The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-04
The Senatorship.

candidates for United States Senator has
materially changed the aspect OF the Senatorial
canvass, and great uncertainty prevails in
regard to the action of the caucus of the Re-
publican members of the Legislature. As
they are comparatively nntrammelled by pri-
Vate pledges and oommittals, they will have
an excellent opportunity of selecting a
man of high character and commanding
talents, and they would render their oonsti-
Suents a substantial service If they made all
minor considerations subordinate to the great
end Of eleoting a Senator capable Of worthily
representing the Commonwealth and defend
Ing her interests with potential voice. There
Is no lack of talent among the Republicans Of
the State. An abundance Of men could easily
be found within her boundaries who
are the intellectual peers Of the
leading spirits Of the nation, and the difficulty
in making selection arises mainly from the
trouble OF discovering an aspirant who unites
the requisite qualifications with scceptability
to antagonistic factions and to the individual
members of the Legislature. 1t is a misfor-
tune that the interests and wishes Of the peo-
pie are too often neglected or disregarded in
these contests. The legislators elected to
represent the State at Harrisburg are apt to
forget that they are acting for great constitu-
ency, in their anxiety to choose Senator
who will become the subservient friend of his
sauous supporters. II, however, they subor-
dinate their personal interests to the general
welfare, they can easily enable the citizens Of
Pennsylvania to point to their future Senators
with as much pride as Kentucky felt in Clay,
or as Massachusetts feels in Sumner and Will
son, or Ohio in Sherman and Wade, or Indi-
ana in Morton. 1t is by no means necessary, and
1t is scarcely desirable, that the Legislature
should be confined in its choice to the men
who are most clamorous for the coveted prize.
The excessive anxiety of any particular indi-
Tidual to obtain 30 important an Office is no
proof of his fitness, and it furnishes no valid
reason for the triumph of any aspirant.
Neither are the alleged claims based
on sectional theories of material Importance.
According to the system Of choosing Senators
alternately from the eastern and western por-
tions of the State, the west has perhaps the
best title to the new Senator, and there will
be a vigorous effort made to sustain these
pretensions by Mr.. MoOrhead or Mr.. Marshall
of Allegheny county. But if sectiona
claims alone were to be considered, Philadel-
phia might plead with irresistible force against
the long-coAtinued exclusion of her citizens
from this important position. What is most
needed is Senator who can in all respects
worthily represent the Republicans of the
State, and it is matter of comparative indf-
ference what city or county may be his pre-
sent residence.
We have no disposition to urge the claims
of any particular aspirant, and it is unfortu-
nate that few persons who really deserve Ssna-
torial honors have yet been publicly advo-
Gated. One of the greatest embsrrassments o.
the Legislators will arise from the importuni-
ties of the friends of mediocre candidates. 1t
requires little knowledge of the men aud the
interests of Pennsylvania to discern that
Galusha A. Grow, for instance, is by no
means the best man the Republican party can
select, and yet he is being pressed with an
earnestness for which there ia no apparent
justification. He had ample opportunities to
distinguish himself, as series OF fortunate
accidents gave him much longer career in
Congress Lnau IL usually allOtLou 10 tue hepro-
sentatives of this State; but we have been un-
able to discover aHy evidence OF
his transcendent genius or OF his spa
eial fitness for the Senatorship. If by any
unexpected political complication he should
become the favorite of the Senatorial caucus,
we hope he will at least satisfy the Legislature
shat he has not imbibed from his political in
structor, Mr.. Wilmot any of the free trade
theories for which that gentleman was for
nerly famous. Pennsylvania could scarcely
commit graver mistake than to select sens-
tor who is hostile or indifferent to the diVersi-
fed industrial interests of the Com
monwealth. Wilmot was the only
Representative in Congress in 1916
from Pennsylvania who voted for the repeal
OF the tariff of 1912, and there is school of
New York Republicans who are at this mo-
ment ardently advocating free trade. We are
by no means sure that Mr.. Grow would an
4agonize these enemies OF Pennsylvania In
zerests with any great degree of zeal. The
State should secure not only Senator of con-
summate ability, but one who is as sincerely
devoted to protection as to the principles
snunciated in the Republican platform.
The ROard of COrmjssfonars