The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-08-15
GooD-NATURED DEMAGoaUEs.
Boston Herald.

There are some indications that the stan
dards of judgment applied by the people
to public men in this country are being
lowered to conform to an era ofmedieerity
We have as little patience as anybody with
the superciliousness and arrogance that
were characteristic of the late Mr.. Conk-
ling four tense In this case is simply politi
cali. But we hear in many quarters crit
icisms upon other public men for their
/ pride, their dignity, their loftiness of bear
i ing or ehiIliness of temperament. We OBJ
serve, too commentators of the senator's
elect from New York, for their approach
| ableness' and affability,a as if anybody need
hesitate to approach pulp maker or a
/ country lawyer. Plain people going to Wash
Iington, it is said. will no longer need to
mount step ladder to salute the senator
| from New York, nor take piece Of
smoked glass through which to view his
revulgence. All this seems to indicate
that the first qualifications for public
servant whether president, senator or
/ Judge, is that he shall be hale fellow well
/ met with his constituent" Tom,
| Dick and Harry shall feel free to address
| him by his first NAME" and slap him upon
| the back; that he shall, in short, be lone
of us, II not exactly lone of the boys"
IF this be SO, America has indeed run the
doctrine of equality pretty well into the
ground. Since when has it been consid
cred indispensable in a man born to
be a leader, to merge his individ
uality in that of the mass!
Have the greatest parliamentary and party
leaders. in constitutional countries, been
noted for their appropriateness, their lack
of dignity and even of pride, their con-
forrnity IN any way to the caprices of the
populace? Was it not rather the ego in
fhoyT he OF
guarded and strongly asserted-that made
them unlike other men, and therefore
great? Did young Mr.. Pitt, when he was
the real ruler of England make his en-
trance to the chamber of parliament an
occasion for hand. shaking, knee bending,
or smile dispensing? No leader ever had
more Of the imperiousness of intellect, or
fewer of the arts of popularity. The
lords and peers must come to him, and he
spoke to the nation with the authority
of genius. Gould England have az
forded 10 regulate this audacious strip
ling to private life, because her people, of
any degree, did not like his manners Did
England inquire too curiously, either, as to
the travelling companions OF Charles James
Fox, in his vacation tours on the contin-
ent? To come home for examples did
Americans of an hundred years ago illus
~
the august Washington on the back. or
salutiRg him with a nod, and o ':how-d'edo,
George?" Was it the strong point OF
Quincy Adams to be amiable? Did the
Jaws, the Trumbulls, the Marshalls, the
Lees, the Randolphs of ourt simple repub-
1ican DAYS." constitute themselves, as a
rule, guides, philosophers and friends to
all their constituents who took a notion to
visit Washington? We hear it mentioned,
in criticism Of some very eminent judges,
that they are ''too fussy," and too strenu
Gus in enforcing the professional eti-
ouette Of the court room. But, are
we quite ready to turn our high tribu |
nails into 'free and easy" resorts |
where attorneys can sit with their feet on
the bar and swap retorts and jokes across
the former in. democratic Indifference to the |
presence of Judge? Shall we be apt to |
improve the quality of legislation by max
ing senators and members mere professors |
of the art of popularity, and adroit manip- |
ulators of the barrel? 1t seems to us !
that in men of real ability and proved ca
pacity for public service, room may well
be made for such peculiarities of disposi |
ton, and such manners and habits as do |
not impair their efficiency or destroy their
true usefulness for the work which is rel
quired of them A dead level of medioc- |
rity and a set of sapless public men who
have sacrificed the best part of themselves |
to retain their popularity" win be the in
evitable result of such rule of conformity |
to low standards as the times are tending |
toward. There are people who are always |
looking for spots ON the sun and flies IN \
the ointment. They generally find them. |
But does it pay?