The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1892-05-13
PEATCH GETS HIS NAME ON THE
TICKET.

Our distinguished fellow citizen,
the Hon. Robert M. Veatch, did
not get in at the front entrance
on the ground floor under the new
Australian ballot law, having
failed to file his certificate as a
candidate for congress with the
secretary of state. This knocked
him out on the first round. and he
had to go to Salem last Monday
and climb up the back stairs into
the attic with a petition of $50
signers. This was, like the nomi
nation Of Veatch by the demo
cratic convention. a very foolish
performance. The nomination
was a burlesque at the start, and
reached the point of farce when
the candidate had to go to Salem
with lawyer and $50 signers be-
fore he could get his name on the
tickets, and will end in nothing on
the 9Th day of June. The Austria
liam ballot law, Like Australian wool
and the products and inventions
of pauper foreigners generally, is
great improvement on the
American ballot system, in the
eyes of democratic reformers, in
republican states. In democratic
states they have no use for it. but
in republican states it is supposed
to reverse Darwin's theory of the
survival of the fittest and give the
democrats a chance. No doubt
when this law was enacted last
year the democrats expected to
draw some comfort from 1t, but
we do not believe they expected
at that time it would perform
miracles and fill a 40-gallon barrel
with a pint of sour grape juice, or
expand to a still greater degree
and fill the seat Of Binger Her
mann in congress with Robert M.
Veatch. They did not expect the
Australian law would ever be
strong enough to hoist a democrat
into congress over Hermann, by
the seat of his Australian wool
breeches, and although the conven
ton has tried to get more out of
the law than its most sanguine ad-
vocates hoped for, by nominating
light candidate, the coarse wool
will tear out and dump him where
he will do the state the most good
in the Coast Fork bottom. But
it brings to mind the old saying
"give some people an inch and
they will take yard"-and is a
sad commentary on human
credulity and cheek to see in a
year after that law was passed
what a great change has come
over the spirit of the democratic
dream. The party has lost what
little sense it had and is now COM
p!etely rattled and does not know
which end is up. A whole con-
vention of 265 men sat down on
Governor Pennoyer and fixed him
plenty, and capped the climax by
nominating Veatch for congress.
And now $50 democrats have
signed a petition asking to have
his name filed. The democrats
have been petitioning along with
the republicans for more appro-
priations all the time, praising
Mitchell and Dolph and Hermann
for the large appropriations they
have secured for Oregon and
demanding more, and now they go
back on everything they have
done and said and ask the people
to vote for a man who is opposed
to all such appropriations and to
vote against the man who has
been carrying out their instruc-
tons and securing the approprla-
tions they demanded! This is in
consistent, short-sighted, absurd
and ungrateful. 1t is treason to
the best interests of themselves,
their state and the whole people.
We do not believe the people, nor
anything like all the democrats,
will sanction by their votes such
an absurd and ruinous proposition.
State Journal.