The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-10-12

Quay we are IN opposition TO his
methods In this district-in open oppo-
sition- We are trying to smash the
two rings in Chester and Delaware
which apply those methods and supply
others OF their own a thousand fold
worse That is our battle. still con-
tinued. but in continuing Il we are not
ready to affirm belief in the guilt OF one
who is vaguely accused OF specializing
with state and bank funds. neither
state nor bank losing anything by any
of the alleged transactions. The ac-
cusers do not come out and show their
presence and their faith in their own
accusations. They hide behind Of
ficers OF the law. when they should be
known TO all men.
Quay's methods are one thing; the
man Is another We have known him
long and well; we have often quar-
relied with his politics; we are now in
quarrel with his politics. but we know
his personality so well that Il viii take
the plainest possible evidence to con-
vince US that ne would wrong either
the state or any person within or with
out OF it a single dollar. In other
words. we have known him 10 be hon
est as the world goes. and never saw
occasion TO doubt his personal integ-
rity.
We cannot be wrong in our expert
ence, for that is part of our history;
we may be wrong in present estimates,
but we prefer to wait once again upon
experience before We Join in the per-
sonal condemnation Of one whom we
never knew as a fool. nor yet as a
rogue. Quay's enemies have repeated
the Delaney mistake when Swallow
was arrested, and II these prosecutions
of Senator Quay and his son and ex-
state treasurer and others are actuated
by political motives and times to sui
political ends. their effect will be just
the reverse Of that planned. as In the
case of HartTanft more than a quarter
Of a century ago.
Not a foreign born citizen but knows
the bane OF political arrests; not an
American who reads but deplores the
practice. unless the motive is high and
wholly for the public good. Then they
are justified. but only then. and all
too sadly the justification must wait
while grave questions are pending and
may be shown to be mere conspiracies.
Into this vortex we are plunged by po-
itical arrests
Another sample Of this immediate
effect upon fairTninded people Is the
following editorial in the Chester Re
publican. a paper which has con-
sistently and strongly opposed the
Quay leaders in that county. II says;
IF Senator Quay is guilty of an in
fraction of the criminal code. the fact
that he has attained high position in
national affairs in itself increases the
gravity OF the offense. for which, II
conviction follows. ought 10 bring upon
him the severest penalty which the law
imposes In such cases. OF the facts and
circumstances on which the charge Is
based we have no information other
than that which appeared in the Phila-
delphia evening papers yesterday. bu.
as Senator Quay is amenable to a pros
ecution for an alleged criminal act. as
is the humblest person in this COM
monwealth. so equally with his fellows
to him applies the charitable precept of
law. which proclaims that all men are
deemed innocent until their guilt has
been legally established.
"The time. however. in which the
prosecution is Instituted is i'll advised.
On the very eve OF an important cleo
ton. in which Senator Quay has been
selected as a shining mark at which
the shafts of his enemies are aimed,
will necessarily lend TO the case an ele-
ment that may defeat the very pur-
poses for which the prosecution was
Instituted. His prominence in the state
and in the Republican party. and the
efforts which are being made in almost
every county in the commonwealth to
strip Linn Of power and influence, will
breed a. suspicion in the public mind
that the machinery of the criminal law
has been put in motion not so much to
secure the end Of justice as it is to
crush MIN individually. that others
may fall heir to the place he now holds
and from which this prosecution may
eject him. The American people love
fair play and their sympathles so out
to the man or men who are forced into
Z position which may appear as that
Of martyrdom. The prosecution cannot
out intensity the political struggle in
his commonwealth. and if public opin-
on crystallizes into the general belief
hat Senator Quay has been selected
as a victim. to be slaughtered for po-
iucal reasons alone. the effects OF the
Proceedings are likely to add to his
Strength. If the underlying design of
the prosecution is for political reasons
Il viii miscarry in its intentions. for
that has ever been the conclusion of
such attempts in the history of this ma
tion. II the object OF the prosecution
is to honestly punish those who have
combined together for criminal pur-
poses the fact that there will be given
to il political significance may arouse
a public sentiment that is likely to eul-
inmate in defeating the ends Of jus
tice.
The criminal proceeding which has
been taken against Senator Quay could
have been delayed for five weeks with
out endangering the case Of the COM
monwealth. But. as before stated, in
forcing it into prominence on the very
eve of an election. in which Senator
Quay has so much at stake, the chances
are that the public will regard ii as
purely a political dodge. and the sym
pathy it viii arouse in his behalf will
only strengthen Senator Quay before
the people. 1t was an i'll timed act.
from every point OF view"
GEORGE n. WELSHONS.