Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-10-22
State Capital Letter.

State Capital Letter.
One of the very amusing features of
the campaign, now opening in earnest,
is the faltering denials by the republi-
can speakers and newspapers. or rather,
organs, that the tariff is "shelter for
trusts" The Iowa republican platform
hints at 1t broadly, and because his WAS
the potent influence that incorporated
1t Into the party declaration of princi-
pies, Governor Cumminge is made the
subject of much hostile criticism by the
Burlington Hawkeye, the Cedar Rapids
Republican, the Ottumwa Courier and
the Des Moines Daily capital. The
spirit of factionalism has grown so
sharp and bold that it is with much
difficulty the Republican, the Hawkeye
and Capital are restrained from dsub.
ing on war paint and leaving the reser-
vation. Hostility to the governor and
those who train with his faction of the
party is inherited from the time
when the Des Moines Leader, now
merged into the Register and Leader,
and much less vigorous and versatile
than under the editorial plotting of
Allan Dawson, inaugurated campaign
against the assessment of the railroads
of the state. Notwithstanding the
Leader was nominally democratic, es-
pecially in Its dislike of Governor Shaw,
Its opposition to the tariff and its utter
reputation of the republican foreign
policy in the Philippine Islands, it was
q sturdy supporter of Governor Cum
mings and the element which trained
with HIM in seeking to break the
shackles imposed upon the party by j.
w. Blythe, John Baldwin, Congress
man Hull and others of the congress
sional delegation which bound it hand
and foot to the wheels of railroad dom
tnition. The Capital, Register and
the other Republican stalwart papers
mentioned had always trained with the
corporation crowd, and when they wit
messed the bold attacks made in the
editorial columns of the Leader to un.
horse Blythe and his crowd, they were
filled with grave alarm. Dawson and
Jud Welliver, the latter one of the most
pungent writer's and persistent news
paper men in the state, unearthed and
exposed nearly every scheme of the
corporationists during the last session
OF the legislature, were made the objects
OF combined attacks by the Capital,
Register, Cedar Rapids Republican,
Sioux City Journal, Burlington Hawk
eye, Creston Gazette and Ottumwa
Courier. The very fact that A. B.
Cummings had the active and very
earnest support of the Leader in both
his senatorial campaign against the late
John II. Gear and his contest for the
nomination of governor, was sufficient
to invite the hostility of the corpora
lions and their newspaper allies. For
this reason though Dawson has been
deposed from the editorial manage
ment Of the Register and Leader, the
TACT that he still dominates the news
columns remains q source OF irritation
To the stalWart crowd and no chance is
permitted to pass to make an open or |
secret thrust at Governor Cummings
whenever the opportunity offers.
i The fact is that the disappearance OF
duy effective opposition to the republi-
can party OF Iowa for four or i've years
past has operated to engender spirit |
VI factl0nalism until at this time the
spirit OF unrest threatens to disrupt the
party. This feeling of unrest Is the
outgrOWth OF the alarming expansion
Of the trusts. Discussing this subject
recently, u prominent republican OF Des
Moines, said: "lf it could be 80 srrsng-
ed the trusts would only skin you dem.
Gratis it would not cause 80 much coll
cern, but In the matter of removing
the epideamus they take the hides off |
far more republicans than democrats
In fact republicans and democrats
seem to look alike to the trust mag
mates. have been voting the ticket
since 1862, but unless something is done
very SOON to curb these rapaclous com
mercial buccaneers l may have to align
myself with the democratic party for
season or two" The singular thing
about this gentleman is that he has |
been for number of years connected !
with local plant operated by one of
the greatest trusts in the country.
The action OF Secretary Shaw in sus.
pending the duty of 67 cents per ton
imposed by the tariff upon hard coal, |
after having denied only q few days |
previous, in his speech at Chicago, the
existance of such tariff, has produced
q feeling of uneasiness all over the
state. off" said we'll known republic
Of ha
duty, "the tariff does not afford shelter
ed into the law and what is the motive |
of Mr.. Shaw in suspending it.? This
venerable republican seemed to suspect
the presence of q concealed Senegam-
bian IN the tariff woodplie. Not only
the secretary, bu. the president himself, |
In an address delivered two weeks ago
at Cincinnati, had declared there was
absolutely no duty on either hard coal
or petroleum. Since then 1t has been
discovered there is duty upon each
The purpose for citing these two pro-
ducts as being on the free list was to
prove the oft repeated declaration that
the tariff did not shelter trusts. This
all goes to show the tariff ls @ fearfully
and wonderfully constructed that even
the president and his cabinet officers
do not know what 1t contains.
Recently the Register Leader con-
tanned an editorial quoting approvingly
criticisms by Congressman Lacy, OF the
Sixth District, of the speech made by
Governor Boies. in 1890, before the
Chamber of Commerce of New York,
in which the governor showed the farm
ers of Iowa were producing corn at
loss. 1t is not generally known that
Governor Boies made the declaration
upon the written statements of 1900
Iowa farmers, more than 1000 of whom
were republicans. These statements,
unless since destroyed, are still in the
archives of the office of the state labor
commissioner. They bear the names of
the men who wrote them, and as all Of
them were practical farmers 1t was as
sumed they were more competent to
judge Of the cost of raising corn than
d