The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-08-12
ON TO WASHINGTON
Continued from page l

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OF the different leaders. The true
merit or demerit of tariff or any
other financial legislation, can on
! l. be demonstrated by trial and the
level-headed citizen will refrain from
! undue criticism or excessive praise
of this measure until it is tried out.
WAS 1T A VICTORY?
The passage of this law has been
hailed as a great Republican victory.
If this is true, the G. o. P. only
needs one more political victory of
this character and it can utilize
hearse to lead it's triumphal process
sion.
| 1t was a party measure and yet, in
spite of party discipline and the trem-
endous influence of the president, and
no one not familiar with congression-
a matters can form any idea of the
tremendous power of presidential in
fluence-why there are a number of
representatives and senators that
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the capital city from Washington to
New London, if the president should
ask them so to dot was only car
ried by a majority of five votes, and
had the absent and impaired demo-
Gratis been present and voted against
the bill, it would have been defeated,
and an unmistakable odor of suspic-
ion always has and always will at
tach itself to measure that is pass
ed by reason of absenteeism.
THE INSURGENTS.
| During this entire extra session the
attention of the country has been
centered on that group Of Republi-
can senators and representatives who
have steadfastly arrayed themselves
against their party associates on a
majority of the schedules of this bill
and who have been termed ''insur-
gents
They have been and will continue
to be for some time to come at least,
continually in the limelight and they
have been lauded to the skies or most
unsparingly criticised according to
localities or interest.
There are three we'll defined classes
Of insurgents: Natural insurgents of
which Senator La Toilette of Wiscon-
sin, and Representatives I.indbergh,
of Minnesota and Murdoch are the
most pronounced type. A class of
men who will always insurge against
the majority, no matter what the
majority stand for, the one juryman
who always stands out for the right
against IL that are obstinate and
wrong.
This class of men are able, consci-
entious, visionary, conceited and
viewed from a political standpoint,
disagreeable In their own opinion,
they are always right, and unless the
views of others correspond and COIN
eide with theirs, the others are
wrong, and they alone are right;
and as it is very difficult to find
man whose views square on all fours
with the views of another, they are
ir perpetual minority.
They can pick flaws in the Sermon
on the Mount, and demonstrate them.
They can prevent the enactment of
much legislation, but they cannot Sc
cure the passage of any affirmative
measure. They are the plain
clothes" men of legislative bodies,
always looking for irregularities and
sinister motives, and always finding
them, real or imaginary. They are
present in every legislative body on
earth, and they are exceedingly valu-
able members.
| They are like ballast in balloon
impeding progress, but necessary for
a safe voyage. No one wants to see
them disappear from legislative bodies
but everyone prefers that some 9TH
er state or district than their own,
should furnish them, for as a rule,
men prefer an accomplished to a pre-
venter, and legislator must be able
t, command a majority, in order to
accomplish. A natural insurgent is
like a man who is continually firing
blank cartridges on duck pass. He
keeps others from securing game, but
he don't fill his own bag with ducks.
This class of men enjoy being in
surgents; they would not be any
thing else if they could, and they
could not be anything else if they
would.
Insurgents from principle, this class
embraces such men as Senators Nell
son, Bristow, Cummins, Representa-
tives Stevens, Volstead, Gronna and
many other senators and representa-
tives. These men are not natural in
surgents. They much prefer to be
regular. They are strict party men;
believers in party organization. and
marty discipline. and can only be in