The Cecil Whig., 1882-05-13
AN " EMINENTLY JUDICIOUS" HUNT FOR
A JUDGESHIP.


The editorial sanction OF the above
paragraph, taken from an article brist-
ling with cpithets, and teeming with
misrepresentation, is at once unbecom-
ing in an aSpirant for judicial honors,
and altogether inconsistent with the sup
| posed dignity of gentleman, whose pre-
/ .ttSsions of self-respect constitute so con
spicuous a part of his individual equip
ment for the position to which he aspires.
| In word, it is as diScreditable to Mr..
| Cruikshank. as it is Unjust to the editor
of this paper.
Now the bar Of public opinion is gen
orally Il tribunal before which any man
may safely lay his grievances: and to it
we unhesitatinely commit the question,
whether or not Mr.. Cruikshank has been
traduced in single line that has ap-
peared in our columns.
That the truth has been unpalatabe to
him, we are not. of course, surprised. nor
are we responsible.
And Just here lies the rub.
We have stated facts, which at times
are exceedingly troublesome things.
But the public is ever ready to distin-
guish between the righteous indigna-
ton of the man who has been actually
wronged, and the well-simulated role of
the in ured innocent
We have no uneasiness on this score.
And just here, if our cotemporary is
now open to any other conviction than
that of his pre- eminent fitness for seat
upon the bench, or if his ears be not
closed to all sounds, save those of partisan
adulatiOn, we once for all tell him. that
The Wing is not edited by its "grudges,
nor has it in the Judgment of any man
whose opinion is entitled to respect, in
any sense transcended the limit of fair
and honorable journalism, in its discus
sion OF the merits and demerits of his
candidacy.
BY what individual right, or in con-
sideration of what great public service,
is he above just criticism
Since when, pray, has our cotempo-
rary. who, for nearly twenty years past.
has out-IIeroded Herod in the extreme
| radical partisan character he has stamped
upon Tile Cecil Dem0crGt-wh has been
nothing if not partisan. the
limit of exemption from open newspaper
comment. when aspiring to an important
public office?
What vain pretense of generous mag
nanimity to close his own columns to the
recital of his own virtues and claims to
the office to which he aspires, while his
| political foster father, and his busy band
of retancrs, industriously ply their pens
in loading down other newspapers with
gross d traction of another Democrat.
whose character and standing in his own
county they are eagerly endeavoring to
break down?
What loving work for party brethren
Little wonder is it that the editor of
/ this paper has received his share of mud,
So profusely thrown, all manufactured in
I the interest of the gentleman who, to
| quote his own language, ''prefers to be
fair at the price of anathema rather
ethan judicious at the expense of self
"respect.'
/ \ very pleasing platitude this, and one
soothing to the ear. but Judged by evil
denca VIC submit, meaningless and idle.
OF what value, We ask our cotemro-
rary. has his editorial experience been to
him, if it has not taught him the plain,
wholesome truth, that his professions of
self-respcct amount to but little. when
contradicted by his acts, and that when
| he descends to the level of personal so
! licitation for the nomination to an office
of dignity and responsibility, that he be-
lies his profession, and by the very act
begets suspicion and distrust?
This has been the case from the very
announcement of his candidacy.
| Without consultation or advice with
single one of his former political friends,
whose support he had in the past re-
| ceived, and whose confidence he had
shared, he struck his flag at the first
approach of his ancient enemy, and al
though possibly not asked to consent
,t0rmally to any dishonorable terms of
surrender yet weakly yielded the eta
del, it would have been far manler to
have defended.
lie had, we are frank enough to con-
foSS a,rnaJ in tho MAST Spmn pprSpua1
reputation that placed him above the
suspicion of political jobbery, which fact
the gentleman who approached him well
knew.
There was no need, therefore, for spe-
! clic terms of bargain and compact, sim
ply because Mr.. Cruikshanks surrender
was complete, without the risk attendant
upon such dangerous political eXpedients.
Such bargains are rarely, if ever, formu-
lated.
Politicians are too shrewd for that.
But the lack of specific terms. as the
condition of his surrender, in nowise
effected the character of the surrender
itself, and when Mr.. George w. Cruik-
shank made his political "alliance with
Mr.. Constable, and one which at least
three other prominent Cecil Democrats
had declined, he assumed before his
party friends a position of apology, and
which. before he is done with it, may
prove one of humiliation
Having made his 'alliance," his next
step was natural and inevitable.
Although ''fair at the expense of
anathema,' and not judicious at the
expense of selfrespect, he immediately
descended to personal solicitation for
supporters of the alliance
The method was in keeping with the
inception of his candidacy, for no other
method promised success, and in his case
cmphatically success was to make the
hero.
Personal solicitation for supporters
however diStasteful to a man of true
sensibility, which is popularly thought
to be an indispensable requisite in judge,
had in his case to be resortcd to, simply
to maintain the ALLIANCE, and because
his candidacy was net tie re&"h ot popu
lar dcmand, bW safely tie art ot' one mon.
At this point Tile Wings sin was COM
mitted.
We condemned in an open and out