Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-03-29
D.scoura ging Results.


sem {" harra Wy, friendly ',r.lng
.ur TIE Legislature which ha- '-t A..
,purn,A, although II j. Tia" exponent
I'll the party - largely III the ascend
ant IN that holy. and which dictated
the policy 10 be pursued throughout
the whole session. 1t i'll this respect
hnt reflects the sentiment OF tn"
who.r eastern division al the state,
which expected relief from alleged
uvcrchar.es 10y railroads by Lrglsla-
turr specifically pledged for that aud
MANY other Vague measures which
wric tn restore thu phosphorus tlnit-
81 the past. That politicians either
10y lrihr-, or were incompetent, seems
To hc I'll" only conclusion. The Cnf",t
thinks that in nincty-ninc cases in Il
hundred the men elected to the Legs
laturc are no better fitted hy nature
and education for the making OF laws
than they are to interpret the signals
from Mars, or carry the keys to the
regions of the blessed" II this he
true, who are to blame except the peo-
pie themselves who elect them Ia that
position OF responsible trust?
1t must he admitted that the weak
ness OF our form of government is in
the apparent inability to unite the
honest masses in a definite policy and
/ to secure competent and fair repre-
/ sentaiivcs OF that policy at the ballot
box. Theoretically Il government by
the people, of the people and for the
people, is right; but practically it often
results in farce. The party in power
becomes profligate, and this after a
time causes Il protest of the masses
They suggest organization, but the
crafty politician meets them with
promises OF reform within the party
with which they have been affiliated
This scheme wins for a time, and
when they openly revolt, there is
always faction OF fanatics ready to
join in with any movement that is
suggested, who rush to the front and
give tone and color to the movement.
Their grasp is that OF the drowning
man upon the rescuer, and if it does
not drive the honest searcher for re-
form back to his party affiliations, it
so depresses his energies that he prob
ably abstains from participation in eff.
forts that seem to be hopeless of bene-
fetal results.
Aside from the willful and deliberate
betrayal of trust by the party that has
been so prolific OF promises, he is con.
fronted with the utter failure of the
means employed by other parties for
securing results so confidently pre-.
dicted. The repeal of the silver pur-
chase act was to have been panacea
for many ills, but what was the result?
Tariff legislation was to restore the
commercial pulse to its normal beat,
but how much has it served that
purpose? The restoration of the Re-
publican party in Congress was to
have brought about a confidence
which would Immediately set all fur.
naces aglow and cause the hum of
industry to reverberate throughout
the land, but what has it accom-
plished?
Now it has been discovered that it
is the decentralization of silver that has
caused all the trouble, and an effort is
being made to merge all effort into a
grand campaign for restoring the sill
yer dollar to the position it once filled
OF being the unit of our momentary
system. Will it work as we'll practi-
cally as in theory? Or will it have
enough bearing upon the national
conditions to restore that confidence
which may be after all more the cause
of financial depression than the mad
equate value of currency that is
crippled by the decentralization OF the
popular factor of our coinage?
1t is no surprise. therefore, that az
tried and steadfast a journal as the
Union should lose all hope of reform
in present party methods. The
STANDARD a few weeks ago expressed
about the same conclusion from the
other side of the political checker.
board. Until men can rise above
party and united on patriotism, and
the choice of law makers and law
executors falls upon men who are not
seekers for position for the profits OF
emoluments it brings, there is but
little hope OF better times or improved
conditions.