European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday August 31, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary George will author tells nation s Story from Bottom up this labor Day take to a Hammock with Charles Bailey a new novel of the great Plains the land was ours. You will Rise refreshed from revisiting the drama of americans who Laboured on the land 100 years ago. In americans tradition of regional fiction Willa Cather a Nebraska novels have an enviable Niche. Now Bailey enriches the genre with the Story of 65 years of the life of Dan Woods a South Dakota journalist. Woods parents move to South Dakota and to town when overwhelmed by Nebraska a droughts blizzards Hail and finally Grasshoppers that came As a White Cloud shimmering like Snow in the sunlight a moving carpet that in an hour stripped a farm even chewing leather harnesses. Bailey takes Woods from boyhood to death in 1938, through the nations great conflict Between country and City when politics was a cockpit of controversy about americans changing character. Bailey weaves in historic figures and their words William Jennings Bryan Teddy Roosevelt Mark Hanna Sam Rayburn journalist William Allen White and Mary lease the agrarian firebrand whose rally cry was a you Farmers need to raise less Corn a and More hell a but Bailey is telling americans Story Jill Lawrence from the Bottom up a Story that turns on the agrarian revolt of the 1890s. Then the nation so recently divided Between North and South suffered bitter strife Between Rural americans wanting free Trade and cheap Money and the Industrial interests wanting tariffs and a sound the political passions of the 1990s seem synthetic and Only shallowly Felt when compared with those of the 1890s. At that time there was the compounded bitterness that politics acquires when material and moral anxieties coincide. The West needed capital and railroads. The East controlled both. Declining farm prices meant that an increased number of bushels of wheat were required to repay Loans to a soft handed smooth talking easterners. And there was an aching sense of moral As Well As material loss. It has been said that America was born claiming perfection and promising Progress. It was born on the farm and moved to town leaving behind the jeffersonian vision. The Louisiana Purchase and restrictions on expansion of slavery were supposed to guarantee a vast Inland Empire of Small Farmers perpetually renewing the Young republics Yeoman Virtues of Independence and self sufficiency. But the nature of 19th-Century America a huge tracts of land to be cultivated a labor shortage a spurred the mechanization of agriculture. This increased production and Price fluctuations and debts. Farmers saw their economic political and social standing decline. Their Independence and self sufficiency were by other names loneliness and vulnerability forced upon them by bad roads and bad communications and cycles of overproduction declining prices failure and foreclosure. Without Bela Boring the Point. Bailey makes it big activist government was not Only or initially a response to Urban industrialism. Forty years before the new Deal Rural populism was americans first powerful political movement to insist that the Federal government has Broad ameliorative responsibilities. Government responded Rural free delivery Rural electrification paved roads As late As the 1920s, most of South Dakota was Untra Venable during Rainy Spring regulation of railroads and Grain elevators and the then Radical policy of commodity Price parity a an economic entitlement a Harbinger of the welfare state. Historians have argued heatedly about whether consensus or conflict is the dominant feature of american history. Actually there is remarkable Consen sus about the cultural values of capitalist individualism there is constant conflict Between economic interests. And Bailey a novel suggests that while economic conflicts occur in a context of consensus about capitalist values the economic conflicts often reinforce deep disagreement about other political values such As those at Issue in the transformation of Jefferson Samerica into today a. Bailey shows How close we still Are to the time when Rural life had a crushing rawness. One Day in May 1934, a dust storm stretching from Texas to Canada and soaring 15,000 feet blew East. Dust settled on of dry a desk and on ships hundreds of Miles out on the Atlantic. By december two of every five South Dakotas were on Relief a the nations highest percentage. In july 1935, the Grasshoppers returned. This labor Day Bailey a Book a Loving hymn to those who surmounted such hardships brings Back to life an Era when there were political passions commensurate with americans problems and purposes. We can not be reminded too often or More pleasantly than Bailey does it How much labor went into the making of the country in which this monday we take our ease. C washing on Post writers grou Cuomo offers mixed blessings to party self with some democrats rather timidly starting to flirt with 1992 presidential prospects Mario Cuomo stands out As one with staying Power. The new York governor has been looming Over his party for seven years throwing off Light and Sparks and the tantalizing Promise of political salvation a without Ever committing himself to a White House bid. And that a made him a somewhat complicated Blessing for a party deeply in need of actual candidates willing to Challenge George Bush asap. On the one hand conto is a compelling speaker and a forceful personality. He a displayed his talents this summer to highlight democratic themes and stir a Little excitement among the party faithful. On the other hand by flaunting his potential and denying As usual that he a running for president he a siphoning attention a and some say stature a from democrats who Are More Likely to run. Cuomo Isnit exactly going out of his Way to kill speculation. He says repeatedly that he has no plans to run but he does no to Rule it out. And his handpicked state party chairman says Cuomo is so Well known that he could wait until thanksgiving to launch a candidacy. Meanwhile Cuomo continues to kindle democratic fantasies with appearances in major forums a network talk shows the . Conference of mayors the american Stock Exchange. Next month he goes to a National association of broadcasters meeting invitations from other groups Are pending. Cuomo a specially is decrying the economic Impact he says Republican policies have had on states and cities in the past decade. He a cutting and eloquent and funny and passionate and at the same time insistent that m done to have any magic with the words or the he a not the Only articulate Democrat on the speaking circuit these Days. Iowa sen. Tom Harkin is rousing audiences with a scrappy populist pitch. Arkansas Civ. Bill Clinton spoke to a democratic gathering earlier this month and you could have heard a pin drop it was so powerful Quot said Media consultant Bob Squier. Yet so la Ier an informal Cuomo adviser puts the new yorker in a class by himself Quot he would be the Best of All possible candidates in terms of his speaking style. He is the Golden Throat of the democratic fairly or not Quot that puts Harkin. Clinton and other White House aspirants at a disadvantage. In fact Tipiere arc serious questions about How Cuomo would fare if he entered a presidential contest. First of All. His Home state fiscal picture in t pretty. F tic How Many times i gotta Tell you Rotthe Whitmone not the White ont the obsessive new York at one Point this year faced a projected budget deficit of $6.5 billion and has imposed More than $1 billion in tax increases in each of the last three years. Cuomo blames his problems on Republican presidents handing off Federal responsibilities without the Money to carry them analysts say state spending also has played a role. The situation has forced Cuomo to Battle his legislature to balance the budget fire state workers and Cut education Aid and watch his performance rating sink below 50 percent. Some observers wonder whether the sometimes combative Cuomo is even tempered enough to withstand a National Campaign. Cuomo himself apparently wonders How Hoad his Appeal would be. He said recently that democrats should nominate a Quot non threatening Quot candidate and Captain Nahab. Added that a distinct ethnic types Are always threatening to a his background and Liberal image make it unclear How Well he would do in certain regions. A in the South to True forced to get a moderate if you want a viable candidate Quot said Atlanta pollster Clai Bourne Darden a Democrat who secs that potential m Clinton. Cuomo has called Tor National investment lax incentives and higher taxes on wealthy Amei leans in Lecont speeches. But he complained this month on an Albany radio show no one is listening to ins ideas Toi the future what a a because he s not miming Toi president. Ltd. A 1 i ,ou�i1�mj pfc a
