The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-02-06
there. True to the instincts of the

UleFc. lTue 10 Ulc iuSllIlClS VI Inv
average cheaprepublican congressman
from the big cities of the country,
he smelled graft and wanted his
share. He got nothing and now has
made his ''beef" before the commit
tee and it has fallen as fiat as a Gus
tard pie from the top Of a churcn
steeple.
He got a poor dupe named Doblin
to come over here before the commit
tee and corroborate all he had said
concerning this bribe. Then Doblin
either got scared or paid and the
next day went before the committee
and took back everything be had said
the previous day. This left Mr.. Less
Ter up in the air and he now has his
statement before the committee with
no testimony to cosroborate it. Ii an
attempt had been made to bride this
little TAI and he had een SO pure as
to withstand the ailurement and tenn
tations of the legislation promoters in
Washington, why did he not make
use of this ammunition Turing the
congressional campaign last fall when
it would have done him some good?
The people of this country are hon
est and they appreciate an honest
legislator. If he could have proven
his case last fall lie would have stood
some show OF coming backto Congress
whereas he was defeated by some
10000 votes by Tim Sullivan.
The truth is that when a i is
offered a bride for his vote in this
capital you hear of it so seldom that
it is refreshing, especially if the man
can prove it. This will prove to bea
tempest i'm a teapot and when Mr..
Lessler leaves Congress on the 4th.
day of March next he will fall into the
dark, backward abyss of time from
the standpoint Of national politics.
~
While the Republicans are filling
the Congressional Record and the
press OF the country with their loud
proclamations of our great prosperity
and incidently are not forgetting to
credit themselves with it all, there is
much evidence and not far beneath
the surface either, that this prosper
ity is, so far as concerns the masses
of the people, a sham and a mockery.
Everybody knows of the tens of thou
sands of people in ourgreatcities who,
this winter, have had to depend upon
charity for fuel and food. Never be-
fore, perhaps, have our charitable
organizations been so overrun with
calls for assistance. The Rev.
Father Tews of New York says that
"Ihere neve was such general
suffering and extreme poverty as this
winter. We have children that 1
know of without shoes and stockings.
1t is almost impossible to buy cloth
ing, so scanty are the earnings of
many. Coal is impossible. They
must live in cold rooms
This. of itself, is sad commentary
upon our boasted prosperity andshows,
in fact, that while the trusts and
monopolies may have great prosperity
that it certainly is not widespread
amongst the people. But there are
significant facts that the trusts can't
keep in the background, which pune
ture this prosperity bubble. Thus
the Wool and Cotton Reporter of Jan.
18th, in attempting to explain why. in
the face of the shortest supply of
wool ever known the prices remain
stationary and, in fact, are lower, in
some classes of wool, than they were
d yearago, lets the cat out of the bag.
when it says: "Another thing which
the America manufacturers cannot TO-
more now, is the contingency of a di-
unfinished purchasing poweron the part
of the American public. We have
to this particular contingency
SO frequently OF late that we need
say very much regarding it now.
beyond the fact that the recently
opened heavyweight season in WOO
goods affords some evidence that the
contingency is a very real one. The
position OF many OF the mills is about
This: their customers tell them that
they must have goods at last YEARS
prices, that the purchasing power OIL
masses will not admit of their
more. Some OF the mills.
possibly. many, will in lieu of a re-
iuetion in the price of wool bel
,bligedto resort to shoddy and cot
on. In this connection it is worth
noting that the shoddy dealers are
'alking very bullishly, and are look
ny forward toan unusually profitable
Rags are also very firm and a
itrge business is looked toward to.
tacts of this nature cannot be over
ooked in estimating the future Of
Nm Vr- .-.ll 49, 4L