Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-03-27
The Two Candidates for Mayor.

mayoralty election now pending in
Rock Island. One writer has been
good enough to say that lit does not
seem like an election without The
Argus in the thick of the fight
AS a matter of fact, the campaign
now almost on it's last legs is one
of the most remarkable in the his
tory of Rock Island so far as the may
oral phase of it is concerned. 1t is
doubtful, too. if, taking them as a
whole, the people have ever been sc
much lin the air" as to what they
propose to do. No lines of demarka-
ton have been drawn so far, no issues
defined and no declarations made on
questions of public policy The dem
ocrats with, as The Argus has here
tofore stated, 1000 votes in the city
have, let it be regretfully said, no
candidate in the field, and the party
is therefore split as between the two
existing candidates. This being the
case, what The Argus may say now
or hereafter during the remainder
of the campaign on the situation as
it pertains to the head of the ticket,
cannot be reasonably construed as
voicing party sentiments, or as hav-
ing partisan bearing on the election
of mayor What may be said, if to
the mind of The Argus exigencies
that may arise shall warrant further
discussion of the respective candi-
dates, will therefore be strictly the
views of The Argus. and not an ex-
preston for or in behalf of party.
The two candidates before the peo-
pie have in the past been success
fully opposed by The Argus for the
Office to which they are now striv-
ing, Mr.. Carse, the republican nom
inee on grounds mostly political and
Mr.. McCaskrin on the strength OF
his record as former mayor of Rock
Island. Mr.. Carse was placed be.
fore the people at the time of his
recent nomination as a strictly par
by the press of his party, which made
haste to pledge in big type, loyalty
to him the day following the pri
maries on the specific grounds tha
he had become the republican candi
date. So far every utterance tina
| has been made in his behalf person
ally by tie supposed mouthpieces o
| his party has been along the same
line. How far this course is to b,
persisted in remains to be seen. A
all events truth commands to sa.
that, whether with his consent or not
the republican nominee has beef
backed not only by some of the mos
abominable elements of his party
but by some of the oft repudiatet
fossils as well. all expecting of cours
opportunity to feed once more at tn,
public crib in the event of his sue
cess. 1t is due to Mr.. Carse to sa.
that he has maintained tina
his administration will not b.
disgraced. but he has confined him
self to the simple declaration that h
"has no friends to reward and no en-
emies to punish The Argus for it
own part has the highest persona
regard for Mr. Carse whom it es
teens as the best type of success
| full business man and of dignified
representative citizenship.
OF Mr.. McCaskrin on the othe
/ hand, to whose administration TIVE
years ago The Argus took severe ex
| ception, and to whose defeat, it il
known and publicly admitted, TIL,
| Argus contributed in nc small de
gree. it is fair to say that he has 81
far conducted his campaign on en-
tirely different lines from thos,
heretofore pursued by him. He ha
not hesitated to declare that if elect
ed mayor again his administration
will be nonpartisan, and that he will