Arizona republican., 1911-10-02
A Good Explainer.

A
lovable characters of childhood, JOS
| eph Bristow, senator from Kansas. is
about the best 'splainer they is
Joseph's latest feat in explaining has
to do with the sidetracking of the
proposed constitutional amendment
providing for the election of senators
| by popular vote The explaining is
done in a long and rather cumber-
some article in the current issue of
the Saturday Evening Post
Joseph's article is really worth the
price of admission, especially to the
man who knows the facts. To adopt
the language Of President Taft, the
Kansas insurgent is "disingenuous. "
That. of course, puts it mildly; for
as a matter of fact his argument"
is a piece of special pleading that
would do credit to the prince of
ldemagogues.
BristOw tries to make it appear that
Senator Bacon defeated the amend
ment. 1t has been generally supposed
here in Arizona and generally through
out the country that Mr.. Bristow
himself is the man who accomplished
that job; and, in all candOr. it must
be said, aside from a few unsupported
assertions, there is not a single thing
in the Bristow article to give one a
different view. The bill providing
for the amendment had passed the
house and was certain to pass the
senate. At the last moment Bristow
tackled on an amendment providing
that the control OF the elections of
senators should be under the super
vision of the federal authority. The
bill, with that amendment tackled to
ii, died in conference. as everybody
knew il would.
1t is his connection with that bit
Of parliamentary legerdemain that the
distinguished Mr.. Bristow seeks to
explain but it strikes The Republican
that he will have to be a good deal
better 'splainer than he is before
he can force his absurd claims down
the throats of the American public.
Now. see the absurdity of it. Bris-
tow makes the specious plea that his
bill could have passed If Bacon had
stayed out of the way. Maybe it
could and maybe it could not. At all
events Bristow must know, what every
body else knows. that if it had passed
congress a dozen times it never would
have been ratified by the requisite
Bacon demanded that the election
OF the senators be subject to state
control Bristow knew there is not
"a southern state that would accept
the amendment on any other terms.
He knew there are several northern
democratic states which occupy the
same position, And he knew further
more that there are several republic
can states which care little about the
matter one way or the other.
Knowing, then. that even il his bill
should go to the states it would be
rejected. why did he force it upon
Congress?
For just one reason-he wanted the
bill defeated
Mr.. Bristow Is a good 'splalner-
a mighty good 'splainer-but he will
have a reasonably hard job OF it
squaring himself on that direct cleo
ton proposition.
Some of us remember the statehood
bill. We remember that Mr.. Clapp
and Mr.. Cummins and Mr.. Pomerene
and a few others, after talking until
they were black in the face about the
wrongs that had been heaped upon
Arizona, when it came to the test,
deliberately voted to keep us out of
the union.
II seems to be a sort of habit with
insurgency. 1t is long on talk but
mighty short on performance.
Likewise. it's death on explanations.
Ask Bristow. Clapp. Cummins, and
La Toilette.