Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-03-22

1
dress.
| Rev. James MCGEE, pastor of the
First Baptist church, appeared In a
| "stem- winder' before the men of the
| CITY at the east court room Saturday
afternoon, when he occupied the plat
form as the speaker at the regular Y.
M. C. A. meeting forming part OF
the preliminary Billy" Sunday cam
paign.
Rev. Mr.. MCGEE spoke on "Misrepre-
sentatives" or Representatives Who
Do Not Represent" The address was
significant in connection with the local
political situation, altho no names
| were mentioned.
The east court room was filled with
| men, and the speaker was repeatedly
interrupted with applause. Before the
meeting an odor of gas was apparent,
and Mr.. MCGEE called Secretary VIII
sons attention to it, remarking that
there was escaping gas in the room.
and that his real opposition was the
gas company"
In his address Mr.. MCGEE said in
part as follows:
Every man here is a representative.
Some of you may represent more than
others, but each one represents some
interest or person. The man who repre-
sents the most has the greatest respon-
sibility but the man who represents the
least has a great responsibility. Nearly
every man here represents either
wife or mother or sister or son or
daughter. Are you a true representative
or a misrepresentation
Vote as Wives Would.
every man to whom the right to
vote on election day has been given has
his constituency When he votes he
either represents it or misrepresents 1t.
| The constituency that is composed OF
the wives and mothers and sisters and
daughters stands pretty generally for
decency and order and cleanliness II
| you don't, when you vote you misrep-
resent them. When / vote / remind
myself that am a husband and father
and citizen. That I am a professed
christian. And all that means try to
express in my ballot. / remind myself
that righteousness ought to triumph;
that NV vote will either help or him
| der it. I remind myself that 1t was as
sumed when the ballot was given TO me
and denied my wife, that my vote
would represent her convictions and
ideals as well as my own. The ballot
was not withheld from woman because
| it was thought that she did not know
enough to vote, but rather because 1T
was taken for granted that when man
has taken the vows of holy natrimony,
promising the woman of his choice that
he will love, honor and care for her
in sickness and in health and never for
sake her so long as they both shall live,
that he never would sink so low as by
his ballot to foster institutions such
as the saloon and the brothel to cause
her more mind agony and heartache
than all the other institutions of evil
combined When the ballot was given
to tine man and denied the woman it
vas on the assumption that the man
would be decent
Is Standard Of Morality.
"The misrepresentation is not new
thing under the sun. We have had
him as long as we have had Hmita-
lions of human knowledge. AS long
as there has been sin. AS long as man
has placed the claims of self above the
claims of the group. The man who
chafes under the charge that he does
not always truly represent his con-
srituency, claims for himself omniscl-
ence and infallibility No representa-
tive Of the people is expected to be
perfect. / have no quarrel with the
representative of the people who Is
clean and honest, tho he may vote con-
trary to my Judgment on every matter
affecting the public veal. But l do
object to the continuance in public of
flee, or the elevation to office, OF the
man who is perfectly willing to mis-
represent. There is a standard of NOR
atty to which every man in public life
is expected to subscribe. The preach
ers did not set up this standard. 1t
was set up by the men who framed the
ordinances under which we live and by
which we are supposed to be governed.
So when / speak of a representative
who misrepresents, I mean the official
who throws his oath of office in the
waste paper basket and treats the
laws which society has adopted for its
protection as orders to be enforced or
disregarded as his selfish interest may
dictate.
Unrepresentative Representatives.
"And so it has come to be that
whenever representative of the peo-
pie fails to represent them, many ask:
How big is the rake-off? l wonder
what he is getting out of it?' Perhaps
this is very unjust to the representa-
five. but it is certainly what the people
saw. And for this reason, if for no
other, the representative owes 1t to
himself not to misrepresent. When he
does he put club into the hands of his
constituency. / hold that it is natural
for the man in public life to desire the
approval of the people that he repre-
sents. Accordingly, when he mlsrep-
resents, people are apt to conclude that
he does so because he is unable to re-
sist the appeal to his baser motives
Representatives of the people do not
do evil that good M ay come, and the
people suspect the politician who pro-
fesses to be sleeping with the devil to
reform him.
Baths Good Things to Take.
Then there are those representatives
who misrepresent because they do not
possess true representative capacity.
It was j. S. Mill who said: 1T is better
to be a dissatisfied man than a salts
fed pig" What is satisfied pig?