The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-09
The Right Slope.

A prohibition speaker. is using this
illustration, which illustrates: can old
farmer when asked-about the best slope
Of land for raising corn, replied: 1T
depends more on the slope Of the man
than the slope Of the land.'"
In the matter of administering a pub
lie office much depends OIL the. slope Of
the man. President Roosevelt has i'm
pressed the world as being of about the
right slope. The example he has given
of an executive who executes has been
a great uplift to America. The illus
tration he has given of manhood and
sturdy virtue in public office has en-
couraged the people, to believe in the
redemption Of their politics from ring
rule and rum rule. Governor Folk is
another man who has the right slope.
it is enforced. In our own city we
have an example Of a man with the
right slope. Mayor Jones has stood up
right in the community and what he has
accomplished for the city has been not
merely the enforcement Of certain or
dinapces, but the impetus he has given
to civic righteousness everywhere.
There never has been a campaign in
which principls counted for so much as
in the primary campaign now being
waged in the republican party. IF
Jones had been an ordinary humdrum
mayor, who skated between the infuen-
tial sections Of the machine and pleased
both, there would have been no opposi-
ton to his denomination. Squirm as
they may, those opposed to Mayor
Jones cannot deny that the opposition
to him is because &of some things he
has done. What those things are the
public can easily see for themselves
They are expressed in one phrase-law
enforcement. Now, law enforcement is
not universally popular. There are
those in every city who make profit
out of loose administration. These i'm
mediately band together to defend their
interests when the mayor adiudges the
law to be what it says. They are
abused and prosecuted, and must have
another mayor who will not be so
strict. Generally, these elements and
their allies wait until the party NOM
nations are made before taking action,
then they try to unite upon the candi-
date whose record promises the most
for their side. This year in Mime.
apolis the extraordinary spectacle is
witnessed of the liberals bringing for
ward a candidate against the mayor in
his own party. They, to make sure Of
"fair' administration in the next
two years, are seeking to control the
nominations in both parties. This is
the whole subject in nutshell.
The problem Of this campaign is the
nomination Of Mayor Jones. Once nom
mated, there is no question of his cleo
| ton. There are in the city today thou
sands Of men debarred by party ties
from taking any part in the republi-
can primary who only await the nom
nation Of Jones to come out for him
and make his election a civic celebra-
ton.
It is this knowledge which makes
the opposition to his nomination so
strenuous. The whole logic Of the sit
uation is with Jones. The whole body
Of the people is with, Jones. The only
way Jones can be beaten is at the pri-
maries, and his defeat there would be
a moral surrender on the part Of the
republican party from which it would
| not recover in a decade.
! Senator Spooner is inclined to admit
that he may have been mistaken in his
/