The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-20
ROTTEN BOROUGH STATES.

When a man is confronted by an
argument that he cannot answer and
| has not the manhood to acknowledge
that he cannot, the only thing for him
| to do is to call names. This is what
the Atlanta Journal, Secretary Hoke
Smiths paper, is doing Commenting
on the defeat of the silver substitute in
the house, it made it the occasion to
repeat the hackneyed talk about the
representation of the smaller western
states in the senate. 1t said:
There are a dozen men in the senate
who represent less than million and
a quarter of population, while two
senators represent the six million peo-
pie in New York.
1t might have included the state of
Georgia and made the number of men
in the senate who represent a less pop
ulation than that of New York four
teen. There is no argument whatever
In the statement, nothing but the sup
pressed sneer of an unduly righteous
and self-conscious paper, never forget
ting the fact that its owner and pro-
prietor occupies a cabinet position
which he fills to the best of his albil-
ity, whatever that may be. But the
suppressed sneer was not sufficient to
express the indignation that the Jour
nal feels when it thinks of states
rights. 1t had to call names or burst;
1T called names.
The little peterborough states of
the far west are controlled absolutely
10y silver mine interests and the senate
has long ceased to be considered in any
sense representative of the country on
this issue.
Little rottenLborough states of the
far westI How beautiful the language,
how great the thought. how patriotic
the thinker! Rotten, because they re-
fuse to be bribed to join the gold bug
ranks and forsake the people and their
best interests.
AS a Singer of mud the Journal is
great, but as political philosopher it
is even greater. It declares with all
the solemnity and authority to which
it, as the organ Of a cabinet officer, is
entitled, that:
On the other hand, when we come to
a, house of representatives fresh from
the people, a house elected after
campaign in which the silver issue
was far more prominent than any
other, we find a majority of one hun
bred and twenty-five against free coin
age and the negative votes represent
three-fourths of the population of the
country.
Fresh from the people is very good.
This house of representatives was
elected thirteen months before ever it
met, yet we are informed, presumably
on cabinet authority, that it is fresh
from the people" How long a time
would have to elapse between an cleo
ton of congressman and the time
when they met to be a little stale? And
silver was far more prominent in the
campaign of November, 1894, than
anything else! This is news, and will
astonish the sailors as we'll as the
marines. Had such a statement come
from little rotten-borough state" it
would not have been astonishing, for
these states are filed with vagaries of
all kinds, according 20 the gold bugs,
but TO come from Georgia, to come
from Atlanta where a great exposition
has just been held. to come from the
Journal, Hoke Smiths Journal. is tru-
ly astonishing. We borrow a word
from the Journal to characterize the
statement-it is rotten. The Journal
is better at calling names than analyz-
inz election returns; let it stick to its |
forte.