The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1908-05-07

age. Again and again / have seen the
shadow pass over his face as his eye
caught some thoughtless paragraph
which thrust upon his attention the
fact that out In Iowa, among the
people whose interests he had made
his own for so many years, there were
men deliberately measuring the rem
nant of his span of life and cody
counting up the chances of his recoy
cry.
There is much force, although dc
| not think the argument is at all con
| elusive, that men ought to quit the
employment which has occupied them
before old age overtakes them. In
other words, that having done their
fair share of the worlds work, they
ought to welcome the privileges OF
the retired list. That is certainly so
OF those occupations which require
physical strength, though there are
exceptions even at that, like the case
of Won Moltke at the head of the Prus.
sian army of invasion, or in an epoch
making battle in earlier times, OF
which Macauley says that If the hos
pitfalls of Europe had been searched
it would have been hard to find two
more helpless invalids, than the
hunch-back dwarf who led the fiery
onset of France. and the asthmetic
skeletons who covered the slow re
treat of England.
In these departments of life where
the faculties of the mind require less
reinforcement from mere physical
strength the rule becomes less and
less applicable until at length in the
realm of craftsmanship there Is room
always for the wisdom of the sage and
demand, not always well supplied,
for the tempered prudence of old age.
1t will not be denied by anybody ia.
miliar with the recent history of the
United States that Senator Allison
stands apart from all his contempt
rarfes by the exceptional service which
he has rendered to his countrymen
So that if the question were merely
one of continuing him in his office on
account of the public need for his
services the force of the argument in
his favor would be Irresistible. But
do not conceal from my republican
friends in Iowa that Senator Allison's
case before the people stands upon
niger ground even than that. 1t is
not necessary to argue the question,
whether his candidacy was well or Ill
advised. The question for Iowa IS;
How shall we deal with this man
whose name is before us for endorse
ment or rejection? 1t is a question
that concerns Governor Cummins and
the Senator less than 1t does us. III
he had ever failed in his devotion to
our people or they in their devotion
to him, our duty might not be so
plain. He has not been man prone
to exaggerate his Importance or to
think of himself as indispensable to
the public service. He has borne
himself with such apgentle and kind
ly tolerance of othersNthat in the days
of his strength no man thought OF
such a thing, as raising his hand
against him, and so his people have
followed him with pride and good will
down to the very borders of the river.
His adversaries of today protested to
be his friends and he entered upon
the candidacy, which we are here dis
cussing, with the assurance that the
whole state desired with loving hands
to put the crown of their approval up
on his public life.
Here is the situation from which
no man among us can escape. 1t has
been said that considerations such as
these are sentimental. That is true,
and it is because men feel the touch
of sentiment that they are called CIV
ilized as distinguished from savage,
among whom sometimes the old people
were put to death in order to avoid
Inconvenience in moving the camp.
The question Is not, what we are 60
ing to do for Senator Allison, but
what we are going to do for ourselves,
for the prestige of the state, for the
guidance and inspiration of our child
rem when we have passed from these
scenes. If the good name of Iowa Is
not involved in this controversy, how
does it happen that the American
press, without distinction of party,
has felt called upon to admonish us
against the course which some have
chosen to follow What does it mean
when the greatest living editor, Henry
Watterson. who told me the other day
that he had more than passing &C
quaintance with Senator Allison, and
whose good will to the governor,
though of different party, he does
not hesitate to avow, uses these words
in an editorial in the Courier-Journal:
"The Courier-Journal has a sneak,
ing kindness for Governor Cummins,
of Iowa. In many ways he seems an
original and courageous man, capable
of real ana great public usefulness
But. If after a hard, unyielding con
test, or any kind of contest, he
should get to the senate of the United
States over the dead political body OF
Senator Allison, he will give himself
black eye in the opinion of just men
from which 1t will take him lone
time to recover. and, II he be a gen
erous man, or even a sagacious man
| boiteving In tyenetositv as still n fac