The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-06-02
MEAN!

termined to ruin Col. Polk, if such a
thing shall be found in their power.
To accomplish this end methods
have been pursued that Catalina would
have scorned to use, that Caesar BOrgla
never fell low enough in all his career
of shame to employ. The garbage
heaps of fostering filth have been raked
over for foul epithets to be hurled at
his devoted head. Not a public act OF
his life, not an opinion upon public
questions which he has uttered, not an
aspiration for his cOuntry's good, which
he has breathed, that has not been
misrepresented and twisted and dis
torted by the most shameless lying
that was ever done in print.
A few months ago it was said that
Col. Polk wanted to defeat Senator
Vance in order to get his place in the
United States Senate. The contempt
bic little fellows who made this charge
probably reasoned in this way:
eff we had Col. Folks influence and
chances, we would use them to defeat
Vance, and get his place. Therefore
| Col. Polk means to defeat him and
get himself elected to his place. We
would do such a thing, if ne could.
Therefore Polk will do such a thing
That sort of creatures always meas
ure men by their own l~ittleness and
meanness; and they can never under
stand anything that is higher than
they. How could they do otherwise
How can pettiness and cOntemptibility
be expected to look above itself? "WhO
can bring a clean thing out of an IN
clean? Not One!'
But, after a while, the time for
Vance's reelection came round, and
then it was seen that Col. Polk took no
steps to get the Senator's place. and
for a time the ours who had been run
ming and barking and swapping and
snarling at his heels, were still,
for the want of some new lie, with
enough of speciOusness about it to en-
able it to be used to deceive the ignor-
ant, and to indame the passions of the
vulgar horde, who get their living by
bawling and believing for the political
bosses of both parties whose business it
is to deceive and mislead the people.
Very soon these little fellows began to
howl that Col. Polk was figuring to
form a third party, in order that he
might become a candidate for the Vice
Presidency. Some have gone so far as
to suggest that Col. Polk has his eye
upon the Presidency itself.
While all this has been going on, to
the disgust of all fair-minded apd de-
cent men, Col. Polk has been going
right ahead, like the patriotic and I'M
selfish citizen that he is, exposing the
enormous wickedness of u financial
system, and of Our protective legisla-
ton, without stopping in his blessed
work, for so much as one moment, to
scOld and scare the hOwlers away.
And as he goes on with his work, he
gets nearer and nearer to the Vice
Presidency, nearer and nearer to the
Presidency, nearer and nearer to any
position that he himself may want, or
that his friends may want for him.
Let us grant for the moment that
Col. Polk wants to go to the Senate
that he wants to be NONRESIDENT
that he wants to be President. Are
not these generous and noble ambi-
tiOns? Is it a crime to aspire to the
honors of ones country? Is it wrong
to covet positions of trust and useful
ness in the administration of public |
affairs? If these things, these ambi-
tions, are sinful, then some of the
popular idols in North Carolina have
committed sin enough to sink SOdom.
For some of them got into public Office
before the oil with which they smoothed
their hair to make their last school
boys speech was dry; and in public
office they have stayed until this very
day. But we utter no word in criticism
of these public servants. They had,
and they have now, large and generous
ambitions, and they have rendered
their country and their State and their
generations services of i~ncaIculable
value; and we join with their country
men in hOnOring them. All we claim
is, that if it should be found that Col.
Polk has all the ambitions that have
been attributed to him and more be-
sides, nothing blameworthy would at
tach to him on that account. He has
held public place, and he has won
many distinctions, in spite of the hate
of his detractors. But he has never
misused a public trust, and he has
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