The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-21
THE PENALTY OF INDEPENDENTS

10.
The passing Of Ben Buttesaorth
serves to point the finger of warning to
the man who enters and would hold
permanent footing in the slippery
arena Of party politics. Butterworth
came into the Republican party by the
underground railroad" on which his
father served as a conductor" He
inherited that cOnscientiousness Of
conviction which made the Abolition
lists stout enough to brave the vituper-
alton of one party and the aversion
of the other. Pro-slavery Democrats
detested them and Wings reviled them
as deserters, much as our later-day Re-
publicans pour out their wrath on the
impatient Populists who cannot brook
Republican refusal to follow it's own
logic and move forward in applied pa
ternalism. The younger Butterworth
got from his father an independence Of
spirit that made him restless under
the discipline of party when it imposed
obedience to policies that conf1icted
with his own judgment of what was
best or right
He was in congress from a Cincin-
natl district when Republicanism tried
to mask its change of front from freer
to more hobbled trade with its pretense
of reciprocity, the hypocrisy of which
was Immediately revealed in the atti-
tude assumed towards Canada. But
terworth, accepting the pretense for
sincerity, fought stoutly for that real
reciprocity that cultivates friendly
trade relations with those with whom
our exchanges are the greatest and with
whom we have the most in common.
He resisted Blaine's sham and strug-
gled bravely for recognition Of the real.
He put himself in opposition to the pol
Icy adopted by his party and he was
made to feel it's heavy hand. to nav
the penalty of his cOntumacy. He was
supplanted and more docile man sent
In his place. He felt his humiliation
keenly. Two years ago come Febru-
airy, he addressed the employees of the
Proctor-Gamble company, on the occa-
sion of their semi-annual prof, shar-
ing meeting. on Higher Citizenship. -
In opening, he said that 'Iatterly either
my standard of political methods is too
high or the controlling political influ-
ences heareabout too low and sordid
TO permit free and fair discussion of
political or economic questions" so.
though the necessity for something
outside Of the ordinary routine of DO
litical defamation has been painfully
apparent" he had not of late. "par-
ticipated in the discussion of public
questions"
Taking higher citizenship" to mean
better citizenship, his topic brought
him face to face with the question of
politics; not the narrow politics of par
ties, but the wider field Of good govern
ment. Here he found 1.-The main trou-
ble' to lie 'fn securing the right solu-
ton of many economic and political
problems" because of the utterly NOR
camille spirit of the age, the uns11r-
mountable obstacle being the ag-
gregation Of fabulous wealth in the
hands or under the control Of a few
who are corrupt, and the resistIess
power it eXerts when in the hands
of evil men in directing and control
ling public affairs and dominating pri-
Vate rights in defiance of Justice. -
Among the other demands the higher
citizenship laid upon men was that eve
be emancipated from that political
serfdom which makes men the cards
and dice Of political gamblers who
play the game of politics to plumber
the community" Another was that
1--WE rebuke slavish subserviency to
party whenever a pure and lofty patri-
otism renders it necessary to put aside
corrupt conditions and overthrow DO
litical crruptionists" There is in this
the spirit of the abolition father, but
there is also the spirit no party organ
ization will brook. Butterworth was
not true to his ideals of higher citizen
ship, and his recantation last year
brought him restoration, but his first
revolt illustrates the fate Of the man
who dares to set himself against the