Bisbee daily review., 1905-10-19
MASSACHUSETTS,
 LOSING PRESTIGE.

LOSING PRESTIGE.
 Out of the mass of comment that
 the action of the Massachusetts party conventions has occasioned in and out
 of the state. perhaps the most signif.
 cant has been that of Senator Aldrich
 of Rhode Island, who somewhat syn.
 ically remarked that Massachusetts
 is no longer a leader among the states
 Of the union. The agitation for rec procity, which has played such an i'm
 )ortant part in recent political dis ussiOns in this commonwealth. to his | 5ay of thinking can make but very
 little impression upon the country as
 whole. In other words, Massachu- setts opinions on this topic do not
 count for much with national political
 leaders. He would belittle the infu-
 ence of Massachusetts, not only in the councils of statesmanship at the cap ital at Washington, but in the matter of influence which the expressed opin- ion of the voters at the polls may be expected to exert upon the thought and attitude of voters in other sec tions.
 If this is approximately true-and the attitude of some of the regnant politicians of the day seem to bear out the assertion, in a measure-to what cause shall the citizens of Mass achusetts attribute the change which has taken place. and why do not the senators and representatives of Mass achusetts take steps to find out why Massachusetts influence is waning and strive to restore her prestige?
 No one doubts that Senator Lodge pre-eminently the spokesman for this state at Washington. as well as spokesman for the Republican paTty in convention assembled, by virtue Of seniority of senatorial service, is loyal to the interests of the people of his own state according to his conception of what those interests are. but the trouble seems to be that his idea of what is involved in the conservation of the interests of the people of this state is radically wrong.
 Coupled with his crude notions on this subject is a timidity almost amounting to inverteb-ate weakness at times like the present, whom assert iveness is the imperative need nf the hour in behalf of the mercantile and industrial constituencies which ha is sent to Washington to represeEr.
 For instance, in the recent Repub- lioar convention he spol-e doprecat- irgly of the needs of this community as such, alluded with d meek echo of the Aldrich snee- to the degree of concession which has been made in the Republican platform to the tariff resdiustment element in the party, and conveyed .the impression to his auditors that he, at least, islukewarm in his support of the party platform.
 The truth of the matter is that Senator Lodge, though tenacious of his personal prerogatives as the party leader, is heavily handicapped in his effort to be a successful senator by his lack of virile and sturdy aggress- iveness. He has been unceremoniously pushed aside by the overshadowing personalities of men who make it their business in congress to see that the interests of Ohio and Pennsylvania and a number of other insistent com munities obtain recognition. He ex- cuses his own inertia, indifference or whatever he may choose to call it, by the plea that he is careful and con scientious to consider the welfare of the country as a whole, rather than the interests of a portion of the union This is a spacious plea, and it ought not to be accepted by the people of Massachusetts. Playing into the hands of representatives and sen ators from more wide awake commun- ities is not the sort of service Mass achusetts has a right to expect. Nor is it necessary for him to be bashful about the desires of Massachusetts in order to faithfully perform his duty az a United States senator