Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-04

had built a house and was engaged in
painting it-striping it with yellow
and silver-and man would come
along and say There is man in the
celler with a chunk of dynamite, who
intends to blow UP the house." and the
man would go on stripping the house.
Which would you do? Would you get
a gun and go after the man in the Gel
lar, or go on stripping the house?" Mark
Box sang out Il guess | would" and
everybody laughed. Here followed a
colloquy between Crawford Davis
and Mr. Box, in the course of which
Mr.. Davis informed Mr.. Box that 1.-THE
Democratic party are the people," to
which Mr.. Box calculated, ooh, my
God" Steck said that he could see
that he had one man on the anxious
bench and was willing to take him
without probation. Continuing, Mr..
Steck said:
Now gentlemen, in 1896 at least
a respectable number of voters cast
their ballots for Mr.. Bryan. This will
be conceded, | think, when l say that
a matter of $4,000 votes properly plac-
ed, would have changed the result.
So when this man comes out and de-
clares that the government is in dam
ger, it is time to give the report at
tention. Now sir, what do leading re-
publicans say? Two things. l have
told you one; 16 to l and the other
is prosperity. These are the only
things. oh, yes, there is another my
friends, the prophecies of William Jen-
nings Bryan. To the latter l answer
now that the prophecies of William
Jennings Bryan applied to the finances
of this country and according to my
friend major Lacey We're terrible.
Was the prophecy as bad az, it really
is? Suppose he had propesied war
bloodshed and famine and strikes?
He would have been called a wild
eyed anarchist. If he had prophesied
famine would he have been true
pophet? If he had pophesied war
would he have been a true prophet?
If he had prophesied strikes with men
out of work all over the country by the
thousands and tens of thousands,
would he have been true prophet?
Did he make any mistake in his
prophecies? Yes, he did not prophesy
bad enough.
Now these matters disposed Of,
we come to the star claim, prosperity"
By this time the Judge was warm. The
perspiration was oozing down the
wrinkles in his face and was willing
his collar. The windows could not be
raised at this time, because they were
new and recent rains had swelled the
sash. The Judge remarked that it
was warm, and the crowd told him to
pull off his coat which he did, and con-
tinuing, said
'They say that if we had a steer
upon the platform, it could make bet
ter argument than Bryan. You folks
know about the calves. that last year
sold for $40 a head. 1t may be the
golden calf they are talking about,
don't know
How do they account for the al
legged fact that prosperity rests with
the republican party? They will tell
you that they passed the Dingley tar
iff bill-the robber tariff that robs you
in your home and in your family; that
increases the price of the things you
eat and the clothes you wear. Have
we better times than before the Ding
ley bill was passed? l say not, and
will prove it.
"The total amount of money .(the
Judge said outside of America, he
might have meant something else),
is in round figures two billion
collars. There is loaned by banks, al
so in round numbers, five billion seven
hundred and sixty millions of dollars.
Now is it not rather strange that there
is but two billion dollars to pay five
billion, and yet there is seven billion
deposited in banks? You men know
how it is done. If I have $4,000 I
deposit it in the bank. 1t is too incon-
venient to carry around, and l get a
certificate of deposit and deposit that
in another bank. The books show
$4,000 in the two banks, but there is
only $4,000 really there
you remember few years ago that
the newspapers published the figures
on the amount Of money in the banks
of this country. 1t caught me, will
confess. | thought that the people ac-
tually had gotten scared, but since
then 1 have learned that it was but
the evidence of indebtedness.
The assessed valuation of all prop
erty in the United States, of every
kind is twenty-four billions of dollars,
which would make the actual value
about seventy-two billions of dol
lars (O. The Indebtedness of this
country is forty-four billions of dollars.
1t does not look healthy does it in ma
tional affairs? But come down to your
home. The clerk of this county was
kind enough to furnish me with an
abstract of the mortgages on record
and what do you think it amounts to?
Seven hundred thousand dollars in
these prosperous times in Davis coun-
ty, where not cent of bonded indebt-
edness is owned and where but S101,-
900 is loaned out by banks. Do you
think it is a very prosperous condi-
ton?
They tell you that beef is higher
and that you ought to be proud that
you live under republican admins
tration They charge that because a
republican administration followed
Cleveland that now there are prosper
GUS times. Why Cleveland times
were better. Republicans claim that
they ought to be put in Office because
they enacted the Dingley tariff meas
ure. Now let's see. have here some
figures which will be published in
your paper next week. If you do not
hnJi