The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1881-03-10

4
Warwick, it would puzzle me to conjec
ture why you should publish me as q
member of a ring, and smile so sweetly
upon him, if 1 did not keep steadily 10
mind your own confession that you wish
to be fair, and that you have no preju-
dices in this matter.
You say further that, being unable to
speak the German language, I cannot
talk with as many people as some one else
might entertain with conversation in my
place. Let me tell you secret: talking
is not the only duty which county judge
must perform. Ii it were, lady of cul-
ture and agreeable manners would fill the
| Office better than either your favorite or
myself could do, provided she were eligi-
BILE. But there are records to be kept,
and arguments of lawyers to be heard and
weighed, and statutes and opinions to be
examined and distinguished and applied,
and decisions to be rendered which affect
| the interests of those widows and orphans
| for whom you plead, and which are sub
| ject TO review in the higher courts of law
And all those arguments are made, and
those records, statutes, opinions, and de-
cisions written, in the English language.
| The Jeffersonian test of candidates fit
ness was indicated by the question, Is he
capable, honest and faithful? You pro
pose to improve and amend this by add
ing, Can he speak German2
1t may be taken for granted that the
English language is now understood by a
much larger percentage of our citizens
than was the case in former years. You
have edited paper here some sixteen
years or more, 1 believe. How is THAT
in all that time, you never discovered
until now the necessity for choosing a
county judge who can speak German?
Four years ago, there were three German
candidates for that Office, of whom you
were one. When you withdrew your
name from the consideration of the con-
vention, you advised your friends to vote
for me. Didn't it then occur to you, al
though you had lived here SO long, that
a knowledge of German was an essential
qualification for the judgeship? Or were
you not then SO fair, and free from pre-
JUDGE as you say you are now? And if
you are right in this part of your argu
ment, can you name any other county
Office, except that of superintendent of
schools, in which knowledge of German
is not quite as necessary as you hold it
to be in the iudgeship? If you cannot,
then be consistent and logical in passing
from your premises to your conclusion;
have the courage of your convictions, and
declare boldly that no one but German
should be elected to any Office in this
county, except the superintendency. In
telligent and respectable Germans could
not feel much greater disgust for SO broad
a declaration than they have for your ap-
plication of the general principle to q
single office. Are you sure that you
represent the wishes of the better portion
of your own countrymen in forcing this
issue to the 'front.' You should know
them better than L do, but have always
found them as fair and liberal, and as
free from knownothingisn, as the people
of any other nation. / should be per-
fectly willing to submit my case to the
decision of the leading German citizens
of the county, and would have no fears
as to the consequence. There is to be
found among the people of every nation,
whether they be Irish, or Germans, or
Americans, or known by any other name,
certain class that can be swayed by any
demagogpe who appeals to thsir bigotry
or their prejudices. Is that the class Of
people whom it is your highest ambition
| to represent? You were once ambitious
to represent the people of this district in
| Congress. What proud spectacle this
country would witness, if you had been
elected, and risen in your place in the
Representative Chamber at Washington,
| to give utterance to the know-nothing
sentiments which you lately promulgated
I,oo -1
| German citizens complain of their treat
ment at my hands, or of the manner in
which their business has been attended
to by me as an officer? If so, who are
| they, and what was the nature and sub
stance of the complaint?
Milton makes it appear that the devil
| preferred to reign in hell, rather than to
serve in heaven. You were good enough
democrat when the local politicians
| trembled at your nod, and bowed sub
missiYely in your presence. But now
| when men stand erect before you, and
neither crave your favor nor cringe at
| your frown, your wounded vanity and
self-importance cry aloud for vengeance
on them, and you give free reign to the
satanic disposition which would ruin
| where it cannot rule Men are branded
| by you as ringsters when their manhood
rebels at and spurns your arrogant and
| impudent dictation; while at the same
time you are employing all the wiles and
articles at your command, to form ring
of which you can be the supreme lord
and master. I wear no mans collar on
my neck, or badge of servitude On my
breast; and although, by indirection, you
| ,1atnt 70 fara,ov,, hirfh 1oE
you that have imbibed too much Of the
spirit of American citizenship, to enter
into the petty political bondage which
you would like to impose upon every man
whose name is submitted to the voters
of this county.
In your judicial fairness of statement,
you publish that have held Office con-
tinuously for ten years, as L understand
your language, and that must have
amassed a competency On which to retire.
If you had not been so careful to do me
exact justice, you might have said that ]
have been in Office about nine years, and
that period of between two and three
years interviewed between my resignation
of the superintendency and my accession
to the judgeship. Of course the change
in statement would matter little, and 1
only suggest it because you admit your
wish to be strictly impartial. If you
chose to go into details and compar-
isons, you could add that / die not begin
a canvass for one ONCE before had left
another; and that / did not hold couu-
ty Office six years, and prior thereto,
town offices for nearly twice as many
years.
Perhaps I can help you to calculate the
wealth I have amassed, so that the argu-
ment may tell more forcibly against me.
When was in the superintendent, the
salary of the office was 81, 900 year, and
the expenditure which the discharge OF
its duties necessitated was, in my case,
about $500 year. Now, suppose you
had to support q family in this city, on a
net income of S700 year, about what
figure would your annual savings reach,
and how large a tax do you think you
would pay? And if you were county
judge for three years, how great for