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Show LETTEK FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS- Snow Josh Billings a "Sell" Anti-Monopolis Convention-- ' The Grangers not Politicians, Etc. Council Bluffs, Feb.21, 1S71. Editors Jkrald : It is jiow blowing with a feeble attempt at-tempt at a snow storm. The blow is not a failure, although the snow may prove such. - It often blows in this country and sometimes snows. Yesterday Yes-terday was a very beautiful day, warm and sunny, making us think that Spring time was at hand. Whether the storm of to-day is owing to the "cusscdness" of the weather clerk, or the presence iu our midst of the inveterate joker, Josh Billings, I am unprepared to sayprobably the latter. 1 write una brief epistle designing de-signing the same as a gratuitous puff ot the weather and Josh, which I hope you will find to be unobjectionable. The people here responded quite liberally to the invitation to attend a lecture which Josh advertised that ho would deliver last evening at Dohany's Hall, in this city, by which responso the lecturer was in receipt probably of some three hundred dollars, and as a natural consequence the four hunred persons in attendance returned home at the couclusiou of the show minus the aforesaid sum, and being tbere-Ibre tbere-Ibre poorer but more sad men and women. Your corrospondent,fearing a "sell," took the precaution to stay away from the hall, and thereby saved his little six bits and his temper, tem-per, both of which, by the way, are somewhat slioit. From the tone of the morniuc press and the victims, I am led to bo-lieve bo-lieve that, however successful Josh Billings may be asa writer of jokes, as a lecturer he is not a success, if not a tolal failure. I am told that his lecture lec-ture consisted of a rehash of his old, oil repeated witticisms, read by him in a nut very etlective manner. He is to millet punishment upon the people of Omaha to-night, and will, 1 doubt not, iu due season, bring up in Salt Lake City. As a general rule most communities liko to be humbugged, ibr which reason, I suppose, sup-pose, wnen he arrives in your place ne will be welcomed by a full house, this puff to the contrary, notwithstanding. notwith-standing. There is lo be a delegate convention in this place this p.m., tor the pur-pojo pur-pojo OI electing delegates to attend a State convention of anti-monopolists at Des Moines. I shall attend it, an1! if anything occurs of interest, will add to this lelter which I shall leave open , lor that purpose. Later, 'i nave just returned from the convention and have nothing of ! especial interest lo-report. lue moot 1 notable feature of the moeting was 1 the introduction of a resolution uir strucliug the State convention to insert in-sert a plank in its plattorm favoring female surlrage, which was voted down. It seemed to me as an inconsistency in-consistency for a party avowedly opposing monopolies, to continue iu lbe hands of men a monopoly monop-oly of the right of suffrage, and as I am an anti-monopolist from principle, and a believer in an equal distribution of the ballot, also having faith in the ultimate success of Iho woman's suffragists; 1 regard this little vote as a misfortune to the anti-monop. anti-monop. party of Iowa. What tho final result of the present effort will be cannot now bo loretold, but my impression is that under some organization or other, tho encroachments encroach-ments of the wmy power upon the rights of the laborer will bo met and overcome -a consummation devoutly to be hoped for. The Orange movement will not, iu my opinion amount to a political or-gun'.zatiou or-gun'.zatiou the members thereof seeming to deny any intention of doing it; but it may be that one will grow up whoso object will be direct political influence, indeed, such an one already exists to a limited extent in several states, J shall probably be better posted on die subject in a short time. However, as I am supposed to be a Bourbon of the most radica. type, it will be difficult to convince me that the country will be safe in any other hands than that of the Democratic Party, Yours, H. D. J. |