The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-19
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1899.
THE SPEAKERSHIP.

In a Ions editorial yesterday, John B.
Wright of the Haverhill Gazette, sets
forth the unftness of James ]. Myers
of Cambridge for speaker. Mr.. Wright
deals at length with facts which The
Spy has already treated briefly, namely
his membership in the Massachusetts
Reform club, an institution which has
opposed every republican measul .
of any Importance for years, and his
affiliations with Aladdin Atkinsons
lodge of squaw men.
Mr.. Wright's indictment of Myers is
strong one. The following is the
substance of the Gazettes opposition to
Myers:
First, because he is utterly lacking in
those qualities-frmneSs and decision
which are essential in a presiding Off
Ger. No proof of the truth of this state
ment is needed by any one with has
seen him preside over the house; and
his vacillating and unstable nature is
shown in larger way In his political
career. He has voted for President
Cleveland and against President Cley e.
land; for Governor Russell and against
Governor Russell. In the recent contest
for lieuJe nant- governor, ne allowed his
name to appear on both the Guild and
Bates tickets. He was for months a
member of the executive committee of
the AntI-imperalist league. Then he
resigned from the committee, but re-
manned member of the league He has
been on both sides of almost every
public question that has come up. You
can never tell where to find him over
night. His unfitness for the position by
temperament is practically adi9.tted on
all hands.
The Gazette opposes Myers, secondly,
because he is not a republican, in any
proper sense of the word, but a man
who has for years been in acticve pc
litical association with the enemies of
the republican party.
The republican party will elect a
large majority of the next House and
be held responsible FOR the conduct OF
it's business. The speaker will be NOM
mated at a caucus Of republican mem
bers-elect of the House. James j.
Myers is on record in favor of abolish
ing partisan politics in Massachusetts,
yet he is straining every nerve to Sc
cure the nomination for speaker from
partisan republican caucus. The
republicans of Massachusetts should
know exactly the kind of man Myers is.
Mr.. Myers has announced himself as
an independent, allied to no party. Ia
ken in connection with his desertlon of
a republican candidate for president,
his desertion of a republican candidate
for governor, his training with both the
Guild and Bates forces in the recent
campaign, his wobbling upon almost
every public question that has come up,
and his incapacity as a presiding Off
GER, and James ]. Myers is so thor
oughly discredited for this high honor
that he ought not to receive the sup
| port for speaker of any representative
who believes in the principles of the re-
publican party and WIN wants the
commonwealth to have the best SER
wants in high office. To elect such a
man to such a post would do more to
disorganize the republican party of
| Massachusetts than any step taken by
it for years. 1t cannot afford to COM
NIT any such incredible folly.
Charles R. Saunders of Boston, of
whom the Spy published an interesting
sketch yesterday, is now the most
promising candidate in the field for
the speakership, and the republicans in
the next Legislature will make no mis-
take in electing him. He stands out
as an uncompromising republican as
conspicuously as Myers does as a mer-
curial mugwump.