Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1899-06-30

The public has been informed during
the past week that Secretary Of War,
Russell A. Alger, is to be candidate
from his State for the United States
Senate There are other candidates for
the same honorable position and among
them the present incumbent of the office
SO to win the coveted prize the Secretary
has fight of no mean proportion on his
hands The Secretary therefore has
thought it necessary to base his candi-
dacy upon platform of political princi-
pies and the chief among the planks in
his platform is his avowed opposition to
trusts. That he has fell upon popular
theme there is no question, but there is
question and grave one as to whether
he can be trusted to oppose a plan that
finds favor among a selfish few of the
mercantile class of our citizens, to the
injury-nay, robbery of the many, for
the reason that he has been among the
foremost and was among the first to in
augurate the scheme ia his own State
and to grow rich thereby The formation
of trusts in this country is becoming
dangerous and the people see it, and we
feel assured that they would rally around
the banner of any man who is candi-
date for official position, who could be
Of service to them in staying the hand
of plan of combinations among the
mercantile class in their onward march
to force consumers to poverty and ruin
that the former may grow wealthy and
affluens, but we imagine they do not see
ia Alger the man for the work In the
first place Alger was among the first in
bis own State to engage in the system of
robbery, and large portion of his
alleged wealth comes from squeezing the
masses to enrich a class. If the plan
was wrong in principle, he should not
have engaged in it, but having grown rich
through the enforcement Of a plunderiug
policy, it is now too late when he seeks
the favor of the people he has wronged,
to turn and condemn a policy upon
which be has fed and fattened for so
many years He cannot be trusted
The poisoned hand of pure sel6shness is
too plain to deceive the public judgment.
And again, as Secretary of War, he has
been dismal failure. He has shown
himself incapable of fulfilling any i'm
portant trust Where wisdom has been
expected, ignorance and stupidity plain
ly resulted from the management of his
office; where breadth of mind, liberality
and fairness should have been displayed,
he has shown himself narrow minded.
picayune partizan, his personal hatreds
and dislikes surmounting all desires to
promote the good of the public service
In other words so far as it is possible to
do, be he's made the War Department a
machine to subserve bis personal ends.
Il man of such proclivities is unsuited
for leader. Such a man cannot be
trusted to take up and effectuately ad-
vOcate any great question concerning
the public good. He is not equal to the
occasion and he cannot be trusted if he
had the capacity. So then as we read
the public history of Alger and see his
political character, there is nothing in
his professed championship of the peo-
pies antagonism to the growing evil Of
the formation of trusts His avoSed
opposition to them is not timely. EIis
purpose is selfish political advancement
He should be made to know at once that
his scheme is transparent. that the peo-
pie are tired of Algerism and have no
faith in his professions and no further
use for him.