Rosewater and Railroads

Republican editor Edward Rosewater's determined campaign against railroads and against the Republican candidate for governor Tom Majors culminates in an open forum and debate. The Republican State Journal presents Rosewater as a pompous and ineffective gadfly.

ROSEWATER AND RAILROADS

The Two Subjects Figure Largely in a Populist Pow-Wow.

LOUD CHEERS FOR TOM MAJORS

Republicans Turn Out to Hear the Habitual Bolter-Some of the Points of a Two Hour's Speech.

Mr. E. Rosewater, who has bolted the republican ticket a dozen times, was advertised to speak at the Lansing theatre last night. He did so to a full house, a large part of the audience comprising populists, including the local branch of the federation of labor. Probably half of the people were republicans. E. E. Brown introduced the speaker as the Hon. E. Rosewater. The pop contingent applauded loudly when the speaker arose. Mr. Brown sat down and found himself the only person on the stage aside from the speaker and reporters, but he afterwards went out and persuaded Professor Johnson to come in and take a seat. Curiosity caused many to come into the theatre. A great many, including ladies, stepped in, looked over the heads of the people, looked at the grotesque little object on the stage and then went out, satisfied with a glimpse. They acted as though they were looking at an animal on exhibition. A large number of folders were found about the theatre containing ex-Governor Thayer's answer to Rosewater, showing that the stock of stories of Rosewater had been exploded long since; also containing an account of Rosey's various positions on public questions and a list of nineteen republican candidates whom he had opposed during his life.

Rosewater began by complimenting himself on the magnificent audience and for two hours related what he had done for the world. He read largely from manuscript. The dead did not escape his venom. He brought up the impeachment of David Butler and said it was claimed that the persons who brought it about were conspirators against the state, but he told his side of the story, justified himself on instigating the impeachment and said it was done for the good of the republican party. He did not mention the later developments in the impeachment of Governor Butler and the subsequent exoneration, but passed on to the foundation of the state university, which was defective, and said $1,000 once changed hands in the early history of the state in consideration for an appointment, and asserted that these things were evidence that corruption existed in the state house. The speaker told a blood-curdling story of incendiarism and murder in connection with the burning of the asylum, saying there was a conspiracy to get someone out of the penitentiary. He gave these tales as samples of the work of a ring. He said this was all done not in the interests of Lincoln, but in the interests of "the ring," and those who would defend "the ring" were the real enemies of the city.

Finally he got down to the time when he was arrested and brought to Lincoln on the charge of libel in connection with the shooting of at the fellow who tried to rob the state treasurer, but he said his witnesses obtained from great distances began to disappear. They were simply being spirited away. He said he made a great kick about this thing.

Turning his attention to the penitentiary, he said that institution was conceived in iniquity and always would be a source of corruption.

Jumping down ten or twenty years, the speaker mentioned the attempted impeachment of the board of public lands and buildings, saying they were acquitted on the excuse that they did not have time to keep from playing into the hands of public thieves, but he said they had since found time to take a junketing trips, to seek for a vindication by defeating Judge Maxwell in convention and to work for the election of Tom Majors for governor.

The first mention of Majors brought out cheers from both republicans and pops. The mingling of the noise could have been interpreted as a general cheering for Majors.

Rosewater waited till the cheering closed and continued. Presently he was greeted with hisses. He hesitated, the hisses continued, and then the speaker found his tongue giving vent to the ancient parable that snakes hiss and so do geese. The speaker continued by saying the republican party of Calhoun and Lincoln was a party of free speech.

The fun commenced when the speaker started to tell another story. Whether it was on account of the age of the anecdote or the application is a question of doubt, but at any rate he started to tell about the elder Majors, who did not know what to make of his son Tom.

"Make him governor," exclaimed a voice.

Cheers from Majors men followed this sally. The speaker proceeded to tell of the test applied by the elder Majors, consisting of placing the son in a room with a Bible, a dollar and an apple, thinking that on the son's choice depended his calling in life, whether he should be a preacher, banker or farmer, and that in consequence of finding the youth with the Bible in one hand, the apple in the other and the dollar in his pocket, the elder Majors decided to make a politician of the son.

Owing to the frequent good-natured remarks interposed by republicans, the audience was put into a laughing mood. The speaker persevered, however, and laboriously ground out the anecdote. There were no more cheers from either side to mar the talk, and for more than half and hour the speaker continued to deal out his speech. He blamed the ring and its organization to the railroads, told about a talk with that eminent "republican" Judge Gresham, who said he had never yet found in his investigations an honest railroad management.

The speaker touched the electric light plant of Lincoln, the Capital National bank failure, Thompson and Macfarland, railroad passes, and other topics of more or less pertinence to the questions at issue. He dwelt also on the Taylor voucher, Walt Seeley, and a bill which he said was a very bad one introduced by Majors in the legislature introduced by Majors in the legislature in 1886.

In introducing the Congressional Record containing an account of the effort made to give Nebraska another representative, which has been before the people for many years, the speaker said it was claimed that Tom Majors was honest. Hisses greeted this remark, but, said he, preachers' sons don't always go the straight road. To show that preachers' sons are a tough lot generally, he told of a young man in that class whom he had befriended by paying one of his $3,000 gambling debts.

Hauling out copies of the Congressional Record, the speaker said he would like to read some of the pages, but feared the print was too small for his eyes. He was urged by many in the audience to read it. As a last resort he asked someone on the stage to wade through some of it.

"Oh, you read it and make his majority bigger," shouted an enthusiast.

The speaker retorted by saying the owner of the voice seemed to think that one who stole hogs would get a bigger majority than the giver of alms.

One of the things which seemed to strike republicans as a huge joke was Rosewater's statement that in the republican state central committee over two years ago, when J. G. Tate was obliged to withdraw from the ticket, Tom Majors said some false things about him to his back which he never would have dared utter to his face.

As to the credit of states governed by pops the speaker gave figures to show that Topeka was ahead of Lincoln in the bank clearance record. This was in such great contrast to the little editor's talk when he was fighting prohibition in Nebraska that one of his hearers shouted:

"What did you say four years ago?"

The speaker said he told the truth then just as he was at present. He admitted, however, that the clearings in Kansas towns were not quite so large when he was making that fight.

With one of his employes [sic] under indictment for murder for complicity in the killing of a prize fighter, the little editor exhorted the people in the name of morality to repudiate what he termed was corruption and to vote for the pops.