Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-16
Rambling
Thoughts c e sas

Here are q few random observations
concerning the new Progressive party
and its candidate for president.
If were picking out roommate,
might prefer Mr.. Taft to the colonel
because. with Mr.. Taft, would have a
better chance Of putting up the cur
talns and arranging the pictures to
suit myself. In selecting a president
to go up to Washington, representing
my interests and coping with the
shaggy wolves Of practical politics.
prefer the colonel
'rne new party mas singing at all OF
its meetings. Possibly you can remem-
Der when the crowd sang at a Repub-
loan rally II tried to sing in the
Barnes choirs this year believe
would choke.
Up at Chicago in June they told us,
very plainly: I'VE are going to drive
him out Of the party" They got their
wish and yet they don't seem happy.
good many persons, especially
those who wear oversho es in the sum
mer time, object to the colonel because
he is scrappy and assertive. II the
colonel didn't happen to be just what
he is the sections who make business
of embalming reformers would have
aid him away 20 years ago.
They have been trying to get soyse-
thing on him ever since he bobbed ur
as police commissioner In New York
City. About all they have proved to
date Is that when he sets very mad he
is not polite.
The deluge which swept away the
Republican congress and undermined
the Republican senate and Uttered the
landscape with def1nct stand patters
gathered itself while the colonel was In
Africa. beyond the reach of the mail or
the telegraph. II he went back to
Africa tomorrow and remained for 10
years, the voters at home would con-
tinue to repudiate the politicians who
break their promises. Yet they say 1t
is a one man movement.
good many of the old regulars in
Washington used to believe that q
really honest man wore a white neck
tie and would give two tens for five
They hate the colonel with a seethins
hatred because he is a foxy politician,
whereas, in order to preserve the ira
ditions of the lobby, he should prove
his honesty by engaging Murray Crane
as a guide.
The coloners good ship was hardly
beyond Sandy Hook when little COM
pany of sure thing operatives might
ave been seen bearing down on the
White House. They shook hands with
the new superintendent and told him
they knew his brother and then. they
said they would show him how the
game really was played. A few mo-
ments later they We're putting cards up
their sleeves, holding them In the lap
and passing them under the table
One player leaned ponderously Oh his
elbows and tried to play fair with the
hand they had dealt him. His horri-
fled friends looked in at the window
and exclaimed: well. what do you
know about that? After we have been
warning him for three years to beware
of the whole outfit"
The Progressive party has had the
courage to declare. promptly and with
out faltering, for certain inevitable
changes in our scheme of government,
all founded on common sense and fair
play. You will seldom meet in the
north an old man ready to admit that
81 a 81 "a
the free silver hosts have strangely
vanished from the earth Twenty years
from now you will have difficulty in
spotting the man who raved against
the Progressive platform in 1912.
a good many people VINO admired Mr..
Wilson as a scholar and orator and
high toned gentleman sincerely believe
he will play hob If he ever succeeds In
giving us a tariff for revenue only.
1t is true that several persons who
formerly held office have enlisted as
members of the Progressive party. All
sorts of people try to attach them
selves to a winning cause. But the
movement is not dominated by pro-
fessional officesolders and, come to
think of it. we haven't in our ranks
nearly as many ex-holders of office as
the Republican machine organization
will have this time next year.
They say the colonel wants to be
king. Nonsense! Why should he want
to be king when his followers already
regard him as an ace.
II is better to be a half block ahead
of the parade than two miles in the
rear.
The Wall street conception of a per-
fettly good president is one who will
never make move for fear of upset
ting stack OF chips.
The members of the new party may
be traitors and ingrates but out here IN
the middle west they are so serene In
their infamy that some of them are still