The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-02-21

henOe. They are attracted Dy MI
kehoe'S strength rather than by any
particular liking for him Anyhow II
will be case Of not liking Kehoe
more but Lamar less if the corpora
ton influence should be exerted in
Kehoe's behalf.
Not one dollar Of corporation
money was spent in the election OF
DR.. Theop. West TO the Florida senate.
He does not belong to them They do
not control him, dominate him or even
influence him. The amount of money
actually spent in the canvass made by
DR.. West would hardly be enough TO
pay for one months keep OF tur-
pentine hand before bacon went to IL
| cents a pound.
''Dr. West won out because he made
a direct, personal appeal to the voters
and succeeded in seeing enough OF
thin, between the time OF his an
| nouncement and the time the votes
were cast, to get him a majority. He
is a clean, straight man, who would
look at all propositions from the view
point of whether they are right, fair,
proper and just
HE is a high toned gentleman,
miles removed from the plotting,
scheming, knee-bending, cringing and
| fawning politician. He will make an
able representative Of the people
when he occupies one OF their seats
In the Florida legislature He will
! be a thoroughly honest one, ready TO
| look all questions in the face and
| vote for or against them according to
his convictions of their merits or de-
merits
Dr. West has written to the sena-
tors-elect, announcing his desire to be
! presiding officer Of the senate. AS
candidate for president of the senate
he has been brought out by no one
except himself. He is actuated by a
i worthy ambition to occupy as high
position in the councils of the state
as he can honestly attain. II he sue.
ceeds in accomplishing that ambition
he will reach it unpledged to any one
, except to the people who elected him
to the esnate.
IF you want to see an explosion
that will come near to opening up the
capital removal question, in so far as
the tearing off of the roof of the state
house will open it, let some lobbyist
make a proposition to DR.. West that
calls for the doing of an improper
act. He simply can not be approached
without subjecting the approacher to
a shock that will last him all his
life"
= The man whom I quote above knows
Dr. West and he spoke feelingly from
Q that knowledge. This is the kind of
talk that satisfies people who want to
see the presiding officer of the next
senate free to exercise the power of
that position for the benefit Of the
people.
This is no stock phrase that l am
using, nor is it political cant. use
the term the people because there il
| simply no other term to use. It Is the
peoples business that will be transact.
the people want a man to preside over
the deliberations of their representa-
tiyes, who is mtrammeled by any oblt
cation he may be under to any person,
person or combination Of persons,
whether they be natural persons, or
artificial persons called corporations.
I therefore present Dr.. West to the
senators-elect as the peoples candi-
date for president as opposed to Hunt
Harris, who without disparagementt to
him as a man, designate as the cor
poration candidate for this Office. |
believe that there are enough votes
among the members-elect Of the next
senate, that are not pledged or direct
+! ed by the people who have selected
to elect DR.. West. | have gone over
| the list of senators-eiect and of SEN
| ators who are known as NhOld-Overs,
very carefully, and l can not find more
I than twelve of the thirty-twO who can
be claSsed as sure supporters of Mr.
| Harris This leaves nineteen of those
already chosen and one to be selected
in place of Senator Carter of the 21st,
deceased. By concentrating on DR..
/ West these twenty senators can per-
/ form a real service to the people by
putting it beyond the power of the cor
/ porations or any one else to control
| the next senate.
Mr.. Harris engineered fllibuster
which defeated the state insurance
bill last session. I did not get suf-
! ficiently into this bill to be able to
give an opinion now as TO whether
it was a good bill or a bad bill l
/ know that the principle of the bill
is sound to the core, and that If the
bill itself was not well drawn, it could
/ have been amended and the principal
saved
A flibuster to defeat a bad princi-
pie of legislation is excusable, but no
choking method should be used on a
bill that carries with it a good prin-
! ciple. 1t should be allowed to win on
its merits after a debate and oppor-
tunity for amendment is given
Then, if the majority Of the mem
-