The Washington herald., 1908-09-05
POLITICAL COMMENT.

The Louisville Courier-Journal beliey-
ing that The Washington Herald may be
accepted as a more authoritative COM
mentstor upon National Capital affairs
than the peripatetic journalist who makes
foray in the fulhllment OF assigned
duties quotes with approval this papers
remarks on Undertaking in TIE cases Of
Senators Allison and Spooner. and con
tinues:
The star Of the muck-raker, no longer
in the ascendant. rose gloriously enough,
but in their hunger for sensations some
Of the magazines OF the dlme-dreadful
class deliberately distorted facts and
deliberately exploited malicious gossip as
a commercial venture, procuring as the
doers Of their dirty work writer's Of
more OF less ability who could be de-
pended upon 70 daub slime upon any
public man in sufficient quantities 70
meet the demands Of the business Of
nee. The sins q the publishers soon
found them out Interest IN muck-ralxe
articles has waned. although some Of
the dreadfuls have not completely awak-
ened to the fact
Many Of our public men are not saints
and few Of them are sages, but If ma
JCrity Of them were as black as they ap-
pear through the lens used by the pro-
fessi9nal mUck-raker Congress would be
much more Of a mercantile establishment
than il has ever been. while as mat
ter Of fact, its morals are improving"
Journalistic opinion. outside the parti-
san press, hnds no conclusive signif-
cance in the Vermont vote \ fair judg-
ment IS thus expressed by the New York
Mail.
We are not sure what to infer as to
the nation at large from the Vermont
verdict It shows absolutely no swing
to Bryanism. and the slight Democratic
gain is due to the fact that the ma
Jority vote slumped a little more than
the minority vote; but both slumped.
II In the nation at large the Republi-
cans lose 6 per cent as compared TO 1sGs
and the Democrats 3 per cent-this is
what happened in Vermont yesterday
the result would be merely 70 cut $4,000
votes from the gap Of two million and
a half votes that separated Roosevelt and
Parker There IS going to be no such
difference between the two parties Mr.
Bryan IS attempting a lineup Of the
normal Democratic vote, which is pretty
nearly equal 70 the Republican vote. and
has certainly made progress in doing it"
Of Republican rain5ow-chasing in the
South. the Charleston News and Courier
has this 70 say;
The South to-day IS not what the
South was in former times We have
made many departures from the straight
and narrow Tarh Of political virtue. but
even to-day taere be few who have fallen
by the wayside. or given themselves
over to the enemy When the story OF
these times is written il viii be found
that whatever the violence Of our speech
on occasion. and whatever our mfrac-
tons Of the law. We have still preserved
IN some degree the faith OF the fathers.
TAX about converting the South 70 the
Republican party, Not until the Repub-
lican party has changed its policies and
repudiated its past
The New York Tribune thinks the Inde-
4 pendence League vote IN Vermont Is
enough TO give Bryan concern. reasoning
in this wise
The Independence Party polled I25Z
votes for IT'S candidate for governor. beat
ing the Prohibitiorists and the Socialists
That was only per cent OF the total
vote But in a state as conservative 20
IricalIy as Vermont that total IS signid-
cant If It can do relatively as well n
States where the radical element in the
I Democratic party IS organized and nu-
meroUs. tts Independence Party VIII
make a DANA ging inroad into NJ Bryan s
strength. Il must be remembered that the
( Nebraska leader Is standing for election
| this year as & single-pa-ty candidate, not
as the nominee Of the Democrats, the
I PopuIists. and the Free Silver Republic
ans. as In lS9S OF the nominee OF the
/ Democrats. the Populists. the Free Silver
{ Republicans. and the AnJi-Iupe-ialists, as
( IN 1900 Now he has 70 fight for the radi-
cal votes. which were then freely offered
70 him. and the deserticn OF the Populists
{ and the Independence Party has involved
I the loss OF thousands OF the followers Of
I his earlier campaigns. To win Afr. Bryan
must set the country afire with enthusf-
asm- But the fire doesn't light"