The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1914-07-30
THAT "ORY" PLANK, AND OTHER
PLANkS,

A cheerful and optomistic disposition
Is heritage greatly to be priced. but
wisdom would counsel that II be held
within bounds and not allowed to lead
its owner over the boundary line of
truth in the realm of the cheerful
liar" While we admire the courage,
as well the readiness and vigor with
which the editor of the Standpoint News
rushes to the defense of the democratic
state platform, we cannot commend his
judgment, follow his logic. accept his
conclusions, any more than a number of
his brother editors and party leaders
do. The News editor would lead the
public to believe II his reasoning means
anything, that the democratic state plat
form is wet" and that the plank APP
pearing therein which declares for the
submission of IA state wide prohibi-
ton amendment to the voters of the
state doesn't mean anyhing-or that
his party does not intend that 1t shall
mean anything-but Is only "sop"
thrown out to beguie and mislead the
temperance democrats into staying with
the party, and is susceptible of the
very opposite construction. In other
words, Ii you are talking to a "dry"
democrat he is allowed to believe it
to a "wet" he is led to accept 1t as
meaning "wet" or nothing at all Mark
Bates, of the Parma Herald is not such
"resourcefur editor as the Standpoint
scribe. Mark accepted that plank as
meaning what 1t said. and he being an
avowed wet" considered that IL went
contrary to his convictions; he there
fore withdrew his name as candidate
for congress and quit running the Her
aid as democratic paper. He said.
using his own language, so that 1t may
not be misconstrued:
1T does not satisfy our conscience to
go before the people and tell them
that we will vote for the prohibition
plank In that platform, when we know
quite well that we will not; and 1t
ought not to satisfy the people, for
us to go before them and lie like thun-
der So we are going to quit running
for congress on a platform at which
our whole alimentary canal revolts.
Also we are going to quit publishing
the only democratic newspaper In this
section of Idaho-the only one that has
been unyielding in principle and incor-
ruptible in politics. We absolutely re-
fuse to swallow the dose. Wes are go
ing fishing
Mark, who had considerable at stake,
could not by any manner of means
twist that platform declaration into
meaning what the News editor does.
He says his conscience would not al
low him to juggle the words of that
platform and tell the people by word
of mouth what the other editor cheer
fully puts into print and declares to
be fact. So Mark threw over his am
bition to go to congress and sacrificed
his paper rather than stultify himself.
The ''wet" democrats in this commun-
ity accepted Marks version of that
plank, and the Globe editor heard q
number of them who were discussing the
matter at the time the platform was
made declare that they were "disfran-
chised,' and that the only remedy left
them was to bolt the dry party candi-
dates and pick out the wet candidates
where ever they could find them. As
the returning delegates who opposed
that plank In the platform also believ-
ed IL meant ''prohibition." that must
have been the construction the demo-
cratic convention put upon II at the
time 1t was injected into the platform
We are fearful that the News editor
is disposed to follow too closely the
example set by the national democratic
administration in constituting Cor rather
drafted to get in on, but failed to stay
on. This shows what bad example
will do with those who naturally have
a weakness that way. II is very re-
grettable.