The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-10-06
General Baily and the Coming Election.

General Silas IN, Bally, RepuDilcail
candidate for state treasurer, is in this
city. The General looks trlfie
Older and stouter than he did in the
old war times when he was colonel of
the sth Pennsylvania Reserves, but Is
a young man yet and full of vigor.
No better candidate could possibly
have been selected for the state treas
urership than General Baily. He is
honest, brave, thoroughly competent
and man that every good Republican
in the State can vote for without fear
of afterward regretting it. If ever
man deserved well of his fellow
citizens for brave and honorable pub
lie service, quietly and modestly rem
dered, General Baily is that man.
There was time-has it gone by?-
when it was felt to be an honor to vote
for man with q military record like
General Baily's. He faced death OH
many hard-fought battlefields and
never flinched. He never shirked
duty or danger. A thorough soldier,
he never sought preferment, either
civil or military, but during the war
rose legitmately by his merit, and at
ts close quietly laid aside his sword
and resumed his civil occupation in
hisquiet home among the hills of
Fayette county, where he was sought
! out and selected rs q proper and COM
petent man to have the custody of the
treasure of our State. The office
| sought the man, not the man the Office.
| If the Republican convention had
selected some man of less ability and
merit than General Baily there might
! possibly have been some excuse for a
third candidate in this campaign; but,
| III view of the Republican candidate
and his record, the candidacy of Mr.
Wolfe, supported by the dissatisfied
disaffected and disappointed, is uncalled
for and improper. 1t will, however.
he an uphill business to attempt to
make the people believe that they are
doing an improper or dangerous
| thing in voting for man like Baily.
OF course the only objection that they
can bring forward against him is the
old threadbare one of "Oh, he's Cam
eron's choice-was,seiected by the ring"
and is representative of "bossism.n "
| That there is no truth in this is of
course known to every man who has
full know ledge of the facts, but many
have not this knowledge, and it is con-
sequently hoped that such may be
drawn or frightened out of the party
lines by the frantic appeals of the small
but would-be select company of po-
! litical saints who of late seem to be
assuming to represent all the virtue in
the Republican party, or perhaps in
both parties, in the city and State.
If an Objectionable man, by hard
work and energy happens to secure a
nomination, a howl is at once raised
by these people. There! See the
kind of man the machine is forcing
upon the people!' When, on the
contrary, first-class man, uneXcept-
ionable in every respect, thoroughly
honest, honorable and competent is
selected as a candidate for any Office,
then it would seem as if this truly
good combination should be rejoiced
and join in the general effort to elect
such man, to show their approval of
that class of candidates. Not at all.
They will abuse that man rather worse
than the other, before they are done
with him and swear by all that is
great and good that he is infinitely
more dangerous than the other fellow.
We don't profess to know the inside
working of Senator Cameron's mind,
but it must make pretty tough job OF
it for him to work for the success of
the Republican party in this State if
he and his friends try, in doing it, to
satisfy the whims of all these irrecon-
cilables. But Senator Cameron and
every other man who has the good of
the grand old Republican party at
heart, and who has ever worked for
| its success, has long since ascertained
that there is no use in trying to satisfy
men whose purpose is not to be salts
fed, but who are Republicans, Demo,
Gratis, Reformers, independents, any
thing, by turns, that will give them
notoriety, influence, office or control.
A few deep, calculating, scheming
men start the howl and all the restless,
dissatisfied, unsatistied, cranky ele-
ments in the State or in the nation
rush to their standard. 1t was so in
the Garfield campaign and probably
always will be so to greater or less ex'
tent. While there is probably no
remedy for the organization of such
political menageries, yet their work
may be as dangerous as Guiteau's IS
| bullet and the only way to success
| fully meet and defeat them is to show
the people plainly the great danger OF
| listening to their councils or follow
ing their advice. Infinitely better
that here and there a mistake should
be made or even dish onest man steal
few dollars, or Republican boss
endure for time, rather than that
Republican defeat should be secured
and control gained by these bowling
dervishes of politics. Nothing suits
the Democrats better than these efforts
to weaken or defeat Republican sue
cess. 1t is safe rule for every good