Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-01-16

our fathers and grandfathers
the Baltimore Sun was a house.
hold name, and the sad intelli-
gence of its critical condition
will come with something like
a shock. There was "a time
when the Baltimore Sun was
looked upon throughout the
State as the Nestor of its party,
as the bulwark of Democracy.
and many a man has read it
with as much faith as his Bible,
and sworn by it with quite as
much fervor. But that day has
passed. Hon. are the mighty julien.
aud the weapons Of rar peri.hed! !
From being the defender of.
the Faith" the staunch sup
porter of Democratic principles.
it has degenerated until it has
reached a pitiable state of pre-
mature senility and unreason-
able abuse. From being the
great paper of the Democratic
party of the great State of Mary
land. il has deterioratcd into
the scolding, partial organ of
Isadore Rayner. From the
time the Sun first espoused the
cause of Mr.. Raynrr. it has
been manifestly unfair to the
other candidates for the sena-
torship. seeking by innuendo.
by open accusation. by threats.
by ridicule. by suppression and
willfuf misrepresentation of
facts. to belittle them. aud tn
create a sentiment in favor of
Mr.. Rayner. In trying to stem
the tide that has all along run
so strong for Gov. Smith, the
San has acted quite as foolishly
as Mrs. Darlington. who vainly
attempted to keep back the At
lantic Ocean with her mop. On
the other hand. Mr.. Rayner has
been Landed to the skies, and
the wonder is that he has not
stepped in and put a stop TO tine
extravagant and full som e
praises. We do not deny the
brilliant attachments of Mr..
Rayner. He is a great orator,
and we take a certain amount
of State pride i'm him on that
account. AS an orator, he is
Incompatible; as a lawyer, he
is only mediocre; as a states
man, he is narrow-minded and
biased; while as a candidate for
the United States Senate, he a
conspicuous failure. Demosthe-
mes was a great orator, but he
had a Philip of Macedon to in
cite him to his great effort:
Cicero's name is a synonym for
eloquence, but he had a Cataline
to expose. Pray. what or whom,
may we ask, has Mr.. Rayner !?
In view of his attitude towards
almost every leader in the State,
there can be but one answer
the Democratic party of the
State of Maryland, and speak
ing through the news columns
and editorials of the San, he
hurls his Philippics like an
avalanche. Mr.. Rayner should
remember that only a Jupiter
can thunder from Olympus, and
only a Hercules get possession
of the apples of Hesperides.
Great is Mr.. Rayner of Balti-
more, and the Baltimore SIN is
his mouth-piece. While not
measuring up to our ideal for
the incumbency of the high
office to which he aspires, the
Baltimore Sun has taken Mr..
Mr.. Rayner in hand, and made
him out to be paragon, en-
dowed him with all the attri-
butes of a god, and all the
qualities of high craftsmanship.
Alas, for Mr.. Rayner. BY add
ing a touch here, filling in a
line there. obscuring an occa-
sional shadow. and by many
skillful retouches, the SIN has
succeeded i'm making Mr..
Rayner an extremely pictur-
esque candidate. We are re-
minded of the story of the
Attic robber who placed all who
fell into his hands upon an iron
bed. II they were longer than the
bed, he em of the redundant oart; if
shorter, he stretched them tin they fitted
It. In applying these Procrus-
team methods to Mr.. Rayner.
the Baltimore Sun has not dealt
gently or even fairly with
its victim. 1t has fed his vanity
with high sounding phrases,
and deliberately misrepresent-d
public sentiment, until now
Mr.. Rayner undoubtedly looks
upon his election as a foregone
conclusion. When Mr.. Rayner
awakens, he will find that the
hopes, with which the Sun has
been deluding him. are but the
baseless fabric of an empty
dream, and that instead of be-
slowing the senatorial toVa up-