The Goodland republic., 1907-03-29

with heavy obIiEatfons. besides. I
never denied an obligation I paid
every debt Ny creditors then are my
best friends now. had paid every
debt but one when I was elected to
the United States senate, and that one
was secured had laid wei the foun-
datfons for a second competency,
when, three years ago, I was struck
down By an assassin, from safe am
bush In fighting for my honor and
good name, and for the honor and
good name Of the state, in trying to
repel that cOWardiy assault, what I
had saved, on which to build a sec
ond competency has all been spent
Financially, am where was twenty
eight years ago. But that does not
distress US in the least There IS sill
yer in our hair, but courage in our
hearts We shall have enough and to
spare.
I shall not speak Of the business
enterprises have helped TO build, and
should not have mentioned my per
sOnal and financial affairs, but for the
bearing they have on my Official life.
Everybody knows how I have been
active in politics for a quarter Of a
century. But only a very few know
at what a great financial sacrifice it
has been to me In that time have
campaigned from Maine to Colorado.
From 1890 TO 1900 I made more than
1880 meetings in Kansas alone. do
not refer to i've minute talks at the
rear end Of a Pullman car. Ny work
was done under the auspices Of coun-
y, congressional, state and national
committees, not one Of which ever
paid me a cent for services or eX-
penses. Aside from local entertain
-
paid all my expenses in ali my cam
paigns for the past twenty-five years.
No human being ever gave me one
cent Of money, in politics, with one
exception. When I was making my
race for congress in 1892 the late
Senator Russell A. Alger made a trip
through the district, and after re-
turning to his home in Detroit, he
wrote me a very kind letter, inclOsing
a check for $3.50, and insited that I
accept it, to help me in the very un-
equal struggle in which I was en-
gagged. I began my campaign WORK
in Indiana in 1876. I was in every
campaign from that time down to and
including 1902. This is the only mon
ey that any one ever gave me in all
my political campaigns. I include the
whole human family in my statement,
to dispute what I have said. He can
not do it without lying. was three
times elected to the Kansas legisla-
ture, and served through three regu-
lar and two special sessions in that
body. served nearly three years as
United States senator before was
indicted.
OverIOOks Acts of Others.
To convince any fair-minded man
that Roosevelt prosecuted me from
malice, I need only recite that he was
incensed because he could not keep
me thirty days longer in Jail. He
says he thinks my punishment was too
light. He highly hOnored ex-senator
Pritchard, who acknowledged to be-
ing guilty Of the crime with which I
was accused. He OverIoOks the acts
Of another senator, the evidence Of
whose guilt is in writing, fled with
the secretary Of the interior. These
are samples Of hundreds Of cases,
which illustrate mis- much-vaunted pO-
Icy OF a square deal" He prOsecut-
ed me on a forgotten statute, that four
OF the justices OF the supreme court
say does not apply to a case like that
brought against me. Ny only possible
crime, II guilty, was the violation Of
a law, by misinterpretatiOn-a law
4
on the statute books. If was bound
to interpret il Alright, or be guilty Of
a crime, what must be said Of the jus
tees OF the supreme court, who di-
vfded as nearly as that court can di-
vide, as to its meaning2 What has
been my punishment? What was Il
What am now? I had, without
wealth, by my own efforts, won the
confidence Of as intelligent, as honest
and proud a constituency as can be
found in this country, or in this world.
That people had bestowed on me the
highest honor they had to give. I had
done in Kansas what Roosevelt never
could have done in New York, but for
the accident Of the Spanish-American
war. With the mighty force that ac-
cident placed in his hands-a power,
immeasurable, almost -unthinkable, he
hurls me from my high position
strips me OF my hOnOrs, sends me to
Jail, pillories my name with the brand
Of a criminal, throughout the land,
places upon me a badge of infamy ]
must wear through life, and yet, his
malice is not appeased. If perchance,
I am free from much maleYOlence,
would not wisdom hold my condition
more enviabIe than his2 Can any
kind OF earthly honors or regal trap
hate and revenge? Whatever may be
the thought Of me, is not his malice
most pftiable2 Can any American
citizen see such an exhibition OF foam
ing rage in the chief executive without
a feeling Of humiliation have di-
vined his motive in thus trying to
wrong me further. His ambition is
not, never can be, satisfied. He as
pires to honOrs greater than we're ac-
corded to Washington, Lincoln or
Grant He fears am not quite dead
and buried beyond resurrection. He
would utterly destroy me. In that he
cannot succeed. His malice shall de-
feat itself. I DO not believe in the law
Of opportunity 50 classically expressd
by ingalls,. That is the opportunity Of
the adventurer and the gambler. 1t
is the philosophy OF chance, hate and
despair. I believe in the philosophy
OF reality, love and hope. Instead OF
coming but once. with stern visage,
and If not admitted and embraced, de-
parts forever, I believe opportunity
knocks eternalIy at every gate; that
the angel visitant is always just out
side the door. ever waiting for it to be
opened by the hand Of love Malice