Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-01-26

WI LI''e'RNVNs III tPb-
suage having much the appearance of
n demand, calls upon Gov. kirkwood
to resign the Govcrnorship and not
occupy the position "cf retaining one
" Office while holding another in his
g hands" We give the following ex-
tract from its quite lengthy editorial
upon the subject:
'sGoyernor Kirkweod has been
elected United States Senator by a,
hearty majority. and the ,Ha,ckeyel
acquiesces in the will of the
majority. and hopes to see Mr.. Kirk
wood acquit himself with honor and
credit to the great State he has been
called to represent. And, in our
Judgment. he will make good begin
ming by taking his feet off the step
ping stone, and permitting the Lieut..
Governor TO occupy the position
which it was known he would occupy
by those who labored so earnestly for
Gov. KirkWood's success. in case their
plans were irinmphantly carried
ont.
The Ho~ksye cites the case OF Gen.
Oglesby, of Illinois. who. immediate
~ aftcrhi being made Governor. was
chosen L. S. Senator. and because he
resigned at once. whereby Bcvcridgc
bccapan Governor, Kirkwood should
do the same thing. We cannot agree
with our contemporary in its position.
When Oglesby and Beveridge were
nominated. at the convention which
nominated them. aud elsewhere. il
was fully understood that Oglesby
was to he the Senator and Beveridge
the Governor. Such was really the
situation and understanding during
the caUvess. and that Oglesby should
retire at once. But were it even adj
mittcd that the cases were parallel,
we are not aware that KirkW0od or
Iowa Republicans are attending a
school kept by Dick Oglesby. as good
a man as he IL. The fact is. that con.
trary To the arrangement made in IL
linois, which was voluntary and agree.
able, that Oglesby should make the
Gnbernatorial race. KirkWood stout
ly and stubbornly refused any such
plan. or rather. to run for Governor,
saving openly and plainly that he did
not want to be Governor and would
not rnn, and that TO be Senator was
what he wanted. The Convention,
however. coFnered him. nominating
him against his will and in spite OF
his refusal. Once nominated. he put
Oh, the harness and went into the
fight with q win. it still being well
understood that he would ask the Re.
publicans- to make him Senator. But
in so doing ii was stated publicly by
himself and through the press of the
State. and thoroughly understood that
his election ms z. s. Senator would
not take him from the Gubernatorial
chair for at least a gear after his in
auguration. This plain understand
ing of the case II seems to us, must be
faithfully carried out. and in saying
this, we in no possible way call in
question or in any manner touch upon
the character or capabilities of the
Lieut.. Governor. The reasoning up
on the same state Of facts. would be
the same. though the positions of Mr.
Kirkwood and Mr.. Newbold Were
reversed. To meet the objection that
Kirkwopd would go out Of the Gov
ernorship if elected Senator. ii was
urged, and not controvcrtcd, that
there would he no necessity at all for
iresigning as Governor. during the
present year. at least. And why was
this urged! The answer IL obvious.
Coy. kirkwood has been chosen L.
s. senator for term of elk years, to
commence March 4. 1877, nearly four
teen months hence. Should he resign
al once. he would be. virtually. q pri-
saie citizen until the 4th Of March,
1871. Relieving. therefore. the under
stan,!ing x,resassed very largely be-
fore the Governor was chosen Senator
thai he would continue 10 fill the
State Executive chair for many
months vet. we must dissent from the
opinion expressed by our respected
and able contemporary that lie should
AT ones step down from the Govern
or's chair. ~