Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-02-10

prefer II, my stupidity-had hidden
from me. ! had known all along that
Dominick was keeping away and driv-
Ing away my clients; but | had not
suspected his creatures on the bench.
To this day after all these years of
use, only with the greatest reluctance
and with a moral uneasiness which
would doubtless amuse most political
managers, do l send suggestions or
mtlmauons' to my men in judicial
oilice--and | always do it, and always
have done it, indirectly. And | feel
relieved and grateful when my judges
eager TO serve the party" anticipate
me by sending me a reassuring
hint.
l did not let Buck see into my
mind. NONSENSE" I pooh-poohed;
I've no cause to complain of lack of
business; but even if I had I'd not
blame Domiujck or any one else but
myself Then l gave him a straight
but good-humored look. Drop it,
Buck. said I. What did the old
man send you to me for? What does
he want.
He was too crafty to defend an
indefensibe position. 'I'l admit he
did send me-" said he. with a grin,
but | came on my own account, too.
Do you want to make it up with him?
You can get back under the plum
tree if you'll say the word"
l could see my mother, as | had
seen her two hours before at our poor
midday meal-an old, old woman, so
broken, so worm And all through
the misery this Dominick had brought
upon us Before | could control my
self to speak, Buck burst out a look
of alarm in his face: Don't say it,
Mr.. Sayler-~I know know told
him it'd be no use. Honest he
amt as bad as you think-he don't
know no better, and it's because he
liked and still likes you that he
wants you back" He leaned across
the desk toward me, in his earnest
ness-and | could not doubt his sin
cerity, "Sayler" he went on. take
my advice, get out of the state You
amt the sort that gives in, and no
more is he. You've got more nerve
than any other man | know. bar none,
but don't waste it on a fool fight
You know enough about politics to
know what YOU re up against
Thank YOU" said l, but I'll stay
on"
He gave over trying to persuade me.
81 hope said he, you've got card
up your sleeve that the old man don't
know about"
! made some vague reply, and he
soon Went away. | felt that / had con
iirmed his belief in my fearlessuess.
Yet II he could have looked into my
nina. how he would have laughed at
his credulity. Probably he would
have pited me, too, for it is one Of
the curious facts of human nature
that men are amazed and even dis
gusJcd whenever they see--in others
the weaknesses that are universal.
| doubt not, many who read these
memoirs viii be quite honestly Phari-
saical, thanking heaven that they are
not touched with any of my iniirmi.
ties
1t may have been coincident. though
I think not, that, a few days after FEES,
senden's call a reform movement
against Domnick appeared upon the
surface of Jackson county politics. |
thought at the time that it was the
first streak OF the dawn I had been
watching for-the awakening of the
sluggish moral sentiment of the rank
and file of the voters. ! know now
that it was merely the result of a
quarrel among the corporations that
employed Dominick He had been
giving the largest of them. Roe
bucks Universal Gas and Electric
company, called the Power trust.
more than its proportional share of
the privileges and spotls. The others
had protested in vain, and as a last
resort had ordered their lawyers to
organize a movement to purify"
Jackson county, Dominick's strong
hold.
| did not then know it, but | got
the nomination for county prosecutor
chiefly because none of the other law.
yers, not even those secretly directing
the reform campaign, was brave
enough publicly to provoke the Pow
err trust, l made a house to house.
farm to farm, man to man, canvass.
We had the secret ballot, and | was
elected The people rarely fail to re-
spond to that kind of appeal if they
are convinced that response cannot
possibly hurt and may help. their
pockets. And, by the way, those oc-
casional responses, significant Meth
er of morality nor of intelligence. lead
political theorists far astray AS if
honor or honesty could win other
than sporadic and more or less hypo-
critical homage-practical homage, /
mean-among a people whose perma-
nent ideal is wealth, no matter how
great or how used. That is another
way of saying that the chief charac-
teristic of Americans is that we are
ho