Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-04-29
TIE WlNsH1P CANDIDACY.

THE WINSHIP CANDIDACY.
a stranger unfamiliar with the situa-
ton would suppose from the remarkable
conduct and violent remarks of certain
self-seeking politicians that crime is
rampant in North Dakota: that the
state and other officials are daily in
fringing the laws of the land and violat-
ing their oath of Office, and that corrup-
ton and decentralization prevail on every
hand. The Grand Forks Herald is the
organ through which these wild and
unsupported attacks upon the integrity
of our officials are being made, and it is
a strange coincidence that as these as
saults seemed to be reaching a climax
the editor of the Herald nnounce
himself as q candidate for governor.
Half a dozen of Winship's neighbors
presented him with an address based
upon some petitions asking him to Soon
sent" to the use of his name. Editors
and printers who know how these
things are managed will note that the
candidates consent was on schedule
time and that his reply must have been.
in type before its delivery. But this is
a mere matter of convenience and is not
paramount. The headings of the petit
tons show that they had been printed
in the Herald office and were doubtless
circulated about the county by Herald
agents. But this was done to put at
rest any doubt that might arise in re-
gard to the question of spontaneity!
The address itself was presented by a
gentleman whom Winship sought to
send to the United States senate a little
more than a year ago, which shows that
the act was devoid of solicitation and
wholly disinterested.
Winship's platform is that the laws
must be enforced-ergo those now in
official position are bad men and do not
enforce them; that he is against ''ma-
chine rule and oppose to "the disrepu-
table element'-ergo Winship is a truly
good and pure man and does not want
any party committee to manage his
campaign. But as usual, .Winship is
disingenuous and not quite specific. He
fails to show what laws are being vio-
lated, but in a general way says that if
elected he will enforce the laws. This
is Away the first promise of the pro-
f%essional politician and simply argues
that he suspects the people will distrust
him at the outset. It would be upneces-
sary for a truly good man to make such
a promise. By this method of generali-
cation Winship hopes to create a senti-
ment in favor of himself for governor.
Again, he seeks to prejudice the people
by denouncing others, saying, "Here am
I a candidate; the Herald says I am a
good man; take me and have the laws
enforced; the men in Office are bad men
and will not do their duty"
It is a truth that has passed into the
realm of proverb that when a man sets
himself up as being better than his fel.
1--WE AO Il OCuA "oISA4AdSs AC . uAO
too good to be true. We take it that
the aim of all republicans is to secure a
representative ticket that will command
the confidence and the votes of a ma
jority of the people. It would be a mis-
take to select men who are, in their own
estimation at least, so far above the
average in purity and goodness that vox
populi could nos reach or understand
them. Winship is of this order. Under
the surface he is no better tina the
average, but throughout a long career
devoted to blind criticism and bitter
denunciation Of other people he has
taken on a thin exterior of assumed su-
periority and decentralization that
places him altogether beyond the ideal
istic in politics.