The weekly examiner., 1901-07-27
N.P.S. R.C. C.ATDETROIT
THE SECOND MEETING OF ALL KINDS
 OF PERFORMERS.

Ella OPmsby Tells Her Impressions of the Men and Women at the Con- They Advocated. Especial Correspondence.1
 The second national political and so- 1 cia1 reform conference at Detroit was | larger than the first at Buffalo. It was an attempt of reformers to make them l selves better understood to each other and to the world. It lasted from June ! 2S to July 4.
 In no city could the conference have been better understood than in the home of the late Governor Pingree un- | less indeed a city could be found where some newspapers would be less frtyO- I lous at the expense of the conference. The mayor welcomed the conference, expressing his belief in it's general pur- poses. Between 20 and 30 churches ap- l piled for conference speakers for their pulpits on Sunday, and on the Fourth | of July imperialism and monopoly were very appropriately treated on the parks of the city.
 The Sunday theme, ''How Can We Bring More of Heaven to Earth | Through Shorter Hours and Better | Wages, Through Kindergartens, Parks, Fairgrounds and Every Public Com fort?" was interesting to the public be- 1 cause of the object lessons which were obtained by "Michigan's greatest man." A little newsboy politely passed to
 me the first tin cup of cold water at a picturesque fountain. "Pingree got us | this," he said. That was on the dark 1 day when Pingree's body was being l received by thousands at city hall. It is said that Pingree's plan on which he was working when he died for reforest- ing the state will be put in operation by l the state forester. If so, it will extend | to other states and do untold good. The
 cent car fare on Tom Johnson's road l is an illustrated. illuminated textbook on political economy which the sleepi- | est intellect likes.
 Stories of Pfngree are told gratefully | everywhere. He was the first man to borrow vacant land for the unemployed l to cultivate, the city furnishing seed and fertilizers. The unemployed were not patronized on "Pingree's potato patch" A woman described to me Pin gree's speech in Morgan Woods church, where he told to thousands of people 1 how he had been induced to go to New York to meet a leather dealer, who proved to be New York millionaire, c. F. Huntington, who was interested in Detroit gas. He was offered $75,OOO, then $1O0,OOO, to stop fighting for city ownership of gas. Pingree refused that 1 and the offered railroad passes and re- turned in indignation. A city lighting plant was established, but the legisla- l ture has forbidden the city lights to be used in private houses In a newspaper which confused the issues so that Pin gree had to put out bulletin boards of his own we read now, "When we re- l member how defeat and discourage ment had no power to dismay his spirit or dampen his ardor in the peoples cause, how in the face of personal sor- row his energies were still alive and alert to meet every menace to popular rights, we are inspired anew to follow where he led.'' Some one will say it is inconsistent to notice the doings of one who "held his nose," as he said, while he tolerated monopolists in national politics for the sake of an opportunity to fight the same in his own state.
 There are some large light places in our civilization. Do we need to cultivate insanity by always gazing on the black ness of darkness? But to return to the conference. Tom Johnson responded to the mayors welcome. His eyes filled with tears when he referred to the
 dead governor. AS mayor of Cleveland
 and in the state campaign he is trying to cure the habit of taxing people any,
 where from 3 per cent up to no per
 cent, sometimes the size of the taxes
 varying in inverse proportion to wealth.
 The mayor referred to his having left
 the pursuit of wealth to attend to pub-
 lie affairs. Pl1hlic2af fairs certainly need
 the organizing ability of men whose
 talent is in that direction. A strong,
 sympathetic, happy face is Tom John
 sons, which, with his democratic man.
 ners and great business ability, ought
 to give him a good opportunity to indu-
 ence men and measures.
 MT. Eltweed Pomeroy of Newark, N.
 J., who has used all his leisure for ten
 years pushing the initiative and refer
 endum, was the general manager of the
 conference. He was happy in the fact
 that the impracticable Swiss novelty of
 ten years ago is adopted now in Utah
 and South Dakota and piecemeal in
 other localities. A determined set of
 men are leagued together to apply the
 initiative and referendum antfdote to
 ripper" legislatures. You would never
 believe that a legislature corrupted by
 the poison of monopoly would take the
 antidote. But sometimes it happens
 that they have to, as they had to take
 the Australian ballot, after awhile. A
 Detroit physician who spoke for the
 league had stereotyped into his quiet
 face: You will have to take this dose!