Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-11

Lake Torpedo Boat Co, concern l for which MT Lilley was trying 10
 get contracts from congress and a
 rival of the Electric Boat Co, against
 which the investigation was direct
 ed.
 Read what the committee says on ] this point: By stating on his hon.
 or and responsibility as a member 1 that he had information not based
 upon hearsay that required investi- gation respecting the conduct of his ! colleagues, he invoked the entire
 machinery of the house of repre-
 sentatives to institute a proceeding
 against a private corporation for 1 the benefit of another private cor I poration. Your committee therefore
 has no doubt that MT Lilley's reso- lution was not introduced to secure l an investigation but was introduced
 to secure legislation"
 The evidence fully established that
 MT Lilley, to whose sensitive nostrils ! the Electric Boat Go is a stench, at
 the very time he was reported in the
 newspapers as charging members of the naval affairs committee of the house with being "traveling salesmen
 for the Electric Boat Co" was himself alone of all the members of that con-
 mittee, soliciting a contract and that ! contract in the interests of the Lake Torpedo Boat Co; established also that, after writing to Secretary of
 the Navy Metcalf that among the { well-meaning members of congress ! the Lake people have more friends 1 because they have never employed the methods of the Holland type peo- ple." MT Lilley himself made use of
 anonymous letters full of lase state
 ments written by the agent of the ! Lake people to blacken the character
 of his colleague Loud; establishes fur
 ther as crowning infamy that after
 MT Lilley's holy enthusiasm to purify the house of representatives rose to
 such a pitch that he determined to demand an investigation, he offered to James s. Sherman, now republican candidate for vice-president of the 1 United States, to withdraw that de- mand if the action of the naval con- mittee could be so changed that com petition for submarine boats could words, If legislation could be so shap- ed that the Lake Torpedo Boat Co could secure contracts for It's boats although these boats had been beaten
 in fair open competition.
 realize that the above synopsis of
 the investigating committees report cannot have the compelling force of the complete document, with its mas
 terly chain of evidence, its complete exposure of the dastardly attempt to injure innocent public men,, and the multidinous details which confirm the
 justice of its findings. However, trust that enough has been shown to convince conscientious voters the state over that Mir Lilley should not be made governor.
 Men of character throughout our broad land have only one standard of honor, one law of conduct and the same definition of good repute. Good in Washington means good in Connec- ticut. and evil in Washington means evil in Connecticut. A crushing moral verdict, supported by all too abun- uuhL oWoi II CtiuClIC, by five distinguished and wholly dis interested men in Washington, will carry conviction to conscientious cit izens in this state, and MT Lilley will not be allowed to graduate from Washington with the damning resolu-, tion of congress transposed into a di- ploma to entitle him to higher honor from us.
 Attempts will be made to weaken the report of the committee by alle- gations of bias, of unfair procedure, of unjust restraint. But no scraping of mud from Mir Lilley to bespatter the committee can leave Mir Lilley clean. He stands forth from that in- vestigation a thoroughly discredited man. Through his own undisputed words and acts his lack of the essen- tial qualities of true manhood become painfully apparent. Moral stamina, honor, high-mindedness, respect for the reputation of others and appre- citation of the dignity of public office, appear absent from his makeup; and his readiness to allow mere suspi- cions, innuendoes and anonymous re- ports to control his action in weighty affairs. shows a meanness of mind and a distrust of human nature which render him wholly unfit for public office. ~~
 The republican leaders who are propping MT Lilley in his unstable position are apparently willing to throw away the finest opportunity of their lives to do themselves and the state an inestimable service. Why can they not fairly say to Mir Lilley that, without passing judgment upon him. the congressional record made | by him during the last six months renders him unavailable for. such office? Can they not see that the people who make governors the land everywhere are higher standards of con- duct in political life, are searching l for men of character and conscience 1 as candidates for great offices.
 William H. Taft at a recent reun- l ion of our class at Yale, speaking l without reserve in the intimate reia. | tion of classmate to his fellows, his | !