The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-03-02

| Democrat, a Nirglnian who had voted
for Andrew Jackson for President, and
who was pinety-three years old when
the new law went into effect. IL was
in July, 1891, at Old Berlin in Sanga-
mon county, that special election WIS
held and the new system of secret bal
loting put 10 a test, The polls opened
! at o'clock in the morning, and al
| though large crowd was waiting, no
vote was east until shortly after eleven,
when Col. Speers, who was late sleep
er. walked in and cast the first secret
ballot in Illinois. The whole town had
waited to give the precedence to its es-
tecmed Oldest inhabitant.
1t was a South Dakota genius who
shamed and humiliated county conyen
tion of good and loval Republicans by
an old scrapbook trick. He had long
whiskers and a radical mind, and in
| 1892 he left the Republicans and allied
himself with the Populists. Certain
forms of radicalism now in vogue and
considered entirely polite in these pip
ing times of peace, were then thought
! TO be quite rude. This South Dakota
statesman stayed with the Populists un-
I I'll they were no more. and then he
! tried TO get back into the Republican
party. He tried again and again, but
! found the doors were closed To him
! Finally 'the boys agreed that he had
been punished enough, and they per
mitted him TO be made q delegate to
the convention. He managed to get
himself on the committee on resolutions
and he wrote the platform. The conven-
tion adopted it with howl, and the
chairman said it was the true doctrine
OF Republlcanism as preached by Inn
coin and Mckinley and Roosevelt. Then
the gentleman with the long whiskers
and the Populistic career got up and
solcmnly proved to the convention, with
| L
adotped the Omaha platform of the late
People g Party. How "the sun do
move.
The intricate rules Of parliamentary
law have proved n stumbling block TO
many ambitious but ignorant politicians
a chairman. with not much wit or learn
inc. was much annoyed by The superior
skill of a parliamentary leader of the
OPPOSITION. He became confused with the
dilatory motions and points of order,
and cut the Gordian knot by shouting.
All motions made here or hereafter by
Dir. White are out of order. y A gentle
man of color who was presiding over
certain county convention in a border
State, made famous speech in which
he said "What we don wan in dis
pahty is fractions. Fractions is hard
/ fggerin and will sholy bring us down
IN sorrow and white hair TO de grave.
While the trend of the times is toward
more personal politics. in the old days
! IL was always the party, the party, the
! party. That made joint debates more
entertaining. A certain mountain Con
| gressional district that was always
strongly Republican had Congress
man who was known as wonder on
the stump. Although tine Democrats
had no chance of election, they, too,
\ Ill
/ mated regularly every two wears. Just
10 make competition and add to the
! gayety of nations. On one occasion the
! Republican was attacking the Demo
! cratic party as an organization without
principles. He said: 'Fellow .coun
trymen, yesterday ] was riding along
over mountain highway when | came
10 fork in the road and there stood
the devil He grabbed my horse and
! said 'Come with me; I claim vouv
soul | told him he had no right to
my soul. that [ was a member of the
Methodist church in good standing, had
! always been Republican. and he
couldp Z claim me He replied: 4
knew YOU were a Methodist but didn t
know YOU were a Republican, That
being The case, | will give you chance,
ASK me TO do three things. and if 7
| fail in any one Of them, you may go
free: otherwise ! viii take Won to tor
ment 7 asked him TO turn the beauti-
fu mountain stream IN It's course. lie
waved his hand anl the water flowed
back up the mountain side. asked
him 10 level the mountains. and with a
gesture he spread before me a vast eX-
panse of plain. he smiled. 7 had but
one chance left a great inspiration
seized my mind | cried out, Tell me
what arc the principles Of the Dem
ocratic party, There was howl Of
anger. a puff of smoke, smell of sui
phur, and the devil was gone, The
orator sat down amid thunder of ap-
plause from his partisans.
The Democratic warhorse then took
the stump He said My friends,
have no doubt that my learned oppo-
ncnt has told you the truth. ! believe
he met the devil and that the incident
between them occurred Just as he de-
scribcd it, And j am glad he asked
Old Nick that question about the Dem
ocratic party for il was sure to stump
him. am glad for my friend that he
did not ask what were the principles
of the Republican party, for then tho
devil would have said: Come with
me The answer is easy, for | formed
that party myself and have been run
ming it ever since IT'S organization
Uoke Smith. sometime Secretary Of
the INTERIOR ana lne recently -rhosth
Governor of Georgia, is a churchman,
and his influence has been greatly felt
i'm religious matters in his State. In
his memorable campaign for the tGuber-
material nomination the church was
rot thc uppermost subject in his mind.
But il helped him Just the same. lie
went into the mountain counties OF
northern Georgia and at one place h1s
speech was continually interrupted by
/ tbo yeIls If drunken man. He was
told not to pay any attention 10 50 Bad
Bill" But after the speaking was
over he met "Bill' and asked him
about his family. bill 81 jag had
progressed TO the pathetic stage, and
he wcpt as he told Of his five children
growing up in ignorance III the hiIis'
and he said they had never seen the
: Bible. Then Mr. Smith went back to
Atlanta and sent a handsome copy OF
| H. Rihln 10 =. Bad Bill - When elcc-