The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1880-05-08
Streight and the Journal.
lFrankford Banner.1

The Banner is not one of the papers
which have been advocating the nomina-
ton of Colonel Streight, nor has it been
pushing any pet candidate. We regard it
as the right of every good Republican to
advocate his claims to party recognition,
and we do not build much on the doctrine
of ''the Office hunting the man." That is
very pretty theory, but it is foreign to our
practice. Offices are not much on the
hunt; men sometimes are. If a man de-
siree an Office it is more manly for him to
say so openly than to sneak in behind the
conventional "many friends" or "many
voters" or to be such an egotistical ass as
to pretend to be so conspicuous that the
discriminating "office" has passed by all
his peers to hunt him out.
Just what Streight's offense is that stinks
in the delicate nostrils of the Journal, we
do not clearly learn from the diatribes of
that sheet. 1t seems that he has rooms at
a hotel, and sends out through the State
marked copies of papers containing favor
able notices of his candidacy. AS matter
of taste this may be questionable to q re-
fnement so highly toned as the Indiana
polls Journal enjoys, but we fail to see in
it any outrage upon the proprieties Col
onel Streight says, and his reputation for
~.
these newspaper notices have been volun-
tary, and if Streight does not tell the truth
almost the whole press of Indiana is venal
and purchasable. We are not prepared to
believe this. Nearly nine-tenths of the
Indiana newspapers have favorably men
toned Colonel Streight's candidacy, and
those papers are about as honorable as
the Journal.
The Journals position is a standing
charge of venality and corruption against
the press of this State, which, if that press
submits to- it is confession of guilt. We
repeat that we do not believe the charge,
nor do we believe that any man can afford
to take the nomination for Governor Sc
cured by the support of the Journal made
in this way. Ii we were not before con
vinced that Colonel Streight should be the
nominee, we are now. A party can not
submit to the dictation of an assuming
power which makes an unprecedented as
sault upon a member of its own party.
The common sense of the people will see
the sinister motive that is but thinly con-
cealed by the game of the Journals phar-
aseeism. The press that is assailed, If in
nocent, must resent the assault. The con-
vention will not be the jack to jump when
Martindale pulls the string.
Colonel Streight was good soldier, is
square Republican, has an unsullied record
and is entitled to fair play at the hands of
the Republican party. If such Republic
ans as he are to be slaughtered by political
pirates-if they are to be at the mercy of
party desperadoes who seek sordid gain by
personal detraction and vent their disap-
pointment in venomous attack without q
solemn and earnest rebuke of such disgrace
full and reprehensible conduct, then the
ruling order Of the campaign is dirty dogs
to the front" and the fate of the party is
defeat by assassination. This must not, will
not be tolerated. The Journal has forced
problem uponthe coming convention.
The solution is the nomination of Colonel
Streight.