Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-09-03
Is IT DAFT?

Tn, Conmonsr. which has been very
generally regarded a. Il risonal organ
81 MI N""rh,t>. published at CollaX,
does not exhibit the good sense vi
most oi its contemporaries, when 1t
cnd,avors to lidiculy The position Of
such OF the Democratic papers. az 1t
asserts are now engaged i'll disposing
Of IA rcpast which consists mainly OF
boiled crow. 1t lacks the magnanlm-
itv ALWAYS exhibited by undetermined
victor over fallen foe, and betrays
the instincts Of the savage whose scalp
inc-knife is ever brought i'll play to
finish work of destruction, while his
war-whoop is the last sound the victim
hears while the bloody work goes ON.
Let it be underSto, Il that We by no
dctming characteristics of the savage,
/ for he believes the llle-face to be Il re-
{ NntltSS zoe, anu tlidt MS tAtViAiiii"
ton is demanded by the universal law
of self-preservation. The Commonfr
has no such justification. 1t knows
! that the STANDARD has not" published
column after column of abuse OF MIR.
Voorhees," as it asserts; it knows that
it has not riliculed his abilities" as
it proclaims; it knows that every word
and line that has appeared i'll this pa
per in opposition to his nomination
was written in spirit of fairness and
came within the just bounds of criti-
cism which every independent journal
exercises without thought of party
censure. Still it cannot resist the inn
pulse to brandish its bloody Ratchet,
at time when the ranks are forming,
to meet a common foe. such a brave
is surely possessed Of mdsdtche temana-
wus, and should be tied to a fir tree
until the medicine-men have driven
the devil out of him.
The Commontr declares that the
members of the Democratic party who
opposed Mr.. Voorhees, labored under
the idea that they were not only IA
great deal bigger than their party, but
were the party" A very natural as
sumption; and if the convention had
not been called at Il time so much in
advance of the usual date OF assem-
bling, the older members would have
come to the front, as they have never
Failed to do for the past score of years,
and frequently when it was not So
po ultr to do 20 as it is now
while it is the winning side. The
fact is, Mr.. Voorhees, friends were
first in the field. They captured the
position and took possession of the
vantage-eround, as they had right to
do, whatever We may think OF the pro-
priety of sounding the charge before
many had awakened to a sense of the
duty before them. The Old Timers in
the convention, when they saw this,
very generally accepted the situation,
and rallied under the Voorhees, flag,
without making 4 fight for another
leader. The CommOnpr knows that
Mr.. Voorhees, strength was not repre-
scented by the figures in the published
proceedings of the conventiOn-l30
out of total of IA, and that quite a
number of his most determined oppo-
nents made n virtue of necessity, and
supported him on the principle gcncr-
ally indicated by the expression Hob
sons Choice" But this is immaterial,
and would not now he the subject of
comment, had the Commoner not
made it necessary. 1t is sufficient to
know that Mr.. Voorhees, had a clear
majority in the. convention, and that
that body had assembled in response to
a call regular in form. The platform
would have suited us better if some
Democratic material accepted by the
national organization had not been re-
jected, and if some local timber of
doubtful propriety had been left out,
but further than this the STANDARD
finds no fault. Such Objectionable
parts as may not serve the purpose of
gang-planks to get aboard the ship may
be used as life-buoys for those who
fall overheard during the voyage, and
when gathered together at the close of
the trip may be fashioned into safe
raft for ascending that mythical stream
known as Salt River, should the ship
be wrecked, of which catastrophe, let
it be remembered, We have no serious
apprehension at the present time.
Mr.; Voorhees, will receive the cordial
support of the Old Guard" if he calls
his dogs off; but frail humanity does
not possess enough OF the cardinal vir-
tue Of patience to submit to the rub
bling in" process after forbearance
ceases to be a virtue
On BEND.-Our brother of the
O'Tgonidn accompanied by several
genial friends from Seattle, has lately
been visiting his old haunts in the up
per Sound country, for purposes of
recreation, rounding up in Mason
county. In his very readable account
of the affair, published in the Sunday
Oregonian, Scott says it was "our
principal business to bend our minds
on vacancy, or the shadowy past"
Those who have indulpod in tho cela-