Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-02-28

save one for leadership among the
progressives in the Senate. That one
was fatal inability or unwillingness
to take bold and unequivocal stand
when occasion demanded.
Mr. Hadley Is best explained in the
words which he himself wrote, when
he said, 81 am remaining Regular this
year for reasons of expediency which
might not obtain outside Of Missouri
The plain truth is that these men
are actuated by perfectly legitimate
but misunderstanding personal ambi'
tion. Each of them fancies that some
fhow, some way, some time, the presi-
(dency may come TO him and each OF
them is shaping his course with that
ambition as his guiding star. None
Of them, apparently, realizes that one
Of the distinguishing characteristics
Of the awakened civic conscience in
the United States is sound and en-
during disgust for political ttght-rope
| walkers. Nothing Is more admired
by the average voter nowadays than
| the courage which leads public
man to take clear and unequlvocal
stand on one side or the other OF pub
| lie questions. But there is no sound
so sweet to the ears OF the ambitious
politician as the subdued hum ming
Of the presidential bee, although
there Is no music so subversivc Of
sound judgment and so destructive OF
common sense.
The wise and willy politicians of the
Old Guard who are now directing the
movement for Republican 'puritica-
tion," understand this we'll. With all
the adroitneSS of which they are mas
terS, they have contrived TO foster the
i'm preston with each of these psuede-
prOgressives that he is their choice,
and will be the Republican conven-
tion choice, for the presidency In 1916.
And, with the same smiling satistac-
tiOn with which numerous good men
gone before have listened to this siren
song, each has fallen into the net.
The first part Of the deep game
played by tue Old Guard leaders has
been more than successful. They have
thoroughly enmesheo the four vic
Tins whom they are parading as the
leaders and real movers In the plan
for purifying the Republican Party.
They have been so successful, In fact,
that some of them have been unable
to repress a sardonic joke about It,.
There is daily furnished in the Sen
ate the amazing spectacle Of LaFol-
lette hobnobbing on terms Of friend
ship and intimacy with Penrose,
Smoot, Crane and Root. One OF the
stock entertainments Of the Republi-
can cloakroom is, In the language OF
one of the Senators, 1.-The sight Of
LaFollette sitting on the arm of PEN
roses chair and playing with Pen
roses watch-fob -
LaFollette and CumminS have
proved the special victims OF an un-
usually transparent trick. To give
verisimilitude to their new protes-
sions OF progressiveism, the Old
Guard put both these psuedo-pro-
gressives on the Steering Com ittee'
appointed to map out the Republican
legislative program for the closing
weeks OF this session. They named
with LaFollette and Cummins, those
enthusiastic new converts to progres.
siyeism, Oliver, Smoot and Root. Go.
ing step farther In the game, they
facilitated the report to the Republi.
can caucus by this Steering Commit.
tee of a program of legisla tion made
up almost entirely of bills introduced
and fathered by Mr. LaFollette.
The trick In This ought to be plain
even to men about whose ears the
presidential bee Is humminE. There
is no more chance OF these bills be-
coming law at this session than there
is of Woodrow Wilson resigning ibis
new Office tomorrow. And the next
Congress which is to meet In special
session within few weeks, will De
controlled by the Democrats In both
Senate and House. These Old Guard
leaders are passing off the stage as
dominant leg gislative factors. Their
power is already gone, and they know
1t.
So now. they make show OF new
| found virtue by falsely presenting
leadership and measures which they
know cannot be effective and which
would not be presented If there were
any chance that they could be etfec'
tive.
when the Devil was sick,
the Devil monk would be:
When the Devil was we'll,
the Devil a monk was he. -
Mrs Charley Jacobs and daughter