The Dispatch from Moline, Illinois • 11

THE DAILY DISPATCH, Moline, Illinois Monday, February 8, 1 988 B5 Local New Windsor's presidential candidate: Alson Streeter fsf I Iflll A graduated income tax, an eight-hour work day, sanitary conditions in industrial establishments, mine inspections, the abolition of child labor, women's suffrage, and government regulation of interstate commerce. Once again Mr. Streeter was defeated by the voters, and the party's bloc of members in the U.S. House was cut to 10. With the resumption of specie payments in 1879, the party had lost its major platform plank and most of its supporters.

These defeats must have been depressing for Mr. Streeter, but he was making contacts and learning the fine art of campaigning. And his defeats had not harmed him in the eyes of those who held like political views. On May 14, 1884, at the national convention of the newly-formed Anti-Monopoly Party in Chicago, he was unanimously named temporary chairman. As a member of the platform committee, he helped draft a set of goals declaring that the "giant monopolies" which controlled transportation, money "and the transmission of intelligence" should be regulated by Congress with an Interstate commerce bill, and that U.S.

senators should be elected directly by the people, rather than by the state legislatures. Although Mr. Streeter could be considered a founder of this new party, it was under the Greenback label that he was elected 24th District senator to the 34th Illinois General Assembly in November, and to the 35th assembly in 1886. He introduced a total of 26 bills during his two terms. Although most were tabled or died in committee, one raising the age of consent for females from 10 to 14 years passed in the Senate unanimously.

support in midwestern farming states, where debt-ridden farmers didn't want to see a tight-money system adopted. By 1878 the party was polling more than a million votes, and it was successful in getting a number of candidates elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. It broadened its platform to iri-clude planks demanding a shorter work week and the establishment of state and national bureaus of labor and of industrial statistics, to gather and publish information on wages and working conditions. Although Mr.

Streeter, the party's candidate for state representative from the 10th Illinois Congressional District, had been defeated at the polls, delegates had no qualms about nominating him for governor during the 1880 state convention. The party's national platform that year included planks favoring a Breach Menders to give report Rock Island homes before the homes are demolished by city order. The group would salvage materials such as interior and exterior trim, panel doors and windows and would sell the materials at its Davenport store. In return for the rights, Neighborhood Housing Service would give residents of Rock Island's strategy area a discount on housing materials bought at the store, said Alan Carmen, Rock Island planning the 18 homes renovated by the group in about seven years draw about $7,000 annually in property taxes. In other action, the city council will consider an agreement with a Davenport group that would give residents of Rock Island's Neighborhood Strategy Area a discount on building materials.

Under the proposed agreement, Rock Island would give Neighborhood Housing Service of Davenport rights to salvage materials from By Judith Norris and Mary Otto Staff writers EDITOR'S NOTE: One hundred years ago, the national political spotlight splashed on the Mercer County town of New Windsor. Alson Jenness Streeter was a candidate for president. This is the first of two stories about his political career. NEW WINDSOR The date was May 18, 1888; the place, Cincinnati, Ohio. Delegates from 25 states were gathered to hammer out a platform and select a slate of candidates under the banner of the newly-formed Union Labor Party.

The men assembled must have been tired. For the previous 12 hours they had been involved in an "animated and acrimonious debate," according to an article in the May 17, 1888, Rock Island Argus. "Recriminations were freely indulged in" during the "wrangling" to work out a platform acceptable to all those present. The hour was 10 p.m., and the roll call of states was just beginning for nominations for the office of president of the United States. As the secretary called out "Arkansas," Charles E.

Cunningham, a farmer from near Little Rock, stood up and nominated Alson Jenness Streeter. Although other names were placed in nomination, those men quickly rose to say they declined the honor. "Streeter was nominated by acclamation, amid rousing cheers," according to The Argus. "No man can say I have sought the nomination," Mr. Streeter told the crowd of delegates.

"You need a change in the administration of your affairs; one that means relief to all industrial people among us. You need an administration of the government In the interest of the people. "The destiny of the country is now in your hands, and your weapon is the ballot. "We have tried both old parties, and both have failed to give us relief. We now appeal to you to solve the issue at the polls.

Shall the aristocracy forever rule over us, or shall the government be restored to the people to whom it belongs?" Once more, the crowd cheered. There was no doubt that Alson J. Streeter, 65, had come a long way. Born Jan. 18, 1823, in Rensselaer County, N.Y., the oldest of eight children, he had moved with his family to Illinois in 1836.

Lacking money for an education, he had made his way to Galesburg in 1846 in hopes of being admitted to Knox Manual Labor College, which he had been told offered educations to students without financial resources. Disappointed to learn that this wasn't true, he first became a janitor in one of the college buildings, and later he established his own shingle- Milan man held in attempted burglary polls, ex-Illinois governor, Gen. John M. Palmer, told delegates the "political parties had accomplished their work, and it was time for them to give way." Whatever these parties had been in the past, he said, it was certain they had outlived their usefulness. "He urged his listeners to protest the "grinding monopolies" and said it was time for the people to assert themselves.

The delegates approved a platform calling for reform of civil-service abuses, improved navigation on lakes and rivers, repeal of the national banking law, enforcement of existing railroad legislation and the passage of more such laws. Although the Reform Party nominated him for superintendent of public instruction, Gen. Palmer was firmly back in the Democratic fold by the general election in November. That party had nominated him for the same post. For Mr.

Streeter, however, there was no turning back. By 1875 he had moved into the ranks of those who would found the Greenback party. He was one of two delegates from the 10th Illinois District to attend its first national convention on May 17, 1876, in Indianapolis. The party was known variously as the Independent Party, the National Party, the Greenback Party, the Greenback National Party and the Greenback Labor Party. Its name came from its primary demand: that the greenbacks, or paper money, issued during the Civil War be given complete legal-tender status and issued freely.

Its members argued for repeal of the 1875 Resumption Act, which ordered that no more greenbacks be issued and that those in circulation be redeemed for gold. The movement gained most of its Aledo seeks settlement in suit with residents By Mirl Ascarelll Staff writer ALEDO The city is seeking an out-of-court settlement in two suits filed by Aledo residents who say a contractor the city hired to work on its sewer project trespassed on their properties, causing irreparable damage. The complaints were filed last month by Audrey and Frank Brown, RR 2, Aledo, and Jim and Helen Marshall, Aledo. Each couple is seeking $50,000 in punitive damages and $10,000 in compensatory damages. "We'll try to settle it out of court," said Aledo City Clerk Brian Whitehall.

"It's in both parties' interest." In both suits, the plaintiffs allege that workers from Langman Construction Rock Island, caused irreparable damage when workers from the company "forceably, unlawfully and wrongfully" trespassed onto their property to conduct surveys, post flags, erect a fence, destroy a fence, move dirt and dig a trench. The suits contend that the company planned to haul several tons of dirt belonging to the property owners away from the premises. The suits say the work caused water to back up on the properties, and will "seriously impair the soil and fertility" of the land. Should they not agree, a hearing has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

ALSON JENNESS STREETER making business, which he operated in his spare time after classes and on Saturdays. He remained in Galesburg for about three years, first attending the Sireparatory school founded in con-unction with the college, then the college Itself. In 1849 he made the first of three trips to the newly-opened gold fields in California. No mention is made of him succumbing to "gold fever," but he did note the extraordinary prices being paid for beef at the mining camps. On two subsequent trips to California in 1853 and 1854, he earned enough money driving cattle west to purchase 240 acres of land in Rivoli Township, Mercer County, on his return.

What little has been written about him doesn't say when he first became interested in politics, although he is listed on the Mercer County Board of Supervisors in 1862. By 1872 he was well enough known in political circles to be elected to the 28th Illinois General Assembly as minority representative from the 22nd District, which contained Knox and Mercer Counties. During his term in Springfield, he quickly found a niche on the agriculture committee and began working on one of the things he knew best the problems facing farmers. Although he had been elected by the Democrats, his interest in agriculture caused him to seek a spot in a delegation attending the first state convention of the newly-formed Illinois State Independent Reform Party, being held in Springfield on June 10, 1874. Many of those attending were angered that the railroads appeared determined to ignore the "Granger Laws" that the state passed in 1871 to control the exorbitant and discriminatory rates being charged and the excessive warehouse costs being collected for grain storage.

Although Mr. Streeter, the party's candidate for state representative from the 10th Illinois Congressional District, had been defeated at the By Cheryl Baltzer Staff writer The budget for Breach Menders a non-profit group that renovates homes, will come under the scrutiny of the Rock Island City Council tonight. The group works with low- to moderate-income people to renovate homes using federal loans and grants. Most of the people who buy the homes would not qualify for bank loans. Rock Island gives Breach Menders about $40,000 annually in Community Development Block Grants federal monies given to some social services agencies and some city programs.

Breach Menders officials will give their report, which traces renovations since 1985, at a city council meeting at 6:45 p.m. at city hall. Aid. Vern Winter, 4th Ward, has asked to review the group's funding and spending patterns to determine how much money is spent to repair each home. He questioned the amount of renovation monies Breach Menders spends on homes, many of them older and dilapidated.

Each home is renovated with an average of $30,000. He suggested that more homes could be renovated if less deteriorated homes were selected. Breach Mender administrators argue that increasing the number of homeowners in the city cuts down on crime and prompts neighbors to complete property repairs. Breach Mender director Chris Ericksen said A Milan man was being held in Rock Island County Jail this morning after an apparent attempted burglary at 10:18 p.m. Saturday in a Moline home.

Timothy O. Huskey, 21, of 12 Lake View Road, Milan, was arrested Saturday at a house in the 2600 block of 16th Street, Moline. He faces charges of attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools. No bond has been set. Police be-' lieve a hammer and flashlight were used in the attempted burglary Clothing reported stolen in Moline Moline police Saturday responded to a report of a stolen dresser full of clothes and a set of toys valued at $500 in the 1200 block of 7th Moline.

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