Plaindealer

Mr. Bailey Has Been Telling What He Would Do. Mr. Curtis Does Not Talk; His Acts, Like Money, Talk. It Seems That Ignorance Is Happiest When It Is Most Violent and Vicious. However, Where Ignorance Is Bliss, Etc, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE EMANCIPATOR. Time is fleeting : so many old settlers did not realize till after it had gone that yesterday was Washington's birthday. VOLUME II. Akraham Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin county, Kentucky. His parents removed during his youth to Indiana, and a little later to Illinois. They were of what is known as poor white trash; and Lincoln's family seems to have been as humble and lowly as any in the miserable camp. His mother died in his youth and he was blessed with a good stepmother, who as he said, made him feel like a human being by her improved manner of living; but this was little. He had about twelve months schooling altogether, but educated himself by years of hard study. He read law, was elected to the Legislature of Illinois, and made a good record. Was elected to Congress in 1854. Made no unusual reputation only for being a level headed thinker. Became famous in the contest with Douglass for the United States Senate in 1858. Was elected president of the United States in 1860; was shot by J. Wilkes Booth, April fourteenth, 1865, and died April fifteenth, 1865. One man said, "The history of the world is the history of heroes." Not that the history of heroes makes the sum total of humanity, but that those who give shape and trend to the world's destiny must be cast in an heroic mould. Search among the heroes of the dead years past, runmage amid the books of the dead eagles, reproduce the echoes of Time's chiming bells, conjure up your legendary characters, and whether you search the roll of military chiefsains who cut their way to bloody glory, or statesmen with grasp sufficiently comprehensive to guide the destinies of empires or any of earth's benetactors, you find none surpassing this incomparable man. Mr. Lincoln stands out before the world a lawyer, orator, statesman, emancipator and as a man. As a lawyer, his power lay not so much in his knowledge of the law as in his keen, analytical powers, his thoroughness, his ability to cross-question and convince the jury of the justness of his cause. To begin with, his law was self-taught, and while with most men this implies a limited knowledge, with a man of Lincoln's calibre, who always went to the bottom of his subject, it can never mean a lack of ability. A good general is he who can skillfully handle his force on any and every emergency. Tried by this standard, Lincoln was a great lawyer. His wonderful powers were once displayed when he defended the widow's son, charged with murder. A party of young men engaged in an altercation one night in which one was stabbed to death. At once suspicion fell on the widow's son. As the time for trial approached, the evidence against his client appeared conclusive and his conviction seemed certain. The main witness for the prosecution swore that he actually saw the accused stab the dead man by the light of the moon. Lincoln cross-questioned him, broke down his honeycombed, perjured evidence, proved that at the hour the murder was committed it was as dark as midnight, as the moon had not risen. He then turned on the perjurer and so swift and bitter was his denunciation, filled with invective, disgust, and scorn, that under the awful and merciless exorcitation and the hot bolts of fiery condemnation the perjurer rose and fled from the court-room and the jury acquitted the accused youth without quitting the box. When the widowed mother approached him and with tears of gratitude asked his charges, he an swered, "Nothing from you but your prayers; and, young man, I want you to go home, be a good man and take care of your mother as long as you live." This was Abraham Lincoln's way of doing things. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my little ones: ye have done it unto me." Who said it? Jesus Christ. Who lived to practice it? Abraham Lincoln. If all men were so moulded. The Plaindealer. Dr. Sheldon's book—"What would Jesus do?"—would be a surplus article in the market. Happily, God raised up such a man to set the most devout an example of noble endeavor. He would never take the wrong side of a case; his wonderful talents were never enlisted save on the side of mercy and justice. How such a life stands out in condemnation of those who can be hired to hound down and destroy those of whose sins they know not! The Spirit of the Divine Christ rather than that of the "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Who cares to be the Shylock demanding the pound of flesh? Who cares to pursue to the grave the fallen, weak one, the helpless being in your power? Who cannot see that Lincoln's way was right? None. I, this moment, challenge history from off her great roster of earth's great—sprinkled as it is with lustrous names—to call the name of one whose principles were more noble and lofty. Once he was besought to take the case of one in the wrong: these words he was overheard to say to his would-be client: "Yes, we could doubtless gain your case for you, we can set a whole neighborhood at loggerheads, we can distress a widowed mother and her six fatherless children and thereby get you six-hundred dollars to which you seem to have a legal claim, but which rightfully belongs, it appears to me, as much to the woman and her children as it does to you. You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right. We shall not take your case; but will give you a little advice for which we will charge nothing. You seem to be a sprightly, energetic man: we would advise you to try your hand at making six-hundred dollars in some other way." He realized that God Himself could not reverse an eternal principle and make right wrong or wrong right. Like the divine idea with him, law must be fashioned after right, not right after law. In these days of lynchings, Jim Crow cars and race hatred, how much we need rulers like Abraham Lincoln, you may decide. As an orator and a literary man, he is entitled to a place among the great of earth, not from so much that he spoke and wrote, as from what he spoke and wrote. The Philippics of Demosthenes who thundered in the Pelloponeus, or Cicero whose deathless fame is brightened by his orations in the forum of Imperial Rome, or Bossuet whose classic periods lifted the aesthetic Frenchman to higher ideals than he had ever known, and Dan. O'Connell who made Killarney's lakes and crags and the land of shamrocks resound with sweet-souled sentiments that enchanted all the world as he dwelt among the stars, or Webster whose mighty powers destroyed the great red dragon nullification on January 26, 1830, in a speech of lofty patronism, the greatest ever delivered in our national Congress, or magnetic Clay who could stand by the crags of his Kentucky mountains and hear the on-coming of America's millions present to day, or classic Sumner who could say: "Say in lofty madness if you will that you own the sun, the stars, the moon; but do not say you own a man endowed with soul to live immortal when sun and moon and stars have passed away," or Frederick Douglass, matchless advocate, who, Moses-like, spoke for his bondaged people, or any prose-painter or poet who understands the chemistry of language, they all find their equal, meet their match in Abraham Lincoln. Who ever stated a cause better than this? "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe the government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided." In making a statement as to slavery he once said: "If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong." No logician could reach a conclusion more apparent and valid. Neither Aristotle nor Bacon could have equaled it. Who could make the statement stronger? No man TOPEKA, KANSAS, FRIDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23, 1900. P. W. T. VERNON, AUTHOR OF "ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE EMANCIPATOR." who lived or ever will live. It is in his Cooper Institute speech that he comes to the full measure of his powers, and realizes what he has within himself. 'Tis here this, the prophet of the wilderness, comes to classic New England with the doctrine of America's redemption. The patricintic sons of Revolutionary sires took fresh courage and went forth to their task of making human rights sacred, inspired by these words of Lincoln, "Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusation against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." With such a spirit, martyrs in any cause in all ages have gladly gone to death. 'Twas such a spirit as this that led him to his maytyrdion and gave to him the martyr's crown; and had he lived among the ancients, this spirit would have given him such defication as they knew, when they looking off into stillly nights at myriad fire worlds playing in the trackless waste, gave to these constellations the names of their worshiped, noblest dean. I can hardly understand how the seeding states could resist the closing, appealing words of his first inaugural: "You can have no con- W. T. VERNON, AUTHOR flict with the government without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle field and patriot's grave to every heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature." Did a father ever appeal more fervently to an undutiful son, did a mother ever appeal more fervently to an undutiful son, did a mother ever appeal more earnestly to a wayward daughter than did this kindly man to the erring seceeding states? Never. No other American president ever so addressed the American people. Thank God as long as men with such hearts as these are enthroned in America's place of power, our country is safe and self government will endure to mock and taunt kingdoms and empires, where some are said to rule by divine right and some to serve by this same God-ordained decree. But in another passage does he seem an avenging prophet, a Heaven-ordained seer, a dispenser of eternal justice as he thus speaks in his second inaugural: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war might pass away; yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two-hundred and fifty years of un-requited toil shall be sunk and every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be repaid by another drawn by the sword—as was said three-thousand years ago, so still it must be said. 'The judgment of the Lord is true and righteous altogether.' With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right—let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the burden of battle, and for his widow and orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting place among ourselves and with all nations." When he uttered these words we were still engaged in the terrible strife in which his heart had been wounded and torn. Every shot that mangled the humblest soldier, ethically struck him. Every groan on every battle field was in his ear night and day, every orphaned son or daughter, every widowed mother was to him a just claimant for his interest and sympathy; the sorrows of a nation were upon him. He was the burden-bearer of the millions of the great republic; and yet out of this fire and storm he comes irradiated—seeing the best and just—rising to such a height as these lines betray as to stand alone upon a mount transfigured. unapproached and unapproachable. But if you desire to see OR OF "ABRAHAM LINCOLN Mr. Lincoln as an orator and prosepoet, read his Gettysburg speech. He concluded thus as he addressed his auditors among the thousands of dead heroes' graves: "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." And of this we say; strike thy lyre of weird musician, teach again thy minstrels how to sing, touch thy devotees and slaves—oh, Muse, once more—let Hom, blind bard, sing again of rosy-fingered morn and Grecian isles and mountains and Trogan tiger strife; let Virgil depict how Aeneas wanderen o'er the earth led by the gods to daring deeds; let Dante whisper what he heard break from the lips of the church—triumphant on the shores of the Paradise of Gods, or Milton' tell us of the Heaven above us, and the immortal Shakespeare, poet of the world, depict character like a superhuman soul; and yet you have seemingly reserved your sweetest strains, your highest notes to be tuned and struck by this horny-handed son of toil, that he might get from human hearts whatever responsive chord he would. The American people took him at his word, and as long as we cherish his memory, and our states men emulate his deeds—the government of which he spoke and for which he wrought and died shall not perish from the face of the earth. This was Abraham Lincoln, the orator. Mr. Lincoln was a great statesman. Seward and Chase, the distinguished competitors of Lincoln for the nomination for the presidency, when called to his cabinet each expected to be president in reality; but it required only a short time for them to discover that the destinies of America were presided over by a master of the situation. Lincoln in all his legislative experience had been noted for extraordinary common sense. He always took a high ground, pleading for moral uprightness; and would have the approval of conscience before he took a stand. With him a permanent victory, the result of educated public opinion, far out-classed a temporary advantage—the result of policy and expediency. He was willing to work and wait. His friends solicited him to not make a certain speech, as it would injure his future materially if not destroy it. This was his reply, "It is true and I will deliver it as it is written. I would rather be defeated with these expressions in my speech held up and discussed before the people than to be victorious without them." Henry Clay did not say anything more noble when he said, "I would N, THE EMANCIPATOR." rather be right than president." When defeated in his contest with Stephen A. Douglass for the United States Senate, he said without a word of regret because of his course against the extension of slavery, "If I had to draw a pen across my record and erase my whole life from sight, and I had one poor gift or choice left as to what I should save from the wreck, I should choose that speech and leave it to go to the world unerased. And now the fight must go on." Again he said, "I believe I have made marks that will tell for the cause of liberty after I am gone." These were the lofty sentiments of his illumined soul. His task as a president was the greatest America has ever furnished for mortal man. God alone foresaw the enormity of the task, and he mercifully prepared Abraham Lincoln for its performance. Had not slavery filled the fountain or liberty with hemlock? Who was to purge its waters? Abraham Lincoln alone. The monarchial systems of Europe were waiting to see American civilization—prophesied as the preserver of the rights of man—stop its march of progress toward the light, turn and re enter the darkness of anarchy and oriental despotism. Some of the issues the solution of which was a part of his task, were the raising of moneys going out by the thousands of thousands daily, the failings and jealousies of bickering generals, the capriciousness of public opinion changing with every (Continued on Page Two.) LOCAL POLITICS. People's Suffrage. The Republican primaries for nominating city officers will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Interest in city politics this y-ar is attracting much attention by reason of the probably large amount of public improvement now in process of construction and completion. To the large Negro population occupying certain distinct sections of the city, the probable policy of our new councilmen is a matter of much importance to them. With the growing wealth and intelligence, refinement and culture among our people, neatly kept homes and lawns are rapidly supplanting the carelessly maintained places of years gone by. So that the questions of side walks, street paving, city sewerage, water, gas, etc., come in for some consideration. Another feature of more than passing importance to our people is that from public improvements, our large laboring classes draw the major portion of their earnings. In the railroad and machine shops of this city the Negro laborers have no show, nor do the ambitious Negro youth have the hoped opportunity to become apprentices and learn trades. For the foregoing reasons the Negroes of Topeka are interested in securing the nomination of men who will pursue as liberal a policy as possible consistent with an economical administration of our city affairs. Up to this time, the men who have presented themselves as candidates for the city council are all able men. There is a marked manifestation of interest in our city government, by men whose upright business careers covering many years residence here, that reveals a patriotic interest in the progress of our annual march to a Greater Topeka. They are men of wealth and business standing against whose ambitions the sordid city of prospective boodle cannot be raised. · S. F. WRIGHT. The announcement of Mr. S. F. Wright, as a candidate for the office of County Superintendent appears in the column of announcements for this weeks PLAINDEALER. Mr. Wright is a thoroughly conscientious and dapable man, and has been engaged in school work in Shawnee county for the past ten years, five of which he has been Principal of Nickle Plate school and has proved himself to be a worthy and efficient teacher. He has been recognized by the various chairmen of the County Central committ as an active Republican. He is an earnest and intelligent speaker and will add strength to the ticket if elected. W. C. STEPHENSON. In Shawnee county politics interest is rapidly awakening. Candidates are coming out daily and before the primaries next month, the voters of the county will have a large number to select from. For county commissioner, Mr. W. C. Stephenson, who has been a long resident and an active business man in this county. Mr. Stephenson is a candidate for county commissioner for the districts composed of the Second, Third and Fourth wards. He was a representative in the state Legislature at one time as well as an able and efficient member of the city council. Mr. Stephenson will make a good commissioner. WILL VANORSDOI. Principal of the Silver Lake city schools, is a candidate for the office of county superintendent of schools in Shawnee county. Mr. Vanorsdol, it will be remembered, was a candidate against John W. Stout in 1895, but was beaten by him at the primaries. Mr. Vanorsdol is a Shawnee county boy and a graduate of Campbell University, of Holton, Kansas. He has taught sixteen years in this coun- In Local Politics. Americans are living so swift they do not take time to be patriotic. Washington and Lincoln are faintly remembered. Money, Talk. POLITICS. excellent Men Whose sented for the ty, in only three different schools, and these in the .community where he was raised. He has been principal of the Silver Lake schools for the past eight years, and still holds that position. He is master workman of Lodge No. 268, A. O. U. W., and served as secretary of the Masonic order at Silver Lake during the past year; he is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and while the Sons of Veterans camp existed was an active member in its ranks, his father having been a Union soldier in the Civil War. In political circles Mr. Vanorsdol has always been known as a fearless and staunch Republican; he has served as a member of the executive committee of the Republican County Central committee of this county for a great many years and has been one of the loyal fellows who has labored to keep old Shawnee in line, and also kept Silver Lake, his home township, the banner Republican township of his county. He is also a member of the Republican Flambeau club and takes great pride in the club. He is looked upon as an all round man, a good campaigner, worthy and well qualified in every respect for the position he seeks. Mr. Silas Rain, one of our heaviest tax-payers and one- of the oldest citizens, is likewise ambitious to fill the position of county commissioner, Mr. Rain has been engaged in the livery business in this city for a great many years and has heretofore refused to allow his name to go before the public. He is thoroughly reliable and will bring to the discharge of his duties as commissioner the same rugged honesty that has made his private business so uniformly successful. C. V. Wolf, of the firm of Wolf, Cole & Co., announces his candidacy for county commissioner, representing the district composed of the Second, Third and Fourth wards. Mr. Wolf has long been a resident of Topeka and an active business man. He is at present confined to his bed by illness and unable to see his friends. Among those who know him, he is highly esteemed as a friend and neighbor. HARRY C. SAFFORD. Harry C. Safford announces himself a candidate for representative from the district composed of the First and Second wards, Oakland and Tecumseh townships. If selected as the representative from this district, Mr. Safford will have the experience of previous years of service. He is one of the best known attorneys of the county, having served as county attorney and was prominently mentioned for judge of the Shawnee county district. Galen Nichols, who announces his candidacy for county attorney, is one of the oldest of Topeka's young lawyers. His two terms of service as deputy under Mr. Jetmore give him a familiarity with the matters pending before the courts which justly entitles his candidacy to favorable consideration. Mr. Nichols is a Topekan by birth and education. He was born in North Topeka. and, after attending the public schools, took a law course at the State University. His services in the county attorney's office have always been satisfactory. John B. Sims, son of Major William Sims, president of the First National bank, a prominent stockraiser of Mission township, announces himself a candidate for representative from the Thirty-second district, subject to the action (Continued on Page Four.) NUMBER 8. SILAS RAIN. C. Y. WOLF. GALEN NICHOLS. JOHN B. SIMS. Se a eS eee eae ee ee ee eee eee eee Oe eS Sone - 7 ee a —_—=_a_ee———————— ——————————— lO > 7 The Plaindealer. —_—_—_—X—X—"X€—_—_ ‘Published at Topeka, Kansas, Shawnee county, rates tine be Tee Pandealer PO tentog cc mrany, 114 B. Seventh street. pace Poveda te posttice at Tones Tamas armed Rpt oud sn mal ater ee SOBSCRIFTION BATES ¢ ‘Ope year, by mal... asec seneemenseee SE OD Biz months. by Mall..sseswevcvecnree ceeere TE See pedis cocccecoes Me aaah Niox Cures, - > Bosiners Maneger 3.H.Caupes, - = * Editor. Wine Haru, - Managing Editor. FRIDAY. FEB. 23, 1900. {Un order to insure publication of matter in the current ‘issue, cor- respondence must be in thie office no later than Tuesday. ————— ANNOUNCEMENTS. ae ee Uhereby announce myself = candidate forJudse of the Duariet Court of Shawoee county, subject tofthe Republnan prmancs. ZT. Mares, a Soun T. Chaney. ‘Joho T. Chabey announcer humelf a candidate for ‘Suite Senator. ae wee hen. 'W.E. Fagan ansounces bis candidacy for Probate lige. Subject to Republican prmanet | —_ Thomas F. Doran. “Thomas F, Pecan #3 candidate for County Attor ovy, nbject to the Republican primancs to bebeld ‘pel 14, 19% ee Galen Nichols, Gates Nichols announces himself » candidate for County Auorvey of Shasuee county, subject tothe Republican prmanct, _—_— ©. ¥. Wolt, ©. ¥, Wolf announces himself a candudate for ‘Couaty Comaisroner forthe éisinct composed ol the ‘0d, jrdand ath wards —_———— NP. Wright. Tama candidate foe County Superintendent, sub- ecitothe Repablnan primery elevton, 0 be held on Ape 14. 1900 SE. Wricnt. WHI Vanormdol. Tam a candedate for County Superintendent of pab- ic inetrueuon, subject tothe Republean primanes, to beheld April 14.1900. Wan Vanoxsbot. John C.Tutloch Joba C. Tulloch #2 candidate for councilman from the Surth ward, slject to the Republican ny po smarica Fet. 24 1900. ———eE Ls. Dolman, We are authonred to announce the candidacy ot LS Dolman be Probate Judgessubjectto the Repsbe kien pres: Ed. McKeever. ‘We are authored to announce Ed McKeever for Representative from the Thirty seventh dint, sub ject tothe Republican pomancs. eee i einen ‘Weare authonzed to annoume the candidacy of M. Snatunger for Councilman from the Third ward, ‘sabject to the Republican pnmnanes —— P. HL. Forbes, We are authonsed iosnncunce P. H, Fortes at seandidate for Third ward Councilman, subject to the Repathieas prmanes. Joba B. Sims, T hereby announce myself a candidate for Repre- sentative from the Thirty-seventh distnet, subject to the Republican primaries, Sous B, Sie. Silas Rain Silat Raw Pereby announces bw candidacy for County Commusioner from the district compoved of the 204, srd and qth wards, subject to the Republican primaries, W. Stephenson, WLC. Stephenton hereoy aonounces his caudidacy foe County Commusioner for the distnct containing the and, 3rd and qth wards, subject tothe Republican prmanes, ML. J. Bevelle. Thereby annevace myself a candidate for the office of Probate Judge of Shawnee county, Kansas. ‘Sebject to the Republican prmanes when beld this ong HJ. Beveux, Harry ©. Safford. Therety ansounce myself a candidate for Repre- seatauve from the dumnct composed of the rst and aad wards, Oabland and Tecomsch towoships, sub, Jjectto the Republican pnmanes. H.C. Sarvoro. ‘Witn the close of this week, the spirited struggle for Cong- ressional representative in the First district, will be over. The campaign has been entirely free from that kind of political prac- tice—mud-slinging—which was the predominating characteristic of campaigns in years past. The very admirable records of Hon. Charles Curtis, both as a private citizen and as a public servant, are so clean and above reproach, that his bitterest opponents have been unableto find a fault with him. And the only ground up. ‘on which the opposition have sought to displace Mr. Curtis, is that they might make a place for Mr. Bailey. It has never been charged that Mr. Curtis should be retired because he had been untrue toa friend, that he lacked in ability and energy to properly represent this district, ad that Mr. Bailey possessed su- ‘petior qualifications for the posi- tion, combined with a deeper in- sight into the conditions and needs of his constituency. Mr. Bailey has been urged for the position solely upon a hypothet- ical ‘Horton agreement,” and that Mr. Curtis is a political in- terloper in this district. It might be well to call the atten- tion of our people of whom, no doubt, there will be a number of delegates in the Congressional convention, to a few facts rel- ative to the two candidates. Mr. Curtis has made this canvass by his personal friends, and upon his records he shows fruits of his years of success in Congress. Mr. Bailey makes his appeal to the voters of the First district, and to the Negroes in particular, up on what he will do. In his re- cent letter appealing to the Ne- gro voters of this district to stanc by him, is an appeal to rac prejudice, which is scarcely ex pected in” an aspirant for suct high honors. There is no need at this time, for any man to seel promotion by working on th passions of his constituents rath: er than their reason. We dc not doubt, for a moment, tha the bill against lynching te be presented by Representative White, will need every vote ob tainable. But it should be born: in mind that the effect of anti lynching legislation will be ben eficial to the entire human fam ily, and should, for that reason receive the hearty and unstinte: support of all representatives THE PLAINDEALER has no hes itancy in pledging Charlie Cus tis a hearty support to ever. measure looking to the better ment ot the condition of the Ne groin the South, or anywher on God's foot-stool. The Ne groes of this district have know: both these gentlemen for years and yield to no race in admira tion of their noble, manly qual ities. Andit is unquestionabl the sentiment of the many c our people that the Congressior al representation should remai unchanged. Get reedy to pay your poll- tax, Topeka is growing larger ev- ery time the city council meets. The latest addition is the Tope- ka ‘* strip” The Rising Sun stole John Phillips Sousa’s cut and put it up for the weather man. Come up here, Brother Cole, and we will loan you our “glover.”* Vote for the-man next Satur- day whom you honestly believe to be best fiited to fill the position under our city government, and you will have discharged your full duty. | County Crerk John M. ‘Wright is president of the Coun- ty Clerk's association of Kansas. This is the first time a Negro ev- er held this position, and is a compliment to the race as well as Mr. Wright. Tue amusing feature of the First district campaign is to sce D. R. Anthony and Doc. Neeley, of Leavenworth, hobnobbing. Mr. Curtis has done some good for that city, if he only accom- plishes this much. FRANK GRIMES, state treasur- er, whose caricaturethe cartoon- ists of the Populist party, sent broadcast over the state during the last state campaign, has proven himself one of the most popular state officers. Helmick. Epitor Pi.ainpeacer :—Al- low me space ‘in your valuable paper to state a few facts in re- gard to our beloved brother, G. a eee | . . | Missouri | : es Pacific Scu i ae Route THE GREAT, SOUTHWEST SYSTEM, ‘Traveling the States of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado,Cansas, and the Indian Territory. | Five (5) Daily Passenger Trains are run on this line in each direction, between Kansas City and St. Louis. The Famous Hot Springs : Of Arkansas ~ Are reached ONLY by this LNE==—=== 1 H.C. TOWNSEND, G.P.aT.A., | ! ST. LOUIS, MO. | F.E. NIPPS, Agent, | i TOPEKA, KAS. ios | F. Bowles, andwife who passed away some months ago, which occurred quite unexpectedly, al- though we all must die soon or late. They both were members of the Knights and Ladies of Honor of the World. The death of G. F. Bowles brought a sad- ness to us, and we, the Queen of the West of the Knights of La- dies of Honor of the World, do feel the weight and loss of his advice. As we were the only or- der of the kind in Kansas, it caused somewhat of a standsiill to us fora while, but I believe we will be alright ina few days. Wefeel that it is the very order for the Negro race. They must ac- cumulate respect for one another jand acquire education and prop- erty, if not great wealth, both in the Southeast and Northwest. It isn't necessary for us to live in cities in order to become society members, ‘nor in town to keep up a society, just because we belong to it. We car own fagms and still be good so- ciety members, but if we have property in town it is alright: but education is preferred, in or. der that we may be able to hol our property with the mean: which we have earned. We havenoble women and men it our race as well as any othe: Jrace. We appreciate the read Jing of your paper, because it i published in the interest o |the race. Now, I want to say Jas our order—Queen of thi West, Knights and Ladies o '|Honor of the World No. 150- |would have been one year ol |January, 1900. In the time o |Jits working order, we lost member by the name of Mrs {Savannah Bnrns, who was one o the youngest members in the or Jer. She leaves a husband an four little children. They wil ‘|receive $300; have already re ‘|ceived $100, and will get th }balance on installment. Wh Jshould we not appreciate suc! Jan order ?. The supreme lodg {has a charter from Washington '|D. C., soit is alright. You wish to see a beautiful display of Fine ewelry, look into J. A. Wit- oN sshow window, If you want bargains in Wa1cHEs, Ciocks or Jewetry of any sort for your own use or to make Christmas Presents of, step inside and buy at prices to suit your pocket. REMEMBER ‘That J. A. Wilson is Kansas City's Pioneer Negro Jeweler, is known as ‘The Reliable Jeweler" and is found at 116 West Ninth Street, Kansas City, Mo. Opposite old Cable Power Mouse Two blocks from Armour's Packing Hous Watches, Clocks and Jewelry Repaired Correctly. BARGAINS IN EVERYTHING Persons from a distance will hav their car fare refunded if purchase i: made. G. A, Ligbee, Grand Master, of U.O,1.of U.8. Mr, Bigbee, who will address the Immaculates at their reception, Feb- ruary 28th, is the youngest man ever ever elected to the office of Grand Master. Under his administration, the Immaculate Order is prospering and is in better condition at presen! than it has been for years. Mr. Bigbee, having lived here ¢ ‘number of years, needs but little in troduction to his race in this city ee ET at: ease ba MSs eS a = Se fate Shes! eee Bon : gy peg Poo eam eres . Be Fi ‘e, N He has always been an ardent work- er in the upbuilding of our race. The excellent condition of our order is due to him as much as to any one of our people. It is our duty to give him every aid possible in his noble attempt to unify and build up the grand and noble Immaculate Order ofour state, which was organized by a colored man and which is growing in numbers, Gn, BURY & Ol, MAKERS OF High-Grade Buggy ~ and Team Harness. wwRepairing Promptly Executed... 18 Kansas Ave. Topeka, Kan, For Sale Real Estate Have a good two story house, 5 rooms, 1 lot, $375, East Seventh street. 1 lot, 2 rooms and base- ment, (fair condition) $160. East Thirteenth street: over 2 hundred good residences. _ Properties in all parts of the city ranging from 300 to $3,000. North Topeka lots $25 to $75- Lowman Hill lots $35 to $50. Washburn College lots $10 each, Small cash payment: and balance on popular month: ly plan. 18 acres, good 3 room cot tage, $500, 2¥%miles North o city. We have good large farm: and ranches to sell or trade. R. 0. Hilliard, 413 Kansas Ave., Room 4. Abraham Lincoja, the Emaneipator (Continued from Firat Page.) SUCCESS OF TEVETES OF LHe WDIOn army, the dealing with ultra-conservatives who could decide on no fixed policy and the hot-headed radical who to gain a point would wreck any cause, the outlining of our policy toward Eng- Jand and other foreign powers, the bus- iness of the blockade and the “Alaba ma”, the seizure of Mason and Slidell from the Trent, the refusal to be over- awed into recognizing Maximillian in Mexico and the Negro question—the greatest of all and the most far-reach- ingjbecause affecting both the laws of God, considering that in no instance did he make a mistake—all proved him asskilled in atate-craft as any ruler the Orieutor Occidenthad ever known. This was Lincolo, the statesman. But it is as the emaucipator that he wins his deathless fame. He was in this role true to his early acts and principles. To those who hold that Lincoln freed the slaves as 9 military necessity : Tsay Lincoln was always ‘an inveterate fue to slavery. In early manhood he and his cousin, Jobn Hanks, madea tripasdeckhands to New Orleans, where they saw a slave being sold in the market. Lincoln, turning away, eaid, “If I ever get a chance to hit that institution, I'll hit it hard.” In the light of subsequent deeds, it eeems a prophecy. Once the governor of Illinois refused to interfere, when free Negro from thatetate was wrong. fully detained at New Orleans, and wat about to be sold for prison expenses Lincola, in thunder tones, exclaimed “By the eternal, governor! I’ll make the ground of this country too hot for the | foot of a slave.” Again the spirit of | prophecy was upon him. He coulé not afford to make the war a struggle for slavery’s extinction alone. He once said: “Iam naturally anti-sla very. If slavery is not wrong, ther nothing is wrong. I cannot remem beratime when I did notso think anc feel. And yet I have never under stood that the presidency conferres upon me an unrestricted right to ac ,Jupon that judgment and feeling. I was in the oath I took that I would t ,|the best of my ability preserve, protec and defend the cvnstitution of th .| United States. This cath even for "| bade me practically to indulge my pri “| vate, abstract judgment on the mora question of slavery. I could not fee that to the beet of my ability I hac leven tried to preserve the constitutior ifto save slavery or any minor matter I should permit the wreck of govern ment, country and constitution alto gether.” And yet, this just man strug gled on. He waited for an opportuni y|ty to act: when the American peopl would be at bis back. So that whe "Ithe reverses ot 1862 came upow th Northern Army, when the Confedera -|cy was arrogant and aggressive, an European governments were con templating recoguition of the Confed r|eracy, his hour and opportunity came . |He saw a unified North in the suppor 2 |of any radical movement; also the utte "| impossibility of avy European powe "|approving the course of the Soutl >}toward the slave: and like the wis man that he was he made the step. | _ These words will live forever: “1 “| Abraham Lincoln, president of th >| United States, commander-in-chief s|the Army and Navy, by the power i .| me vested, do hereby “declare that o the firet day of January, 1863, all per syns held asslaves in any state or pot {tion thereof shall be thenceforth ap {|furever free.” He had fulfilled bi {protaiues aud prophecies. He had hi | the institution hard, he had made th ground of this country too hot for th foot ofa slave. Then*came our da of gladness. Then came the hou when mien could sing: “Sound th loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark ses Jebovah has triumphed, his people at free.” Then it was possible for mat kind to prepare to sing: “ Peace o earth and good-will toward mens” Abrabam Lincoln, the man, is withi | |himeelf remarkable. He wasinever way a strange personage, tall, so muc problems and wrought; for the world |) a destiny of which it could not dream | freighted with hope’s froition such a8 we enjoy today. Some argue that be was an accident, but accidents do not leave their imprint and impress up- on the world as did this man, Pigmy giants strutted their brief hour upon the stage and passed away. They were the accidents of fortune. But, out of the fires of his day and time, out of the blackness of auffering’s night stands that figure grand and, peculiar without an imitator before or since his day; such men are not accidents, /Mr. Lincoln's greatness comes as a result, not alone of innate genius and power, but from years of patieut toil. When others slept, he was studying, searching; when others were trifling, be wast thought; when others idled, he was at toil—he had learned the value of time. 'Twas thus he struggled on. What an inspiration for the ambitious youth of this and Jall future time! This shrewd, self |taught man, whether catching few ||brief moments between the furrows |he was plowing,or at night by the ||light of pine-knots in the log-cabin, Jin the back-woods of the primeval ;|forest while the howling winds through the forest giants broke the | midnight stillness or chanted strange '|melodies broken only by the bear's | growl or the wolf's lonely howl, or in -|his humble law office at Springfield, jor the mansion at our national capital, -|was drinking deep from the well of s|knowledge, preparing his lines fix .|the great stageplay in which he »| was to be the central actor and win 2| applause from countless millions—ap ,|plause to be stilled only when the [angel of eternity for a!l the earth | {shall forever ring the curtain down »|These lessons of perseverance he e|carried into the profession of law, a: -|his keeo, analytical mind yearly gavi nlout the trend of his mental bias | Walking for miles to borrow lav 1} booka and study these at night anc -|return them in the morning, he work: I]his way to greatness acd honor t|Taking time to unravel the mos tlcomplex questions for the benefit o 0| those around him, his rude, unletterec t|compeers khew that in Abe Lincol e|they had one who could and wouk ~|Tead them to the light. | He wasone of the plain people, the; Ierusted him, and never forsook him 1)The name Liucola was a eynonyn U}for bouesty. The little New Salen 2| pustoftice of which he had been post 'jmaster was discontinued. He wa: “oftimes afterward compelled to bur -|row money upon which to live, bu {when several years after the govern | ment representative came around t elhavea settlement, Lincolu prodncec Blan old blue eock and poured out t €lthe amount of sixteen or cighteer “Idollars, the itentical penuies wit! d}which his neighbors had purchase “}stamps. He had not touched a pen + Iny. What sn example of honesty t -Ithe politicians present. Once in tHlaw euit he meded thirty thousanc ¥}dollars ‘fur a few hours for the pur T | pose of making a legal tender for hi hlclient. He walked out of the cvurt ©! room to a bank across the staeet ; anc it was handed him at once, withou i, |security of any kind. In a few hour @) Lincoln returned it and neither h f/ nor the banker seemed to take notic njof the incident. He had eo lived tha nlhe could be trusted. Today bank -lrequire gilt-edged security man: r-{times the amount loaned. Some asl d|could euch have been today? Yes, i is| men taught avd wrought as did honea it] Abe Lincoln, If every man realized e|as Pupe, that “An honest mao’s th e|noblest work of Gud.” Svoner be 1 y |dog and bay at the moon, sooner be 1r| worm and writhe on the ground, soon e ler have the body quartered and burn 8, ed to ashes and the ashes tossed b: e|the flying breeze, North, East, Wes y-|and South, with name “unwept, ut n|honored and unsung,” with oblivioi closing o'er him and dying out ign honored and unsung,” with oblivion closing o'er him and dying out igno bly rot as carrion on the way-side plaia than do a deed that bore the millionth partof perfidy and dishonor. ‘This was the character of Abraham Lincoln. Of mercy he had plenty, the kind that robs justice of its sting ‘snd gives to mortals visions of the Heaven to be. Hand in hand with this mercy ranhis sympathy and love These struggled for the highest seal in his great and noble heart. Wyheth jer wading the icy river to carry acrot a whining pet dog leit behind, or re turning six miles over the not, dusty road, to become covered with mud in his efforts to rescue a pig in the mire or clearing free the widow's son, o pardoning the condemned to death for sleeping at his post in war time or praying and weeping in the hospi: tals over the maimed, bleedig, wound ed, dying and dead of the beaten, broken army of either side, or deliv ering fiery denunciations of eiu and wrong at the bar, or stating a case ea plainly that those who run may read or listening to the petition of the low- ly and oppressed, or taking to his heart the downtrodden of every on dition, or weighing the moet complex Se ae problems of the state in the executiv ¢ mansion, or dying a martyr’s death he was the same merciful, Christlike man—a law unto himself, the unher- alded and unapproachable furever, Abrabam Lincoln. If living for others, dying for oth- ere, accomplishing the greatest good for all humanity, is to be coosidered greatness, then Abraham Lincoln is the greatest man in American bistory, and among the greatest that ever lived; and your foftiest panegyrice are but wasted words and our eulogies and encomiums but idle prattle that assay to do justice to his memory. ‘The Declaration of Independence was defective and, without his work, the experiment of self government was to he afuilure. The four pillars of the temple—liberty, fraternity, equality and law—were tottering befure the fall to ruin. It remained for Lincoln to put his hand to the temple and steady it: to say and do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time and in the right place—to set the Londman free. When the ship of state rode the boisterous waves of secession and the clouds, threatening avd awful, hid the way to safety tor his countrymen, this gaunt—brave sea, captain—like some mighty mariner ||stood on the bridge, with right for his Jcompass, God’s hand beckoning the || way, he steered past the maelstrom and } when the world asked the fate of its ,|fondest hope, self government, he an- || swered back, “All's well—All’s well.” '|He, like another, a greater Savior 'jatuod by the slave and when the hour '| was ripe criid, “Loose him and let ‘}him go!” Ye fathers who knew the jcanebrakes and cotton patches of the || Soath and dragged slavery’s clanking -| chains, ye know his worth to you, ye | mothers whore virtue was not consid- sJered, who saw your daughters sold >| away to lives of shame, and your sons -|doomed to beastal toil, ye know his ‘| worth tu you. It is for you to appre- 1} ciate his effort and work for youreels $}and children as he would have taught -|you had he lived just # little longer t|to complete his work. Young men Fook to the higher and nobler things 1/of lite, dwell in the clouds; ’tis thus 1| you can but feebly attempt to do jus- 1| tice to his memory and revere the ef: forts of the ssinted, martyred dead. | America can well afford to laud him _|to the skies. Gorgeous pagentry, pul- ,|sating throngs, chanting choirs and {eloquent rhymers and versifiers can «| well afford to expend their noblest ef- s|forts assaying to tell to earth how -| they revere his name. America, when .| you forget your Heaven-born mission, -[remember Abraham Lincoln. No »| good deed ever dies. His work is eter- j,nal. Its lesson wiil live when aeons »|shall have come and gone, and time {has surrendered to eternity. Oh, il- | lustrious dead, wreathed ia immotali- j|ty, dweller in the land of light, let -| thy spirit hover over the world today sin the hours of war and bloodshed, ,Jaching hearts and hearthstoves! May thy Americanized kingdom come! In _| this day of lynchings, strife, race-ha- ,|tzed and distress, may traueformed be every unjust heurt and fasbioned aft- jjer thine, Then chall we see the day ofa gladdcaed, purified world. Rest Rest. Rest. Thy fame is secure. ,| Trusted with p sterity, it is surpassed z|by none since man became a living _|seul. "Tis safe with thuee who love s|free government; with the widow and orphan or him who bore the 7) shock of battle in war—the bondman {| rejoicing in his freedom, or any who plever deserved to live—it is secure. ,| Minstrel and bard will sing of thee, ;]dreamer will place thee with mythol- sJogy’s deities, nations will rise and ,|etand with head uncovered at the _| mention of thy name, and when thy _| granite monuments ssall man’s works have perished and all enrcopbagi and {{mausoleum have crumbled away, [fresh and immutable as the God-or ;|dained deeds af the prophets tby -|deeds shall endure until time shall | oease to be. _ Allie Brown, =~ With this brief write-up appears an excellent likeness of Allie Brown., a Topeka boy, now a feature with the Big Minstrel Festival touring the ae 4 wD on & ae pa 2:5: g - | eee Es ke ALU nedws. — oe ee United States. Two of the cleverest colored performers on the stage to- day are Allie Brown and Jim Witson, the latter an equilibrist with Sissier- eta Jones’ compahy. | Rev, Clement Peters left yester- day for Chicago. The third Oxford reception was given at the Vendome academy Friday evening, January 9; it was the most fashionable reception ever given in Kansas City; the members of the club wore badges of pink silk and gold fringe. The officers are as follows: Charles Blake, president; Ernest Lee, vice-president; Lee Merrell, secretary; Alonzo Montgomery, D. M.; Edw. Brown, sergeant-at-arms; members, William Watson, Frank Scott, Dr. T. C. Unthank, Marshall Lewis, George Love, William Hughes, Sam. Jones, Sr., Wallace Dean, W. Fairfax, V. Harris, Fred. Moore, F. Bufkins, F. Wilson; the ladies are Mesdames R. T. Coles, John Hill, Annis Garrett, Callie Edwards, Mattie Dean, Addie Wilson, Lange, Jordan, Lena Jordan; Miss Kneppie Rucker, of Atchison; Misses Anna and Lulu Jones and J. and G. Minor, and Mr. Pannell and wife and J. Cummings and wife. Mittie Smith is much better, after a severe vaccination. The Episcopal church is preparing the program of a concert to be given after Easter. Hutchinson. Pinkie Anthony has returned home, after a pleasant visit in Strong City. A few words to the idle married men of our community, to the men who have families that have suffered this winter because their providers could not get a job: Be as the little ant; provide in the summer for the winter. If you cannot get a job in town, just as soon as spring opens up, take yourself and family on a farm and make something in the main to support them with the next, coming winter. There are too many people in town already trying to make a living; there are so many whites in town that a colored man stands a poor show for a living. Get out on a farm, where you can raise your own vegetables, meat, make your own butter, and have just what you need, provided you are industrious and are willing to work. To the younger men without families: Will you please stop standing around before the doors of low resorts and stop insulting ladies as they pass along the streets? The younger men should go to work and make a decent living for themselves. This is to the idlers alone, to those who cannot find an occupation, so they claim. But you are wrong; there is a way for everyone if he will only seek it. We hope the idlers will take this hint, and that it will not have to be repeated. Troy. tits, of Kara- ding a fewew at White C mning, of y in Troy. Gavis return after spendi Joseph with Meilians, Mar- feld, rende usic Sunday night. Smith, o spent S LECTURE. R. Smith orator or delivered an ductive lecti the 17th in t subject, "Mr. Sm the great We wish whole speech temperance institutions trolling the ment, corr political morals, general and so man; it bam the heart timent, hoo ble virtue; man's i akens our and decency been the more king government damage and than the l peece, with achievement ties of the glory with s. Rome. Hills with felt in her stone of l all. Will morning-s shall we pr of the old e munkeness Prof. John R. Smith, the silver-tongued orator of Kansas City, Kas., delivered an interesting and instructive lecture on the evening of the 17th in the Christian church; subject, "The Curse of the Age." Mr. Smith dwelt at length on the great evils of intemperance. We wish we could insert his whole speech; he stated that "intemperance is an enemy to free institutions, a potent factor in controlling the affairs of the government, corrupting the fountains of political power, affecting public morals, public order, the general and social conditions of man; it banishes and crushes from the heart every endearing sentiment, hope, aspiration and noble virtue; it destroys and maims man's intellectual powers, weakens our ideas of morality and decency. Intemperance has been the cause of the fall of more kingdoms, empires and governments, more murder, carnage and the loss of more lives than the hoary hand of war. Greece, with all her victories and achievements, revealed in the follies of the East and stained her glory with the shadows of ages. Rome, sitting on her Seven Hills with great warlike pride, felt in her latter day the cornerstones of her empire sway and fall. Will this be the fate of this morning-star America? Or shall we profit by the examples of the old empires that died in drunkenness and revelry?" Lawrence. mid-annual ex are over have success ept one Ch bilene, wh ate, seems to the ice, a where it and now pass Hoyt sp Wichita. of L. House, being her sister, man is back agen where he he months. of M. Coffey, the past week 5 N. Mosely. pernacle Baptist revival meeting will be assisted the New Hope W. Phelps is several days. Lennie Robi ity, is visiting Robinson. Johnson is on Anthia Smith in home on N. Top second Baptist cl meetings. . Robinson, being her sister, on N. Mosely her home in urrell Taylor, arrived in the will make qui osit with her s R. Dunson. Mexico, Mo. There is more sickness among the colored people at present than there has been for sometime; the people certainly have been blessed so far, but in the past few weeks many are reported on the sick list; also quite a number of sufferers who haven't sufficient clothing, food and fuel to keep them comfortable, and are appealing to the city for help. We would say this to many of our poor people who enjoy the summer season sporting about, taking in all excursions, keeping up with the very latest summer styles and amusements: they do not think of the future season when the dime and dollar will be of great use to them; they seem to think that money certainly grows on trees and that they can find it whenever they please, but this is a mistake. Work is not as plentiful in winter as it is in warmer seasons of the year, and they should think more about this subject. Prepare for the future, men; save the money you spend at the bar; women, save the money you spend picnicking and having what you call a "good time;" boys and girls, save the money you throw away foolishly, and help your parents, so that when another cold wave blows over telling us winter has come, be ready, be like the little ant, which works faithfully in the warmer seasons, and when winter has come it is ready for it. We this more sickened people a he has been for certainly h far, but in the any are reports Garden City. Garden City. America Fantroy was over in Olathe last week, on missions business. Nath. McCormick is on the sick list, and his case has been quite serious. Rev. J. A. Wright is better; we hope to see him out again soon. Rev. Voorhies left for Kansas City Saturday afternoon. Joe Johnson removed out on the farm the first of the week. Will Berry has bought a new buggy, and has just been "killing it" with the ladies. We are glad to know that the colored voters have taken a stand for Curtis, as we too believe in supporting a man that would benefit the Negro. a Fantroy was on last week, on mi- McCormick is on and his case has ous. A. Wright is b to see him out Voorhies left for K day afternoon. Johnson removed on the first of the wo Berry has bought and has just been with the ladies. He glad to know the boters have taken a as, as we too bel- ing a man that the Negro. Ottawa. Collins, of Parsons, high town Tuesday from route to Coventry He stopped over served a sermon at church. Dixon is in town day. Stokes is in the st of Mrs. A. Scott. Lillard returned to with her husband last week. Bington Lewis has to work the last st of a sore throat. Garrett, of The Saturday, February 11, being for a long time and 82 years. Wooten and woot at 6 o'clock dinner february 11, Rev. W. Rev. B. R. Guy; Moybourne and L. Lettie and Berth the latter part of last Island, the guest of Philp Lillard, of W. city. Logan, of The sick. Scott of the Thin church closed his Sunday. Lillard, of The Sunday, February 11; the deceased had only a week. She of the St. Paul A. having been a p tast 35 years; she l er and seven sons to th. Glaspie has been the last week. Green, son of has started out to diverse his first t the first of the mon Kansas City, Kas. Russell, who died Friday evening Monday afternoon Zion church. Frederick Douglass exercises were held olitan Baptist church street and Was Tuesday night. The program was reses, Mrs, J. S. Yatt v. and W. T. The Frederick Douglass memorial exercises were held at the Metropolitan Baptist church, corner Ninth street and Washington avenue, Tuesday night. The following program was rendered : Addresses, Mrs. J. S. Yates, Kansas City, and W. T. Vernon, Quindaro; papers, Phillip Brooks and Bessie Turner; original poem on Douglass, Tilfort Davis, Jr. Newton. Holliday. Fate Ae hm Sent et mh ae Hs te ee ey, at em tem oe ae F| y WS