Old Man of Massillon

For weeks about the streets of Massillon, Ohio (pop: 26,475) clattered a two-horse buggy in which sat a pucker-faced little old man with wiry grey hair. Whenever his vehicle was stopped by red traffic lights or his horses veered off to graze at curb grass, the old man would stand up on the buggy seat and exhort passing citizens--workers from the foundries, the machine shops, the glass factories, attendants at the State Insane Asylum, farmers from Stark County--to vote for him as Republican nominee for Mayor. With the fervor of an evangelist promising heaven, the old campaigner in his stand-up collar and wide-brimmed black hat promised Massillon a new municipal water works and reduced water rates if he were elected.

Massillon gave the old gentleman an attentive ear because he was no less a person than Jacob Coxey, 76. It was from Massillon in the Spring of 1894 that "General'' Coxey led his rag-tag and bobtailed army of unemployed across the country to the Capitol at Washington to demand relief. That march made its leader famous, though it failed to advance the bizarre economic cause for which he staged it. The Coxey plan for unemployment relief in 1894 and 1931 was to have States and municipalities issue 25-year non-interest bearing bonds to be deposited with the Federal Government which in turn would give the local governments 99-c- on $1 for public works. Eight times has Mr. Coxey got his bill for the Treasury to issue fiat money introduced in Congress, eight times has it failed of enactment. Declares "General" Coxey: "The American people are still as dumb as beetles." But last week old Mr. Coxey did not think Massillon Republicans were so dumb. They gave him 2,983 votes and nominated him for Mayor over two rivals, one of them the Republican incumbent. Because Massillon is normally Republican, Nominee Coxey expects to be elected next November, after which he will have his first opportunity to experiment with non-interest bearing bonds for the construction of the new water works.

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