Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-10-01


through the firmness and shrewd-
ness of her conferees, and the un-
bending determination of Mr.. Hart
not to abide by his agreement, but
to secure the prize himself, win the
fight. Mr. Mutchler found that he
was tricled, and likely to lose both
his nomination and the money adj
vanced to Mr.. Hart to secure it, so
his conferees in desperation de-
manded as the price of the inevita
BILE, at least a disagreement of the
money before Mr. Hart was nomin-
ated or they would go in the conven-
ton and expose the whole scheme
and denounce the treachery and dup
licity of Hart in such mannerE as
would make his election more than
doubtful The meeting of the con-
vention in the morning after these
threats had been made, its ad-
iournment, Mr.. Hart's hurried visit
to the bank, his return and unanim-
Gus nomination in the afternoon, are
all so well known that a bare mention
of the facts is all that is necessary.
His conferees and friends agreed to
accept the statement of the princi-
pals that the money was a simple
loan. though why if the collateral, or
the security was good when it was
obtained it must be repaid before
the nomination, was query made
but not answered.
In return for the steadfast adher
ence of his conferees and their will
ingness to accept the tenuous
theory of the loan part of the trans
action, and to force it upon the Gre
dulous voters of this county, their
success in the attempt, as was evi-
denced by the vote he received in the
face of bitter and relentless cam
paign made by the Republicans,
aided by some Democrats who could
not be persuaded to swallow their
own skins, it was naturally supposed
that Mr.. Hart would have been only
too eager to lay at the feet of his wor-
shipping admirers and thick and thin
adherents in Pike the prizes of the
contest, in the way of desirable and
honorable appointments. The pre-
vious congressman from this county
remembered with gratitude the
fealty of the party and rewarded its
Representatives with two appoint
ments to West Point, and two to a
naval cadetship, one of the incum-
bents of which Mr.. Thomas rose to
distinction in his profession. But
how with Mr.. Hart ? True to his
political instincts and consistent
with his sense of honor no sooner
was his election assured then he be-
gan casting about for some method
by which he could turn these COW
eted positions to his own future pro-
fit, and gain denomination by their
use in another county. He had
learned the extraordinary lesson of
being able to eat your cake and still
have it, had reversed the rule that
there is some honor even among
a certain class of gentlemen, and he
determined that lessons so easily
learned, and experiences so cheaply
bought should not be lost in his poll
tical advancement. Where were the
bright boys of Matamoras, graduates
of the schools and fitted to accept
the positions ? Where were some
Milford youths longing for some
wider fields of activity, and emin-
emily qualified to reflect credit and
honor on our county ? Was there
no hopeful Democratic Pike county
boy deserving of recognition, that
Mr.. Hart must pass over into Car
bon and take a youth, e. R. En-
body. who had beenlooked upon as
a protege Of General Lilly, a former
Republican congressman from that
county, who appointed him to that
position, but being rejected, after
two years of study, was again an
applicant, and whose father was an
embryotic candidate for Congress
who relinquished his designs in
favor of the recently defeated John
E. Lauer, and appoint him to a
naval cadetship, throwing the empty
shell of the honor to Pike in the
form of an alternate appointment ?
Mr.. Hart can to-day review his
accidental craftsmanship calculate
the profits of his political perfdy,
sum up the whole demnition total
of his moral gains, reckon the es-
TEEN in which he is held by decent
and honorable men, and contrast
them all with his glorious career in
Congress and the dazzling page
which his name will adorn in politi-
cal ethics and in the history of the
politics of the Eighth Congressional
District of Pennsylvania
WHY NOT HART?