1912. 
WHLC RURAt, NEW-YORKER 
1063 
LARGE PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 
[Editor's Note.—U nder this heading we intend to 
have discussed questions which particularly interest 
country people. \ye do not agree with all that our 
correspondents say, but we shall give men and women 
who possess the courage of conviction an opportunity to 
say what they think about certain things which interest 
country people]. 
THE REAL ISSUES—BARNES & MURPHY. 
I voted for Cleveland, for Bryan twice, 
for Parker and against Bryan for Taft. 
Bet me give my reasons for voting for 
Roosevelt: In a negative way there are 
so many reasons in Mr. Taft’s record as 
President, and in the history of the Demo¬ 
cratic party why farmers should vote the 
Progressive ticket this Pall that space for¬ 
bids an enumeration of them. 1 am not 
unmindful of the high character and 
courage of the present Democratic candi¬ 
date in saying this. But I consider there 
is a vital issue in this campaign which 
surmounts the much-talked-of tariff, recip¬ 
rocity or control of trusts. It is the very 
foundation of self government —honesty in 
politics. Theodore Roosevelt and the Pro¬ 
gressive party stand for honest politics as 
do neither of the old parties. Even Roose¬ 
velt’s bitterest enemies, who charge him 
with accepting campaign contributions from 
trusts, must admit that he failed to de¬ 
liver the goods for which the money is 
alleged to have been paid. To come closer 
to the point, my first reason for voting for 
Roosevelt is William Barnes, Jr., of- Al¬ 
bany, N. Y. ; second, Charles Murphy of 
New York City and Good Ground, L. I. 
Not that I have anything against these 
gentlemen personally. I don’t like what 
they stand for in politics—boss rule and 
corrupt use of money to influence elections 
and legislation. With few exceptions, ever 
since I came of age, I have been compelled 
to vote for a “stool pigeon” of one or the 
other of these gentlemen or their prede¬ 
cessors, who were no better than they. I 
haven’t words to express the satisfaction I 
feel at the prospect of landing a blow 
through the ballot box on the bosses of 
both the old political parties, and help 
put one or both of them out of the ring. 
I am among those who saw Mr. Roosevelt 
enter the fight for the Republican nomina¬ 
tion against President Taft with a great 
deal of regret. He had enjoyed the high¬ 
est honors his country had to bestow on 
any man, and therefore had nothing to 
gain in the way of personal glory, and all 
to lose. His entering the fight at so great 
a sacrifice to himself has accomplished 
something, which, if he never did anything 
else worthy of commendation, should earn 
him the everlasting gratitude of all the 
people. Certainly it has earned him the 
undying hatred of selfish politicians. Roose¬ 
velt, as no other man could, has made it 
impossible for a set of politicians ever 
again to nominate a candidate for Presi¬ 
dent against the expressed wishes of the 
voters! 
Again, farmers should vote for Roose¬ 
velt on his record as Governor of New 
York State and as President. No other 
President showed the interest in agricul¬ 
ture and farm people. His Country Elfe 
Commission is regarded by many as im¬ 
practical and barren of results. I share 
that opinion. At the same time there is 
no question that Mr. Roosevelt inaugu¬ 
rated the movement with the highest pur¬ 
poses and best of intentions. We can for¬ 
give mistakes and shortcomings when actu¬ 
ated by honest motives. In view of his 
record to keep his promises and his ad¬ 
mitted ability to “do things,” Roosevelt’s 
speech at Hartford, which was printed in 
last week’s issue of The R. N.-Y., in which 
he outlined needed farm legislation, should 
in my estimation be taken at its face 
value. To conclude, the Progressive party 
offers farmers a chance to make their bal¬ 
lots count against bribery and corruption 
in politics, which have been at the root 
of most of the oppression which they have 
been obliged to bear for the past 50 years. 
l. v. i>. 
A DEMOCRAT FOR ROOSEVELT. 
I am supporting Roosevelt primarily be¬ 
cause I am a Democrat; believing that 
government by the people is absolutely 
necessary for the highest welfare of all 
the people. Under neither of the old party 
organizations have the people been allowed 
to rule. Their plainly declared will has 
been persistently thwarted by our self- 
appointed rulers—the possessors of special 
privilege—through their control of legis¬ 
lators and officials. The people overwhelm¬ 
ingly declared for tariff reform in electing 
Cleveland. The henchmen of special privi¬ 
lege in the Democratic party utterly de¬ 
feated that will. That party is now, as 
then, controlled by a solid South whose 
ideals are those of an outgrown past allied 
with discredited organizations, like Tam¬ 
many, in the North. It has served the 
country as the party of opposition in check¬ 
ing the abuses of the party of special privi¬ 
lege, which the Republican party has be¬ 
come ; but when entrusted with power has 
demonstrated its inefficiency in constructive 
work owing to lack of unity of purpose. 
Mr. Wilson is a splendid man with good 
intentions, but I do not believe that the 
party behind him will give him the sup¬ 
port essential to efficiency. His nomina¬ 
tion was forced by the nomination of 
Roosevelt, and the great majority of the 
men in the Democratic organization regard 
him as they regard their platform, only as 
a means of getting into power. Mr. Wil¬ 
son’s statements—in effect—that their plat¬ 
form was not a programme for action but 
was to be taken with allowances and men¬ 
tal reservations, convinces me that his 
convictions are not strenuous enough to 
enable him to lead his party against the 
will of those of its leaders whose ideal 
of a President is a party politician rather 
than a statesman. Moreover, I believe 
Mr. Wilson’s and his party’s solution of 
the great problem of corporation control 
to be a demonstrated failure. Between 
the “devil” of combinations of capital and 
selfishness and the “deep sea” of Social¬ 
ism, promoted by class hatred, Mr. Roose¬ 
velt’s way of regulation by a strong gov¬ 
ernment, chosen by and responsive to the 
popular will, opens up with promise of 
progress into a better future for us all. 
I believe that Mr. Roosevelt’s deepest sym¬ 
pathies are with the common people and 
that he is honestly and earnestly engaged 
in their fight for their rights. His effici¬ 
ency as their leader is unquestionably im¬ 
mense. His sacrifice of comfort and his 
courageous facing of storms of disreputable 
abuse spring, I believe, from a desire to 
serve the people. He is not a perfect man, 
nor is he always right, but he is a man of 
vision whose heart responds fo the needs 
of the common people, and whose head re¬ 
spects the wisdom of their decisions. I 
believe that Roosevelt and the great ma¬ 
jority of those who follow him are 
struggling and wisely planning .for the good 
of all in seeking first the welfare of the 
millions—which is only another expression 
for “seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven 
and its righteousness,” which is summed up 
in the Golden Rule. 
I ignore Mr. Taft, as the forces which 
control, him and nominated him are un¬ 
worthy of an honest man’s regard. 
In this State, where we are effectually 
forbidden any choice of public servants, 
save those willing to be tools of Barnes 
and Murphy, or bosses of their sort, the 
need of the Progressive party is over¬ 
whelming. Before we can secure or en¬ 
force reform of any kind we must have 
officials responsive to the people’s will, 
and this the two old organizations are 
absolutely one in opposing. Our hope is 
in the new party. Mr. Roosevelt's part in 
making an army certain of victory out of 
the multitude of good men who were 
largely helpless, because unorganized, has 
my hearty appreciation. Finally: I am 
supporting him because of the men who 
are fighting him. The man whom crooked 
business and crooked bosses fear is the 
man the country needs in power. 
WILLIS G. BOOTH. 
THE CASE OF MR. TAFT. 
Part II. 
Mr. Wilson differs from Mr. Roosevelt 
in being an honest man of kindly impulses, 
who would try to avoid squabbles with our 
neighbors, who would not be a “danger¬ 
ous” executive, but who would be ineffi¬ 
cient, precisely as he is now making an 
inefficient Governor of New Jerseey. For 
easy, graceful, attractive speech he has 
few equals, but his intelligence has never 
successfully bridged the gap between plan 
and action, except by proceeding on all- 
fours with our most reprobated “bosses.” 
Both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Roosevelt are 
promising a highly centralized, personal ad¬ 
ministration, in flat contradiction to their 
heated denunciations of “bosses.” We have 
been about SO years in building up a re¬ 
formed civil service. Mr. Taft has made 
greater progress here than any previous 
President. Mr. Roosevelt never hesitated 
to use and defend the use of all possible 
patronage. Mr. Wilson, as Governor, is 
doing the same thing, and his appointments 
are third class. 
And now I make the flat statement that 
farmers and wage earners are more pros¬ 
perous, absolutely and relatively, to-day 
than at any time in our history. About 
two months ago this fact was brought out 
clearly at a convention of building associa¬ 
tions at Atlantic City. Savings banks re¬ 
ports also show large increases in depos¬ 
its. Plainly this means that in spite of 
the high cost of living, and of “predatory 
interests,” more money is being saved 
to-day than under any previous condition. 
Now, Mr. Taft does not create this pros¬ 
perity. People build up their own pros¬ 
perous conditions when the administration 
removes obstacles, promotes justice and in¬ 
spires confidence, but a rash, unwise, trucu¬ 
lent President can “knock prosperity over 
the ropes” in one day. 
Here lies Mr. Taft’s great strength. His 
mistakes are not fundamental. They are 
the errors of a kindly, deliberate man, who 
is right at the heart, and they are not 
irreparable. For the sake of argument I 
am willing to admit the accusations made 
against him, and then to maintain that 
he is the most efficient man occupying the 
office since Mr. Cleveland; that he has 
given the country the best civil administra¬ 
tion in our time. 
The Post Office Department has been 
made to pay by straightforward applica¬ 
tion of business competence, and if Con¬ 
gress would permit second-class mail to 
be charged for the cost of the service, both 
the parcels post and penny postage would 
be here. Why should the writer of a letter 
help pay for the transportation of a lot 
of patent medicine and corset advertise¬ 
ments, garnished with a little worthless 
so-called literature? Misleading, trashy, 
humbug advertisements cost plain people 
today more than all of their oppression by 
“capitalistic interests.” An incompetent 
Congress, afraid of the country storekeeper, 
tried to head off the parcels post, and did 
hold back other postal reform. 
Did Mr. Roosevelt ever exert himself to 
economize in the use of public funds? Was 
he not continually asking for increased ap¬ 
propriations ? Mr. Taft has repeatedly pro¬ 
posed reforms in court procedure to render 
justice more expeditious and less expensive, 
and he asserted at Columbus a few days 
ago that litigants suffer more from delay 
and expense than from unjust and biased 
decisions. Farmers, as a rule, are slow to 
appeal to law, principally on account of 
expense and loss of time. Delays, appeals, 
etc., especially when people live at a Mis- 
tance from the court, wear out your heart, 
and you often are compelled by circum¬ 
stances to endure injustice rather than take 
your day in court. Mr. Taft’s proposals 
are definite, and I believe that farmers, by 
a large majority, would prefer speedy and 
cheap procedure, to the opportunity to vote 
as a body on decisions unsatisfactory to 
the defeated litigants. However, an ex¬ 
ecutive can only recommend, the remedy 
being with legislature and congress. 
Mr. Taft has a keen conception of the 
difference between the legislative, executive 
and judicial departments of our govern¬ 
ment, and, respecting the constitution, is 
not attempting to mix them up as his pre¬ 
decessor did, and is promising to do again, 
should he be given a third term, with a 
self-interpreted mandate to run amuck with 
the laws. 
Messrs. Roosevelt and Wilson are con¬ 
tinually talking about “bosses” taking 
away power from the people, and yet pro¬ 
claim what each will do and will not per¬ 
mit. Are we ready for a benevolent 
despot? Ts a man in sight of such pre¬ 
eminent -irtue and competence possessing 
the confidence of a majority of the people? 
Are we really to disregard the Sherman- 
Edmunds law and appoint a general man¬ 
ager for all corporations? This law has 
been in existence 20 years; it is the first 
attempt to control combinations of capital 
for interstate business. Mr. Roosevelt 
seemed to be afraid of it for seven years, 
and bungled when trying to use it. Mr. 
Taft started its enforcement with able law¬ 
yers, and the results are now applauded 
by all competent thinkers. Barge corpora¬ 
tions to-day have their proper course 
marked out fairly well, and this special and 
important branch of conduct and legal 
science is being developed by discussion 
and trial, to the interest of investor and 
consumer. Mr. Taft is not dictating to 
courts nor abusing judges. The simple 
characteristics of the man recommend him 
to me, and I think that when farmers re¬ 
flect they will see that, as a class, their 
interests lie predominantly in smooth and 
just government. We want no special fa¬ 
vors, nor class legislation. We want to 
travel the path of progress safely and 
surely, and not slip back each time we try 
to step forward. Social and industrial 
progress has nothing of the guerilla style, 
and we may pray to be not led into am¬ 
bush where enemies made powerful by our 
ignorance and credulity may successfully 
assault our institutions. m. p. 
Pennsylvania. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.—Evidence of gross irregu¬ 
larities in the recent South Carolina Demo¬ 
cratic primary was heard by the primary 
investigating committee at Spartanburg. 
September 25. John T. Duncan, who polled 
about 3,000 of the 140,000 votes for Gov¬ 
ernor, submitted an affidavit alleging that 
during the last week of the campaign 
.$108,000 was spent in the interest of 
Judge Ira B. Jones, whom Governor Blease 
defeated for the nomination by a small 
majority In some district, Duncan de¬ 
clared, from $10 to $16 each was paid for 
votes for Jones. 
A small but extremely Irritating form 
of graft, practiced for years, is charged 
against Walter M. Alexander, alleged pro¬ 
prietor of the “Wurtemburg Kennels,” at 
Columbus, Qhio. Alexander’s scheme was 
an easy and cheap one, the detectives say. 
He never had any kennels; he never had 
any dogs, they claim, but he advertised ex¬ 
tensively in magazines and newspapers that 
he was a breeder and seller of certain 
dogs, notably Great Danes and St. Ber¬ 
nards. He furnished catalogues and pedi¬ 
grees to prospective customers and lured 
them along. But when he got the money 
for the dogs he threw it in the bottom of 
his trunk, and the would-be purchaser, 
according to many complaint, never got 
any Great Dane. The “dog fancier” was 
arraigned before United States Commis¬ 
sioner Shields in New York September 27 
and Assistant United States Attorney Her¬ 
bert B. Gruber made the complaint, offer¬ 
ing a copy of an indictment returned in 
Ohio in December, 1907. Alexander waived 
examination and consented to return to Co¬ 
lumbus for examination. 
'Five members of one family were 
drowned in the lake at Omemee, Ontario, 
September 28, the victims being William 
McCaffrey of Toronto, sales manager of 
the Canadian General Electric Company, 
his mother, wife and two children. A 14- 
pound muscalonge which had been hooked 
by Mr. McCaffrey was responsible for the 
deaths of the family party. Clutched in 
the hands of Mr. McCaffrey when his body 
was found was a trolling line, and on the 
hook was a 14-pound muscalonge. The big 
pike was still alive, and thrashed the water 
violently as he was drawn in. The coroner 
said there was no doubt that the fish had 
struck the line of Mr. McCaffrey and hooked 
himself, and that in the efforts of Mr. Mc¬ 
Caffrey to get it into the boat the canoe 
was overturned and he and his family per¬ 
ished. 
Fire of unknown origin almost wholly 
destroyed the Wyandotte, Mich., plant of 
the Detroit Shipbuilding Company, Sep¬ 
tember 28. Officers of the eo'ncern say the 
loss may be over $200,000. An excursion 
steamer in the course of construction, at 
an estimated cost of $1,500,000, was saved. 
J. B. Bongstaff. the English aviator, was 
carrying a passenger to the finish of a 
flight at the Hempstead (Bong Island) avi¬ 
ation field September 28, when his biplane 
buckled and plunged to the ground. Long- 
staff was picked from the wreckage with 
a broken skull and died four hours later 
in the Nassau Hospital. His passenger, 
Pierre Chevellier of Manhattan lies at the 
hospital unconscious and seriously injured, 
but he will recover. Lieut. Lears C. Rock¬ 
well and Corporal Frank Scott, attached 
to the army aviation school at College 
Park, Aid., near Washington, are dead as 
the result of an aeroplane accident there 
the same evening. The accident was due 
to the failure of the motor to stop running 
when Lieut. Rockwell reached up to cut 
it off. The machine was only 30 feet from 
the ground and Lieut Rockwell was trying 
to make a landing, when it plunged head 
downward to the earth. The machine was 
going 75 miles an hour. Since the start 
of aviation in 1908, 183 deaths have re¬ 
sulted from accidents. The number of in¬ 
jured runs into thousands. Two Italian 
aviators were killed the previous week. The 
British army has lost four officers and the 
United States army a like number. The 
French army has been the worst sufferer. 
United States settlers entering Canada 
during the first five months of the current 
fiscal year, according to a statement issued 
by the Canadian Government, September 
30, exceeded the arrivals last year by 10 
per cent. There were 73.209 arrivals in 
the western Provinces this year. The Gov¬ 
ernment states that they brought with 
them in cash and property upward of $110,- 
000,000. 
Property valued at $1,000,000 was de¬ 
stroyed by flames which swept Pier 80. 
South Wharves, at the foot of Snyder 
avenue, Philadelphia. Pa.. October 1. The 
pier, owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Rail¬ 
road. and valued at $350,000, was entirely 
destroyed. Merchandise loaded on ■ the 
structure was valued at an equal amount, 
and the adjoining property was damaged 
to the extent of more than a quarter of 
a million dollars. Laborers had their es¬ 
cape to the shore cut off by the flames, but 
were rescued by tugs. The pier was used 
by the Hamburg-American Line and the 
Italian Line of steamships as a landing 
place for immigrants and freight. 
David Bruce-Brown, the wealthy New 
York automobile racer, was killed and his 
mechanic. Anthony Scudaera, was prob¬ 
ably fatally injured at Milwaukee, Wis., 
October 1, when the loss of a rear tire 
from the car in which they were trying 
to break all records for road driving 
hurled them through the fence that sur¬ 
rounds the track on which the Vanderbilt 
cup contest was held. In the circuit of 
the track which immediately preceded his 
accident Bruce-Brown had done the 7.8S 
miles in five minutes and 53 seconds, a rate 
of speed averaging 80.4 miles, the fastest 
at which a machine has ever been driven 
on a road course. The official world record 
is 78% miles. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—The Negro 
Farmers’ Conference at Hampton Normal 
and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Va„ 
will be held November 20-21. There is an 
extensive premium list of farm and garden 
products, manual and domestic work. 
The fifty-eighth annual meeting of the 
Western New York Horticultural Society 
will be held at Rochester, N. Y., Decem¬ 
ber 11-13. 
A new kind of a field meeting was re¬ 
cently held near Lebanon, Pa. This was 
a horse breeders’ meeting, held at the farm 
of Dr. R. G. Tlyniea, a large horse breeder. 
Demonstrations were given, and exhibits 
made, which greatly interested the spec¬ 
tators. Dr. Hynica claims that sick horses 
are often sent from the West to the East 
and worked off upon farmers and others. 
In addition to the usual programme at 
such meetings, a novelty was introduced. 
A worn-out, old horse, badly used up with 
spavins and other infirmities, was killed 
and dissected in order to show the effect 
of various diseases and their treatment. 
These field meetings are becoming very 
popular with farmers. They evidently give 
far greater satisfaction than a meeting 
held in a hall, where people must sit and 
listen to addresses often dry and unin¬ 
teresting. 
The importance of the fifth National 
Apple Show to be held in Spokane, No¬ 
vember 11 to 17, is recognized by the 
United States Department of Agriculture, 
which will send its expert in fruit identi¬ 
fication and standardization to narticipate 
in the judging. Officials of three large 
railroads are taking great interest in the 
show. II. C. Sampson, vice president and 
general manager of the apple show, has 
received telegrams from Louis W. Hill, 
chairman of the Great Northern Railway 
board of directors, announcing a contri¬ 
bution of $1,000; from Howard Elliott, 
president Northern Pacific, $1,000; from 
J. D. Farrell, president, and J. P. O’Brien 
and Robert IC. Straliorn, vice presidents, of 
the Harriman • lines in the Northwest, 
$1,000. James J. Hill, former president of 
the Great Northern, will pay $1,000 for 
the best 100 boxes of apples exhibited at 
the show. Mr. Hill will send a repre¬ 
sentative to select the apples. 
The Virginia State Horticultural Society 
offers $50 for the best five boxes of any 
varieties of listed apples (one box of a 
variety), open to competition to growers 
in any State (including Virginia) and 
Canada. All apple growers in North 
America are cordially invited to enter for 
this competition, in which Virginia chal¬ 
lenges anyone to beat her. Notify Walter 
Whately, secretary, Virginia State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, Crozet, Va., of entries, 
which must be received not later than De¬ 
cember 20. The competition will be held 
at the fruit exhibit in connection with the 
annual meeting of this society at Lynch¬ 
burg, Va.. January 8-10, 1913. This is a 
real sporting offer, and so far as known 
has never been made by the apple growers 
of any other State. While this challenge 
has been made by the Virginians for the 
past three years, so far no one outside the 
State has taken it up. 
At its first called meeting, Syracuse, N. 
Y., the Cumberland White Egg Indian Run¬ 
ner Club made the striking record of 
adding one-third to its membership. Though 
members are to be allowed to breed other 
varieties, the club stands firmly for, the 
White-egg first, and will expel any mem¬ 
ber wilfully offering any outside stock (or 
eggs) as strictly white-egg stock of the 
Cumberland type. It stands for the Pen¬ 
ciled White Egg Runner, originally sent 
out from Cumberland, England, as the best 
all-round bird at the present time. The 
officers are: President, C. S. Valentine, 
Ridgewood, N. J.; vice president, Mrs. 
Andrew Brooks, Auburn, N. Y.; secretary- 
treasurer, C. K. Vanderbilt, Lyons, N. Y. 
The chairman of the committee*on business 
unity is William C. Degelman, Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 
COMING FARMERS’ MEETINGS. 
Illinois Fair, Springfield. October 4-12. 
Hagerstown, Md., Fair. October 15-18. 
International Dry Farming Congress, 
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, Congress of 
Farm Women, week beginning October 21. 
Eighteenth annual meeting of the New 
Hampshire Horticultural Society, Alton, 
N. II.. October 23-25. 
National Dairy Show, Chicago, October 
24-November 2. 
Massachusetts Fruit Show, under aus¬ 
pices of State Board of Agriculture and 
Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association, 
Horticultural Hall, Boston, Mass., Novem¬ 
ber 7-10. 
Annual meeting of the American Associa¬ 
tion of Farmers’ Institute Workers, At¬ 
lanta, Ga., November 11-13. 
Annual meeting of the Association of 
American Agricultural Colleges and Experi¬ 
ment Stations, Atlanta, Ga., November 
11-13. 
Annual meeting of the Maine State Po- 
mological Society, City Hall, Portland, Me., 
November 12-14. 
Pacific Northwest Land Products Show, 
Portland. Ore., November 18-23. 
Indiana Apple Show, Indianapolis. No¬ 
vember 13-19; secretary, C. G. Woodbury, 
Lafayette, Ind. 
Negro Farmers’ Conference, Hampton 
Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hamp¬ 
ton. Va., November 20-21. 
Twin City Poultry and Pigeon Associa¬ 
tion, annual pigeon and poultry show, 
Spring City. Pa.. November 27-30* 
International Live Stock, Chicago, No¬ 
vember 30-Deeember 7. 
New Jersey State Horticultural Society, 
New Brunswick, N. ,T., December 9, 10, 11. 
Fourth Ohio State Apple Show, Zanes¬ 
ville, O.. January 20-24, 1913. 
American Breeders’ Association, Colum¬ 
bia, S. C.. January 25-27, 1913. 
Apple Show, Grand Rapids, Mich., No¬ 
vember 12-16. 
Western New York Ilortleultural So¬ 
ciety, Rochester, N. Y., December 11-13. 
