The advocate. [volume], June 03, 1896, Image 1

About The advocate. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1894-1897

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
YOL YIIL, NO. 23.
TOPEKA, KANSAS, JUNE 3, 1896.
$1.00 A YEAR
PROHIBITIONISTS FOR GOLD
The National Convention Adopts a Platform
Containing Nothing bat Prohibition and
the Broad-gauge People Bolt.
The National convention of the Pro
hibition party convened at Pittsburg
May 28. The, National committee,
through Chairman Dickie presented the
name of A. A. Steveua, a single-issue
man of Pennsylvania, for Chairman, and
A. B. Wilsoh of Illinois for Secretary.
Chauncey M. Dunn of California at
tempted to submit a minority report, but
Chairman Dickie would not recognize
him. This brought on a spirited fight
which resulted in such. confusion that
police were called on to remove several
obstreperous delegates from the hall.
Mr. Dunn presented the name of E. J.
Wheeler, the recently v deposed editor of
the New York Voice, for Chairman.
The latter is a silver man. Stevens was
seated as Chairman, and when order was
restored he made a speech in which he
declared that the convention should de
claraJor prohibition and ignore all other
questions. The convention seemed to be
divided into three factions. One was
made up of those who wanted woman
suffrage retained in the platform, another
was the broad-gauge element which
wanted a live, up-to-date platform, in
cluding free silver. The third faction
was the gold standard crowd, which was
opposed to any reference to the finance
question at all and which wanted the
platform to contain nothing but pro
hibition. The leaders of the last-named
faction were Joshua Levering of Mary
land and Dr. Funk of the firm Funk &
Wagnalls, owners of the New Y ork Voice.
The broad-gauge faction was led by
John P. St. John, and it desired to
nominate Rev. Charles E. Bentley of
Nebraska for President, on a platform of
free silver, woman suffrage and prohibi
tion. Mr. Levering stated in an inter
view that he would not consider the
matter of accepting the nomination if a
silver platform was adopted.
The principal fight was over the adop
tion of the report of the resolutions
committee. The majority report favored
the single issue idea and the minority
report was in line with Mr. Bentley's
platform. The first vote was taken on
the question of laying the minority
report on the table, and the motion was
defeated by a vote of 492 to 310. The
reports were then taken up section by
section. The entire afternoon was spent
in discussing the money plank. It was
finally rejected by a vote of 387 to 427.
Resolutions referring to Sabbath ob
servance and against appropriations for
sectarian schools were then adopted.
An Illinois delegate threw the convention
into confusion by moving as a sub
stitute a platform excluding everything
but prohibition. Mrs. Helen Gougar
made every effort to save the suffrage
plank,but the substitute was adopted by
a rising vote. A caucus of the broad
gauge forces was then held, in whifh
many serious threats of a bolt were made,
but it was finally decided to await
developments and to attend the evening
session.
The only names presented for President
were those of Joshua Levering of Mary
land and ex-Governor Hughes of Arizona.
The name of the latter was withdrawn
before the vote was taken, and Lever
ing was nominated without opposition.
Hale Johnson of Illinois was nominated
for Vice President on the first ballot.
During the evening session tha broad
gauge people withdrew from the con
vention and organized the National
party. A national chairman and secre
tary were elected and arrangments were
made for headquarters. The new party
will not put a ticket in the field just now,
but will send committees to the conven
tions of the three other great parties to
confer with the dissatisfied elements.
The platform of the new organization is
substantially the same as that proposed
in the Prohibition convention. The
leaders of the new organization are
John P. St John and Rev. Bentley. In
the National pirty convention there were
delegates from twenty-four States.
Two Democrat Tickets.
Senator Blackburn of Kentucky, who
leads the silver Democrats of that State
made the following statements in a
Washington Interview:
"There will be two conventions, two
nominations and two platforms at
Chicago, and Grover Cleveland will be
at the head of one of the tickets.
"Do I think he will be elected? Such
a thing is impossible. He could not
carry one of the Southern States. He
will be supported only by the money
class. The men who have bought the
the bonds he has issued will vote for
him, and he is entitled to their votes,
but the people who pay the interest on
these bonds will 7ote for someone else.
The President's bump of self-esteem is
very much more developed than his
bump of caution, and he is going into
campaign dependent upon a very narrow
following."
In reply to an inquiry in regard to
Carlisle being a candidate, he said:
"No, my esteemed fellow citizen, who
has mismanaged the finances of this
government in such a complete and
comprehensive manner, is only a decoy
which Cleveland has sent out in the
West, just as Billy Russell is the decoy
he has sent in the East, to attract the
attention of the public until he gets
ready to disclose himself."
At the coronation of the Our a feature
of the festivities was a feast to be partici
pated in by the people generally and ar
rangements had been made to feed nearly
K million persons. In some way, probably
through mismanagement, a panic ensued
and men, women and children were tram
pled to death. Official figures place the
number killed at 2,500. The Czar has or
dered that the dead be buried at his ex
pense and that 1,000 roubles be given to the
families of each of them.
THE ST. LOUIS CYCLONE.
The Moat Diaastroua 8torm Reported for
Many Years Vlalts the Missouri
Metropolis.
A cyclone in the country districts
where buildings are isolated and scat
tered does damage enough, but when
one of these twisters strikes a city the
results are absolutely indescribable.
St. Louis had an experience of this kind
between 5 and G o'clock on the evening
of May 27. The damage done has not
been even approximately estimated, and
no accurate list of the lives lost is yet
obtainable. It struck the city from the
southwest and reached over and included
East St. Louis, which is across the Mis
sissippi river. On the island there is
but a single dwelling left standing.
Telegraph wires were thrown down in
such confusion that it was several days
before the city had anything like rea
sonable communication with the outside
world. Hundreds of people on both
sides of the river who escaped with their
lives lost their homes and their all.
The city hospital building, with 416
patients, was wrecked. Several of them
were killed and nearly a hundred were
seriously Injured. The yards of the
various railway lines were blocked with
overturned cars and wreckage of freight
houses. An early estimate of the
financial loss was $25,000,000 in St Louis
alone. The street car service was terri
bly demoralized for a day or two but is
now getting straightened out in good
shape. The loos of life on the river was
not so great as was at first supposed,
but a large number of boats and land
ings were seriously injured, and some
were destroyed. The Eods bridge did
not escape damage, but it was cleared of
wreckage and repaired so that trains
were running over it within twenty-four
hours. Fire added to the damage done
in the city, and property valued at $200,
000 which escaped the storm was burned.
The big convention auditorium was
damaged to the 'extent of about $5,000,
which it is believed can be repaired in
ten days time.
The loss of life as reported in the
latest dispatches, will reach nearly 300.
The number of injured is enormous and
very hard to estimate. At least 10,000
families are homeless. St Louis is
taking bold, and caring for her own
people with the vim and energy char
acteristic of the city. Fifty thousand
dollars has already been raised by private
subscription and the City Council is
considering a bill to appropriate $100,000
out of the city treasury. The results
are terrible. Nothing equalling it has
happened in years.
Morrill Should be Conelatent.
Governor Morrill has written the
following letter to President T. W.
Eckert of the Board of Directors of the
Penitentiary:
"State Accountant J. E. Challinor
has called my attention to the fact that
some of the appropriations for the Pen
itentiary have been diverted from what
was intended by the Legislature to other
purposes. I find upon examining the
statu J.i that nearly fifty appropriations
were made for specific1 purposes, and
that in section 4 of the act it provides
that 'in case of any unforeseen reason
specifio appropriations should become
exhausted or for any other extraordinary
reason it should become necessary to
make expenditure of money for the ben
efit of the Penitentiary or its appurte
nances, the Warden of the Penitentiary
shall make an estimate minutely stating
the purpose for whioh the money esti
mated is to be expended.'
"Now, to use money appropriated for
one purpose for another is direct and
open violation of the law and ought not
for a moment to be tolerated. It is no
excuse that it has been the custom ever
since the State has been admitted to
the Union. It is a vicious custom at
best and the law ought to bo literally
and strictly compiled with. I therefore
ask that you give the Warden instruc
tionejthat this practice cannot be allowed.
"I learn also that in providing for the
rebuilding of the building destroyed by
fire you have entirely disregarded sec
tien 4 and have gone on without making
any estimates or without submitting
that estimate to the Executive Council.
I therefore ask that a detailed estimate
be made at once, and that it be sub
mitted to the Executive Council as re
quired by law."
Governor Morrill's ideas are good.
He is not altogether accurate in his
statement of facts. It may have been
the custom of Republican Wardens of
of the Penitentiary to use funds appro
priated for a specific purpose for some
other; but the statement includes the
term of Warden Chase, and in so far as
it relates to him it is absolutely and
unqualifiedly false. Not one dollar of
any appropriation was used by Mr.
Chase for any purpose whatever other
than that for which it was intended.
If Morrill desires to be sltogether con
sistent he should put a stop to the use
of State funds for the improvement of
the State House grounds in the absence
of an appropriation for that purpose.
He should also recommend that the
s alary of the members of the Board of
Public Works be not paid because there
is no appropriation for that purpose.
Money is being paid for both of these
purposes, and it must necessarily be
paid out of funds appropriated for an
other purpose. The "business" Governor
should look after these matters while
he is calling down the Penitentiary
management. If he fails to do so he
must lay himself open to a charge of
inconsistency.
The Oklahoma Democrat convention In
structed its delegates for Bland for Presi
dent, passed free coinage resolutions and
Instructed the delegates to vote for no man
who was not a pronounced silver man. Res
olutions indorsing Cleveland's administra
tion and the Territorial Democrat admin
istration were defeated by large majorities.