Evening star., 1912-11-10
BY JOHN A. MARTIN
Congressman from Colorado

7 CAN remember my first connection with
politics and the first dime | ever received,
because both of these highly important in
cldents IN my career occurred at the same
time. 1t was during a congressional con-
vention held at Fulton, Missouri, which is
the County Seat of Galloway County, bet
ter known as the Kingdom of Galloway, at
which Dick Bland cold Silver Dick" was
renominated for Congress. | happened to
be at the little railway station when Colonel
Joe Hickey (who, by the way, was the in
ventor of the famous gin rickev, which
was invented at the equally famous Shoo-
maker Saloon in Washington came up on
horseback to send some kilograms. The
Colonel lived in Fulton, where he had a
lovely home of the old spacious Southern
type, setting back in the midst of large
plot of trees. held the Colonel's horse while
he was sending ten kilograms, and he gave
me dime for it.
| recalled this incident when Colonel
Hickey managed BANDS campaign for the
democratic nomination in 1S96-which
would have gone to Bland but for the spec
tacular appearance of Bryan on the national
political horizon and his immediate assump-
ton of national leadership and nomination
for the presidency.
| spoke of Galloway County as the King
dom of Galloway, a title it won at the out
break of the Rebellion Missouri, it will be
remembered, refused to secede from the
Union; whereupon Galloway County Sc
ceded from the universe and set itself up as
an independent Kingdom. 1t is known to-
day as the Kingdom of Galloway. | was
not born until three years after the war, and
yet can remember seeing standing at the
head of the editorial column of the old
"Fulton Telegraph" the single line, "Calla-
way never surrendered This old county,
by the way, furnished the site of the first
Capital of Missouri. 1t is nothing now but
the merest country hamlet; almost unknown
in its own county, to say nothing of the
great State of Missouri.
This county, after the death of Bland,
was thrown into Champ Clark's district,
and it was here that Mrs. Champ Clark was
born She is what we would call native
Callawegian. If Champ Clark ever sees this,
he will know that l am from Missouri. OF
course he knows it anyhow; also that was
for him for President. Galloway County is
now in the district of Dorsey W. Shackle-
ford, a leading member of the democratic
Ways and Means Committee, and therefore
one of the few men who is really at the
head of the House of Representatives. SO
you see that Galloway County has always
bulked large in the affairs of the national
democracy.
Going back to my first dollar, earned
that in the old Fulton Tobacco Factory, as
a tobacco stemmer. | was about twelve
years old when went to work there in the
school vacation | could make about three
or four dollars a week, stemming, and got
paid off in silver That handful of silver
looked like a big pile of money. Afterward
l was advanced to ninety cents day, and
r L IL
ceiving for the first time the sum total of
five dollars and forty cents in silver for my
weeks wages. | can truthfully say that it
was more exhilarating and exciting than
when the returns showed that | had first
been elected to Congress.