The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-09
'sHOOI MON

just tell them that you saw me
And | was in the race;
just tell them I IN a candidate once
And don't forget my chances are
Ny last defeata It has not made
me sore.
Just tell them that you saw me
And they will know the rest;
just tell them IN a regular as of yore;
:, MY cards are union labeled
This they may have guessed,
1t they didn t know my little game
before.
just tell them that you saw me
A-hngering on Fourth street,
ana mo handing out wealth Of CHEEKY
talk;
just say, IN betting on myself
Yours truly can It beat -
For anybody's money, marbles,
cheese or chalk.
The air is beginning to hum with the
noise of the candidate. One cannot
sailed with cards, buffeted with circu-
lars and bombarded with questions as
to where he stands. Three hundred
bold and beautiful men have agreed to
accept sixty Offices. Three hundred
eloquent and persuasive individuals
have abandoned their common labors to
undertake the uplift Of the country. It
Is a wonderful thing this democracy.
1t IS no wonder the police arrest demo
Gratis In Russia: 1t is a wonder they
are not mobbed in this country. In
every ward, in every precinct, in every
drugstore, there are meetings in which
the. gravity of the situation is debated
and the steps that should be taken to
save the country are gone over with a
s0lemn1ty that ct once cures one of the
idea that there is any fun in politics Or
that it is a frivolous pursuit.
Some men are born great, others
achleve greatness, some have It thrust
upon them when they become candi-
dates for offices. There stands neigh
Dor whom you have never suspected of
eminence in any direction, but sudden
~ ne, becomes a candidate for coroner
or or county commissioner and Immediate
an able Tou l e SP P1at he Of has as
always been loyal to something or other,
that he is a "worker,' that he de-
serves recognition - The candidate
stands about in this atmosphere until
he begins to believe it himself. He
connects himself in imagination with
heroic deeds, with profound opinions
and with attitudes toward public prob
lens which cannot be gainsaid. Happy
hurled at him. whether he Nominated Htsi
Or not some Of it will stick to him. He
will never again be the wart he was be-
fore he ran for office. This is one of
the great boons to the country of a
campaign.
But the gentleman who is nominated.
what Of him9 Why, he becomes imme-
alately parsonage. He is mentioned
IN the newspapers. He begins to can
vas the chances of his election. They
are good; They are always good. In
dreams thru camp and court he bears
the insignia of a great party. In his
sleep he makes a speech to the legis-
lature. The responsibility begins to
weigh upon him. The grafters, mooch-
ers and ticket peddlers begin to close
in upon him and before he is aware Of
1t ne is whisked away from his family
and set down in an atmosphere of de-
fllrious talk and nickel cigars. That
man never. is the same again, either.
W.hilee:4ilbefore he was cheerful runt
OF man whom nobody attacked, for
obvious reasons now he finds his horo-
scope cast for him by unfriendly hands.
He was once druggist and sold whisky
'96 and voted for free lunch; his wife
chased him once as far as Omaha and
brought him back. His personal tax
statement is daring bit Of perjury.
He stands aghast at the blaze of pub
llcity in which he stands. He blinks
and Indignantly denies the absurd
charges brought against his personal
character. But the old hands laugh
at his warm conduct. It is all in the
game. After a while he settles down
to the thought that this is true and be-
gins to. pick flaws in his opponent. The
campaign goes on with a hurrah. He is
enveloped in excitement and everything
seems rosy until election day. Some
changes. The candidate sees solemn
looking men going into the booths. He
doesn' It know what they are doing and
ne feels from their glances that they
are doing something to him. It is all
uncertainty, gloom and suspicion. He
hears that he is being knitted in such
a precinct; that he is running behind
his ticket in another His helplessness
is maddening. But there is nothing
to- do but wait, just wait, wait. By
and by the returns will come in. He is
elected!
they. couldn It beat you; me and some of
the boys, did some clever work for you
in the ninth; you had the second solid
from the start. It was great work.
do for--' The rest is WHISPERED
injunctions about the workers. who
ought to be rewarded. -.
Defeated! It has it's bitterness and
it's compensations. You can hate some
people all the rest Of your, life if you
want to and hiss them when they want
to get an office. The down. and-out pol
itician usually becomes a crouch. The
better way is to forget it all except
the fact that if you had been elected
you would have wished hundred times
that you had not been. --a
/. Who s Who in Minneapolis-West-
lake p. J.: "Westy" -; secretary Com
long corridor. Born in the United
Pullman car; Westy and r. F. Cakes
ran the Northern Pacific until the
Westy refused any longer to be the
money guy' Of railroad that owed
$4,000 100000. Removed to St. Paul.
where he had neither trouble nor money.
Discovered four years ago he was not
dead yet, and took the first car for
Minneapolis. Been living in st. Paul
under a Misrepresentation. Everybody
glad Westy came. Good fellow; good
secretary; good man; not suspicious:
takes stock in many things. Oil9 Not
any more. james Gray.