Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1902-02-21
SAME OLD TRICK
AGAIN,

| ''The attempt which was made this
| week to induce the colored voters OF
! themselves under such obi cations to
| one Of the candidates for congress
| that he could turn the situation to ac-
| count and gain an unfair advantage
| met a whitening frost as soon as the
| trick was discovered and the real mo-
tive laid bare. The story of the at
tempt should be known to every voter,
so that a rebuke may be administered
which will let it be known for all time
that no man, even though he be a can
diGate for congress. will soon again
so far insult the intelligence of the
colored people Of this country as to
imagine they can be deceived by a
din1sy trick. EtE :.
EARLY in the week Rev. White,
whose residence is in Washington, u.
c., called upon certain cOlored men and
unfolded a plan by which something
| like 100000 might he secured from the
government for the erection Of a home
for aged and decrepit colored people.
All that was necessary to do was to
sign a petition. which Mr.. White car
red with him, which, when enough
names had been secured, would
cause congress to take action. In the
belief that the movement was for the
good of their race a number attached
their signatures and Rev. White, no
doubt, congratulated himself that he
was to have clear and easy sailingJ
But it was not long until he ap-
preached a man with q memory, a man
whose mind ran back to the Hull
Berryhill fight of six. years ago, when
this scheme to build a home for the
colored people was suggested, and who
recognized in Rev. Whites proposition
an old fraud in a new dress. This man
refused to sign and started an investi-
cation which soon proved his suspic-
fn hn 7nl
that the scheme had been Matched in
the hope Of checking the tide that is
running against Captain Hull, for it
wa,s the plan of Mr.. White, who was
provided with the names of colored
men known to be for Prouty, to in
terest these men in the Washington
project and just before the primaries to
arrange a conference with Hull, when
the colored voters would ask him to
assist in securing the appropriation
from congress. Mr. White, in a
moment Of ughtlessness, confided
that he had come here at the instance
OF the friends OF Hull and that when
his work here. was finished he would
go into Congressman Lacey's district.
Once exposure had been made, the
signers of the petition, to the last man,
sought Rev. White and demanded that
their names be stricken from the paper;
nors<did they leave him until erasure
was made. This did not dfsconcert the
Rev. White, however, who only laughed,
as much as to say he was doing what
ae faa aznsss 81 as sha Mpz.a e pSasis psfi
ton contained a hundred names or re-
mained a piece Of white paper. @
This same scheme was worked six
years ago. AT that time good citizen
of Des Moires--Mr. Barton--was Sc,
lected to do the work, and to his credit
it should be said that he acted in good
faith, as did those who signed the petit
ton at that time. But Mr.. Barton has
had his eyes opened, as have the col
ored people OF Polk county. They have
not heard Of the Home for Colored
People since the day Berryhill was de-
feated until now, when Captain Hull
is once more in danger. And if 1T were
not known that 95 per cent of the COL
ored vote of Polk county is for Judge
Prouty FOR congress, Captain Hull
would now be the last man to revive
the subject.
But the colored people oE Polk coun-
ty are not SO dull as some people ap-
pear to believe. They resent the at
tempt 10 play them for political idiots.
And above all, they object to the i'm
portation of political dictators from
Washington or elsewhere. The colored
voters Of Polk county are perfectly able
to solve their own political problems
without outside assistance or intcrfer.
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