Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-06-08
Senator LaFoHetts and the Stand
patterS.


1t has been many years since the
United States Senate received such a
stirring up as was given it the past
week by the Senior Senator from Wis
consin-Rob't n. La Toilette Aldrich
and his standpatters,-on account
of the very able and fearless way in
which La Toilette has shown up their
scheme to rob the people by revising
the tariff upwards instead of down
wards,-now stand discredited before
the American people. What a lam
basting La Toilette gave them. For
a couple of days, during La Follette's
speech, Aldrich and his crowd sneaked
away and kept out of the senate, for no
other reason than that they were too
cowardly to meet the senator from
Wisconsin. Many, after listening to
the charges Of the speaker, backed up
with indisputable evidence, came over
and are now fighting with him.
After three days of constant talking,
hurting words th&C Dulned deep into
the very souls of Aldrich and his fol-
lowers, the senator became exhausted,
on account of the excessive heat, but
the tyrants who are trying to force
tariff measure upon the country
which is worse than robbery, made
up their minds to do him up COM
pletely and so forced night session
at which La Toilette was to speak.
He failed to appear and Aldrich, Pen
rose and others took occasion, in his
absence to vilify him; to lie about
him; to say things that not one of
them had the courage to say to his
face. The average American loves
fair play, and Beveridge, Dolliver and
others took up the fight for La Fol
lette Aldrich had gone too far; he
realized it; he saw that unless he
changed his tactics, La Toilette might
almost single handed, compel him
and his cohorts to haul down their
high tariff banner and instead raise
the one which the entire country is
demanding-a revision of the tariff
downward. On Friday the senator
again warped it to the standpatters
He reviewed his long fight in Wiscon-
sin and told of the many personal at
tacks on him, but, he said, he never
allowed the main question before the
people to be obscured, which was
whether The government of the peo-
pie, by the people and for the people"
should continue.
at is one OF the least of concerns of
my life what effect the votes cast at
any election may have upon my per-
sonal future" said Mr.. La Toilette
II never have taken the easier way in
my life. / could have done SO"
The senator said that he had good
law practice and might have laid by
a comfortable fortune, but that his
conscience had been stirred by great
issue.
at took me out OF my practice and
carved out of my life, the very best
part of it, fifteen years." he declared
The senator apologized to the
senate for referring to his personal
part i'm the work accomplished in his
state. He said the statutes enacted
there for the regulation of corpora
tions and the protection of the PEG
pie had brought men from every part
Of iCtc -
from the great universities, "to the
little capital city of Wisconsin," to
study the results accomplished.
81 was attacked personally and as
sailed and lied about, but my answer
always was that the corporations must
pay their share of taxes" Mr.. LaFol-
lette said. "The storm beat upon me
but when assailed | turned neither to
the right or left"
Answering the charges made by Sen
ator Penrose Thursday night that he
had feigned illness to excuse his alb
Sence from the senate and then aSSo-
ciated with representatives of ''yellow
journals and uplift magazines" Mr..
LaFollette said:
1.-THE senator from Pennsylvania
could render a more important service
to the state of Pennsylvania and to
the country if he would account for
the manner in which he spends his
own time outside the senate instead
of trying to account for other sena-
tors. No man could give an account
here of the way in which the senator
from Pennsylvania spends his time
outside of this body without trans
crossing the rules of the senate"
Senator Penrose interrupted to read
from LaFollette's magazine criticism