Arizona republican., 1911-03-03
The Lorimcr Incident.


 The defeat of the senate resolution for the unseatins of United States Senator Lorimer will be regarded throughout the country as a stigma on the senate. The manifestati ms in the galleries during sessions de- voted 10 debates on the Lorimer case were d gauge of the public senti- ment
 The public of course, was not so well informed as to the intricacies of the conspiracy at Springfield re- sulting in the election of Senator Lorimer. but the public knew that this much was admitted; that there was bribery and corruption at Spring field and that Senator Lorimer be- came the beneficiary of such bribery and corruption; that he was not the choice of the larger section of his own, party, and that his election was made possible by a considerable sec ton of democratic members upon whom he had no claim, partisan or personal, and many of whom he said he did not know.
 His accusers in the senate were divided into two groups. There were those who believed he had a guilty knowledge of the crime at Spring field. and. in fact, melted 1t. Others, admitting the crime, believed it was melted by persons who believed that Mr.. Lorimer would be d useful ser want, and carried it on without his knowledge.
 The aggregate of these camps in the beginning seemed much larger than the number of MT. Lorime"'s supporters, some of whom were moved by a personal liking for him. and some who believed that evidence of his guilt was not complete, and that while there had been bribing at Springfield. there would have been enough votes to elect him without the known corrupted votes
 It is impossible to say what might have been the result if the vote on the Beveridge resolution had been taken before MT Lorimer spoke in defense of himself, ingeniously ignOr- ing the charges of which, as an inno- cent man. he could know nothing. but devoting himself to his personal record, in which he unostentatiously brought out the fact that he had been a poor. struggling newsboy.
 But after that speech his victory was assured and his friends began their clamor for a roll call.
 The powerful succeeding speech of MT Beveridge could not dispel the cloud of sympathy which had col lected about the case, though he ap- pealed as follows for purity of gov ernmcnt:
 our government and our institu- tions are the things which really are at issue here We forget in time or peace. that a good many scores of thousands of lives have been yielded in order to give us the opportunity to vote. to have a government, to have a senate. and to have a flag. And shall that be treated lightly? Shall we dispose of it upon sympathy, or shall we guard elections in this coun- try. and especially in this body, as the palladium of American liberty?"
 The support of Lorimer. including eleven democratic senators. could not he shaken
 The principle was forgotten which had been so clearly and forcibly pre- sented by Senator Root when he said:
 If we would preserve the govern ment of our fathers. if we would pre- serve the honor and integrity of the senate. if we would do our full duty to our country under our Oaths, we are not at liberty to reject the testi- mony in this case which shows this seat to be filled here as the result of corruption.
 Hard as it is. but as we have had fathers who have made sacrifices for our land. as we have children to whom we hope to hand down gov ernment of peace, and justice, and liberty, it rests with the senate of the United States to do its duty now. hard and unpleasant as it may he, to purge itself of the results of this foul conspiracy against the integrity and purity of our government"
 The records of the senate show that MT. Lorimer was innocent of the. charges against him. such charges, as we believe. no other senator had ever dared to face.
 He may have been innocent But