The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-19
TELnPHoNEsl
THE WEEKLY JOURNAL. Issued Thursday. One Dollar YeaE
THE BEST MEN.

A very curious controversy Is inter- esting some of the newspapers of the State with regard to the need the com monwealth has for it's "best men," The suggestion was originally made we believe by the waterbury Repub- lican to the effect that if the State would increase the pay of it's legisla- tors to $1,OOO it would be able to com- mand the services of it's best men in the halls of legislation.
 We confess that we have never been able to satisfactorily digest the term ''the best people" We have heard it used a hundred times and we have read references made as many times in the public prints but when we came to differentiate between the classes of people the term has in mind we have been thrown off the balance. It is like the question of age which is an other source of bewilderment to us The Journal and Courier for example first saw the light of day in 1766, but for youthful vigor and enterprising determination we feel that it should be classified under the youngster col umn. Many a man who bears upon his shoulders the weight of sixty years reveals all of the emotions and characteristics of one not yet thirty, so many a man with the thirty mile stones back of him walks with uneer- tain step and stopping shoulders. So that when we come to these queer measurements of what is best or youngest or surest we do not know that we are competent to enter a Judgment.
 For years we have watched the .-pandulum of public preference swing from the enlistment of the business man in the ranks of public servants to that of professional men until we have not known what to make of the peri odical demand that if we could only h.. a business mans administration the State and nation would be safe. As one looks back upon the record he finds that the demand for the one fol- lows the disappointment felt in the .son, uct of the other, until we should think that history would be tired of II peating it's antics. The best dress ed woman still remains a matter of individual taste. No two men can agree upon the matter while dispute Between them as to which is the more attractive, blondes or brunettes, fre- qrently should enlist the service of the police It is most interesting char acteristic of the world in which we live that these uncertainties of opin- ion as regards things make life worth living, just as with the average person the joy of recounting personal woes has It's never ceasing sources of joy.
 We cannot for the moment imagine what legislature made up of the 'best men" would look like, and it is very hard for us to accept a $1, ,0o0 fee as more certain than any other fee to produce them. The constitutional convention was composed of single delegates from the one hundred and sixty-eight towns of the State. Were they the best men to be had? Thai depends upon the point of view. Judg- ing from the estimate the public made of their work they were the worst that could have been collected together Perplexed, disturbed and bewildered by the demand of our esteemed Wa. terbury contemporary to have the best men of the State trotted out for leg. islative purposes and paid the fnt sum suggested. we are ruthlessly thrown back upon the intensely human suspicion that already we get the best men obtainable at any price Those who expect to see government yise above it's natural source are in. teresting and in their way desirable citizens, but they have yet to pull of the job, as the expression goes.
 In fact we take very little stock ii the best man theory. We shall bt quite content, and believe the stati will he, if we succeed in filling the va rious offices and legislative halls witt just reliable, honest and trustworth! citizens. We are quite sure that thel we shall have unconsciously cor ralled the only kind of human being who have any right to he though best.
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