The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1912-02-02
!. IMAM WITHOUT A PARTY
cemmuaIoatIen From I Ceurani Reader
on Political Parties and Problems

Within reasonable bounds it
is the function of a real news
paper to give space to the ex-
preston of various views on
many subjects. The Courant
|! is glad to serve in that capa-
Ecity. In fact we have invited
COMMUNICATIONS. In response
to the invitation we received
the following letter, which is
self-explanatory as well as in
teresting:
John Haskett,
,Bottineau, N. ID.
Friend John: I noticed the
other day that you want cores
pondents for county news. l
am not seeking to be special
correspondent" to anything
just now, but if [ strike any
thing alive, 50 live that l can t
let go of it, | will send it in.
/ Some times I have thoughts
that bore into me until l am
tired. and as at present l am a
man without party, l might
touch up the political wire a
little from the standpoint of the
man that is not in accord with
his own party. l am so far
away from the shouters in the
Republican column that hard
ly feel it worth my while run
ming after them, and perhaps
if they are let alone after they
have had their run out they
will come back to the old
stamping ground once more.
L hardly know whether l
should by classed as a radical
conservative" or a conserva-
tive radical" I cannot go the
limit of reform" that the In
surgent is crying for, and l am
much averse to the 'stagnation
of Nstalwartism," for l do be-
Ilieve there is such thing as
progress in politics along very
moderate lines and without
trying to be a participant in
and catch the step of every new
ghost dance that comes
along. l feel that it is very
much better to make haste
slowly and hold the ground
that is gained, than have to be
always stepping back to get a
new start and a better grip of
things.
I wish you we'll in your ef-
fort to gather your Democratic
friends out of the Republican
column and get them back to
your side of the house, there
has been 80 many of them
mixed up with the Republican
rank and file in the last five
years that locally one party
looks almost the same as the
other, if it was not for the big
scare letter heads at the top of
the ballot | would have hard
time to tell what ticket / was
voting.
We have a lot of new legis-
lation" this year, laws to pro
tect the Purity of Elections
1t sounds about as good to me
as a law 10 Protect the Purity
of Hell's Half Acre. would.
l wonder if the men that frame
the laws do not understand that
THE REASON THAT THEY
ARE LEGISLATORS is be.
cause ELECTIONS WERE
IMPURE, and wonder mi hti.
ly if they think the average
man is not wise enough to
KNOW THAT FACT. | won
der if they do not know that,
give inducement enough and
there is no law that was ever
framed by any Legislature that
would not be fractured in divers
places. l am on the outside
now and just watching with
amusement a n d wondering
what kind of antics they will
play with the Purity Laws
they have on hand. IF the
fight is warm enough there
will pieces of that PURITY
LAW" scattered all the way
from Pembina to Bismarck
and the SUPREME COURT
will take whirl at it, and ther
I when the legislature meets
again they will get a bottle Q
4 Political Taffy and try ant
patch the pieces together am
bring it out on dress parade 70
re-inspection as the only thin,
that can possibly save tn