The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-09-30
FINE RALLY AT PERRY.
Primary Reform Thoroughly Discussed
by Hon. Grant Fellows Friday Might.

by Hon. Grant Fellows Friday Night.
The large Y NJ. G. A. hall in Perry
was comfortably filed Friday night
with an audience and the closest atten-
stion was paid to the addresses OF Hon.
..Grant Fellows, of Hudson, and Con-
gressman Joseph W. Fordney, of this
congressional district.
Some interest was felt as to the nature
of the reply which would be made to
the statement of the position Of the
democrats on primary reform, as set out
by the democratic, candidate for govern
or few days. before in that place and
it is safe to say that all who heard Mr..
Fellows discuss the question We're quite
satisfied with the republican position in
this matter. The best thing about the
address was however the perfectly fair
way in which Mr.. Fellows handled the
subject He seemed to care more for
placing facts before the members OF the
audience and leaving them to arrive at
their own conclusions than he did to
convince them then and there that the
position of the republican party was the
correct one. 1t was instantly COM
pliment to the intelligence of the voters
<of the county, and of Perry in particu-
lar
Mr.. Fellows believes that if there are
any republicans who believe that the
democrats can or will furnish brand
of primary reform which will be better
than what they will get at the hands of
the republicans, that they are at least
honest in their belief. But he believes
that if they will carefully look into the
matter little further, taking into ac-
count the way in which the primary
reform laws which are already in exis-
tence are working, and also the record
of the democrat party in taking up
what it concludes to be popular
measures, for single campaign, or per-
haps two, then suddenly dropping them
with cold thud when it discovers that
it was mistaken in the supposed pop
ularity of the new theories-he believes
if all republicans who feel favorably
disposed toward the democratic position
on this matter will carefully consider it
from this standpoint, that there will not
be found many republicans after all
who will vote for this new democratic
panacea on the eighth of November
next. Mr. Fellows has had consider
able experience in campaign work dur
ing the last sixteen years and his OBJ
servations havefuniformly led him to
have great confidence in the ability of
republicans to sift the various argu-
ments of the democratic party to- the
bottom before election day comes round.
This is somewhat peculiar cam
paign, said Mr.. Fellows in beginning
his address. saw by the bills that l
am to discuss state issues. am going
to do it from my own point Of view.
Sixteen years ago l spoke for the first
time in this county at Byron. Tonight
as came. through Byron on my way to
Perry, from Toledo, l thought now all
things change except the persistence
with which the democrats say that
there is something wrong. The remedy
they change, the disease they diagnose
differently, but the one thing that
never changes is the fact that they al
ways have remedy.
In 1884 it was the fact that in the
treasury there.was a surplus amounting
to about $7.2S per capita that was the
trouble with the country. They said
it should be put into circulation. In
1888 the surplus had vanished thanks
to democratic influence, but it was
free trade than that was needed.
Fortunately republican president was
elected and the Mckinley tariff followed.
In 1892 they made enough people be-
heve that the tariff should be changed,
to elect a democrat president and house.
They had full eentrol of the govern
ment from March 3, 1893 to March 3,
1897 and they cannot change the history
of those years much though they would
like to do so. In 1895 they were glad
to try to forget that they had said any
thing about the tariff--the trouble then
was the need for the free coinage of
silver. The people were greatly stirred
up. Democratic times had left them
little else to do than to discuss political
matters. A tidal wave swept the
country and returned the republican
party to power, and since March, 1897,
the history of the country has been
written by the republican party. No
one wants that history changed. In
1900 the democrats said that possibly
they had been mistaken in the matter
of the money disease and that after all
the real trouble with the country was
imperialism. They talked of "Emper-
or" Mckinley and said that we would
soon have kings and queens
jacks and ten spots.
Now we come to the campaign of
{ 1904 and they say that in all the pre-
ceding campaipns thev were mistaken