The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-10-02
A CRUSADER OF HONESTY.

|
For self-protection, for very life, hon
esty must always be aggressive TO save
itself from dishonesty, just as good must
always fight evil.
Nowhere is this truer than in our poll
tics. Nowhere is latent honesty more
useless than in the public officer.
Every voter has some interest which
is of vital concern to him this year. II
he pays taxes, during the present hard
times, it IS imperative tina. he shall pay
as little taxes as possible. It is not SO
much matter of political sentiment or
partisan favor as il is pure cold bust
ness question of expenditure. What
shall he exDend? How much Will the
total amount to? The voter has cut
down on his living expenses. He is
wearing cid clothes. Tax time comes
around and there is no cut. He must
pay. He may question the justice of it.
He may growI at an excessive essess-
ment. But he will pay the tax-that is
sure.
Where and how, when he has econo-
mixed on everything else, can he reduce
his taxes? He can reduce them in one
way. He can use his ballot intelli-
gently. He can put honest men in Office
not latently honest men but agrees
| lively honest men; not men who will sup
press dishonesty and fraud only when it
comes to them, but men who Will hunt
dishonesty out; men who will run fraud
to earth: men who viii ferret out the
leak here and the steal there; men who
will not only wipe out and fight disbon-
esty when they see it, but who will also
search out fraud that they may de-
stroy it.
Many a voter has thought he was
voting for an honest man and found
afterward that he was misguided.
Many voters can not see how they are
going to pick the honest man from the
dishonest man, or to pick TIE more
honest of two honest men. 1t can be
done through the records and the
standing of the men. That is all there
| is TO judge by.
Honesty is not found in inconsistency,
and you are making mistake when you
support the man who is inconsistent.
/ Honesty is not found in the man who
has no devotion to principles or who has
devotion to principles which openly con-
! flict. Honesty is found IN the man who
is devoted to a principle and is willing
to lay down his life as a sacrifice to
that principle. Honesty is found in
the man who is growing old and has
clean record throughout his life.
Honesty is found in the old soldier
who went out ON the battlefield and
waded through a tornado of lead and
| there is true devotion to principle, you
will find the honest man, not latent
but aggressive.
When \. f.. Harmon as a mere boy
went down from the state of Illinois into
| the south. into manifold dangers; into
the jaws of death, he was aggreSsively
devoted to a principle, and it was a Re-
publican principle too. lie was shoot
ing and being shot at for a principle
then. Today he is just as aggressively
devoted TO principle as then. 1t is
Republican principle-the principle of
official honesty. That Republican prin-
ciple must be won through aggression.
Apathy and indifference will kill 1t. n.
E. Harmon, who is the Republican can
didate for county commissioner in Sedg-
wick county, is an aggressive exponent
of the Republican principle of official
honesty. He is complete and perfect
type of that class of American people
who are today charging full tilt on the
condition which enables a band of
United States senators to sell the coun-
try out to a trust, and the condition
which enables the governor of the state
of Kansas and his appointees to plunge
head over heels into corruption and dis
honesty.
This is the kind of man n. f. Har-
mon is. He is known to be that kind of
a man. He has a life-record TO show
that he is such.
One year he spent as auditor of this
county. Go ask any one who is con-
versant with his term in that office:
either Republican or Democrat. You
will find in the records a scrupulous ag-
gressive honesty, and capacity which
is spoken of in the county court house to
this day. There are no errors in his
books as auditor. He verified every
thing and examined it and re examined it.
He paid no bills that he did not know
were right. He agreed to no account
which was not honest. That is his
record as a public officer. The opposi-
ton dare not deny it. His record as a
soldier is such that he has smore reason
10 be proud of it than the average old
soldier, proud as they all should be of
their records.
Mr.. Harmon was born in Randolph
county, Illinois, in 1916. He was still a
boy when the war broke out, and he
went into 1t, and he remained in il until
July, 1864, when, in a long march. he
was stricken with sunstroke from which
he has never fully recovered. But he
received something in com pensation-
something that few men have. lie had
the distinguished honor Qet the Populists
and the Democrats sneer If they hke) 10
receive from Abraham Lincoln. preSi-
dent of the United States. personal
letter thanking him for the faithful and
honorable services he had rendered TO
his country.
His private life has been an exem-
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