USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The great revolution; a history of the rise and progress of the People's Party in the city of Chicago and county of Cook > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
Pending the Committee's report, Mr. A. C. Hesing, having been called upon, gave the history of the organization known as the German-American club. This body, he said, it was intended, should meet another body constructed by this meeting, to exchange suggestions for a platform. This platform, he hoped, would speak in favor of law and order, of which he was in favor as much as Alderman Woodard, or any other man.
Alderman McGrath returned with additional names for
6
82
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
the Committee of Conference, adding also several for the county.
Mr. Keeley moved that the joint committees be instructed to draw up a platform, representing the wishes of the people, and report the same to a mass-meeting. The motion pre- vailed.
On Saturday evening, Sept. 6, the coalition met in Bis- mark Hall, and received the platform of the preceding June.
On the evening of Sept. 12, the platform of Sept. 26, 1873, was adopted.
The following amendment was adopted, offered by Mr. Rosenthal :
Resolved, That there ought also to be appointed, by the proper authorities, inspectors of all beverages sold publicly, and those found impure and deteriorated ought to be con- demned, and dealers therein fined.
The following letter was read, from Henry Greenebaum, Esq. :
You will please excuse me from taking any active part in the deliberations of your committee. While I have no inclination to figure in politics,- my business duties ab- sorbing my time fully,-candor prompts me to say that I am in sympathy with your movement, and I am of the opinion that a municipal ticket, to be composed of gentle- men possessing honesty and integrity, as well as broad and prac- tical views, will be overwhelmingly sustained at the polls.
Respectfully, HENRY GREENEBAUM.
83
HOW IT WAS DONE.
Mr. Rosenthal presented a resolution which was adopted, making the election of judges independent of party issues.
On the evening of Friday, Sept. 26, 1873, a meeting of the joint committee was held in Bismarck Hall.
Mr. Hesing presented the following call which was unan- imously adopted :
TO OUR FELLOW CITIZENS.
" In view of our approaching municipal election and the important issues for the welfare of our city involved there- in, we call on all those who look calmly and without preju- dice upon the political situation, to unite with us in order to secure a good and economical government for the next mu- nicipal term. We call upon those who are in favor of an honest city and county administration ; who are opposed to intemperance, and endeavor to advance public morals by moral suasion, and not by prohibitory laws; who are in favor of a quiet Sunday by protecting religious services without resort to a stringent general law; who are opposed to the granting of licenses to people of bad repute ; who are in favor of reforming our police so that the force may be the protectors of life and property, and not the tools of intolerance and bigoted fanaticism ; who are in favor of law and order, but are opposed to every faction and every can- didate who misapply the term for the purposes of intol- erance and tyranny,- we invite all citizens of all national- ities to whatever political party they may have formerly belonged, who adopt the above views, to meet in mass-meet- ing at Kingsbury Hall, on Saturday, October 4, at eight
84
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
o'clock p. m., for consultation and joint action in regard to the approaching election."
Now came the great and enthusiastic meeting at Kings- bury Hall, Saturday evening. It was an immense demon- stration. Clark street was black with the masses.
Among the many transparencies carried by the multitude were observed the following :
" Who owes the city over $2,000,000 in taxes? The Law and Order Party."
" Equal rights for cottages and palaces."
" Down with an aristocracy of stock swindlers and grain gamblers."
" If Puritans rule, the country is gone."
"Our capital consists of muscle and strength."
" Protection against crime and a sledge - hammer police force."
"Who resists the payment of taxes ? The leaders of the Law and Order Party."
"The People's choice is the best."
" Fifteen hundred majority for the Fifteenth Ward."
"Let the light shine on our actions, Sundays not ex- cepted."
" Law and order is our motto, but not by force."
"The People's Party is too glorious not to be this time victorious."
"We favor temperance and toleration in all things."
" The People will reform our politics."
" The Mayor's bill will prove a failure."
"Our Party is the strongest."
85
HOW IT WAS DONE.
" The People will reform our Police Department."
" We are tax-payers, not tax-fighters."
"Send Washburn home to Joliet."
"We will vote for the support of law and order."
" Old Barnacles, take back seats."
" Equal rights to all. Down with fanatics."
" The people have arisen in their might. When the peo- ple rise fanaticism trembles."
" The great power for good is by moral suasion, and not by prohibition."
" The duty of the police is to arrest criminals and not innocent men."
" The Nineteenth Ward good for 1,000 majority."
" No more gilt-edged candidates."
" We claim our constitutional rights."
"Good-by, Joe; don't you wish you had joined the Peo- ple's Party ? "
H. B. Miller, Esq., occupied the chair. The gentleman referred to the time after the great fire when all, sharing in a common loss, laid aside political sentiments to elect a worthy administration. Soon after the installation of the new officers, a handful of bigoted and fanatical men com- menced to plot to undermine the privileges of a weakened people; to undermine privileges they had been accorded from time immemorial. Against the earnest pleadings and protests of our best citizens, the ear of the Executive was opened to them. A superintendent of police had been im- ported from Joliet, who knew nothing of us, and under his rule the police force, being subjected to a system of mean espion-
86
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
age and other humilities, became demoralized. It was now proposed to place in the field men of honesty, who would pay attention to the vital interests of the city. The weapon to be used was the ballot box.
Mr. B. G. Caulfield followed in an energetic speech. . The following is a brief synopsis :
" It is probable that during the preparations made for the election there will be various meetings held with the view of bringing out our best citizens. I am glad to attend the inaugural meeting of the campaign - a meeting of the free American citizens of Chicago - that is a meeting irrespective of all feeling of nationality. I have been requested to be here to - night as a private citizen to express my views upon the matters in question. I represent no party, I rep- resent no nationality. I favor the election of men un- pledged to party, whose character and ability will recom- mend them. There being no political question before us, I feel as a private individual that I can express only my own sentiments, for which you are in no wise responsible. We have come to consult, and all that any speaker can do is to present his own views. I shall simply lay down the principles which I think should govern the campaign. For what I say I am responsible, and I shall exact from the men for whom I vote the opinions I express. In the first place I shall oppose combinations of any nationalities made for the pur- pose of obtaining control of the city government, and of any coalition of citizens for the purpose of making proscrip- tive laws. I believe that our first duty is to our Creator, and that every man should keep the Sabbath holy ; but I do not
87
HOW IT WAS DONE.
see that this is inconsistent with the proper enjoyment of the day. I would recommend that the meeting appoint a committee, to co-operate with any other citizens' movement, with a view to obtain the very best men for city officers. Now, these are my private views, but I believe they enter into the feelings of the campaign. If they are not adopted by this meeting they will still remain my views.
" We must co-operate with all men who have the good of the city at heart, by putting into the field a ticket for which they need never be ashamed. Let us take no man from whom it would be necessary to exact a pledge, no man who is not fit to be trusted to the utmost with the city's management and money. Let us look around at the financial position of the city and country, and ask if it is a time to bicker about pal- try police regulations. All other questions must sink into insignificance beside the question of bread-the question that will come home to the workingmen this winter - and that must be looked after. [Applause.] It may be well for Chicago to let her voice be heard in the councils of the nation, warn- ing the people. The cotton and wheat crops alone cannot be bought by the present amount of circulating medium. We want more money. We do not say that the money is not good, but that we have not enough of it, and we must call upon the government to supply the want. It is true' it has been said much of our money is wrapped up in bogus railway operations; but, surrounded as we are, we know not where succor is to come from. We must tell the men who hoard up their greenbacks that they are bringing ruin upon us. I would like to return to specie payment, but we can- not do it yet. We must have more money first.
88
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
" There is another question. How are we to pay our taxes, now a hundred per cent. higher than ever before, while we are fifty per cent. less able to pay them than a year ago ? Some of the poor have judgments against their property for taxes, and it will be sold. Now, what do you think of men who will prate about what we should drink on Sunday, with such a state of things staring them in the face? I want to see the Sabbath respected, but I want no bigotry in our Sunday laws. I want every drunken man arrested. The proper way to protect Sunday from violation is to pun- ish those who violate it. I know nothing inconsistent with the law of God in listening to music on Sunday or any other day. We have music in our churches to elevate our hearts, and why cannot we have it in our parks and on our prairies ? I am not in favor of wholesale liquor selling on Sunday, but I want it done under proper regulations.
"I might talk longer, but there are other speakers here, and they will entertain you better than I can; and all I have to say is, indulge in fraternal charity ; abolish all dis- cord and bickerings, and let us unite for a single purpose - that of producing a good government for the rich and poor."
The Chairman then read the following letter from Gov- ernor Palmer :
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Oct. 3, 1873.
GENTLEMEN : Your note inclosing a copy of a series of resolutions adopted by a meeting in Chicago, and in which you invite me to be present at a mass-meeting, to be held on to-morrow evening, favorable to the principles recited in the
89
HOW IT WAS DONE.
resolutions, is before me. I have withheld my answer until now, with the hope that I might be able to accept your invi- tation, but I find that it will be impossible.
It affords me great pleasure to express my full concur- rence in what I understand to be the leading ideas of the resolutions : that every person should be free to preserve his own happiness, subject only to such restrictions as will afford protection to the equal rights of all others; that ques- tions like that of the mode of the observance of the Sab- bath are beyond the rightful domain of legislation ; and that every person should be permitted, without legal hindrance, to decide for himself on that, as on all other days, how he shall employ his time, only that he shall not in any sense invade the liberties of others.
In my judgment the highest earthly authority upon all questions of personal morals is each individual citizen, who has the right, subject to the limitations before mentioned, to decide for himself the extent and nature of his own moral duties. But it is due to my own estimate of the character of the American people that I should say that I do not be- lieve that there is any serious difference among them as to the theory of personal rights, upon which our institutions rest, but the real controversy is as to the practical application of these theories to the government of the great cities, and to the regulation of the conduct and the intercourse of their inhabitants. I have no faith in the ministry of the police officer as an agency for the promotion of morals. Under our system of municipal government the authority of its local magistracy and of its police is practically absolute, and the helpless and feeble are often outraged, and thousands are made criminals by being first treated as outlaws. My best wishes are with every movement which is designed to vindicate the rights of every man who is honest and orderly, and regardful of the rights of others, to do on all days that
90
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
which seemeth good in his own eyes, without challenge from any earthly authority whatever.
I am, very respectfully, JOHN M. PALMER.
General Hermann Lieb, the Hon. A. C. Hesing, the Hon.
Casper Butz, Committee.
Several speeches followed.
Then, amid unbounded enthusiasm, the platform of the party was adopted as follows :
"Resolved, That, in the present state of the public finances, it is imperatively necessary that our city and county affairs be managed in the most economical manner, and the public monies be husbanded as carefully and frugally as possible, in order that our increased municipal taxation be reduced to a just and discriminating government, and the expenditures be made, not for the benefit of any particular class, but for the benefit of the entire community.
"Resolved, That the education of the youth of our country is one of the most effective agencies for the suppression and prevention of crime; that this object is much better attained by the instruction of our children in the schools than to attempt to enforce morality by legislation.
" Resolved, That the cause of temperance is deserving of the aid and assistance of every good man. Intemperance in all things whatever ought to be combated with all suitable means. But we hold that the desirable object of temperance can only be accomplished by elevating the moral standard of the people through enlightened education, and not by sumptuary laws or special legislation.
" Resolved, That we recognize the pursuit of happiness as
91
HOW IT WAS DONE.
one of the inalienable rights of the citizen, and every one should be left free to exercise his right without let or hin- drance, except under such restrictions as are imposed by constitutional law ; and while we believe that on Sunday all business and amusements should be restricted as in no mea- sure to interfere with or disturb the devotion or worship of any class of citizens, yet we firmly deny the right of any one or any class of individuals to prescribe how or in what man- ner Sunday or any day shall be enjoyed by a free people in a free Republic.
"Resolved, That we are in favor of the passage of an ordi- nance prohibiting the granting of licenses to persons of bad repute, for any purpose or purposes whatsoever.
"Resolved, That there ought also to be appointed by the proper authorities inspectors of all beverages sold publicly, and those found impure and deteriorated ought to be con- demned, and dealers therein fined.
" Resolved, That we look with deep regret and apprehen- sion upon the demoralized condition of our Police Depart- ment. Instead of serving as a department for the protection of life and property of the people, it has been used as an instrument of oppression in the hands of a class of preju- diced and narrow-minded men, and that we deprecate that the legitimate duties of the police force have been prosti- tuted to gratify the intolerant spirit of a minority faction.
"Resolved, That the frequent arbitrary arrest of our citi- zens, in cases where fines only are imposed for breach of city ordinances, is a gross outrage and a violation of constitu- tional rights, and should not be tolerated by a free and enlightened people.
92
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
"Resolved, That we consider it a cardinal principle that a person should be held liable for his own wrong only; and for that reason we consider as unjustifiable the statutory enactment making the owner or landlord of premises which have been rented for lawful pursuits responsible for the ne- glect or misdemeanor of his tenants, and for the same reason we demand that drunkards be held strictly accountable for their acts committed while drunk.
"Resolved, That the principles we represent in our plat- form and resolutions are conducive to law and order; and while we appeal to the sympathy and support of the com- munity at large, regardless of all party affiliations, to endorse them, and the action that we have deemed proper to take in this municipal contest in opposition to a spirit of intoler- ance, we pledge ourselves that we shall abide by law and order, and denounce any faction that arrogates to itself that name; and to this end we shall oppose every candidate for office who is not in sympathy with the foregoing resolutions."
Mr. J. K. C. Forrest offered the following as an additional declaration of principles :
"In view of the present demoralized condition of the trade, commerce and industry of the country, the meeting held in the financial and commercial center of the great Northwest resolves :
" I. That the President be respectfully requested to immediately convene Congress in extra session, for the pur- pose of considering the advisability of issuing a sufficient amount of legal tender currency, based upon the deposit of national securities, and at such high rates of interest as
93
HOW IT WAS DONE.
will attract it again to the Treasury upon the restoration of private and. corporate credit. The great want at the present time is currency. It is absurd to ask the people to deposit money in banks which do not pay it out on demand. At the same time such deposit of money merely tends to intens- ify the existing stringency ; it simply enables the banks to save themselves at the expense and to the vital injury of the manufacturing and mercantile community. The legitimate and truly commercial mode of calling out currency from its hiding places is to make it for the interest of holders to part with it.
" 2. Congress should be respectfully asked to repeal the existing national bankrupt act. A person with $10,000 of property other than money can now be compelled to sacri- fice it for a debt of $150. At the same time such sacrifice, if general, will depreciate the real and personal property of the country from fifty to seventy-five per cent. This would necessarily entail ruin upon hundreds of thousands of our citizens.
" 3. Congress should replace the notes of national banks which have gone into liquidation with legal-tender money. This would save interest and prevent stringency of currency.
" 4. The city of Chicago should promptly issue a suf- ficient amount of scrip to keep the mechanics and laborers now engaged in municipal improvements in full work.
"5. The advertised sale of city lots on which are the houses of our citizens, and on which tax payments have not yet been made, should be postponed until the city scrip to be issued has, to some considerable extent, filled the vacuum caused by the withdrawal of money from circulation.
94
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
" With this declaration of principles we submit the cause of the People's Party to our citizens of all religions and nation- alities."
When considerable routine business had been done, vehe- ment cries brought forth Mr. A. C. Hesing, who spoke as follows :
" FELLOW CITIZENS: I shall entertain you only for a few minutes, and I will say that I never intended to say a word here to-night. But, as I have been called upon several times, I come forward to give you my sentiments in regard to this present movement. We are here to-night for the purpose of organizing a party which shall bring us law and order in this city ; which shall respect life and property, and give us a chance, give the poor a chance-you, the laboring classes of this community, at least the right to enjoy yourselves according to the dictation of your consciences. [Applause. ] Now, gentlemen, I recollect the time in this city, and in other places, when the people - when these very same news- papers -- were very glad to hear occasionally from your hum- ble servant who is now before you. I recollect the time - and it is not very long since - when the gentleman whom I now see here to-night before me, who said to-day : "Who would have anything to do with that crowd that would assemble at Kingsbury hall to-night? "-when he begged me to come to the Thirteenth ward and give him a speech to help elect General Grant and the Republican ticket. I recollect the time when this same abused man who stands here before you, when a boy, at the age of nineteen, opened his mouth and lifted his voice for the liberty of an oppressed
95
HOW IT WAS DONE.
race in this country. And to-day I stand here to obtain lib- erty for the oppressed who are here before me. I recollect the time when these newspapers called upon Mr. Hesing to organize war clubs to fill our regiments - to induce men to leave their families - to induce them to take up their mus- kets and go to the war, and fight the battles for these nabobs who now try to oppress us. Where would that glorious ban- ner be which floats over us in this hall if it had not been for you who rescued it from the hands of those robbers? [Ap- plause.] They say that "the foreigners want to dictate to us." These same men were not yet born when I went on the stump to speak for this great nation, and for American liberty, and liberty for all. [Applause.] It is more than a third of a century since I landed in Baltimore-it is thirty- four years ago that I set my foot on this soil, and to-day I am yet called a foreigner by this villainous press of the city of Chicago. [Unusual applause.] I claim to be an Amer- ican citizen as much as anyone. And if I were in the City Council I would not go there to put my books that I printed into the public schools, as some men who now pray for law and order do. I have been in these Republican conven- tions, but I have always opened my mouth in defence of right and justice as against corruption. . There is not a man in this city who can say to my face that I have ever sup- ported a corrupt man for office - that I have ever raised my voice for a corrupt man for any position. When my native American friends had not the courage to put a corrupt aspi- rant aside, they would generally call upon me and say : "You have the courage, Hesing, step forward and put him
96
THE GREAT REVOLUTION.
off; " and I generally stepped forward and put him off the ticket. [Applause.] In 1869, when those same reformers thought that the Germans were getting too much influence, they tried to put them down, and what was the result ? That law and order Council of 1869, were indicted. [Cries of "Good !" and great applause.] Now, gentlemen, I have as much interest in the city of Chicago as any other man. I have lived here since 1854. I have my business here, which I have to take care of.
" Gentlemen, these men who have built their churches, not with their own money, but with the money of the poor, pray that they alone may have liberty. They think no one else is entitled to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I say that God knows he bestowed freedom and the rights of the pursuit of happiness upon every one.
" I tell you now, once for all, that I shall not support any man who can be charged with corruption, or has any of these steals sticking to his fingers. [Applause.] I want an hon- est administration. I want a just administration. I want an administration that will give us law and order not only on Sunday, but on every day in the week. I am in favor of respecting those who attend church, and I believe that others should be. I think their worship should not be interrupted by any parades on the streets, with music and banners, on Sunday. That is the platform on which I stand, and on which I always stood. I am in favor of nominating a man for the Mayoralty like S. S. Hayes, for instance. A man like Thomas Hoyne - a man like Rountree, if he wants it - representative men, like a hundred others I could name ;
97
HOW IT WAS DONE.
but I am not in favor of men who call conventions to have God Almighty represented in the Constitution of this coun- try. I believe that God Almighty is represented in the hearts of those humble men who stand here before me. I believe He has very little to do with men like Colfax or Pat- terson; I am not in favor of a party of men who will sup- port such men for office.
"I tell you, gentlemen, this is not the first time that the humble classes, the hard-working mechanics and artisans, have had to take the reins in their own hands; and when the Chicago Journal says to-night that 'the bummers will meet in Kingsbury hall,' I say it insults the 20,000 ballots here represented. [Applause.] They say we can't win; the 'Law and Order' men must win. I think we are the Law and Order party; and I say it myself, like Mr. Caul- field, that if anyone gets drunk on Sunday, or on any other day, he should be arrested and punished, but I cannot ad- mire or agree with the man who goes to church on Sunday, and prays, and goes the next day on the Board of Trade, and swindles his colleagues there out of so many bushels of grain. [Applause.] I say when a man keeps a disorderly house he should be shut up; but I say, too, that a man should not be sent twice to shut up a small saloon, while no one interferes with a dance-house on Clark street. I believe in dealing justice to every man alike. Let us to-night de- termine that we will have an orderly city, with no sympathy with criminals, and justice to all. I want the law to take its course in every instance; crime punished according to the law, and no pardons. I want every law executed, not only
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.