Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1912-06-07

the top Of the columns look as though
they had gone permanently into mourn
ing, our steamed contemporary de.
clares that Devils Lake is going
straight to the deminition bow-wows,
with every sail set and the Devil push
ing behind. Declares also that there
is gang in the saddle here and that
they have the people bound and gag
ged and tied to a stake, and-here is
the crux of the whole matter-unless
the said gang of strong-arm men and
political hold-ups are turned out, hon
est men might just as well leave the
city. All this is not said in the mead
letter, nor yet in the very harmless
and tame article which follows the
glazing caption; yet it has been said
or intimated not once but many times
by the Journal, presumably as means
of advertising the city which supports
the journal.
Despite the fact that Devils Lake
is one Of the best governed cities in
the northwest; despite the fact that
the officials of the present administra-
tion are all old residents and solid
citizens and among the best people of
the state, and despite the fact that they
hold their Offices by virtue Of the will
Of the majority Of our citizens, the
Journal processes to see nothing but
rottenness and corruption in the pres
ent city administration. Carried to its
last analysis this would mean that the
majority Of the people Of the city are
dishonest and corrupt, that they are
lost to all sense Of civil honor and JUS
tice; that they. are bowling blindly
down and allowing the administration
to ride over them rough shod, regard
less of whether or not the officials
they elected are right or wrong.
The particular thing which evoked
the latest outburst of wrath on the
part of the Journal was the postpone.
ment Of action On petition signed by
80 voters asking for the submission at
special election Of the question of
whether or not the city should have
commission form Of government. The
petition was referredst q committee,
the vote on the question being seven
to four. Followed to its natural con.
clusion the four who voted against
referring it to committee, must be
the only honest men on the council. The
other seven must be shunted off with
the goats. The wonder is how they
ever secured their election. Or, on the
other hand, if the town is SO rotten
as to knowingly elect men Of that kind
tc office, we marvel that these four
which the Journal classes as honest
and progressive, ever managed to get
in. Nothing wrong with this line of
reasoning, is therci It arrives at just
tha conclusion nointed ont nv tho .Io,,r.
NAILS suggestions and inuneendoes. And
yet the whole line Of reasoning is
false and illogical, and is not believed
by the 80 men who signed the p:tition
for the special election, nor yet BY the
four men who voted for immediate az.
tion on the petition, no, not even by
the Journal itself, high priest of re-
form though it be. Here is tbs meat
in the cocoanut, friends. All the lam.
hastings which the Journal has been
giving the city and county officials is
simply the wall of the "outs" trying
to get "in," Of the empty political
stomach, which. having experienced
seven lean years, is in panic lest it
have another hungry period to 60 thru,
even longer. The patriots are not all
in the democratic party, else the great
rebellion would have been successful.
Once in while an honest and patri-
otto man gets elected to office, right
here in Devils Lake, and the earmark
of an honest and patriotic man Is not
necessarily the friendship and support
of the Devils Lake Journal. Not by
what the Frenchman called ga large
majoritee."