The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-11

FOUR EASTERN SENATOR'S.

L me TeH1y W liz jaw o">
unworthy references in the New 1orl
daily newspapers to western senators l:
at hand. Several Of those great jour
mails, IN the plenitude of their wisdom
and superiority, have seen fit to desig
nate statesmen, scholars and orators
representing important western con.
s%tituencies as 'eage brush senator's
and applying to them other terms OF de-
rision and contempt. We have waited
patiently in the belief that they would
be robuked by their neighbors, and our
waiting and patience have been re-
warded. The issue of Harper's Weekly
for Oct. 7 contains a strong editorial on
tho character of the senators sent to the
federal congress from New York and
Pennsylvania. AS ar estimate Of the
character, qualifications and services of
those four gentlemen we commend it to
the careful reading Of those great edi-
tors who look far away for subjects OF
their satire and rdicule.
After an Introductory paragraph dis
GUESSING tho personnel of the membership
of the senate this Weekly goes on to say
that the "greatest states of the union in
point of population and wealth are New
York and Pennsylvania. The magni-
tude and variety Of their industrial and
commercial interests demand that they,
more than any others. be represented
by men of such ability, character,
knowledge and statesmanlike views
that their fellow senators would in
stinctively look to them in such things
for advice and guidance" With full
knowledge of what the editor is saying,
knowledge gained by personal %acquain-
lance with the men, their records and
their capabilities, he deliberately writes
of them thus: at is no evaporation to
sag that neither New York o Pennsyl-
vania has a single senator whose opln-
ions, if he has any, on the economic or
financial subjects, or, for that matter,
on any other problem of craftsmanship,
carry the slightest weight with the legis-
lative body in which he sits. or with the
community at large, except as to the
vote he casts counts one this way or
the other. As to the intellectual busi-
ness of law making, the four senators
are absolute n%onenities."
This is harsh judgment, but by a terse
review of the record of each ono of the
four, made in his own state and IN the
senate at Washington since he has been
raised by bad merit to that eminence,
the editor of the Weekly fully justifes
his conclusion. OF Senator Cameron he
writes that he seldom breaks habitual
silence and when he does it at once be-
comes apparent "that he has nothing to
say That would be missed il it had not
been said. Thus his ut%terances may be
taken notice of as curiosities," OF Mat
Mat Quay tho editor says: "Nobody
expects from him any opinion OF value
on any question Of public concern. No
one is disappointed when he fails to ex-
press any,. Il * X OF course Mr..
Quay's vote counts one; bat that is ALL
Coming nearer home, and discussing
the gentlemen who represent the great
est of the states in the senate, the ed
,tor of the Weekly writes them down az
men equaling the Pennsylvanians in
lack of qualifications for their high po-
s%itions. Senator Hill is admitted to
possess "a certain kind of mental agility
and also some huency of speech. But
he is an incurable victim of tho idea
hat he ought to be president of the
United States, and that he would have
peer had not the better element en-
bodied in the person OF Mr.. Cleveland.
robbed him Of his dues. Mr.. Hills do
ings and sayings have, therefore, only a
pathological interest. x Il X A man
Sc situated before the public cannot ex-
ercise any influence whatever upon the
opions Of congress or Of the country"
Senator Murphy is dismissed in short
order. "Among the men in the senate
as to whom it is completely Indifferent
what opinions they hold except ns to
their vote, Mr.. Murphy stands in the
very first rank. He is tho ideal Zero
The editor Of the Weekly concludes the
whole matter Of the discussion of the
senators of New York and Pennsylvania
in this sentence: Every self respect.
ing citizen of those great common.
wealths must hang his head in shame
when he thinks of it,"
In oil of the great west there cannot
be found an equal number OF senators
of whom it can be truthfully written az
the editor of Harper's Weekly has writ.
ten Of the four senators of the two
greatest states in the union. The New
York newspapers might study political
conditions at home and the "sage brush
country" will take good care of itself.
VIZ are GLAD to learn That onr o,f