Mexico weekly ledger., 1899-04-27

1898 Being his personal friend and ad-
mireF. though his political opponent
would dislike exceedingly TO see him
lose his reputation as a prophet, for he
is the only genuine specimen Of that
peculiar genus that was ever personal
y acquainted with, but / am rather in
clined to think that if he viii read the
few remarks from Mckisson above
quoted, and set his imagination 10 work
to guess the unspoken thoughts and in
tentions Of Mr.. McKisson as to bis fu-
ture line Of conduct in Ohio, he viii go
rather slow in the business Of prophecy
for a few months 10 come; for while, as
/ said before, General Grosvenor Is q
man Of undaunted courage. wen to bis
ears there must be an ominOus sound
In the cry now ringing through Ohio,
Anything TO beat HANNAH As Hanna
is safe in bis eurule chair for six years
more, and as they cannot possibly beat
him individually during that time, the
! CRY Of Anything TO beat Hannat' at
this juncture evidently means ANY
thing to beat Mckinley" And. from my
cAose observation Of General Grosvenor.
l am satisfied that he takes a sort Of
paternal pride IN the present chief mag
istrate Of the republic, and the prospect
Of any calamity to Mckinley must
worry him a great deal; but if be takes
a rest in the business of prophecy he
viii have more leisure and strength 10
devote to the exposzre Of the utter hy-
pocrisy Of the civil service statesmen,
and as nobody else is devOting much
time or energy to them at present he
owes il TO a long suffering people TO do
that particular job Of skinning most
thoroughly.
While most Republicans are lacking
in the courage to openly proclaim their
thoughts az to civil service, hundreds of
thousands Of them chuckle when they
read General Grosyencr's observations
in that connection But there Is one
great peril ahead IL the general. II
through any unexpected Consideration
Of events Colonel and Governor Theo-
dsTs Roosevelt should capture the presi-
Dental nomination, and should DO elect
ed, the general would be the most discon-
s0late and crcstfallen Of m0rtals; for
"sTeddy' is the chief priest, apostle and
prophet Of the civil service reform.
Whether he would enforce 1t IL presi-
dent, this deponent saith not, but the
chances Of his enforcing it would prob
ably give the general something akin TO
heart failure. For if Roosevelt took it
into his head TO enforce it he would
enforce il. and be would wage a war OF
determination against all those in his
own party who are opposed toit-easily
chief Of whom is General Grosvenor.
So, perhaps, the very last Republican
on this continent that he would desire
to see in the presidential chair is the
hero of San Juan Hill, the Knickerboek-
er governor Of New York, and this
same hero and governor is one of the
three men who would be nominated by
the Republicans If any disaster should
happen TO President Mckinley, the 9TH
er two being Hon. Thomas Bracket
Reed and General Nelson A. Miles
/ either Of whom General Grosvenor
would greatly prefer to Governor Roose-
welt.
/ Senators by Popular Vote.
; The surface indications are that the
proposition to elect senators Of the
United States by popular vote instead
Of by the Legislature is not only gain
ing strength, but il gaining il rapidly.
As a proof Of this the Republican
: lower houe Of the Pennsylvania legis-
lature on the Sd Of April adopted a
z resolution authorizing the appointment
! of a committee Of two senators and
three members 10 confer with the legis-
latures of other states with the view Of
bringing about the submission Of an
amendment to the constitution Of the
United States whereby they may elect
president, vice president and United
States senators by direct popular vote.
this committee to report 10 the lsgisla-
ture in 1900. This Is progress In the
right direction, sure enough; for when
the Republicans Of Pennsylvania begin
to coddle any reform in politics or leg
~islative machinery 1t may be taken for
granted that reform has taken deep root
among the people. so far as / know,
this is the first systematic attempt on
the part Of any state legislature TO Sc
cure the election Of United States
tors by the people. A constitutional
amendment 20 that effect has passed the
national house Of representatives more
than once by the necessary ~two-thirds
majority, but 80 far It has never made
much Roadway in the senate Of the
United States But II these Republican
Statesmen from Pennsylvania are in
dead earnest, they have hit upon a plan
by which the senate Of the United
States win be compelled to give heed
to the wishes Of the people in this mat
ter.
, have no doubt that If that PROPOSE
! tion were submitted to the popular vote
Of the United States il would carry
by a nine-tenths majority.
Another straw which shows which
way the wind is blowing is a recent ar
ticle in the New York Journal on this
subject by the Hon. John james In
gals of Kansas He Is one Of the most
brilliant and popular writers in the
United States. He served is year, in
the senate himself. He knows as much
about how senators are elected as most
any other man you will meet in 8
months journey, and the fact that be
has taken up the cudgeis in favor Of
4 election Of senators by popular vote
means a great deal in that regard. II
be ever gets bis dander up thoroughly
on the subject, he might write stuff
that would make mighty interesting
reading for certain gentlemen who ar,
still members Il that august bOey.