Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-09-28
POLITICAL REVIEW 0F51NE WEEK.

When q well known newspaper man
tn Columbus, O.. gave out \ q state
! ment some years ago to the effect that
i Hon. Fl. G. Smith of the Cleveland Ga.
zette had in Il public speech referred
to the flag Of his country as S dirty
rag" that gentleman stood on his head
AMI tried to spit Backward, and in his.
lucid intervals hurled several kinds of
ndject.ves ct his enemies and made
noise enough with his pen and mouth
Tor 1G men Of bis size.
Ordinarily little thing like that
would have been passed Ivy In silence,
but it so happened that Mr.. Smith was
candidate for office, and If he did
not succeed in giving the lie to his ac-
cusers and in proving that he Is an ar
dent lover Of Old Glory it was not his
...,ult. Nobody with an ounce of brains
paid any attention to the charge; no.
body cared a rap whether he had abus-
ed the flag or praised it, for they we'll
knew that nothing that Mr.. Smith or
anybody else could say could detract
one iota from It. But Mr.. Smith SEEM
I'd to be of opinion that the statement
evidently made In a spirit Of raillery
was an attack on his patriotism, and
he seems to have thrown 1T three
! times n day until the day CT his cleo
ton to the legislature Of Ohio. Since
| then he has been vindicating himself
! in his paper, and roasting every other
fellow who has said anything against
the administration.
| What boots it If Mr.. Fortune did
criticise President Mckinley? Is he
not now a good administration Repub-
lican? Isn't he doing as much or more
| than Mr.. Smith is doing to secure the
reelection of the president? Is Mr..
Fortune paramount issue In this
| campaign? He Is not candidate for
any office. big or little, but just a
plain, aggressive Republican,. with
views which he is not afraid to ex-
press, and he'd be big fool If he
didn't change his opinions Of men and
things occasionally. If Mr.. Smith Is
going to set himself up as censor Of
the political morals of his fellows and
draw the deadly parallel on all Repub-
licans, he'll find lots Of them who
have said things equally as bad as he
has said about the president and the
flag in the heat Of passion and their
excess of zeal, which they are now
willing to forget In the interest Of par
ty harmony Personal attacks on indi-
vidual Republicans do not show good
judgment, wisdom or common sense.
Who cares what any man said or did
ten months or ten years ago? wise
men change often. fools never The
paramount question is, What does he
| shy or believe NOW? The eternal now
Is worth thousand yesterdays. Let
Mr.. Smith pull himself together anc
take aim Mt the common enenly-the
Democratic party. There is nothing tt
be gained in fighting Republicans.
The Hon. John B. Stanchfield. the
Democratic nominee for governor OF
New York, is SUBSTANTIALLY licked
His votes.in the legislature against tic
labor interests and his speeches In IA
vor Of expansion, a section of one OF
which is quoted in the New York Sun
Of Sept. Is, shows him to be one OF
those elastic and accommodating
statesmen who arc not averse to being
on both sides Of any question. His
speech of Feb. II. 1900. wherein he
indorses the policy Of this administra
ton in the Philippines, Porto Rico and
Cuba, is "a good enough Morgan tC
elect the entire Republican state ticket
this year and give 1t few votes tc
spare.
Manifestly Mr.. Stanchlicld is not the
kind Of Democrat who is likely to
rally around him the dyed in the wool
brethren of his political faith, for his
views are decidedly out of harmony
with theirs on the question Of expan'
sion.
Mr.. Stanchfield's services may be
needed after Nov. to stanch the
wounds which these brethren will In
flict upon each other In the mix up
scheduled to eventuate at any time
during the campaign. "How pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together" in
Tammany!
The platform adopted ut Saratoga
by the Democratic convention among
other things declares in favor Of gov
eminent Of the people. by the people.
and for the people. 1t reads very
smoothly in spots and is plausible
enough in its way. But we cannot
overlook the fact that it Is huge joke
perpetrated with malign intent.
If chain is no stronger than its
weakest part, the Democratic party Of
New York and Of the nation is no
stronger than the weak and corrupt
branches of that party which now dis