The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1908-02-07

vote, he IS q IdCtOI III tIlS S''t'4~' "
out his vote he IS cipher or lhe
iepprst dive. Let him be under age,
or not naturalized, and there IS none
so poor, to do him reverence. Count
Vichy de f1zz found this out one DAY
when he attempted to make cen
ter-rush" into a certain mayors once
ahead of long line OF uDWashed but
anxious common citizens. The Wig
liant officer at the door cOllared MIN
without remOrse or awe.
Pass back there my good man,
said the guardian of the door, ana
take Your place in the line there Win
the rest of the boys.
Count Vichy, dressed il the helght
OF fashion, with an imposing spread
of whiskers and loaded down with
decorations. foreign consul in ms
own tight, and proud Of it, was prop
erly indignant.
Drawing himself to mis- full height
of six feet two he said: But l am
Count Vichy Fizz, the Agrarlan con-
sui"
Count or no count" retorted the
Cerberus Of the mayors office, you re
no count if you haven't got vote IN
this country; pass back there, and
take your place at the end OF the
line"
With the political disadvantage OF
beins born in this country, | neverthe-
less began to dabble in politics short
ly after leaving the tWenty'frst
hurdle behind me in the race to oo-
livion. | say political disadvantage
advisedly, for Americans as a rule are
so preiudced against political life
that they do not enter it until some
sweeping reform is imperative, and
then they usually get worsted.
There is nothing in politics to inter-
est the average American business
man, unless he may happen to desire
to evade the strict Interpretation OF
an ordinance or have a franchise
damned through a city council.
The Jacksonian and Jeffersonlan
PRINCIPLES with which l started out
rapidly faded from sight in the hurly-
burly of practical" politics. Equal
bunk for all, and special privileges
for me-" is the real animus of the
average ward politician; bunk
meaning "hot air." fattery, soft solder,
etc. In looking back over my tenn
pestuous career as politician, l am
impelled to believe that the true mot
to of all parties is the frank and
.Jacksonian one, ito the victors be-
long the spoils" It is perhaps re-
grettable that such is the case, and
possibly l am wrong, but that is the
way it strikes me.
In drifting into the game l sa"
that one of the requisites for getting
along was the ability to be good
mixer" that is to say, to possess the
ability to meet and mingle freely with
all classes of white, black, green,
pink, yellow, any and all nationalltles'
no matter what their age, sex, race
or previous condition of servitude.
This, of course, applies to the begin
ing stage in politics. There comes a
time to the particularly successful Of
fee holder when he can freeze up
and look sideways at former asso'
ciates, but this obtains only when
he has put away" enough OF the
stuff" in government bonds 80 as not
10 care whether political school ueens
or not, and when he has been bitten
with a wild desire to break through
the crust Of society,"
AS a mixer" | made good" In the
parlance of the slangy. A long en-
perience in the way of the legal pro-
fession had made me fairly good
speaker, especially if I prepared my
self, and l always did that when pos
sible. This legal training, of course,
enabled me to take any side OF any
question, and show up the fallacies OF
the opposition. 1t also was help IN
gauging the average helplessness OF
most men as to telling the truth
against their OWE interest.
Lawyers also have a good deal to
bump up against in the way OF spe
cious argument from brother counsel
and the practice of the law is not cal
culated to make a man over-credu
lous. This helps some, in politics, as
the amount of ground and lofty
bunk" that is dealt out by the rank
and file of political workers Is some
thing sanguinary to the last de
gree.
Particularly is this the case If
man happens to be nominated FOL
some office. Then indeed are the
flood-gates of "bull-con," or highly
colored mendacity opened, and the
tales he hears, and the assertions
which are made would cause the
shade of Baron Munchausen to shet
envious tears, while Ananias would
simply have to pass"
1t was a source of constant and de
lightful amusement to me to hear thu
candidates of our party hand M
the bunk" when l first started out t
make speeches. AS Hans Breitmal
has it:
"Who takes your hand when yol
would shtart
lind told Won. YOU vas mighty smart