The Washington herald., 1913-11-02
by JAMES b. MORROW.

planning, Boise fenroSe sat ooWn dt d 1
table in Philadelphia or Atlantic City and
gave orders to the willy and seasoned |
captains of his host. His words were
parsiInoniously few. Even his letters
would have caused him no regret had they |
gone astray and fallen into unfriendly |
hands.
81 am not" he remarked to me when |
] went to interview him, IAN auto
graphical or biographical man" |
But times have changed in Pennsyl- |
vania, as they have changed elsewhere |
in the United States. Senators in Con- !
gress are to be elected hereafter by the |
people Boise Penrose is not Bourbon. |
Other Senators of the passed regime, |
dreading the issue, have resigned They !
retreated while the highways were still |
unfretted by hostile bands.
OF the old Republican leaders in the
Senate only Jacob II. Gallinger of New /
Hampshire, and Boise Penrose remain.
Nor will Pcnrose ever. run away He |
accepts the new amendment to the Con-
stitution. Pennsylvania" he said TO |
me- 'rhas always believed in the rule OF /
the people-that is the reason Republi-
can majorities in our State have been SO |
large"
Furthermore, the bull moosers mur-
muir, Boise Penrose has begun to talk.
He may sit around the table with ms
captains as heretofore, but when not
thus engaged he is going out and shak-
ing hands with the electorate. LAkeWlse
he is making speeches at agricultural
fairs, family reunions, fraternity plcfhcs'
and labor conventions.
He is showing the Senate, too, that
oratory is not one of his lost arts, ana
that beneath the natural or studied COM
posure of years he thinks as violently
and explosively as do Bryan or Roose-
Welt He has said recently: in fash OF
lad him a I
strange light, that certain elocution-
ary Governor on the Pacific Coast. whom
he mentioned by name, SIS low-bred,
blatant demagogue and an offensive
boss"
4 silent Man of Mystery.
To the public, which includes all news
naper readers, Boise Penrose can be
ikened to an unmapped continent ex-
cept for his mountains and forests,
which anyone can see from Instance
Little has ever been printed about his
personality. Rare, indeed, is the anec-
dote TO which his name is attached
Men who know him intimately say that
he is difident |,
Newspaper writer's do not get a whack
on their backs when they enter his pres
ence. He may understand in vague
way that publicity is not injurious to
politician, but he would feel that he had
Violated his own notion of the proprieties
were he to give an interviewer anything
more than the skeleton of the dry facts
II is possible too, that he is wanting in
lima gination. II
The picture that the world has of him.
therefore, is both insufficient and inac-
curate in some respects. \ man OF mYs-
tory some persons may call him Col |
Roosevelt roars him into disfaNor by
nrocIaimiug him 4 boss. The average
American believes. perhaps, that Boise
Penrose is british politician ana that
he would rather cOnnive at the rape OF d
balIot-box than to carry precinct nom
oTably.
II will he amazing news to many when
they are told that Boise PenTose began
life as a political refOrmer. He helpea
TO writ. a book about the government OF
Philadelphia. and was freely quoted 0!
James Bryce in his great work on me
American Commonwealth" and quoted
not as a practical politician but as an
essayist and historian who believed that
cities should be ruled by scrupulously
honest men !,
There came n time, however, when
Boise Penrose grew cynical about re-
formers His friends say that he has
had unusual opportunities to study re-
form and its works as practlced III the
haunts of the reformatory movement.
He has seen indignant men arise, these
friends declare in the name OF a De-
traved people only TO run for noml-
nation themselves at the first purchas-
able opening In his view, the leaders oil
the bull moose party are insincere ana
selfish. When those who are most odl- u
Gus to him take the floor of the Senate
he gathers I'D his papers and escapes TO
his private office
SnSs He Is Not Boss.
You understand" said to him, that
YOU are described almost everywhere as
a political boss?' +
I have not been n boss consciously"
he replied in an even tone Of voice. But
my observation, l noted, brought deep
er crimson hue into his face, reddened
though it was by the wind and sun rays
of the Atlantic /;
"I have never aspired to be boSs,
he continued THE word boss Is not
pleasant. Our enemies are bosses; our
friends are leaders. No man can be
boss among the Republicans Of Penn
sylvania unless the members of the par
" desire him to hold that position. -
I'VE have come nearer to popular rule in
Pennsylvania than have the voters OF
any other State. There is much discus
sion nowadays about nominating candi-
dates for Office at primaries instead Oh
at conventions Nominations thus made
are advertised as a progressive discov-
ery Let me inform you that the Re-
ptIblicans in more than half the coun-
ties of my State have been nominating
candidates for office in that way for
sixty years.
s41urN method of making nominations,
commonly called the Crawford County
plan, was adopted by cities and COM
fnunities elsewhere. Cleveland, in Ohio,
followed It for a long time 1 attribute
the large Republican majorities in
Pennsylvania mainly TO the fact that
the Republican voters themselves and
not their so-called leaders have nomi-
mated their own tickets.
Amy man among us has had the privi-
-ieze of running for Office, of testing his
popularity and character among those
who knew his life. Mr.. Quay, who was
also represented as a boss, went before
the people three times, once as a candi-
date for State treasurer, once as can
didate for Senator. and once as candi-
date for delegate to a Republican Ma
tional Convention. He carried the pri-
maries on each occasion. Mr.. Quay was
not afraid Of the people. Nor did any
of his enemies ever say that he was a
demagogue."
Says Quay Despised HyPocrites.
How" I asked, did he retain his
leadership through so many decades Of
battle and storm?"
he was a brave Industrious, and
highly educated man. His language, h
written and spoken. was as clear and
y,fyra as was the lane1laRe of any nuhlic Il,