The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-11-19

should be defeated, 1t was my opinion that
benefit. He hesitated about accepting and
wanted time for considera ton.
Il again called upon him, and suggested
| that the real issue in the campaign would
be the corruption of the Republican party.
| that it had run rampant in the city. that
| 1t would be an easy matter to disclose ana
and punished it would be well rewarded
| In the esteem of the people of the city.
| and in the future political preferment OF
his party. After further discussion along
| the same lines. Mr.. Folk decided to be-
come q candidate.
| He was nominated by the Democratic
| party for the position of Circuit Attor-
| ney, and at once began an active cam
paign in his own behalf: He made the
usual personal canvass, he spoke in va
rious parts of the city. he circulated ms
| cards. went over into the Democratic
| strongholds in the Butler districts, So
| licited their support. received II, and was
| elected with the rest of the Democratic
| ticket.
"Snce his speeches in the election OF
1900, he has not spoken one word in be-
half of the Democratic party. or MS Dem Dem.
speech was made in 1900. His next politi-
cal speech was made on October q. OF TINS
| year, a period of three years interven-
ing during which M time although ssdrs repead and
| although his failure to speak or 10 man mar
| a statement was local campaign issue
| he did not at any time or upon any W W
| casion or anywhere that l have heard OIL.
| or have any knowledge or, SPEAK ol,t
| word or make one statement In behalf on
| the party that had put him into Official
ain 1902 the Democrats placed IN tne
| field splendid city ticket m TINS 4cmtis ns,is
received the Endorsement of me 81. ,i.tcb n4cts
| Republic and the St. Louis Post-piSpa.stti.
| Compared man for man with the Repun;, ",
| lican ticket 1t was infinitely snperiSri, i,,t, ~,
| its makeup, both in personnel aDiir,y ;;ois
and freedom from op1eeto6aaptb ents na the situation
are these: First. that Mr. FOLK did NOT
| support his party nominees: seGo'ii. I,, ,.,a.
since his refusal he 70 has been hinself sup
norted by Republican papers. There ma!
| NOT he any connection between these ivy
facts Neyertheess tnsy tat are he there IS
| connection: that Is to say, that NJ. ,,d; ru,a
| failure to support the Democratlc ssi,d,a ~
dates brought to him the s4pport nncrsts al ~. nt
| ST. Louis decide this question at their nekt
| State primary: there will be no dount
! about their verdict
| ACCUSES FOLK OF
BETRAYING HIS PARTY.
| 81 do not know in the whole city of st.
Louis or the State of Missouri one single
| Democrat who has assisted his party in
the past in any material way who did not
| condemn in the most bitter language this
| betrayal of his party.
] "It was a fruitful topic of conversation
on the streets of st. Louis, and there were
a great many Democrats who believed at
| that time that 1t meant that Mr.. FOLK
| would seek the nomination for Governor
| at the hands of the Republican party. or
| that he would become an Independent can
"They could not conceive how he. could
treat his party in the manner ne did ana sl
| higher honors or future favors at Its
| hands. Mr.. Folk cannot plead the press
ure Of official duties as an excuse He has
| a. IN
| to make good government speeches, ana TO
hold each day. morning and evening, CON
ferences with the representatives OF the
One-hundredth part of the time that he
| has spent in the offices of the st. Louis
Star. and with its Republican editor, would
| have enabled him to have made either
| speech or a statement which would nave
been of material assistance to his party at
| what then appeared to be critical period.
| Nor can he plead that 1t was to the best
| interest of his party that he did not speak.
| If this should be his plea, it would mean
that he had set his opinion % Up up against
| that of all the State and local Democratic
| leaders of the Democratic party
HIS SILENCE A SPECIES
| OF POLITICAL DISHONESTY.
| 81 further charge that in remaining ST.
| lent at this time he placed an odium upon
| his fellow-Democrats in that they were
| charged with failing to support him in
| his Doodle crusade. and that they had
nominated a ticket that was inimlcal TO
| the best interests of that crusade. Mr.
| Folk knew that this statement was false,
SO that his silence. to my minc. was e
species Of political dishonesty for which
| he cannot be excused. 4t
| I'm his present candidacy the same arGu-
! ments are being used. All those who are
opposed to Mr.. Folk are CHARGED oY re.
being under Doodle OF corrupt influences:
those Democrats in st. Louis who do not
favor his nomination. 1t Is intimated, ted
| who opposes Mr.. Folk in st. Louis does
SO, it is asserted. for the reason that he
does not sympathize with the manner in
| which he has conducted his official dr-
| ties These charges l again brand as In
famously false.
Take for instance. the communication
tleman who has figured heretofore as Mr..
| Folks campaign manager, who has been
described as a sort of Missouri Hanna.
who introduced modern trust methods in
conducting the campaign of his candi-
| date. Thousands of pounds of Folk litera-
| ture have been sent out into the State by
cling the State under his direction. He
| was featured in a st. Louis newspaper
| with a large picture and full-page de-
fs5Rs,0n FoRIs. as a campaign manager o. MI
From the time that the first Doodle ex-
| posture was made to the present day, !
state without fear ar. Of eonradeGn tad sn ha fnat
lutte. united. continuous and able support
in the prosecution Of any public work as
Mr.. Folk. Every daily paper in the city
every monthly magazine, published in the
city of St. Louis. the State Of Missouri or
the United States, has given him its cor
| dial and unstinted support. One enter
prising paper in the city went so far as to
| send one Of its ablest men to Mexico to
secure the return Of one of the members
| of the House of Delegates.
"The man employed in this work was
| probably one of the most brilliant news
paper men in St. Louis His work was
conspicuous in behalf of good government
| and for the purpose of assisting Mr.. Folk.
| This Is but one illustration OF what has
been done by private citizens of the COM
classes, irrespective of party. have come
| to his assistance. Sums of money were
raised to pay for special juries and for
other expenses. where no provision was
| made by the State.
"AlI of the iuries which have tried the
Doodle cases in st. Louis have been what
| say: they were men selected from the
| business walks of life. LabOrers. artisans
| and mechanics did not sit on these juries.
| Special iuries have never before been used
| by public prosecutors in their work. there
! being no provision for the payment of
| their services, which cost SO each panel
and money was raised by private citizens
| to pay for them.
Special iuries such as / have described
have never been used in any other part Of
Missouri. so that it can be seen to what
extent our citizens have gone when they.
| by private subscription. have raised money
to provide Mr.. Folk with juries of this
class. and l believe that. II he continues
| In his belief that he cannot trust his cases
| to the ordinary jury composed of ordinary
| citizens. our people will continue to pro-
vide means for the payment of all the
| special iuries he may REQUIRE. Personally.
| have never believed that honesty be-
| longed exclusively to any one class of citi-
Zens. believe that the same results
| could he accomplished with jurics to try
acts of official corruption composed of la
borers. artisans, mechanics that could be
done with iuries composed exclusively of
men belonging to one class In Life OF this.