The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1910-12-08
EDITORIAL NARRowNESS.

degree, and passing criticism as wide
ly variant as the minds of men. 1t i
the legitimate field and province G
newspapers to faithfully report tn
merits of every entertainment from
vaudeville to grand opera, and to then
the public look for a fair, intelligen
and discriminating report. And it iii
TO be regretted that in performing thil
public function many of the profession
fred heated political broadside in
stead of calm dispassionate state
ment of the facts of the case. In Othel
words, they jumped at the opportunity
of weaving into the affair partisanism,
denying thereby to every man the
rights guaranteed to him by the con.
stitution and laws of our country, the
right as a private citizen to pursue the
even tenor OF his way.
- One distinguished editor even went
so far as to say that when the governor
in lecture presented an array of facts
and arguments against the wisdom of
this or that law, or this or that issue
or policy in force in the state, that he
then and there virtually violated his
oath of office to support the constitu-
ton end enforce the law. Of course
anything is fair when it is only a mat
ter of attacking Patterson, but is there
no limit when the proposition involved
is of general application and calls in
question one of the fundamental rights
of free government. If proposition
is right, it can suffer no wrong by
open, fair and public discussion. If it
is wrong, no amount of false reverence
or hypocritical suggestions of sacred
ness can make it right. If it were
violative of the oath of office to ques-
ton any existing law by the official
whose duty it is to enforce the law,
then by parity of reasoning it would
be reasonable Tor mere candidate for
Office TO do the same Grover Cleve-
land while he was president fought
savagely to alter in a most fHndamen-
tai degree the tariff law as it stood
on the books, but as he did so he en-
forced it with scrupulous good faith.
And now, after the heat Of partisan
politics has subsidized and the better
judgments of men have prevailed, who
will say that the sage of Buzzards Bay
was either traitor or violated his
oath of office. He had critics then
and traducers, but he ranges above the |
multitude while they are forgotten. |
Mckinley as a candidate for the preSi- |
dency attacked many laws upon the
statute books with an unSparing |
hand, and Immediately upon his &C.
cesslon TO the presidency of the United
States he called an extra session OF
congress to repeal, alter and change.
But who charges that he was traitor
or violated his oath of office because he
dared to oppose the existing order of
things, Mr.. Bryan has three times
fought for supremacy upon the ground
that there needed to be wholesale
overturning of issues and policies, and
yet If this logic of littleness now hurl-
Ell Mt Governor Patterson be applied to
The Great Commoner, he sinks at once
Ia a truat disturber and undesirable
citizen, n dangerous man at large.
This whole proposition stands as
challenge at the door OF personal liber-
~ and the right Of free speech, men,
ace TO progress, and an end to all re-
form. Every law upon the books is
the result of an invasions to some ex-
tent of previously existing laws, Gus
toms and habits. Change is the order
Of nature and the law of progress, but
under this criticism no further change
is possible, But the whole thing is an
absurdity. The criticism was narrow,
little and born Of bigotry. Governor
Patterson may or may not be right,
but he has right to his opinions and
10 their free and untrammeled express
sion. As an official be does not forfeit
his rights of citizenship. When he
finds a law on the books he should en-
force ii as he finds 1t as long rs it re-
mains the law, but he has the right to
seek its repeal either before the legisla-
ture or the bar of public sentiment il
he believes it to be wrong. If this
were not true, when one party comes
into power on the faith of having adj
vocated change, they would be pow
erless to effect il because it becomes