Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-01-10

q to be frank with themselves that
q was a popgun. when I read TIL
morning in my favorite paper" sal
one OF those who participated, "th
glowing accounts of the great doing
and contemplated the fine headlines,
swelled up with pride. One might infe
that this is great mass meeting;
wish 1t was SO, but it has not bee
quite up to the advertisements" Som
OF the local papers also featured 1t q
a meeting for selection OF candidate
for state ticket, but this was hardl.
just, for personalities were not con
sldered. 1t is true that among thos,
present there were a sufficient numbs
of aspirants for offices to fill out .
large part Of the ticket resolved upon
but there was small attempt at elm.
nation. unless possibly as to head o:
the ticket.
There was no lack of zeal on the par
OF the participants. The men who met
here know exactly what they want and
how to go after 1t. They have all been
| Well trained in the game, some of them
are veterans Of several parties, and in
| corraling votes are no novices. But
i one and all they expressed themselves
! as ready for a political fight and NO
! quarter.
There was good deal of speaking
There has to be certain amount of
! wind jamming to get things to going
remarked Mr.. Bashor. And there were
two classes-those of affirmative
character and those of negative char
acter, those that were for something
and those that were against somebody.
The latter greatly predominated. There
was running thru practically all the
speeches a strain of complaining and
criticising. There was criticism OF the
men who have made progressive prin-
cip!es popular and criticism Of those
who have stood out against any pro-
gress. One kind was lambasted about
as much as the other. But more es-
pecially was 1t true that in most of the
speeches there We're direct or yelled
thrusts at Senator Cummins. One
speech was a delightfully."- worded ex-
coriation of the senator: but it opened
with the threadbare old standpat lie
about Cummins having while in the
legislature voted against the reform
movement for railroad control. when
every one at all familiar with Iowa his
tory knows he had about as much as
any other to do with framing the law
as 1t has stood for twenty-five years
untouched. But that was only one of
many inaccuracies OF statement re-
garding Cummins on which to base at
tacks.
The only speech Of the entire confer
ence that got away from personalities
and was pitched on high plane was
that Of Frank Stuart, formerly editor
OF the morning paper here. for some
years lawyer Of much success He
never once attacked any person or
called in question the motives Of any
individual. But he discussed, as no
other did. the vital principles of the po-
htfcal ferment of the times and made a
plea OF earnestness for new party,
freed from the shackles Of tradition and
custom of old parties. with a definite
program OF constructive work to do the
Things that seem to be necessary. His
thought was that the problem of the
time relates to special privileges and
monopolies. that these have been ere.
ated by unjust class legislation. that
this creation Of unnatural conditions
mas been a growing process since the
war, that in its last analysis it relates
to the problem Of the cost of living.
ne trouble is not to be settled by
a quarrel over whether Arkansas has
SIX or ten delegates to a convention" ne
declared. Il didn't Join the progress.ya
party because of dissatisfaction for any
party In such petty matters. There are
larger questions before US"
MT. Stuart discussed the waste of the
pubic domain. the giving away Of min.
eral and power rights. franchises. priv
lieges and favor. He laid the blame on
the republican party. But as to the
democratic party. theoretically the
friend of human freedom" he said. "she
Fought to the last ditch for slevery;
and theoretically for free trade she
never passed free trade tariff bill and
never VIII. While republicans and dem
ocrats nave quarreled over the tariff
theE have voted together for the Civ
ing away OF public rights and both are
squai1S responsible He showed also
now much Of the evil has come by
JUDGES giving favorable decisions for
the corporations and recalled the DAYS
in Iowa when the railroads. named tho
Judges The remedy for all this, accord
ing to Mr.. Stuart was a getting haol- ~
the people. thru the initiatiye ana ref-
erendum and the recall of judicial de-
cisions.
There might have been another
classification of the speeches = those
from imported talent and these from
the native product. There was not
much Of the latter save as to Mr..
Basnor and Mr.. Stuart and Mr.. Bash
or speech was an old fashioned ha-
ransue against Cummins and Porter
ana an amusing and entertaining
trouncing Of everybody not in the new
party. But there was much speech
making by Mr.. Colby. of New York.
Mr. Davis of New York or somewhere:
Mr.. Aylesworth of Colorado; Mr.. Cad
mus OF Illinois and some others. The
feature of these imported speeches was
the naive manner in which the sneak.
ers assumed that they were PIONEERS In
great world sweeping movement. how
they assumed that they have como 70
iowa to tell what is real progressive
now they manifest wonderful zeal In
preparing for fight and insisting that
mere In Iowa there must be a fight
Ihey all talked with the ardor of fresh
converts.
For instance there was Mr.. Colby q
Pheasant and entertaining talker. He
devoted most of his time to excoriat-
ing Cummins. He pictured him as
everything but real progressive He
declared Cummins didn't get sinr,e
thing he had asked for in the matter Of
reform in ha