Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-05-05
Right for Right 5 Sake.

Pie purchase of elections prob
ably reached. its zenith in the.
two Hanna-conducted campaigns
against.Rryan and the CortelyQu,
Bliss chaperOned Roosevelt cam
psigA against Alton B. Parker.
In these three Presidential con-
tests the Republican Owara chest
was. filled to an overlooking top
with immense corporation cOntri-
buttons, and, while the exposures
which have followed the Harri-
man letters has somewhat abated'
1.-THE evil, i is by no means elm
iin3ted, but if the Senate shall ac-
.cept the House action the future
rcleanlineSs Of elections is fairly
certain.
More and more clearly, events
read to men and parties the pO-
litical value of doing right sim
ply BECAUSE it is right. Fair
ness and justice are political as
sets. Far be it from us to say
this Is an essential reason, or
even an important reason, for be-
ing fair and just. But it is a.
fact. It's practical merit is its
compelling power of aligning on
ate side of prObity that large
class of persons, who, while
they would scOrn outright dis
honesty, yet are 0swayed more or
less by considerations Of what
seems to be 3Opportunea or polite.
@'HOnesty is the best policy" is
not a high moral maxim, yet it
has prevented many a man from
stealing. 1t can do and is doing
more than that. In these days
of nice and DELEGATE adjustments
OF ethical and civic questions, it
rs. welding a favorable influ-
ence On the man who wouldn't
steal, but who might make a COM
promise with his conscience.
a striking einstance of the ben
'eficial effect Of doing right, sim
ply because it is right, has been
furnished sby othe Democratic
HOuSe caucus in making. the bill
to place Ono The free list about
100 articles, mostly of particular
utility to- farmers. a party mea-
sure. Partisan Republican papers
eagerly on the alert OF catch the
Democrats tripping in tactics, pro
claimed as soon as this bill was
introduced, that the Democrats
had: made a blunder. These same
organs said. that the Farmers
free hist" would interfere with
the reciprocity program. B II t
hardly had the free list bill been
"a hours before the country than
most of these newspapers chang!
ed their tone. Those of them
which are foes Of reciprocity
ceased to hold up the good turn
done for the agricultural inter
eStS' Of the country as a tactical
error. The standpat papers fell
back on their old position of
hostility to tariff reduction on
general principles. The Demo-
cratic action had torn away the
cloak of hypocrisy with which
The BOrEbOn newspapers h a d
covered themselves. AS for the
Republican PAPERS which are
friends Of reciprocity, they quick |
ly saw that the farmers free
list had not hurt the cause of
reciprocity in the least. but had,
on the contrary, helped it. They |
began to admit that fact either
by favorable tone of comment, |
or by a tacit abandonment of |
their former assertion that the |
DemOcratss had made a strategic |
error. All this the Democrat.
&c caucus accomplished simply
by going ahead and placing a
hundred articles on the free list
because it was right to do so. 1t
was an action which required
not a little courage. But it was
sound Democracy, sound civics
and sound morals. The outcome
proved it to be good politics as
well. That is always the case