Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-06-26
TIE DEMOCRATIC TICKET.

OF Equalization come snow o. ia!rEoSS las |
been made. That is TO say, that all the
nominees for these Offices are not positively
known to be rabid enemies OF the railroad.
The Democrats nevertheless have unques-
tionably put their campaign on the one
issue Of anti-railroadism, and it is clear
that unless the Republicans undertake to
surpass them i'll the same line, this must
| be the governing issue OF the contest. Now
this is an issue which has been created and
kept alive by demagogues, and the pro-
ceedings of the San Jose Convention, when
rightly viewed, presented a very discour-
aging and disgusting illustration of the ease
| with which men allow their judgment to
be overriden by few blatant individuals,
who are thoroughly dishonest and insin-
cere, and who are prepared to advocate
anything which will advance their selfish
| interests.
| The Democratic Convention shirked
every real issue in its platform, save the
Sunday law, and tried hard to get on both
sides of that. But the railroad question it
thought was fair game, and 80 every man
who was a candidate for anything fastened
to declare himself reliable enemy" of
the corporations. There were plenty of
these people who outside of conventions
and away from the public were willing to
admit that their professions were only "for
4" Buncombe," and who would pretend
candor in conceding that all this clamor
| against the railroads was humbug and
without warrant. But none the less did
they join and swell tho clamor, and none
the less did they concur publicly in the
pretense that it was an act of patriotism
and public spirit to denounce the corpora
tons as enemies OF the community. The
debate on the Fowler resolutions was
really shameful. Here were one hundred
and ninety.tive men, calling themselves
representative citizens, who declared their
willingness to violate the Constitution, and
to perpetrate an act of undisguised outrage
and confscstion, by pledging their NOM
inees for Railroad Commissioners to reduce
fares and freights twenty per cent. without
any inquiry. Had the Convention adopted
that resolution every member voting for it
could have been indicted, with the can.
didates who accepted the pledge for
trafieking in office.
But these irresponsible persons were held
hanl- hx-
legality, or equity. They did not believe
in the averments of the Fowler resolutions,
for no man can believe intelligently naked
assertions put forward without one jot or
title OF proof. But they thought it would
strengthen the ticket to go on record as in
favor of that rascally proposition, and so
they voted for it. The remarkable fact
however is that for all this hooting and
bowling against the railroad there does not
exist to-day any justification whatever.
1t is as absurd and baseless as the pretense
that General Stoneman will make good
Governor because as Railroad Commits
sioner he always voted against his col.
leagues. a man who has for years been
drawing salary to which under the laws
he is not entitled, cannot be regarded as
very scrupulous or high.minded person.
As Railroad Commissioner General Stone.
man has simply occupied negative atti.
tude. He has waited to find out what his
colleagues wanted, and then he has op-
posed that course. He has never origi.
mated policy. He has never proposed
practicable line of action in accordance
with his pretended views. He has exhib.
tied no capacity whatever in civil affairs
beyond the capacity of drawing as many
salaries as he could obtain, regardless of
the law. This is the man, however, who
is now heralded as Performer" If the
State waits until he reforms anything, it
will require large stock of patience.
When parties have taken up this false
issue they have invariably brought forward
unsatisfactory nominees for office. Some
times the public has not found this out
until after they had been elected, but we
confidently challenge refutation of the
assertion that every man who has made
anti-railroadism his speciality, and has
relied upon it alone, has turned out
fraud and failure. And there is nothing
at all surprising in this, since it ought to
be evident that only that class and kind of
men can be willing to occupy platforms
which are hYpocritical and false. A party
which sets out with general denunciations
of corporations, and which never troubles
itself to prove anything it alleges, ia neces-
sarilY dishonest, and it will have the same
kind of following 1t is true that some of |
its candidates may be merely foolish, but |
the presumption will be that they are for |
the most part worse than foolish, since if |
they have any intelligence they must know
that their leading issue is a sham. Those
too who are willing, in the absence of |
all specific evidence, to make organ.
lied political assaults upon interests
which have been and are of incalcu-
liable benefit to the State, and who |
are not ashamed to encourage and |
strengthen thespirit of Communism by their
violent and reckless attacks upon prop.
erty, are never trustworthy, no matter what
they profess 1t is perfectly safe rule
that the man who for the sake of Office is
willing to hound some of his fellow cit.
liens, will be equally willing to sell out to
anybody who wants to buy him. Liars
and impostors do not make reliable rulers
AMI officers, and hypocrites cannot be
trusted. The kind of clamor which the
Democrats have been making in this
connection is utterly insincere and dis.
honest, and any campaign made upon such
a basis is, we INTERESTINGLY assert, bound
to issue in the delusion and cheating of
the voters, if they are gullible enough to
accept for reality the tinsel shams of
the campaign spouters. The first requi.
site of political trustworthiness is a sense
of justice, and the party and the candi-
dates that are without this stand self
in the eyes of all intelligent
men.
.CHINA AND THE TREATY.