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291 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
HON. JEREMIAH SIMPSON. 
A Farmers’ Alliance Congressman 
Before a New York Audience. 
A much advertised man; what he looks 
like; what he has to offer; does he lead 
a “ political revolution ? ” 
No man in the country has been more 
thoroughly advertised during the past 
three months than Congressman-elect 
“Jerry ” Simpson, of Kansas. He seems 
to be the target selected by the critics of 
the Farmers’ Alliance, and he has received 
many a broadside of ridicule and abuse. 
Naturally, people are curious to see such a 
man. Advertising pays. The public as¬ 
sumes that a man who can provide items 
of interest for hundreds of papers is first- 
class in some way—either as a fool or as a 
wise man—worth seeing in any event. He 
was sure of an audience whenever he chose 
to appear in the city. He came to meet a 
somewhat unique class of men—those who 
“ wish to raise the standard of absolute 
free trade.” The Manhattan Single Tax 
Club, of this city, is an organization which 
seeks to spread the land tax theories of 
Henry George. Its members propose to 
abolish all taxes except those placed on 
land values. They would begin by abolish¬ 
ing the tariff at once with the internal 
revenue tax, and all others, except land 
taxes, to follow it. The club selected the 
anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth as 
a fitting time for holding its meeting “ to 
protest against the present tariff.” Assum¬ 
ing that the last election shows that 
Western farmers are opposed to all tariffs 
this Manhattan Club invited Mr. Simpson 
to come here and tell New York free 
traders why Kansas had no use for the 
tariff. He came, not, as he explained, a3 a 
representative of any organization, but “as 
the representative of Jerry Simpson.” 
What He Looks Like. 
A tall, lean, “lanky” man with a sharply 
cut face wrinkled and stamped by exposure 
and care; a shrewd, kindly, good-humored 
expression; coal black hair slightly tinged 
with gray ; close-cropped moustache and 
black eyes. In the shape of his head and 
face he suggests Senator Ingalls. Met by 
chance, on the street, one would take him 
for a mechanic. He wears spectacles con¬ 
tinually and, when reading, finds it neces¬ 
sary to add a pair of eye glasses. He stoops 
slightly and with his long arms and legs 
does not present a dignified or striking ap¬ 
pearance. But he is intensely in earnest 
and when his shrewd, kindly face lights up 
with enthusiasm, one forgets the harsh 
voice and rude gestures and remembers only 
the apparent sincerity and earnestness of 
the speaker. As an orator Mr. Simpson is 
not a success; as an earnest talker he will 
command respectful attention anywhere. 
The N. Y. Sun, probably the most bitter 
enemy of the Farmers’ Alliance in the 
country, tried to make Mr. Simpson appear 
ridiculous by comparing, with poorly con¬ 
cealed sarcasm, his first appearance here 
with Lincoln’s famous first speech in New 
York over 30 years ago. Lincoln, it said, 
was unknown in New York. So is Simpson. 
Lincoln represented a new and growing 
party. So does Simpson. Lincoln made 
himself that party’s candidate—Simpson 
-f The Hon. “ Jerry ” seems to be a 
man able to stand any amount of such talk. 
He is a hard man to hurt. 
What He Has to Offer. 
Mr. Simpson realized that he was not 
talking to farmers, but to men of one 
single idea—that of abolishing the tariff. 
Consequently he had less to say about 
what the Kansas farmers want than he 
would have said before a country audience. 
He declared himself in favor of free trade, 
giving the usual arguments in a terse, 
homely way. His speech betrayed no 
great depth or range of study and his 
arguments were local or sectional in the 
fact that he did not discuss the effect of 
the tariff on farmers in other States than 
his own, or admit that it might possibly be 
of benefit. He said nothing new and is a 
special pleader rather than an unbiased 
jurist. He made the point clear that he 
represented only himself. “Unfortu¬ 
nately,” he said, “there are still farmers 
who believe they are protected by the 
tariff! Many of them are in the Farmers’ 
Alliance. They will believe it till the 
sheriff moves them out I ” 
He said the tariff had created a class of 
people who thought themselves an “ever¬ 
present probate court” born with the 
right to “protect” and govern others. 
Kansas farmers went about yelling for 
“Protection” with a torch on their 
shoulder and a gunny-sack patch on their 
pants, while they had to hang a bed-quilt 
before the door to keep out the wind, “pro¬ 
tect ed” lumber being too high to enable 
them to make a door. Protectionists had 
fattened on" Kansas farmers because the 
latter had to buy “ protected ” goods at 
“protected” prices, while the prices ou 
their own products were made low by the 
big corporations which are fathered by the 
tariff. Mr Simpson did not tell his hearers 
that the tariff was not responsible for poor 
Kansas crops, for the fact that some men 
there are trying to farm on land that 
Nature never meant for agricultural pur¬ 
poses, and that many of the mortgages 
never should have been made. He was not 
invited there to tell such things and his 
hearers had not come to listen to them. 
He held the tariff responsible for the fact 
that “1,000,000 men are tramping through 
the country without work, while 1,500 
people in New York are forced to live on 
the swill of the great hotels.” He forgot 
to mention, however, that farmers, all over 
the Eastern and Middle States, are calling 
for reliable help in the field and in the 
house! He did .not have a word to say 
about the influence of the liquor business 
in breeding poverty. As to men, Mr. 
Simpson does not like Gov. Hill’s position 
on the tariff. He thinks Mr. Cleveland 
has taken a great step in advance in his 
position on it, but wants him “ to have the 
manhood to go still further and declare 
for free trade.” The only Republicans 
mentioned were Mr. McKinley, whose tariff 
bill was denounced, and Senator Ingalls. 
“May the Lord send us another man as 
pure and strong as Thomas Jefferson!” 
shouted Mr. Simpson. He was a little dis¬ 
concerted when some enthusiastic hearer 
jumped up and yelled, “We've got him 
now I He’s here I Henry George is the 
man 1” 
Mr. Simpson wants free coinage of silver 
and government ownership of railroads. 
In advocating these measures he found 
himself in strange company, as many of 
his hearers were “ hard money ” advocates 
and men who, in Kansas, would be called 
“ railroad sharps.” Here the courage and 
sincerity of the man were shown. He 
spoke bravely and without reserve, and 
this part of his speech received less 
approval from the audience than any 
other. He said Kansas paid $500,000,000 to 
the railroads, then the owners put the 
value at $1,000,000,000, and added $500,000,- 
000 of water, and then asked the farmer to • 
pay a tax ou the whole when he sent a 
bushel of corn to Chicago ! All it took to 
make a railroad in Kansas was “ cheek and 
labor ”—the railroad man furnishing the 
“cheek,” while the Kansas farmer paid for 
labor 1 He made a hit at the end of his 
speech. Coming to the front of the plat¬ 
form he said, with great seriousness: 
“ Now, I have only one more point to make. 
It is the most important of all, and I have 
kept It to the last. It Is that—I am done 1” 
Then with a queer bob of a bow he took 
his seat. 
Does He Head a Political Revolution? 
Mr. Simpson is not a “second Lincoln.” 
He does not aspire to the Presidency—It 
would do him no good to do so, as he Is not 
a native-brrn citizen of the United States. 
He sincertly believes that a “ political revo¬ 
lution ” is in the air; that the split away 
from Republicanism in Kansas is final, and 
that the formation of a new “ People’s 
Party ” is inevitable. Whatever stand he 
takes in Kansas, his aim at the East seems 
to be to stir the people up to a sense of 
what he considers great national wrongs, 
rather than to point out special legislation 
that will remedy them. He would trust 
the people after they understand the situa¬ 
tion. We do not consider Mr. Simpson a 
“ great man ” in the sense that Webster, 
Clay or Lincoln were great. He does not 
look like a deep student or an impartial 
observer. After two full crops in Kansas 
we doubt If he could be elected to Congress. 
Yet, he is a true product of the conditions 
that now prevail in his State, and the pub¬ 
lic should waste no time in accepting him 
as such. Shrewd, keen, fearless, a good 
judge of human nature and possessing the 
ability to put himself in the place of the 
discouraged, mortgaged Kansas farmer, he 
naturally comes to the top in times like 
these. Will he stay there ? That depends 
upon himself. We can safely assure him 
that no demagogue or special pleader can 
long live at the head of this farmers’ 
movement. Its leaders must be men who 
are willing to grow and to cut off their pet 
hobbies at the demand of the people. Rub¬ 
bing against Eastern farmers will show 
Mr. Simpson a thing or two that will make 
him thoughtful. Let us see what effect 
that will have on him. The R. N.-Y. 
takes “Jerry ” Simpson seriously. In many 
respects he is a remarkable man with a 
strong personality and a good heart and 
head. Such men are needed. We wish him 
well and only hope that he may live to act 
bis part in this movement with wisdom, 
justice and fairness to all. H. w. c. 
TIMELY TOPICS. 
Dishonesty of State Treasurers.— The 
known “shortage” of the Arkansas State 
Treasurer is only $300,000—less than half 
the Louisiana Treasurer’s recent steal, and 
considerably under afiy of half a dozen 
other misappropriations by other State 
Treasurers “of unimpeachable respectabil¬ 
ity and integrity ” within the last few years. 
Some of the detected defaulters are now 
model prisoners, others despised fugitives 
in foreign lands, while a few have been 
summoned before the Supreme Judge. In 
pity for the wretches themselves, ought 
not the public be more careful in select¬ 
ing for such responsible offices men of at 
least common honesty or ordinary ability to 
withstand temptation P 
The Italian Imbroglio.—A good deal 
of needless commotion has been created dur¬ 
ing the week by the recall of Baron Fava, 
the Italian Minister at Washington, by 
the Marquis de Rudinl, the Italian Prime 
Minister, on account of unsatisfactory 
dilatoriness in the negotiations for ren¬ 
dering satisfaction to Italy for the lynching 
of some of her subjects by the New Orleans 
mob. It was at first widely supposed that 
the measure was tantamount to a rupture 
of diplomatic relations between the two 
countries, to be speedily followed by war. 
It turns out, however, to have been a strong 
but over-hasty protest on the part of Rudini, 
himself a Sicilian, against any unnecessary 
delay in the settlement. Italy is honey¬ 
combed with secret societies, political and 
predatory, and it is probable all exercised 
all possible pressure on the Italian king and 
government to take prompt action in the 
matter. Secretary Blaine’s conduct and 
correspondence in the affair are acknowl¬ 
edged on all hands to have been admirable— 
cool, firm, dignified and just a little humor¬ 
ously tolerant: nothing whatever of the 
“ spreadeagleism ” which many pretended 
to fear from him should he ever reach even 
a higher place. At the outset of a contest 
which would necessarily be by sea, Italy, 
with less than half our population and less 
than a sixth of our resources, would have 
a tremendous advantage, as her navy in 
the number and still more in the strength 
and armament of her vessels is inferior 
only to those of England and France, while 
ours is inferior to those of several third 
and fourth-rate powers. Without fear 
from any of our ironclads, the Italian ves. 
sels could destroy or exact tribute from 
nearly all our seacoast cities, but ere long 
it is likely that American ingenuity, wealth 
and patriotism would find means to equal¬ 
ize matters or more. Moreover, Italy could 
hardly afford to go to war with this coun¬ 
try. Her people are crushed with debt; 
the first gun-shot would be the signal for 
a grand financial crash throughout the 
length and breadth of the Peninsula; the 
Triple Alliance between Italy, Austria and 
Germany would be seriously embarrassed, 
and France and Russia, which have now 
probably formed an offensive and defensive 
alliance, would be very likely to take ad¬ 
vantage of the trouble by declaring war. 
It would be a woeful day when Italy, the 
weakest of the “ Great Powers,” became 
embroiled with the most powerful nation 
on earth over 3,000 miles away, while her 
own coast would be harassed by hostile 
fleets and her newly-acquired consolida¬ 
tion threatened by revengeful and half- 
contemptuous armies at her own gates. 
It would be unconstitutional for the Na¬ 
tional Government to force Louisiana or 
any other State to take action in such mat¬ 
ters, though Congress may decide to make 
a money compensation to the families of 
the slain Italian subjects. According to 
the results of the latest investigations, there 
were only two of those among the victims 
of mob violence—a murderer and a thug, 
who had fled from Italy where, if captured, 
they would have been executed or sent to 
the galleys. The chief results of the trouble 
are likely to be a rapid increase in the 
strength and number of American war. 
ships, and a change in the Constitution 
giving more power to the Federal Govern, 
ment in State troubles likely to affect the 
relations of this country with others, as the 
present Constitutional arrangement is con¬ 
fessedly quite defective. 
The Alliance and the Third Party.— 
The Southern element in the Farmers’ 
Alliance of course controls to a very groat 
extent the entire organization, and judging 
from the latest utterances of its represen¬ 
tative men, it is likely to support a “third 
party” candidate at the next Presidental 
election. It will not start a party of its 
own, because if it did, defeat at the polls 
would be a swift forerunner of disentegra- 
tion of the body ; but it will support a 
People’s Party, which has already been 
started in Kansas. It is expected that a 
large majority of each agricultural, labor 
and other industrial organization as well 
as the new and rapidly growing Citizens’ 
Alliance will support the new party, and 
though none of the organizations will 
make it obligatory on its members to vote 
for the candidates, the entire moral influ¬ 
ence of all will be exercised in their favor. 
W. J. Torbert, State Lecturer for South 
Carolina, is supposed to have soundei the 
keynote of the campaign of 1892 in a speech 
at Orangeburg last Friday. He said that 
in 1892 the Alliance would support no man 
who would not indorse the St Louis and 
Ocala platforms. The old political hacks 
must stand aside from the march of the 
people or be trampled under foot.*A change 
in the monetary system of the country is 
indispensable first of all, and the Alliance, 
independently of all parties, will Insist on it 
at all costs—even at the price of a revolu¬ 
tion. There are many shrewd men who think 
that such talk is mere poppycock. They 
have no faith whatever in the Southern Al¬ 
liance’s threats to abandon the Democratic 
Party, under any consideration, and thus 
give a chance for negro political influence 
if not supremacy in some sections. They 
say that, however enthusiastically the 
Southern men might cheer for any new 
party even during the campaign, they 
would cast their ballots for the Democratic 
Party at the polls; while their Northern 
brethren of Republican proclivities, de¬ 
ceived by their apparent sincerity, would 
vote for the People’s Party candidates to 
the gain or triumph of the Democrats. In 
other words, it is charged, chiefly of course 
by the Republicans, that the members of 
the Southern Farmers’ Alliance would 
merely use the People’s Party to injure the 
Republican Party at the North by causing 
a defection of many of its members to the 
new organization, while at honie they 
would do nothing to endanger the predom¬ 
inance of the Democratic Party, being 
always Democrats first and Alliance men 
afterwards. It is alleged that the conduct 
of the Democratic Alliance men during the 
last election gave ample grounds for such 
a belief. For any one who knows the sec¬ 
tion well by much travel and long residence 
there, it Is certainly very difficult to 
imagine Southern Alliance men doing any¬ 
thing to embarrass or disrupt the Solid 
Democratic South. 
N 
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