Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-11-07
UNION GIVES
WAY TO STRAIN
Winds Up Campaign With Hys-
terical Attack Upon The
Argus as Newspaper.
ABAND0Ns MORAL GROUND
Stoops to Tactics That Have Long
Since Ceased to Be Tolerated by
Reputable Press.

been behaving itself very becoming
~ of late years, fell from its high
pinnacle OF grace and dignity in its
issue of yesterday morning and in
dulged In a wild and senseless TRADE
against The Argus, anent the pending
election.
The strain has been too great. In
its last ditch fight it has abandoned
the rules Of the game and has
stopped to tactics which can
find no proper place in modern jour
nalism. Time was when bitter per-
sonalities and reflections upon the in
tegrity of rival publications filled a
good share of the space of the aver
age newspapers columns. In those
days the editor was often more con-
cerned with tearing down than in
building. He stood ready to sink
the ship and go down with it for the
satisfaction it gave him to see his RI
walls perish with him.
Those days, fortunately, have
passed. Those who make newspa-
pers have found it Is possible to make
a clean, honorable fight for a princi-
pie or a candidate without the use of
personal abuse, either of the candidate
or the opposing paper. Such practices
as the Union has resorted to are as IN
common now among newspapers that
claim responsibility as the tom-tom
and stinkpot in modern warfare. The
charitable view would be to consider
this a mere exhibition of amateurish-
ness on the part of the Union.
/ nf 1arhf he
Union manifestly has with The Argus
is that the 1atter's attitude in the
campaign has been calculated to con-
tribute to the election of o. L. Bru-
ner as sheriff For that it &C
cuses The Argus, quite boldly, of in
dulging in intimation and innuendo
as regards Mr.. Bruner, whereas it is
implied that a more personal attack
would have produced better results.
In other words, it seems The Argus
has hammered along the wrong line,
70 please the most estimable opposition
sheet, for the Union says that this pa
per's policy has had a tendency to aid.
rather than to injure, politically, those
candidates whom it opposes
Nothing to Boast of at That.
The Union for it's own part has small
ground to boast of anything that 1t has
done in campaigns of recent years,
either district or local, and by It's own
admission will have small occasion to
crow even II In any particular instance
the tide of fortune should turn to-
ward a candidate # is obligated
to support Candidates whom
The Argus has supported have come |
out about as well, as a rule. before |
the people. as those upon whom the |
Union has lavished it's attention, and |
at this late moment 1t is surprising |
to see the Union putting up such a |
front, in view of the marked indif- |
ference that il has shown to the var |
ious candidates It now attacks The Ar
gus for opposing.
Briefly summed up, the whole
cause of the Unions spasm seems to
be 1t is much more peeved with The
Argus than it is concerned with the |
fate of Mr.. Bruner, whatever it may |
be.
It Is not necessary to remind |
the person of average intelli-
gence that the relative poll
cies or merits of the newspapers
of the county have nothing to do
with the present campaign. Few will |
be misled by the injection of any ir-
relevant controversy. The Argus
has been strictly impersonal in its
discussions OF the questions before
the voters. Neither has it dragged
the name of the Union in, however,
inviting may have been the openings /
for doing so.
AS to what 1t has said of Mr.. Bru-
ner, that gentleman knows now, and
no doubt he will be ready to admit
after the election is over, that he has
been treated with more consideration
than he has had right
to expect. This policy The Argus
does not propose to depart from now,
however basely and unjustly It is at
tackled as newspaper.
This instance Is about the only
one on record where a newspaper
has been blamed by another paper
for being impersonal in its attitude
toward an opposing candidate. The
Argus has not opposed Mr.. Bruner by
inference or by innuendo. 1t has
made no personal attack upon him
but has shown conclusively the alli-
ances and the elements that are sure
10 profit by his election. It has shown
The deplorable conditions in the sher-
IFS Office and the unfitness of the
of which Bruner is part
70 cope with notorious conditions. 1t
has said, further that IL the disrepu-
able elements that are dominating
his community have proven, as they
have, sufficiently strong to sway or
deceive, as the case may be, man
II the long experience of Sheriff Kit
ilsen In dealing with crime and law
essness, what will their harvest be I
With a man so easy going and happy
,o-lucky as everyone knows Os Bru- '
Ter to be. I
Consistent with Public Policy. T
Furthermore, The Argus attitude
Turing the campaign has been but a
of the policy 1t adopted 1
/