gamble and
Burke resurected the free homes
bill at the opening Of the present
congress and by their tact and
ability tLey soon had the conf