The Peoples Voice. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1896 Page: 1 of 8
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BKIoKKthelav wm written down with
liftrrhnient or with pwi;
More the law made eitiseti*. th® moral
law mad* men.
Law for huir.an rlghta. but when
it fails those right* to * ve.
Then let law die. my brother, but let hu-
man beingr* live.
"Our Republic can only exist
so Long as its citiiens respect
ami obey their self imposed laws."
Labor Ts The Parent Of Capital, Encourage Labor, and You Build Up Capital
VOL. 4.
NORMAN. CLEVELAND COUNTY OKLAHOMA. FRIDAY. APRIL, 24. 18%.
NO 39.
'l'HOSK KKSOLUTION8.
The Democratic County Central
Committee, of Cleveland County,
met in Norman, Saturday afternoon,
April, nth and decided to hold a
primary election the 20th of next
June to nominate candidates to be
sacrificed at the polls next Novem-
ber and to make the sacrifice doubly
certain tliey passed a batch of reso-
lutions that would make a stone
statute blush. As General Grant
said, "The Democratic party could
always be relied on to do the wrong
thing at the right time," and the
democratic party of this county has
never failed to verify Grant's asser-
tion. In order that our readers may
know just what those resolutions
were we will set them up in small
type with our comment after each
resolution.
RESOLUTION, NO. I.
KESOI.VKH: rtittt It Is tlie noils"! of tills com-
mittee, rapremiuliiK tlie (leinocmcy <>f Cleve-
land county, Hint It l-euiiiliw lor tli« iloinocrutlo
party to leileem the county, from the iiiln-
miuutgeinetit of the present pop lulmlnlstratloh
anil to place the business of the people In the
limuls of men who are honest, t 11st worthy, and
capable of conducting II on business principles,
and who will not squander the people's money
for the advancement of partlsun polltlc-il in-
terest.
This resolution might set well,
were it not for the fact that the de-
mocracy, of Cleveland county, by
its every act during the four years
it was in jjower, proved the falsity
of every assertion made in the above
except where it refers to the com-
mittee, and the resolution itself re-
veals its absence. We are willing to
admit and prove that the Populists
of this county have not succeeded
as well as their democratic prede-
cessors in running the count) into
debt, and that their expenditures
have not been so large; but we deny
that this fact gives evidence of mis
management. The expenditures of
this county during the four years the
democrats controlled the affairs of
the county amounted to in round
numbers $ 123,000.00. They also
used up all the revenues collected
and transmitted to their successors
in office a bonded indebtedness of
§55,500.00 and a floating warranted
indebtedness including January issue
of $37,000.00 in round numbers. Or
a total outstanding indebtedness of
$92,000.00 in round numbers is what
t ihey handed over to their Populist
* successors to pay off and keep up
other running expenses of the county.
With a debt of $92,000.00 in round
numbers, a depleted treasury with
overdrafts even drawn on it the
Populists took the reins of affairs in
this county Jan. 7th 1895, with no
revenue coming in except from fines
and saloon licenses and like sources,
until August (tax paying time.) At
the April stssion of the commission-
ers $7082.55 worth of warrants were
issued and in the July session $5,-
625.18 worth were issued all against
a depleted treasury, making a total
indebtedness of $104,707.00. Of this
indebtedness the county treasurer
had cancelled up to July, 1st 1895
old warrants to the amount of $6,-
053.77; leaving a total indeb'edness
against Cleveland county at the ad-
journment of the commissioners in
July 1895 of about $98,000.00.
Since that time the county has been
on a cash basis and $9,000.00 more
of said warranted indebtedness have
been cancelled, leaving a total out-
standing indebtedness at present
time of about $89,000.00. Of this
sum $80,000.00 in round numbers
have been funded into bonds; leav-
ing about $9,600.00 of warrant in-
debtedness outstanding with no in-
coming revenue to pay off the same
except revenue coming from fines
and saloon licenses. The entire
$15,000.00 of warrants that have
been cancelled by the Populist.
Treasurer should properly have gone
to pay the current expenses of the
Populist administration instead of
being applied upon illegal indebt-
edness incurred by the democrats
RESOLUTION, NO. 2.
We call attention to the extravagant promi-
ses of reform made by the I'opnllsts of Cleve-
land county, during the last campaign, especi-
ally the promises to reduce taxation, and also
to the fact that not one of thes« promises have
been redeemed; but on the other hand the
rated taxation has been deliberately and need.
leaaly raised and the burdens of tbepeople
greatly increased.
Any individual truly desiring to
satisfy himself as to the extrava-
gance and the insignifigance of the
Populist's promises needs only to
compare the figures and statements
found in this article with the county
records, in order to be thoroughly
convinced that the first half of the
above resolution is "deliberately and
needlessly" false. Now to the sec-
ond half of resolution, No. 2: Every
one knows that our revenue laws
were revised by the last legislature
in a manner that forced not only
this county, but every other county
in the territory as well, upon a cash
basis. But before we could begin
on this cash basis the outstonding
warrant indebtedness (entailed
upon us by our frugal democratic
predecessors) was required to be
funded into bonds, which was done.
Now the difference between a cash
basis upon which business was done
by the democratic administration is
simply this: Under the democratic
rule the tax-levy was never high
enough to raise sufficient funds to
pay the expense of administration,
so there was a large over-plus of
warrants at the end of each year
which must be funded into bonds
or remain unpaid; on a cash basis
of doing business, the law compels
the Board of County Commissioners
to a levy a tax that will raise a suf
ficient revenue to pay every war
rant drawn during the year for
which the tax was levied. Thu
you see that at the end of the year
under the present system, there wi
be no warrants outstanding, nor will
there be ar.y bond issue required.
The Populist Commissioners had
not fully comprehended the nature
or democratic luxuries when tliey
first took charge of the county af-
fairs. We did not think that we
could levy the same rate of tax and
pay all of our expenses in cash, as
the democrats did when they only
paid half of their expenses in cash.
We supposed that all their debt was
either warranted or bonded. We
did not know that they had made a
practice of paying money out of the
county treasury without any warrant
for it. We did not think that they
had been so woefully voluptious in
fiscal affairs, that their business
would not furnish a basis for estima-
tion after conservative reduction.
For these reasons and these only,
our rate of taxation was higher than
it should have been and higher than
it will be a^ain. But you can rest
assured that whatever surplus there
is in the treasury from this year's
levy will not be donated to bond
agents, nor will it be invested in im-
aginary bridge timber; but will be
faithfully applied to the extinction
of the offspring of democratic econ-
omy—a large floating debt. So when
we are able to show a saving in one
year of expenses to the amount of
$7,000.00 it is safe to predict that
the next tax levy will be lower than
the last.
RESOLUTlOn, NO, 3.
We condemn the populist administration of
Cleveland county for the Issuance of bonds;
the Interest and principal, of which are made
payable In gold coin.
The committee would have been
in better business condemning the
old democratic officials for creating
the debt which under the new law
had to be funded into bonds. The
bonds issued by the Populist com-
missioners are still the property of
the county and are in the hands of
the county treasurer and will con-
tinue to be the property of the
county until those holding the war-
rants come in and exchange them for
the bonds. Up to this time only
$1,500.00 worth of the bonds have
been taken up in this manner. As
fast as the interest coupons on the
bonds in the Treasurer's possession
falls due they are clipped off. It is
true that the late issue of bonds are
made payable in gold coin or its
equivalent, and it is also true that
this country is on a gold basis and
that other forms of bonds are hard
to find buyers in the bond market;
in fact our commissioners have been
unable to find purchasers for these J A
later bonds at their face value and •n-
our commissioners will never sell
them for less. The democratic
county commissioners issued $53>"
000.00 worth of county bonds, papa-
ble in lawful money and discounted
them over $6,000.00 when they sold
them. In other words they sold the
£53,000.00 worth of county^jonds
for $47,000.00 in cash. It is true
that the bonds they issued were pay-
able in lawful money; but lawful
money now means gold.
RESOLUTION, NO 4.
Wo congratulate the Democracy of Cleveland
County f« r their economy In county Affair*,
during the term which their representatives
were |n office and point with pride to the ract
that during their last term tlmy decreased the
bonded indebtedness of the county several
thousand dollars. While the preeent adminis-
tration, with a large Increase In taxable value*
nud an outrageously lilKh rate of taxation, have
not re<leemed a single bond.
Like Christ said to his persecu-
NEW SCHEME.
It is the purpose of the gold men ! such a tariff, because if the farmers
Devised by Money Magnates, of
New York, to Bunco the
PEOPLE THE NEXT ELECTION.
Ths Result of the Democratic Prlmarlet
Caused Alarm to the Brok
er of Wall Street.
The money plutocrats have coun-
selled and laid their plans for the
new and unlooked-for emergency.
These will embrace the unstinted use
of money upon delegates. I have it
from good authority that more than
tors, "Forgive them for they know $400,000 with which to prevent the
not what thay do." Helow we give democratic convention from declar-
the warrant expenditures of the late 1 jng for free-coinage was pledged at
Democratic officials for the fiscal ^ late conference.
years ending June 30, 1894 and
June 30 1895 and for the first fiscal
year under the Populists, ending
June 30 1896.
For fiscal year ending
June 30 1894, warrants
issued $27,140.22.
For fiscal year ending
June 30 1895, warrants
issued $28,046.25.
For fiscal year ending
June 1896, warrants is-
sued up to present time $20,082.47.
There will be perhaps from $21,000.-
00 to $22,000.00 worth of warrants
issued during the first fiscal year of
the populists as compared with
$27,000 and $28,000.00 worth issued
under Democratic economy rule.
Also during the years of Democrat-
ic economy above mentioned there
was about $2,454 16 taken out of
the county treasury without war-
rants being drawn for the same or
a record made of the same on the j
commissioners proceedings. This!
would make about $28,500 00 a year,
that cost to run this county under
Democratic economy against about I
$22,000.00 under Populist extrava-
gance Tliey also point with pride,
etc., at least they say they do, to the
fact (?) that they reduced the bond-
ed indebtedness of the county sev-
eral thousand dollars. Let us see
about this. The records show that
they paid off $6,000 of county bonds
They also show that they paid
about $6,000 discount in order to
sell those same bonds. Take
$6,000 discount from the $6,000
bonds redeemed and you have
0,000 the sum the county has gain-
ed in the transaction minus the in-
terest they paid on bonds before
they were cancelled. The present
administration, it is true, have not
redeemed a single bond; but they
have been working like Trojans re-
deeming old democratic warrants
which amount to the same thing.
Since the Populist administration
came into power they have redeem-
ed old warrants to the amount of
$15,116,01 or at the rate of about
$1,000 per month and there are
still outstanding of those old war
rants $9,000.00. When they get the
old warrants redeemed they will be
in shape to go to cancelling bonds.
To explain to you how it came about
that the democrats paid off those
bonds they point to with so much
pride is an easy matter. Funds had
accumulated in the sinking fund and
they used the money out of this
fund to pay off the bonds. At the
same time the money was accumu-
lating in the sinking fund the other
funds of the county were sinking
deeper in debt. In other words at
the same time they were paying off
a bonded indebtedness they were
contracting a floating indebtedness
of many times the proportion of
what they were paying off. To illus-
trate further they opened the spigot,
in the barrel of debt; but left a two
inch hose in the bunghole pouring
in more debt.
The meeting at which this was
done was held on Friday night in the
parlors of a New York millionaire,
who is a leader in yachting sports.
He is an intimate friend of the pres-
ident, but has held himself aloof
from active political partisanship.
He has always been a power behind
the Cleveland throne, and has been
largely instrumental in the success of
the government bond issues and in
securing their negotiations.
But more than money was discuss
ed at this meeting. These money
pirates seemed to comprehend that
by the day of the convention the
feeling of the country for silver re-
monetization might become so in-
tense that money would be power-
less to control it. How to win by de
ceitful strategy was therefore gone
over, and a plan was agreed upon,
which, for the present at least, finds
the greatest favor and offers them
the most encouragement for success.
The suggestion made a few days
ago by Chauncey Black of Pennsyl-
vania, is the basis of it, and it will
be urged with great but quiet vigor
and plausibility. The meat of the
plan is as follows:
As soon as the democratic nation-
al convention shall be organized and
before the committee on platform
shall meet, some delegate who has
not been conspicuous in the finan-
cial discussion, but is known to and
commands the confidence of the
money men will arise and offer a
carefully prepared preamble and
resolutions. They will recite the
wide and what may prove to b e fa tal
differences between the party on the
financial question, the necessity for
the existence of the party if free
government shall be maintained, its
glorious record in the past and the
grand work that is reserved for it in
the future, with the absolute necessi-
ty of some common ground being
reached upon which both sides of
the money question may stand with-
out the abandonment of convictions
or principles. That ground will be
declared to be a mutual and binding
pledge by every member of the con-
vention that the nominee of the con-
vention for president,if elected,shall
approve any financial measure that
congress may pass, even one for the
free coinage of silver and gold at
the ratio of 16 to 1; with the further
pledge that the nominee in his letter
of acceptance, to be written as soon
as possible after the convention, will
make the same promise in the plain-
est possible language.
PURE BUNCO.
Such a declaration—fair upon its
face, they assume, will win a suffic-
ient number of silver delegates to
carry it by a large majority, and that
once it is adopted the convention
will be easily controlled. They an-
ticipate that such a resolution will be
accepted in lieu of any financial
plank, or. if not, and a 16 to 1 reso-
lution shall be adopted then, that a
candidate for president will be se-
The Peoples Voice to lected who is obnoxious to them,and
the 1st. of January,1897 with whot theywiU have a satisfac-
for Fifty cents. ttory private understanding.
to avoid a split in the democratic
ranks, if possible. They commence
to understand that the greatest dan-
ger to the gold standard is a disrupt-
ed dein< cratic convention, and an
alUance of silver democrats and re-
publicans with the populists in the
West and South. They now fear that
such a union would carry every
Southern state except Maryland and
Delaware,with every state west of the
Mississippi, together with Indiana
and Illinois, and possibly one or two
others. This tliey must prevent, and
an harmonious democratic national
convention is indispensable to its de-
feat.
One of two things will follow the
success of their scheme, and with
either of them they will be'content.
First, they believe a ticket nominat-
ed by an harmonious democratic
convention will be defeated; for any
ticket nominally supported by the
goldbug democracy of the East, no
matter what the platform is, can be
so successfully assailed by the repub-
lican and populist press and speak-
ers, as it will be, that it will be over-
whelmingly defeated by the repub-
licans, which is what they want over
and above everything else; and sec-
ond, though the democrat should be
elected, they will take good care that
no free coinage measure will ever
reach him for his approval. It is
true he will be pledged to approve
such a measure if it does reach him,
but that will not hinder the president
from doing everything in his power
to defeat it in congress and thus pre-
vent the necessity of an approval by
him. They claim that Cleveland
himself might have made such a
pledge in 1892, and he would not
have violated it in pursuing the
course he took, since he simply
helped congress to defeat silver leg-
islation. and the necessity for the
veto or approval of a free coinage
measure never arose.—Rocky Moun-
tain News.
The Goldbiijj Tariff Dodge.
The people have been confused
and surprised by the boom which
the corruption funds of the banks
and the manufacturers, who buy ex-
clusive privileges for themselves,
have created for McKinley. If they
would reflect, however, they woul
understand why the money of the
corruptionists was invested in this
McKinley clamor. The managers
of the two old parties are laboring
to maintain in this country, at all
hazards, the English gold standard.
Upon this question the two old par-
ties have been, still are, and will con
tinue to be, one, whatever they may
say in their platforms, and whatever
they may promise the people before
election. The object lessons of the
last twenty years have at last satis
fied the people that there is no issue
between the old parties on the finan-
cial question. Both the old parties
are equally in accord against honest
tariff legislation. The advocates of
exclusive privileges in the republi
can party are opposed to any legis
lation which will relieve the farmers
and planters of this country from
the difference of exchange which
gives the farmers and planters of the
silver-standard countries fully 100
per cent advantage in the sale of
their commodities in the European
markets. This difference of ex-
change can only be removed by the
restoration of the coinage laws as
tliey existed prior to 1873. This the
Demo-Republican party declare
shall not be done.
McKinley represents that class of
protectionists who demand a wall so
high against the importation of the
commodities they produce as to
amount to exclusion. They are
aware that they must increase the
McKinley tariff 100 per cent to pre-
vent the importation of Chinese and
Japanese goods which are now be-
ginning to be manufactured
large scale with the best modern ma-
chinery that Europe and the United
States can produce. They are also
| aware that the farmers and produc-
I ers of this country will be ruined by
must sell at gold prices they cannot
afford to buy at the highly protective
prices which extreme McKinley leg-
islation would produce. The Mc-
Kinley high protectionists think it
will be very easy to inflame the far-
mers and planters, particularly of the
South and West, against the outrage
of an McKinley prohibitive tariff on
Eastern manufacturers. The Mc-
Kinley boom was therefore inaugu-
rated for two purposes. One was to
obtain largi* contributions from the
manufacturers of the East who tie-
sire exclusive privileges, thereby to
conduct a vigorous campaign for
McKinley as the ideal representative
of exaggerated tariff legislation. The
other purpose was to drive the dem-
ocrats of the South and West to fight
the enormities of McKinleyism. If
these two objects could be accom-
plished the goldtrust confidently be-
lieve that the people will forget the
real cause of their distress—the
money question—anil fight over Mc-
Kinleyism pure and simple. The
old parties must be excused for
fighting over "McKinleyism run
mad," because neither of them have
any other stock in trade. Neither
of them dares to face tlje financial
issue, but the exclusive privileged
classes of manufacturers in the
North are willing to enter into a
campaign for a prohibitive tariff on
the things they produce, because it
puts money in their purse. The sub-
servient politicians of the South and
West are willing to enter into a cam
paign against "McKinleyism run
mad." provided they can get office
and smother the money question. In
other words there is no issue between
the two old parties but the issue
created by the McKinley boom. On
the one side the contention will be
rotection for privileged classes anil
destruction for the masses. On the
other sitle it will be down with pro-
tection for the privileged classes and
up with the masses. But in truth
and in fact, both parlies are in favor
of the continued subjection of the
producing classes of the United
States to competition with the silver
standard countries, which have too
per cent advantage against the Unit-
ed States on account of the differ-
ence of exchange. The artifice of
the McKinley boom is only excelled
by the infamy of the schemers, who
are willing to gel up a feigned issue
for the purpose of again deceiving
the people in the interest of gold
monopoly. We advise our readers
to watch the schemers on both sides.
By doing so they will soon be satis-
fied of the insincerity and utter
heartlessness of wicked politicians
who, in the coming campaign, will
take the stump to tleceive the peo-
ple.—Silver Knight, Watchman.
From the way that the republicans
afe pitching into Cleveland's admin-
tration one would be lead to think
that the democratic party was alone
responsible for all the ills that affect
the body politic and that a return of
the republican party to power was
all that was needed to restore pros-
perity. On March 4th, 1889 when
(Irover Cleveland stepped down and
and out of office and Benjamin Har-
rison took hold of the reins of gov-
ernment there was a surplus of 300
million dollars in the treasury and
190 million of this was in gold.
When Harrison stepped down and
out March, 4th i893 t,le United
States treasury was depleted and his
Secretary of the treasury had the
plates made to strike bonds. Cleve-
land's administration, up to the pres-
ent time has issued bonds to the
amount of 262 million; but the re-
publican preceding administration
succeeded in getting away with 3' 1
million surplus, so you can see there
is not such a great difference in the
two administrations after all. I' is
very unbecoming for republicans 1 <>
be abusing Cleveland's administra-
tion for it is just a counterpart of
the republican administration that
oreceded it.
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Allan, John S. The Peoples Voice. (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 39, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1896, newspaper, April 24, 1896; Norman, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc116838/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.