The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-10-08


er which speaks of Gov. Peck as an zig
lorant boor" because of the character of
lis speeches at county fairs, exceeds the
license of iustifable criticism. Gov.
speeches is blamable, but there is not
whit OF righteousness intended. Gov.
Peck is the creature of circumstances and |
is proper subject of criticism for be- |
coming nominally the head of "a move
ment whose success he will himself re-
greet, in time, when the hollowness OF the
honors he sough. will show by contrast
the magnitude of the sacrifice he made.
The governor is a kind-hearted man, pos
sibly bit inflated by rapid advancement
as who would not be,-ahd would prob
ably feel more at home among boys full
of mischief than among politicians who
cloak evil purposes with professions OF
interest in public welfare, The gov
ernor has not, in the past, found 1t neces-
sary to suppress any disposition to utter
harmless pleasantries. How while stand
ing in the fierce light which beats upon
his-his'' seat, what would be character
lied as pleasant nonsense,-just what he
intepds it should be, is treated as the
serious utterance of man whose words
are stamped by weighty purpose.
There are none of US who dislikes the
mischievous boy if his mischief is devoid
OF malice or vice. The boy who steals
watermelons Is not necessarily bad boy,
though he is treading dangerous ground.
While it may not be the proper thing for
the governor to humorously glorify the
act, it is possible there was significance
in his words beyond the import gathered
from surface indications. The gov
ernor while he was a plain newspaper
man, told great many serious truths
under the guise of humor. When among
the plain people the old habit may have
returned to him. The conditions were
favorable. The pumpkin, suggestive of
rural simplicity, the soft eyed Jersey
with pleading in her glance for the free
dom of the fields, the unconventionality
of all the surroundings may have stirred
memories in the executive breast OF a
time when life was luxury and friend
ship TRUTH" when he thought as a boy
and spake as boy and the impulse set
in words was Let her go Gallagher"
And he did. The barefoot boy, with
knowledge of political methods obscur-
ing his moral vision, could not see why
the offense of stealing watermelons
should bear its nice comment" while the
perquisites of Office rewarded mendacity
and trucking. The ragged little rascal
who found the path of the transgressor
beset with thistles which drew from him
many an involuntary "ouch;" and stubs
whose violent contact with his toes
parched with pain a mouth which a Sec
ond before was fruitful river" with ex.
pectation, did not conceal the purloined
melon nor with sanctimoniOus visage
lecture his fellow culprit on the error
of his ways. 1t was not real thievlng II
the case of the lad with the single ''gallus,
whose shins the winds visited far toe
roughly;it was communism, and he freely
conceded to others the predatory rights
he exercised himself. He did not "call his
evil good' nor did he pose as great
! moral reformer.
Gov. Peck knows boys; he was one him
self, not the pampered kind who knew
no wants that iudulgent parents were
not ready 10 crafty. A boy must bt
poor to get the full sweetness of boyhoo6
life, and no man who was not poor as {
boy can understand boy nature. The de
linquencies of the boy are virtues com
pared with the selfish Vaccinations o.
the man who will deliberately wrong so
ciety that good may come to him indi
vidually. Gov Peck has witnessed the
dishonesty, the hypocrisy, the cant, the
attempted justification of evil deeds o
those who hunger for Office, as the boy
did for melons, and the gulf which separ
ates the process by which each attains
his end is so wide, the attitude of the
urchin sneaking off with his melon is sc
dignlfed in comparison with that of the
man crowned with honors purchased by
the sacrifice of principle, that the COVER
nor lifts his hat to the lad and pronoun
ces his action good.
Let no man cavil over the governors
attending county fairs. Cabbages, pump
kins, beets and squashes are the mediums
through which he holds communion with
nature. The pure air of heaven untaintet
by political necessity, will make the scales
fall from his eyes as they did from those
of Paul, and he will recognize the boys
right to demand other things than stoler
melons. Honestly, now, Governor, as
man to man returning from the county
of the long ago, do you think you did
just right in giving executive sanction
to the repeal OF that law which provided
that ragged boy with a single 'gallus
string" and d-galled shins should
have other opportunities than that OF
stealing water melons?
!
THE Review of Reviews gives a synop.
sis of an article by Prot Tyndall on the
propagation of consumption. Tyndall's
letter is condensed account of the dis
coveries of DR.. Cornet, colleague OF