Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-11-29

committee published what was one
| of the most elaborate and exhaustive
reports ever made to the United
States senate. 1t was in five large
volumes, containing altogether over
/ 5000 pages. The report comprised a
tfull discussion of the labor and cap
1tal question then, just as it is now,
attracting so much attention, with
/ many facts bearing on the subject
i The present committee would do well
to examine this report, with it's facts
and figures, before proceeding to col
late their own. 1t can obtain both in
formation and useful suggestions for
its own work.
but this voluminous report gave
singular credit or faid high com
pliment to citizen of Davenport
4. {. Fulton. Aug. l, 1883, IN the
midst of the strike excitement, the
old Gazette, paper probably UNI
known to any member of The com
mittee, opened n parliament in its
columns, where every citizen who had
anything to write on the strikes, or
labor and capital questions, in con-
nection, should be free to express his
opinions, and the communications in
| response were numerous. and some
of them peppery. At that time Mr..
Fulton was confined to bed from the
effects of an old wound, and his ply
stefan was canvassing the necessity
| of amputating n limb, and even So
licitous about saving his patients life.
! Mr.. Fulton, however, was so interest
ed in the parliament discussions that
he determined to take a hand in il.
In his diversified and really remark
able life he. had worked for $40 Il
month and cut wood at 80 cents Il
| cord. and. to use his own expression,
had made money out of it, so he
| probably thought he could write from
his own experience with some intelli-
gence ON the labor and capital ques-
ton, although short on the capital
end. At all events, lying on his back,
he wrote two letters for the Gazette
covering this question. Here comes
! in the singular fact that, in all the
| huge volumes of the senate commit
tee report, these two letters were the
only ones extracted from newspapers
and given in full from among the
thousands of letters and articles that
were published by the press on the
capital and labor question. They can
be found in volume >, pages 399-10oh.
1t is strange and complimentary to
Mr.. Fulton that his letters should
thus have been selected from all 9TH
ers, written by a very sick man, and
published in a little Iowa paper, com
Paratively obscure from its influence,
and. located in small city so far
away from the nations capital. Yet,
they are plain, practical articles,
written from mans own experience
in part. and with no rhetorical flour
ish, but the gist the boiied-down sub
stance of what more fluent writer
might have occupied columns in say
ing with less effect. They were. per-
haps, precisely what the committee
wanted as materially assisting their
work in solving the capital and labor
problem.
''In giving these facts relating to
Mr. Fulton's receiving distinguished
honor in this way, we only give sig
nificance at this late day to what has
been published before, yet is well to
be known as a tribute to citizen of
Davenport who yet lives with u.s.
The Democrat of Nov. -, 1898. pub
fishes the follows:
''Mr. Fulton recalls one experience
Of the winter of ~ that still makes
him SILVER and want a heavier coat
whenever he thinks of it. He can
bring on a chill in midsummer by
reviving it's memories.
Ion this memorial occasion he
was driving across the unmarked
prairies of interior Iowa in a cutter,
drawn by team of horses. He was
out in the neighborhood of indie
pendence, and had gone there to look
up practicable water powers, with
the idea of building mill somewhere
in that neighborhood for the manu-
facture of the wheat that was then
so plentifully grown by the few farm
ers who had opened farms in that
region. He was on his way home,
on Sunday, Feb. &c, following an UNI
marked course towards his next stop
ping point, for there were no roads
ont thcic then. A snow storm came
on The term blizzard had not then
been given to such phenomena by
the Dakota sufferers, but this was
blizzard of undoubted authority and
genuineness. The snow came whirl-l
ing down as it can do in such a storm,
hurried along by Arctic blasts that
were enough to pierce the thickest
overcoat and overcome the stoutest
heart. In a little while the horizon
line was lost. Earth could not be
told fsom sky. Direction was undis-
tinguishable. The instinct of the
horses was as much baffied as the
skill of their driver. They were lost
on the prairie
Mr.. Fulton says he was clad then
about as he is now in his comings
and goings in this fine fall weather,
which is to say that while he was
clothed for comfort at this time of
the year he was in fine trim for an