The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-02
MADDEN,s SOLnOoUY.

TO be a Chica gOan Is distinction; to
be a Chicago alderman is fame. Mar
tin Madden is Chicagoan and there
fore eminent. He Is also an alderman
and therefore famous. But with all this
honor he is not content. His vaulting
ambition aims at the senatorship He
would wear Palmers shoes and sit in
his chair. Sundry Chicago papers, fin
icky in spots, one Of which is the SEN
atOrship, affect amazement at Mad
denis audacious ambition. Their edit
ors prod him, their cartoonists Carl
cature him. their photographers prick
him. Hence his notoriety, his fame
resting on his aldermanic pedestal He
is not a statesman" they aver, only
an ordinary ward boss. If far from
the madding crowd" he is right at the
head of the Madden crowd who are not
aldermen and the lieutenants of alder
men for their health They are alleged
to be there for the heath of corpora
tons, which they aim to preserve by
the good old practice Of phlebotomy.
This much by way of introduction of
Martin Madden. alderman, to those Of
our readers who know not Madden.
Martin reads the philippics of his oppo-
nents. All great men do A general
wants more to know what his adver-
sary is doing than his ally. Madden is
a general in Chicago politics. AS he
reads, Martin sOliloquizes: In the Ian
guage of my esteemed friend, the Hon.
Ch1mmie Fadden, wat'ell do these fell
lows want. Do they take me for a
FARMER? What do they think aldermen
are and what offices are for and what
corporations are for? For that matter,
what do they think government is for?
Amt it to give some fellows who are
cutter than the rest a chance to get
rich? What do the these corpora tons
want Of government only that chance?
Then what is fellow in the govern
ment for except for his chance to get
rich? Do they take me for a chump?
Do they suppose that, when some gas
or street railway, or some other cor
POAoIiOiI waits d IIdHcIIlSc with MIL
lions in it, us fellows are going to lust
hand it over to them on a silver plat
ter and beg them to take it and thank
them when they do? Aren't we, as the
government, due to have a share of
those millions?
And 1 amt fit to be senator, Ell?
What's the difference between an al
derman and a senator except in the
chances for doing himself good?
Chumps like old Palmer aren't fit to be
senators; they don't understand the
duties nor the opportunities. They have
notions of what used to be called hon
esty that don't go in Chicago. There's
nothing in them. Fellows like QUAY
and German and Brice and Smith,
now, are what I call real senators. They
know that what is good for them is
good for the country. Didn't that
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES his name?-say
that some Of our senator's are such be-
cause they are rich, and some are rich
because they are senators? What is
been getting as alderman in this pre-
cious old city for, If 1 can't make it
useful in getting rich because / am
senator? What do I want to get rich
for? What are rich men for? So as
to be in line with our new American
institutions, to keep up with the times,
to be able to put in practice the pol
icies Of my party; in short, so that l
can take care Of the poor What are
all these fellows trotting off down to
Washington now to see Dingley for?
Don't they want the government to
help them get richer so they can take
better care of the poor? Medill and the
rest Of them aren't up with the age;
they're back numbers. They make me
tired.