The record-union., 1896-01-30

DfaVe1y IN command OF the aQIl-Td1i-
read ranks; and then in a sweet by
and-by when he stood side by side with
those who framed their professions Of
political faith for the approval of the
railroad corporations; and now with
sincere commentator his many ad-
nirers may behold him marching side
by side with the redoubtable Sutro,
panoplied in the armor of crusader,
determined to avenge the refusal of
five-cent rate from the ferries to the
Cliff House.
In none of these movements has Mr..
Estee consented to train in the ranks
as a private. For forty-fve years he
has been a candidate for high official
station. In the earliest history Of this
county his name figures On the roll Of
county officers, and in the history of
every convention of all the numerous
parties to which he has belonged his
name figures as a candidate for dis
tinguishing positions. His soul thirst
eth for Office as arid places for living
waters. Twice has he received the NOM
ination of one of the great parties of the
country for the Office of Governor of
this State, once upon a platform which
declared undying and uncompromising
hostility to the greed and rapacity of
railroads. Upon that occasion he led
his party to inglorious defeat. Once
again he led the same party to another
Waterloo upon a platform whose si-
lence was louder proclamation of
railroad sympathy than any expression
the attorneys for the corporation could
have formulated Equally under anti
railroad or pro-railroad professions,
defeat attended his candidacy, and this
because it is impossible for the masses
of men to yield him their confidence.
And yet whoever charges Mr.. Estee
with hypocrisy or cowardice or double
dealing will do him a gross injustice.
His honesty is beyond question; his
sincerity is unimpeachable, and his
integrity beyond reproach. He fails to
attract and hold the confidence of men
because his tergiversations are temper
amental. The rapidity of change Of
sentiment and position is not in his
case to be attributed to insincerity,
but to instability of thought, incapac-
ity fer reasoning in straight line and
the absence of all continuity Of pur-
pose.
No man is to be held accountable for
the qualities he possesses. Mind is but a
substance, and individual mind simply
an individualized substance. An apple
may be either sweet or sour, but there
is neither merit nor demerit in these
qualities They are inherent, hered-
itary, characteristic and their mani
festation is but the unfolding of the
natural qualities implanted in them at
the foundation of being. With Mr..
Estee change Is just as much an essen
tia1 of his character as stability Of
purpose in the character of other men.
We are wont to call the moon incon-
stant, but the injustice of that appel
Iation will be perceived when we re-
member that the moon is but a refiec-
ton of the sun. 1t presents it's varying
phases by reason of the varying rela-
tions it sustains to the earth and the
sun. So Mr.. Estee has presented the
ever changing phases Of his plastic
and inconstant political life by reason
of the change Of his mental relations
toward the great central lights of polit-
ioal discussion.
In all these changes his actual hon
esty has been as blameless as the moon.
For illustration, he gave his adherence
to a most radical anti-Chinese move
ment, and at the same time employed
Cinnamon in his private business. From
the view point of public policy, the anti
Chinese movement appeared to be right
to the honest mental vision of Mr.. Estee.
From the view point of his private in
terest, the employment of Chinese in
his vintage appeared equally right. It
was the peculiar limitations Of his
mental endowments which deprived
him of the power of perceiving the in
consistency of his profession with his
action.
But this species Of failure is not pecu-
liar to Mr.. Estee. All men partake
of it in a greater or less degree. In all
the ages during which slavery existed
among Christian nations, the owners of
slaves laid down their lives in the cause
Of human liberty.
Mr.. Estee joins the ranks Of the anti
funders. He feels what he believes to
be the incoming tide of a rising popu-
lar movement There are many to do
him the injustice of sighting remark,
pregnant with inuendoes against the
honesty of his purpose. Believing the
wind to have set in that direction. Mr.
Estee gracefully yields to its waiting
influence, and requests the Chairman
of the Board of Supervisors of his
county to appoint him delegate to
the convention, obtains the position of
Chairman of the Committee en- Mem
orial. and thus stands at the very head
and front of the movement
If this movement shall give him that
position in public estimation-that adu-
lation of public commendation which
his soul so perpetually crayes-he will
remain with it. But if it should be
beaten back by a ceunter-tide, Mr..
Estee would join the eounter-move
ment with equal enthusiasm and equal
sincerity. In both cases it would ap-
pear TO him to be right to do SO.