Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-11-02
ANDREW SLATER'S SPEECH
Tho ''MyoJ' f WolssH Hurls Hot Shot at tho Republican PaIty.

to the Democrat. ofice. When hil
 honor entered the reporters turned
 towards the windows, thinking they were up against a repetition of the
 scene enacted Monday morning when
 George L. Lilley dropped in on the
 boys with lurid glare in his eyt
 and demand that they stop writing
 up things about him, and came near
 getting poke in the jaw for reply
 But in this the scribes were very
 much mistaken, for all the genial
 executive from our neighboring city
 wanted was an opportunity to aim a
 few missiles at packers of the g. o. D.
 who persist in claiming that the re-
 publican party ever took the initia.
 tive in anything that was designed
 to help the great mass of people. all
 their efforts being directed towards
 making plain sailing for few smart
 fellows like Lilley, who knew enough
 to get corner on breadstuffs and
 then succeeded in getting into pub-
 lie positions where they could fix
 the schedule of prices by squelching
 everything and everybody that
 threatened to become competitor.
 noticed in some of the papers, 7
 remarked Mir Slater with much ve-
 hemence, N.that some republican
 henchman tried to pick flaws in what
 said when had the honor to nomi-
 nate Judge Lowe as candidate for re-
 election as judge of probate for the
 eighth term. suppose should have
 made reply before now, but the po- sition taken by whoever he was that
 took me to task so silly didn't think
 1t worth while. and probably would
 let the thing go altogether were 1t
 not for the fact that election day is at hand and I happened to be in town. Who ever heard such a pre- posterous statement as that Grover Cleveland hadn't been in office three months when the business interests of the country became imperiled on account of the collapse of various financial institutions which up to that time were considered bulwarks. Will any sane man pretend to come before an enlightened audience and ask them to believe that country like this could be ruined in one three months unless something was wrong prior to that time? I regard that contention as an insult to the intel ligence of the average American elec- tor and yet 1t appeared in one of your papers and I'm not aware that anybody called attention to the ab- surdity.
 "Not one whit worse is the charge with reference to Cleveland's admin istration than the tommyrot printed about the Wilson bill which was not passed until two years after the time 1t Is said to have hurt certain lines of trade. In all my years I have never witnessed such campaign as the present one, for almost every statement used both in papers and from the platform Is deliberate falsehood and one sees so little in rebuttal he is forced to the conclu- sion that the politicians have a cor ner on the papers as we'll as on meat. Coal, lumber and other things that are constantly going higher and still the spouters for the dominant party have the ffrontery to come before the public and tell you that they are doing their best to bring down prices. Why don't they do 1t? Is not the republican party in power long enough to regulate these things if 1t wanted?
 "If the republican campaign ora tors and republican papers would read a chapter or two regarding the dolngs of the whiskey ring and Star schemers under Grant they would be rather slow in procla!ming the good qualities of the republican party | and calling attention to weak spots on the democratic side of the house. | The party has been plundering since It first conceived the idea of form Ing a national party. Up to that time the only party in existence was the Democrat-Republican party. all one body. but when the so called re- publicans went out they took the rear end of our name with them | md they have been constantly in the business of taking what does not be- ong to them since"
 "I submit that the price of labor 1as not advanced in the past ten years in proportion to the cost ,f other commodities. consequently t is harder to get hold of the neces- Iaries of life now than when wagers Terc lower and the cost of living much less. It is a mystery to me why every man is not able to see his for himself and refuse to be nislead from year to year by the or yans and mouthpieces of a party that . constantly promising them every hing and giving them nothing. You lon't find many men working for |1.50 a day building houses these fines. They can't do 1t. They are thrifty if they are able to maintain themselves on that. It was not o until the past few years. What las brought about the change? Vas 1t the democrats? No sir, but he very men that you are now call- d upon to return to congress. There , no limit so we are told. to which nen and money can do. but it does eem to me that 1t is high time for he thinking people of this country Q call a halt on the republican party nd see what can be done towards lf&4o~ tho r.rE and 7la n ehr~r