Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-10-27

Iconvention, have accepted the result and subsided. Defeated at the con- |vention? No; and here comes the rub. They were defeated nearly two years ago, not by the people, but by the machine who selected George L.. |Lilley and gave him promissory note for four. hundred votes payable at the convention, and started imme- diately to secure them-and did 1t with two to spare.
 The Connecticut republican ma chine" is one of, if not the most pow erful political combinations in the country, not excepting the notorious Tammany hall organization of New York. I do not admit that it's sources of revenue are the same, but for power to compel obedience to its or ders 1t can give points to the New York organization, and is headed by a boss as arbitrary and unyielding as ever led the New York voters. The one man with few liertenants dominates Connecticut to-day. The machine, by reason of methods and ways that have long existed in towns of nominating delegates to the various conventions, the method of controlling the town dele gations, the controlling of the states business by commissioners. The sheriff's power with a deputy in every town, all aid in making a despotic power almost impossible to conceive of as existing in a modern govern ment. It is this machine which by reason of snapshot caucuses and other acts of political sleight-of-hand has nominated MT Lilley, and the people could not help themselves. It is this machine that is saying come to the polls on the 3rd of November and carry out our mandate; there are the orders, and these are the facts. There are two courses open to the voter, obey orders, or revolt. It is "up'' to the individual voter to decide for himself which he will do. That there will be an extensive re volt must be evident to every person however remote he may be from po- litical bulletin boards, and reads something beyond his local machine governed paper.
 It is we'll to consider the moral effect the election of Mir Lilley will have on the party. His campaign will lose many votes; his election will tend to still further estrange them. and ultimately they are lost. From this point of view it was poor politics to nominate him. A party should al ways select aNwinner, not loser of votes. To young men just entering politics it will say that if they have an ambition for public life it can only be achieved through base meth ods and corrupt actions; that honor, truthfulness, patriotism and courage count for nothing; that power leads to further power and the only way to obtain 1t is to sacrifice all moral prin- ciple and give heed alone to dark and subtle ways Demoralized poli- tics opens the door for greed and graft; it brings to the front class of men that good society will not re- ceive, having no use for them. Con- sequently respectable men shun 1t, the party goes from bad to worse, till the wreck comes.
 A very few years ago an exceed ingly prominent politician and mem Der of the machine said to me as he shrugged his shoulders. rolled his cigar in his lips and elevated 1t to an angle near the perpendicular. God. Bowen. your political Ideals are al- together too high for Connecticut; they won't work hersL" PosEbly he