Evening journal., 1913-01-06

the purse OF one man who has the Of
fice-seeking itch SO had that he is oc-
cupied wholly in scratching his own
precious back, and can become inter-
ested in nothing else, is unworthy Of
preservation; and second, that the dis
bursement of money in the interests Of
the party by man who insists upon
reward therefor, bears a too stril1-
ing resemblance to bribery to be ac-
ceptable to men Of worthy ideals.
We ask no more than OF right be-
longs to every citizen when we request
some information with respect to Mr..
Saulsbury's public services to this
State, or to any county in the State, or
to any city, town, village or commu-
nifty in the State. He has had ample
opportunity TO display that patriotism
and civic pride which should in some
measure form the basis of valid as
piration for public official preferment.
For more than twenty years he has
been struggling for the United States
senatorship from this State, and
glancing back over that long period Of
time we cannot recall single act on
the part of Mr.. Salisbury which may
truly be regarded as a service to the
people Our memory may be at fault
on this score, and so we have invited
him and his friends to enlighten us in
respect thereto. If they can find any
thing he has done that has helped
anybody but himself, we shall cheer
fully give him credit for whatever
they may discover, and we shall not
be too strict in drawing the line be-
tween public service and private
profit.
Are we too insistent in this matter?
Have we not the right to ask Of a man
who wants to be United States sena-
tor: "What have you done to deserve
it?" And when we ask this question,
and repeat it again and again, is not
silence practically confession that he
has done nothing? We do not see how
any intelligent and unprecedented mind
can escape that conclusion, and it not
only surprises US, but it is occasion for
alarm that men of presumably high
character and exalted political ideals
should treat such questions sighting
ly, and say: "Oh, Salisbury has
earned this recognition by devotion to
the party thus overlooking what
seems obvious to impartial observers,
that devotion to party in this case has
been nothing more nor less than devo-
tion to self.
They further say, these partisans
who are willing to sacrifice the inter-
ests and the pride of the State to one
mans selfish ambition, that Salisbury
should be elected this time, and the
other man, whoever he may be, ac-
cording to whom they are addressing,
can have it next time. The defect
about this argument is that in the
event of Saulsbury's election there
will be no "next time" for the Demo-
Gratis. If current rumors are to be
credited there have already been so
many promises made to keep the
Salisbury lines unbroken that there
won't be half enough "plums" to 90
round; and the day of settlement is
therefore sure to engender bitter dis
sensions and bring trouble of kind
that will weaken the party and render
its success at the next election ex-
tremely improbable.
But let the party be split and go to
defeat; we care nothing about it. And
we care as little about the Republican
party. What we want is to see the
State send to the upper house at
Washington, the best man we have,
which desirable result will not, in our
judgment, be attained by the election
of Willard Salisbury.