Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1911-08-15
son seat of honor in his gallery
of really capable and just rulers.

The attitude Of some toward the
Canadian reciprocity agreement
was aptly illustrated by half doz-
en- negroes who visited for the first
time the Mississippi river few
weeks ago. They had been employ
ed on a plantation in the back
woods of Louisiana and had never
seen the world. The men whom they
were working for were from the
north and were prone to talk poll
tics. The negroes went over to the
big river one day and were lying
in the shade on the shore. Present.
ly a big steam boat came putting
down the stream from the north,
emitting big clouds of smoke,
creaking under the weight Of its
cargo and putting like some monster
in distress. The superstitious ne
groes looked askance and as the
boat approached they broke and ran
at top speed for the tall timber.
When at a safe distance one OF
them recovered his breath sufficient
ly to calculate: "Fo' de Lawd sake,
what on earth am dat critter?" A
hasty consultation was held but
none of the terrified darkeys could
offer an explanation. Finally one
of them said: 81 bet l knows what
it is" what is it," asked all the
rest in bated breath. II bet it is
dot reciprocity pack Taft has turn
ed loose on de country"
Mr.. Folk declared that the hard
est problems they had to solve in
those bitter fights in St. Louis and
Missouri were not to produce the
evidence of corruption and bribery
against the men arrested, but it
was to make the juries and the men
on trial believe that it was wrong
to accept brides and to sell votes.
Many men regarded it as matter
of course that their vote was their
own, and therefore they had a right
to sell it. 1t took some time to get
them out of this notion and make
them know that their votes belong
ed to their constituents and not to
themselves.-Jos Folk.
The exposures at Danville, III ,
and in Adams county, Ohio, demon
strated that large number Of peo-
pie not in Office hold the elective
franchise of little consequence.
However, the great majority realize
the sanctity of the ballot and the
great majority are jealous of its
use. But the man elected to leg
islative position is in place where
he is delegated with power to ex-
ercise the right of franchise for 9TH
ers and the man who violates that
trust is a traitor to his country.
This is coming to be the universal
view and is sufficient to defeat any
man at the polls, in a community of
law-abiding people, who is suspect
ed of having used the power dele
gated to him in an improper man
ner. When a congressman or a
member of state legislature traf-
fics his vote he does a thing that
strikes a vicious blow at a govern
ment of, by and for the people. The
one who barters for an Office is as
bad as the one VINO DarterS Tor
money, and the one who pledges his
vote for some favor to himself is no
better than the one who shoots
down the flag or blows up the fort.
E. B. Patrick has returned from
South Dakota and will reat Il farm
and make this locality his home
hereafter. He says Iowa people
think it's pretty dry here but that
they don't know what dryness is.
They should go to South Dakota and
some other states and see the real
thing.-Coon Rapids Enterprise.
There is more Of pathos to this
brief item than may appear upon
the surface. Mr.. Patrick is but a
type OF the Iowa farmers and land
owners who have gone west and
northwest in search of cheaper
lands. They found what they were
looking for, in one sense. The west
1900 10 dc ,ra ~ aopor onro FIR moro