Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-19
WILLIAMS LAME DEFENSE.

Ab was 10 nave Deen expected sew
eral OF the fake reform organs have
rushed to the defense Of the treacher-
Gus Williams, who was nominated on
the republican ticket for railroad com
missioner in consideration of his sell
out of his instructions for Edward
Rosewater for senator. Taking ad-
vantage OF the death Of Mr.. Rosewater
and the fact that he cannot deny false
assertions, williams has been cooking
up explanations intended to make peo-
pie believe that he had been released
from his obligations to Mr.. Rosewater
and voted for Brown out of personal
preference. being picked up by the
Brown managers afterward for the
nomination as railway commissioner
quite by accident.
This defense is 50 weak that 1t falls
to pieces of its own weight. The first
notice that there was something wrong
with the Pierce county delegation
came through an article in the Lincoln
Journal a week ahead of the conven-
tion, pretending that the delegation
was not definitely instructed for Mr..
Rose water and would leave him at the
first opportunity. This was, of course,
pure fiction, because the Pierce county
convention had instructed it's state del
egation both for Rosewater for sena-
tor and for Sheldon for governor, and
had instructed its congressional dele
cation for Boyd for congress. Boyd,
Sheldon and Rosewater were all three
present at that convention and the In
structions for one were just as definite
as the instructions for the other. 1t
was no less rank treachery for Will
liams to make a deal to violate his in
structions for RosewateT in cOnsidera-
ton OF a nomination for himself than
It would have been for him to have
made such a deal to violate his in
structions for Sheldon for a similar
consideration. 1t would have been
the same as II a member of the Pierce
county congressional delegation had
sold Boyd out for a postofice to either
Mccarthy or Young.
According to our code of ethics,
Benedict Arnold is condemned as a
traitor, while those who paid him Brit
ish gold do not suffer the same
obloquy. The explanation offered by
one of Williams defenders. that "the
Brown managers. seeing that all the
candidates for railway commissioners
were from the South Platte country,
looked about for some suitable man
from the north that geographical dis
tribution might be made" and picked
upon Judge Williams "as a man emil
nently fitted by education. location
and sentiment to creditably fill the i'm
portant place. is too fimsy to go
down. IT, the Brown managers
were looking for that kind of a man
they would never have picked on Will
liams. They picked upon him be-
cause he was in position,to play Ben
edict Arnold and they had the price to
offer. They picked him because he
was weak, dishonest, untrustworthy
and could be used for their purposes,
and he did his best to deliver the
goods according to contract.
The question is not whether Will
liams' treachery was vital to the con-
vention outcome. but whether a man
OF his low morals is the man to trust
with the important duties of railway
commissioner and to subject to the
temptations sure to be held out to him
by the great railroads to betray the
people when their interests are at
stake. Every member OF the railway
commission should be a man of proved
integrity man who would go
through the ordeal of fire before he
would either yield up the smallest
right belonging to the people. or do
the slightest injustice to anyone-a
man to whom an honorable name
would be more precious than gold or
preferment. The treacherous VIII
liams is not that kind of a man.