The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1910-08-17
FIGHT FOR PO|NDEXTER
IS FIGHT AGAINST GRAFT

Miles POlndeXter to the United states
senate is unique in this: 1t is fight
against the whole system OF misrep-
resentative machine politics, of hired
poliuclans and of crooked political
leaders who take their orders from
crooked business.
The crooked business interests
know this and they are all lending
their support to other candidates. The
crooked political leaders who take
| their orders from crooked business
interests know this and they are all
on the other side. The politicians
who manage machine political cam
| paigns, who take program from
the men higher UP, who "harmonize"
and display party loyalty" by carry
| ing out the plans outlined by party
leaders and party bosses for selfish
purposes, the machine politicians
large and small in every portion of
the state know that this is a cam
paign against machine politics. and
they are all giving allegiance to Burke
or Wilson or Ashton depending on
whether the particular bosses from
whom they get their orders or from
whom they take their program are
for Burke or Wilson or Ashton.
There have been other campaigns
| in Washington against political cor
ruption, but they have all heeu
waged with the assistance of certain
! political corruptionists. There have
been other campaigns for the over
throw of political machines, but they
were, for the most part campaigns
for the upbuilding of other political
machines. There have been other
campaigns against the bosses who
take their program from certain bust
ness sources, but they were waged
by leaders, by prospective bosses If
you please, who, had they been sue
cessful, would have taken their or
ders or their program from other
business sources. This is a campaign
to cut the politics OF Washington loose
from political bossism and from the
domination of business interests which
derive financial profits from corrupt
ing politics and making government
misrepresentation.
These statements are sweeping, but
they may be proven by any fair
minded citizen of Washington by
study of the facts coming within his
own personal knowledge and obser-
walton. Let the citizen who desires to
prove them look about him for the
men of his acquaintance whom he
knows or suspects of having con-
tributed to the misrepresentation
character Of his local, city, county or
state government. He will find that,
without exception those men are sup
porting one or the other of the re-
dictionary senatorial candidates. They
may not be doing it in the open. but
nevertheless they are doing it. There
are no broken down political hacks in
the PoindeXter campaign, either as
managers or otherwise; there are no
men of the character WHO carry a can
didate's promise of political immunity
to corporation office ar return with
a corporation contribution to a politt-
cal slush fund.
Ten years Give employment as a
political reporter has given me some
inside information on the politics and
politicians of Washington, and ] think
l can speak with some intimate knoWl-
edge Ten years ago I participated in
the campaign for the reelection of
the late Governor John r. Rogers,
and, although that was a reform"
campaign the managers in charge of
it traded their candidate off for rail-
road support while it was in progress
I have always held to the conviction
that it was his discovery that he had
been thus betrayed that broke Gov
ernor Rogers health and brought him
to an untimely death.
took part in the campaign in 1902
and 1903 for the election Of Harold
Preston of Seattle to the United
States senate, and for the abolition Of
the practice in this state of putting
the senatorship up at auction and
selling it to the highest bidder. But
in that campaign we were compelled
to depend, in our hope for Preston's
election, upon the loyalty and poLti-
cal honor of as piratical a crew of
highbinders as ever scuttled a polti-
cal ship to promote their private for
tunes. AS might have been expected
Harold Preston was defeated
In 1904 I took an active part in the
campaign against railroad domina-
ton of state politics and for the nom
ination of Henry Mcbride for gov
ernor, but Henry Mcbride was only
skilful political opportunist who had
seized upon a popular passion, and
his campaign consisted as much Of
back room secret caucuses as of Wig
orOua stump speeches denouncing the
back room methods of his opponents.
Following what was at that time prac-
tically a forlorn hope of deliverance
from big business domination Of
Washington politics I enlisted as
supporter Of Mcbride in the guber-
Material campaign in 1908, only to
discover that Mcbride was trading
upon the support Of the corrupting
brewery and saloon interests.
These are the high lights Of the
last decade of Washington politics.
In each of these campaigns were were
making a fight for decency with the
assista nee of many men who were not
decent, fight for political honesty
with the assistance Of many men who
were not honest.
In those campaigns l recognized
many OF those influences at the time
and was compelled to apologize for
them and to endure them after the
policy pursued by the late Governor
John H. McGraw, who once told me
that he learned early in life that he
could never win political victorie. by
| fighting all the rascals. that he was
always willing to enlist the services Of
| half of them in his effort TO whip the
ether half.
But in this Pondexter campaign
there are no political rascals to apollo
gize for. The politicians who were on
our side then, and for whose support
we had to apologize to our more
reputable supporters, like those 9TH
err dsreputable political bosses, lead
ers, henchmen, heelers, hangerson and
| puSpidOriaDs who belDed in Dolitics