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THE BIG CLEARANCE SALE
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Sacks, Buggies, Carriages' and Eoad Carts.
gons
MCMDDEN
ATHENA PRESS
Published every Prldy Morning
By J. W. SMITH, Proprietor.
F. B. Boyd, Editor.
Entered at Athena postofllce as second-class
mail matter.
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All communications should be addressed to
he PRESS, Athena, Oregon.
ATHENA AUGUST 21 1896.
FOR president:
WILLIAM J. BRYAN,
OP NEBRASKA.
FOR VICE PRESIDENT. .
ARTHUR SEWALL,
OF MAINE.
"JVo Crown of Thorns,
No Cross of Gold."
WHICH SHALL IT BE?
The danger to our free institu
tions from the centralization of
wealth, and the possibility of the
money power gaining control of the
leins of government, was one
whierh our early statesmen sought
to guard against, and in eloquent
terms did they warn the people to
beware of this threatening menace
to popular government. Washing
ton, Jefferson, Jackson and Web
ster all raised their voices caution
ing tho masses against risking too
much authority in the hands of the
classes. And tho martyred presi.
dent, Abraham Lincoln, whose
sympathies were wholly with the
common people, and who was
nearer to the people than any other
man of his time, soon after the
close of the war, saw this danger,
and he asserted that it caused him
more anxiety for the safety of his
country than even the rebellion. In
a message to tbo thirty-seventh
congress (see pages 309-310 Bar
rett's Life of Lincoln) he Baid:
"Monarchy itself is sometimes
hinted at as a possible refuge from
tho power of the people. In my
present position I could scarcely
be justified were I to omit raising a
warning voice against approaching
despotism. Thero is one point to
which I ask a brief atteution. It
is the effort to place capital on an
equal footing with, if not above,
labor in the structure of the gov
ernment. Let them beware of sur
rendering a political power, which
they already have, and which it
surrendered will certainly be used
to close the door of advancement
against Buch as they, and to fix
new disabilities and burdens upon
them, till all of liberty shall be
lost."
Then iu a subsequent letter Mr.
Lincoln expressed his fears of the
encroachment of the money power
as follows:
"It has indeed been a trying
hour for the republic; but I see in
the near future a crisis approach
ing that unnerves me and causes
me to tremble for the safety of my
country. Asacsult of the war,
corporations have been enthroned
and an era of corruption in high
places will follow, aitl lto money
power of the country will endeavor
to prolong its reign by working up
on tho prejudices of the people, un
til all the wealth is segregated in
a few hands and the republic is
& GORMAN,
destroyed. I feel at this moment
more anxiety for the safety of my
country than ever in the midst of
war.- May God grant that my sus
picions may prove groundless."
Indeed the great Lincoln was al
most prophetic in his suspicions.
What he feared would result has
come to pass. We find at this
time our government in the hands
of corporations and the money
power. In every branch of gov
ernment, in our state legislatures,
in our house of representatives, in
the senate and on the bench we
find the representatives of corpora
tions predominating. And as Pres
ident Lincoln said they would do,
the money power is endeavoring to
"prolong its reign by working upon
the prejudices of the people" im
ploring them to maintain the hon
esty of the currency and at the
same time elect to the highest office
in the, gift of the people, one who is
bound body and soul to administer
a government for the classes. Will
the people be thus gulled into bar
tering away their liberty by eleit-
ing to the presidency the direct
representative of the Corporations,
and aid the money power to tight
en the yoke of financial bondage
about their necks?' Are they ready
to surrender their right to rule
this nation and turn it over to the
classes? Or will they heed the
warning of grand, honest old Abe
Lincoln and elect to the presidency
a man whom the corporations, the
trusts, the money brokers abhor?
Times-Mountaineer.
The Boston Herald observes
that "it would not be at all sur
prising if in the next ten years the
rate of progress in the south were
not more rapid than in any other
section of the country." On the
contrary, if that were not the case
it would afford ample cause for as
tonishment. During the past ten
years the rate of progress in the
south has been marvelous. But it
was only the beginning of a de
velopment which will not reach
full fruition within a quarter of a
century, though it will increase in
volume and velocity with each
year. At the conclusion of the war
the south was prostrate in destitu
tion and helplessness. For near ten
years following the odious carpet
bagger sapped the fruits of her en
deavor, and the next decade was
devoted to the re-building of her
lost resources, but since that she
has been moving forward and dur
ing the last few years her pi ogress
has been unparalleled in any part
ofthewoild. The south is especi
ally rich in elements of wealth, and
the people have at last learned to
utilize the advantages with which
generous nature has endowed her.
In iron, coal, cotton and various
other Btaple products of the earth
and soil Bhe is provided more boun
tifully than any other section of
the common country and the fact
that manufacturing enterprises
have found their way to these ex
haustless sources of supply is
the natural consequence of the
change of industrial conditions.
The iron furnaces of Alabama and
the cotton factories of Georgia, Ten
nessee and other cotton producing
Btates have enjoyed a prosperity
during the past three years that
has existed in no other quarter,
and the determination to further
and fuller development is the logic
al result. But the full measure
has not yet been reached. There
are other and equally potential
agencies of progress iu -the south
which are still unexplored. These
are the fertility of the soil for ag
ricultural operations, tho vast for
These Vehicles Must he
(Successors to Knapp, BurreM Company)
ests of timber and the facilities for
international commerce. The har
bor advantages of New Orleans and
Galveston will sooner or later
challenge the consideration of cap
italists. As population increases
in the south and west the contiguity
of these points to the consumers as
well as the producers of merchan
dise will lead to the establishment
of great commercial houses in the
western and southern cities through
which the products may bo distrib
uted without the great expense of
long hauls by rail from the eastern
seaboard. In view of these facts
the prediction of the Boston Her
and may be relied upon,
That "deadly parallel" now ap
pearing in the goldbug press, un
der the title of "Silver vs. Gold,"
and purporting to be a comparison
of wages and cost of food, clothing
and furniture in Mexico and the
United States is indeed a paralyz
er. The prices ot furniture in the
two countries is especially surpris
ing, and why manufacturers will
sell a three-piece oak bedroom set
for $30 in the United States when
they can get 1200 in Mexico for it,
which is equal to $108 in our mon
ey, is a conundrum. Other items
in the furniture line are practical
ly on the same ratio. In food pro
ducts the difference is not so great,
although bread is quoted at 3 cents
per pound in this country and 12
cents iu Mexico. The statement
that the average pay for labor in
the United States is $40 per month
is another surprise. The term "la
bor," as used, is presumed to mean
unskilled labor, and every one
knows that where that class of la
bor is employed by the month the
average of wages is nearer $10 than
$40.
It is stated that the average pay
for labor in Mexico is $8 per
month. This is presumably some
where near the truth, for in a dis
patch in the Sunday Oregonian it
is stated that laborers in Mexico
are paid 40 cents a day and board
or 50 cents a day without board.
Either the employers don't feed
their "hands" anything, or else the
cost of living is greatly exaggerated
in that "deadly parallel." For
with food products 100 per cent,
higher in Mexico than here, it
would puzzle the most astute
goldbug to board laborers for 10
conts a day. Even in this country
where everything is so remarkably
reasonable, no one pretends to
board men at 10 cents a day.
Hence it is an easy matter to see
that there is something materially
wrong in the parallel business, or
in the Oregoniau's news service.
La Grande Chronicle.
When a farmer has toiled like a
Blave for a year, only to find that
his produce will not pay his ex
panses 6f living, it soothes his feel
ings and makes him happy and
contented to be told that he is an
anarchist and a lunatic. And he is
particularly happy when he reflects
that the persons calling him an
anarchist are those who profit by
the laws that rob him.
In one of his speeches on his
way to New York, Mr. Bryan, to
tho statement that his "Chicago
speech nominated him," replied
that it was not, but that "the peo
ple had placed him in nomina
tion." There is no question about
this. A man that received over
two-thirds of the votes of his own
party in a convention in which he
was hardly known as a probable
candidate the daj before, without
even headquarters; the unanimous
nominee of a national silver party,
INSURANCE
Other Companies
without his solicitation, and who
received over one thousand out of
thirteen hundred votes in the pop
ulist convention in the face of an
organized opposition, can truly
say that he was nominated by the
nennlA Tf AlAfffid Tin will Viavn no(
master but the people to serve.
Do not pay any attention to the
wild vaporings of the enemies of
union in the great fight for freedom
now going on in this country.
Since the forces of reform united at
Ellensborg to sweep this state and
save it from the rapacity of , re
publican cormorants by whom it
has been robbed and looted, the
gold bugs are ranting like wild
bulls in a China shop. The people
are leaving them bo rapidly that
they are almost insane to Bee their
chances gone for ever for living
like Nabobs off the earnings of the
people. Drive them to work.
Washington Independent.
The large crowds that have
greeted Mr. Bryan at every stop
during his journey to New York
demonstrate the truth of Mr.
Bland's statement, when he said
that the plain people of the east
are as much in favor of free silver
as the voters of the west and south.
W, R. Hearst, proprietor of the
San Francisco Examiner and the
New York Journal, has entered the
journalistic field of Chicago. The
Enquirer is the name of the paper
and it advocates free silver.
The Democratic Platform.
The platform which has been heralded
to the people of these United Statea by
the democratic party in convention as
sembled, on which it is predicted the
brilliant Bryan will be swept to victory
by a tidal wave ia aa follows :
We, the democrats of the United States,
in national convention assembled, do re
affirm our allegiance to thsee great essen
tial principles of justice and liberty upon
which oar institutions are founded, and
which the democratic party baa main
tained from Jefferson's time to our own
freedom of speech, freedom of the press,
freedom of conscience, the preservation
of personal rights, the equality of all
citizens before the law, ant the faithful
observance of constitutional limitations.
Recognizing that the money question
is paramount to all others at this time,
we invite attention to the fact that the
federal constitution names silver and
gold together as the money metal 8 of the
United States, and that the first coinage
law passed by congress under the consti
tution made the silver dollar the unit of
value and admitted gold to free coinage,
at a ratio measured by the silver dollar
unit.
We declare that tho act of 1873 de
monetising silver without the knowledge
or approval of the American people has
resulted in the appreciation of gold find
a corresponding fall in tho prices of
commodities produced by the people ; a
heavy increase in tho burden of taxation,
and of all debts, public and private; the
enrichment of the money-lending clawes
at home and abroad ; paralysis of indus
tries and impoverishment of the people.
We are unalterably opposed to the sin
gle gold standard, which has locked fast
the prosperity of an industrious people
in the paralysis of hani limta -io!d
monflroetaiiUiu is a British policy,
founded t;pon BiUish g wJ gi8t.i
Sold at Once
I write Insurance only with the very best Companies. When you
want Policies written on your house, barn, or grain, see that
they are in the Aetna, Palatine or Caledonian.
Represented.
J W.
p-wer, and its general adoption baa
brought other nations into financial ser
vitude to London. It is not only un
American, but anti-American, and it can
be fastened upon the United States only
by the stifling of that indomitable spirit
and love of liberty which proclaimed our
political independence in 1776 and won
it in the war of the Revolution.
We demand the immediate restoration
of the free and unlimited coinage of gold
and silver at the present legal ratio of 16
to 1, without waiting for the aid or con
sent of any other nation. We demand
that the standard silver dollar shall be a
fall legal tender, equally with gold, for
all debts, public and private, and we
favor auch legislation as will prevent the
demonetization of any kind of legal
tender money by private contract.
We are opposed to the policy and practice
of surrendering to holdera of obligations of
the United Btates any option reserved by
law to the government of redeeming auch
obligationa in either silver coin or gold
coin.
We are opposed to the issuing of
interest bearing bonds of the United
States in time of peace, and condemn
trafDcing with banking syndicates which,
in exchange for bonds at an enormous
profit to themselves, supply the federal
treasury with gold to maintain a policy
of gold monometallism.-
Congress alone has power to coin and
issue money and President Jackson
declared that this power could not be
delegated to corporations or individuals.
We therefore demand ' that the power
to issue notes be taken from the banks
and that all paper shall be issued direct
ly by the treasury department. We
hold that tariff duties should be levied
solely for the purpose of revenue and
that taxation should be limited by
the needs of the government, honestly
and economically -administered. We
denounce as disturbing to business
the republican threat to restore the Mc
Kinley law, which has twice been con
demned by the people in national
elections, and which, enacted under the
false plea of protection to home industry,
proved a prolific breeder of trusts and
monopolies, enriching the few at the ex
pense of the many, restricted trade and
deprived the producers of the great Amer
ican staples of access to their natural
markets. Until . the money question
ia settled, we are opposed to any agitation
for further changes in our tariff laws ex
cept such as are necessary to make the
deficit in revenue, caused by the ad
verse decision of the supreme court
as to the income tax.
There would have been no deficit in
the federal revenue during the last two
years but for the annulment by the
supreme court of the income tax law,
placed upon the statute books by a demo
cratic congress. The obstruction to an
income tax, which the supreme court dis
covered in the constitution after it had
laid hidden for a hundred years, must be
removed, to the end that accumulated
wealth may be made to bear its juet share
of the burden of the government. We,
therefore, favor an amendment to the
federal constitution that will permit the
levy of an income tax. We hold that the
efficient way of protecting " American
labor ia to prevent the importation of
foreign pauper labor to compete with the
home market, and tbat the value of the
borne market to our American farmers
and artisans is greatly reduced by a
vicious monetary system which depresses
the prices of their product below the cost
of production, and that deprives them ot
the means of satisfying their needs. We
denounce the profligate waste of the
money wrung from the people by oppres
sive taxation and lavish appropriations
of recent republican congresses, which
have kept taxes high, while the laborer
that pave them is unemployed, and pro
ducts of the people are depressed in price
until they no longer repay the cost of
production. We demand a return to tbat
simplicity and economy which best befits I
a democratic government, and a rednc- I
tion in the number of useless offices, the 3
salaries of which drain the substance of j
the people. Confiding in the justice of
our cause and tne necessity oi its success
at the polls, we submit the foregoing
declaration of principles and purposes to
the considerate judgment of the American
people. . We invite the support of all
citiiens who approve them and who de
sire o have them nia.'e effective thrcuah
leg'sUtion tor tie nlie of the peop'e
and tie restoration of the C"i;rtyV
prosperity.
WaUa Walla, Wash.
SMITH, Athena, Oregon..
W. D. HANSFOED & CO.,
Dealers In
Hardware...
and Stoves
TIN AND COPPER WARE.
Pumps, Pipe, etc., . - ; . '. Baker Barbed Wire.
PLUMBING A SPECIALTY. ALL WORK GUARANTEED.
629 Main Street, Pendleton, Oregon.
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chinery. General Blacksmithing.
W. L, ZEIGER, - - Helix, Ore-
Shop