New Ulm review., 1913-11-05
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

4
the hero worship Of such men :.
! New York. Such idealization Of nasr
sosiIs sSs"t the . spirit u. q Revolution N suci 5
,, as Characterized the times in Francs
before the Revolution. Reedy says
Critics Of our politics may bt
amazed that : man like Bill Sulssr
Fousted from the govefhorship q
!, New York for venality proved to
, the hilt, can come back as popular
hero. He couldn't do it but for ex.
traordinary conditions in the social
and economic scheme. Mr.. Orrick
Johns, elsewhere in this issue, indi-
Gates the crcwd-psychology Of Sui
zer's extraordinary performance, Or
rather the performance of the people
in certain district Of New York.
In fact, Sulzer is hero much as was
Brennan on the Moor, who what
he'd taken from the rich, like Turpin
on Black Bess, he always divided with
the widow in distress" But Sulzer's
coming back is not more remarkable
than the rehabilitation of Lloyd
George and Sir Rufus Isaacs in Great
Britain. These men were caught
specializing in shares that would be,
and were, favorably affected by their
official action as members of the
Cabinet. They were caught in and
finally admitted fragrant tergivcrsa-
ton. When caught, they said they
were sorry. Yet Lloyd-G George re-
mains Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and his associate in the Marconi
deal, Sir Rufus Isaacs, has been made
Lord Chief Justice. A decade ago
this astounding thing could not have
happened Both men would have
been driven from politics in disgrace
for using their Office for personal
gain. Yet they are now among the
most popular men in Great Britain.
Lloyd George may have erred through
innocence in the Marconi transaction,
but how can that be said of Sir Ru-
fus Isaacs who did the deed while
he was Attorney -General-Sir Rufus
1saacs, a great, cunning, resourceful
lawyer? Imagine Lord Chief JUS !
tice deciding great causes of equity |
and all the time himself under the |
cloud of having stained his own hon.
or in transaction secretly conduct
ed, transaction concerning which,
if it had been unquestionably honor
able, there was no need that he
should have lied about it. Distinct
ly, Sir Rufus is not the irreproach-
able person he should be, even if he
possesses remarkable legal abilities,
which some people say he does not.
Why are Lloyd George and Sir
Rufus 1saacs and William Sulzer for
given by the people who would have
howled them into oblivion a few
years ago for much sIighter faux
pas. than now their acts may be de-
scribed by the charitable? Clearly
because the people are after bigger
game. The -the-street isn't
going to be run off the scent of big
ger crooks by diversion created by
some veniality or peccadiflo- The
crowd here will stand for the spot
led Sulzer and acclaim him for go {
ng after Murphy. Sulzer may have /,
oeen little thief, Murphy is big
me. And SuEzer wouldn't have been
disturbed in and for his crookedness
+ he had let Murphy use him for !,
bigger crookednesses. Sulzer is Z
zero because he is the victim Of ,
greater rascal than himself, a rascal !.
hat turned upon Sulzer because Sui
ser wanted to give the people con-
,rol of their own government. So 8
With Lloyd George and Sir Rufus ,
saacs. The Englishman in the street
'ays that they may have turned an
lonest-Or dishonest-penny by spec I
'ulating in shares which their con- .
action would enhance in
'altle, but what Of IT, Are. not
and Sir Rufus fighting .
he greater thieves-the men who b
ave stolen the land Of England from 3
he people and made the masses out
asts: IN the land of their fathers? /? !
The liberal statesmen are smeared[ ,
With. little of what we Should call p
raft but what Of that compared III
With the landlord graft of centuries
gainst which the Government is
making war? And men higher in the. .
Gale than the man-in-the street, saw + '
Q themselves that they understand: J y
he fault of Lloyd George and Sir /;
sufus Isaacs because they acted un- =,
Ter the pressure of a. craze for mon q
y and availed themselves of a chance p
Q profit, exactly as, the members Of r
he House of Lords have for centur- :
es ruled England in the interest Of =.
heir own pockets as members of the
andford class. SuIzer did in little Il
What Murphy did in the large. Lloyd \
ieorge and Sir Rufus Isaacs: did in Z
title what the members of the house
t Cecil, for instance, have been do q
ng since the sinister hunchback who
nmeshed Essex and that other who
vas the last Englishman to use the
ack and is known as the wisest,
'reatest and meanest of mankind.
This is bad sign of the state of
he public mind. It means something
+ what it meant in France when the y
rowd hailed the most contemplate -
reatufes as heroes and demigods =
olely because those vile wretches n
stensibly made war on the evils of E
hurch and state. Lloyd George, Sir F
sufus Isaacs and William Sulzer are =,
ortents of a deeper and more des- r
crate discomfort with conditions than 4
as hitherto been known. The peo- e
lie will not concern themselves with b