Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-10-27
WORkINCMAN'S
VIEW OF ISSUES
HON. DAVID ARMSTRONG OF
CLEVELAND, OHIO, ADDRESSES
MEETING AT BEAR CREEK.
SHOWS WAGE DIFFERENCE

EaStern speaker y CHS NuOtcUCo 9
What He Went Through In Mills
Of the East Under Demo-
cratic Rule.
| Citing wages under democratic rule
and those Of the present day as his
chief arguments in favor of the repub'
lican party and its candidates, Hon
David Armstrong, Of Cleveland, Ohio
a jovial Scotch-Irishman made very
favorable impression with large audi.
ence of worhngmen at Bear Greek
last night. Mr.. Armstrong, who for.
merly worked in the mills Of the east
as an iron worker, comes to this dis
trict we'll informed on what wages
were paid under democratic rule and
those of the present day. He coupled
delightful wit with his remarks, and
was given splendid reception by the
workingmen of Bear Greek. Among
the candidates present at the meet
ing were Frank Shane, F. T. Lynch,
L. l. Swenson and ]. H. Cremer. Chase
Bannister represented the county cen
trail committee.
While the Bear Creek meeting was
In progress, another enthusiastic gath
ering Of voters were hearing ad-
dresses by Chester w. Whitmore and
u. L. Duke in the Huber school
house.
Mr.. Armstrong; address is in part
as follows:
Compare. Conditions.
s'In this campaign claim there is
but one isue and that is a comparison
|of the conditions resulting from the
revision of the protective tariff OF the
years 1894 under the democratic party
and in 1897 or 1909 under the republi-
can party. There Is one thing nee
Iessary for the working man and that
is that he should study the conditions
at these different times. The only
thing that our democratic friends have
to complain about is the fact that liv-
ing is too high. There is one thing
that we know and everybody must
admit 1t and that is that every thing
is always high under the republican
administration, but does 1t not seem
queer that while this complaining
about high prices is going on you
never hear them utter a word in regard
to the wages, which are now said to be
the best ever paid in the United
States.
"Our democratic friends seem to
lack one thing, and that Is very i'm
portant. There Is not an act of theirs
that can find to which they can look
back with pride. The only legislation
that they have been permitted to place
upon the statute books was the Wilson
bill which to this day is OF od1ous
memory. For forty years they were
CRYING against protective tariff, tell
ing the people that the only relief that
they would ever receive would be IN
electing the democratic party to
power In their platform of 1892, they
got elected upon an issue that declared
the Mckinley law fraud and a rob-
berry. They said I'VE denounce the
Mckinley tariff law enacted by the
ffty-first congress as the eliminating
atrocity Of class legislation. We
endorse the efforts made by the demo-
Gratis Of the present congress to modify
its most oppressive feature in the d.
rection of free raw materials and
cheaper manufactured goods that en-
ter into general consumption and we
promise It's repeal as one of the benef-
icent results that will follow the &C
ton of the people in entrusting power
to the democratic party.
Prices and Wages.
''In the year 1893 I was delegate
to the national convention of the
Association of Iron and
Steel Workers. At that time Grover
Cleveland called his congress together
in extraordinary session to commence
the work Of destruction. To show you
gentlemen how the high prices were
and wages and prices re-
duced, we have only to look at their
platform of 1896. which shows q con-
fession upon their part that they made
a mistake. Evidently they pulled the
wrong tooth. They said: Until the
question Is settled, we are OPP
posed to any luther agitation in the
tariff and proceeded in their platform
to give the results OF the legislation
enacted by them. They said, and by
the way this is giving a little sop to
labor, we hold that the most efficient
way OF protecting American labor is
to prevent the importation or foreign
pauper labor to compete with 1t in
the home market, and that the value
Of the home market to our American
farmers and artisans is greatly re-
duced by vicious monetary system,
which depresses the price OF their
product below the cost of production.
and thus deprives them of the means
NJ purchasing the products Of our
home manufacturers
Thus you see the democratic party
had found another bugaboo, out does
It not seem strange that a party that
knows or at least pretends to know
how things ought to be done. would
make such failure when opportunity
presented itself? If according to their
platform, prices were reduced for the
farmers and artisan below the cost OF
that is something the re-