The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-11-25

Tuesday, November as, 1901
For the power of the Speaker as a legislative fac
tor is second only to the power of the President,
and the triumph of any faction in the Speaker
ship contest is a matter of considerable signif-
canoe. Be it said therefore that Mr.. Cannon is
regarded as a very firm opponent of tariff revision
one of those Republicans who look on the Ding
lev Act as something sacred, a part of the estab-
lished order which it would be impious to NEEDLE
with. Mr.. Roosevelt, it is known, is not of this
opinion, but the election of Mr.. Cannon may
make it extremely difficult for the President to
carry out any changes he may favor.
Nevertheless-a Harper's Weekly very clearly
points out-the people regard the President as
all-powerful and for the failure of a Republican
Congress to grant any relief that the people may
demand, Mr.. Roosevelt as the head of his party
will be held responsible. So there is much reason
in the argument that Mr.. Roosevelts chances for
another Presidential term would be brighter if
the Democrats had carried the House this month.
Making Bribery odiOus in St. Louis.
It is very hard to get a jury to convict a man
of great political influence, vastly harder if this
political boss happens to be a millionaire, harder
still if the charge is one like bribery about which
the public is usually apathetic. Nevertheless a
dispatch was sent out from Columbia, Mo-, last
week which read as follows
"Col. Ed. Butler, millionaire and politician of
St. Louis, on trial charged with attempting to
bride DIR. Chapman, of the St. Louis Board of
Health, in order to influence his vote on the en-
dorsement of a garbage contract with the city,
has been found guilty by the jury which fixed the
punishment at three years in the penitentiary.
The verdict, found last night, was announced to-
day." a
This is not the first prominent citizen of ST.
Louis who has recently seen prison bars loom up
before him as a result of political wrong-doing-
not the result of political wrong-doing alone, how
ever, but also the result of the election of a brave
and honest circuit attorney. This man is Mr..
James W. Folk, and the heroism that he has
shown should be an inspiration to all that are
working for a nobler civic life. A year or two
ago he was a young st. Louis lawyer of not unus-
ual prominence and some of his friends urged
his nomination for circuit attorney. The machine
did not see any reason to object and he was nom
mated, everybody supposing that Mr.. Folk would
be satisfied to plod along in the well-worn paths of
his predecessors. True, he did say that if elected
he would do his full duty without fear or favor,
but that was not an unusual platitude. And so
he was elected, and Immediately set about pro-
tecting the public interests of his city, believing
with all his soul that ga public Office is a public
trust" and that he ought to stop short of his duty
for no man or set of men. Very soon he discov-
cred evidences of corruption among the infuen-
tial "Honorables" who made up the city council,
and it had never occurred to the unsophisticated
Mr.. Folk that a corrupt man should be free from
prosecution because of wealth or social position
or the nraGz MHon . o44noLoL L. L:--a-a AID