The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-11-18
Political Ingratitude.

elbow blow thou wintry wind;
Thou art not so unkind,
AS benefits forgot.
Though thou the waters warp;
Thy sting is not so sharp;
AS friend remembered not. -
IF Former Senator Stephenson, who
recently retired as United States sen.
ator, had been poet he could just
have taken over this couplet Of
Shakespeare and it would have been
unnecessary for him to have written
his Memoirs which were given to
the public in Washington on Monday.
The memoirs of ''Uncle IkeO may
hang literary halo about his head in
The closing years of his life, but they
do not throw great searchlight on
contemporary politics in Wisconsin or
bring into bass relief anything that
has not been pretty well known by
even the political school boys in the
state.
As has been expected Mr.. Stephen
SON gives much of his book to the dis
cussion of his relations with Senator
LaFollette. The things he says about
his erstWhile friend "Bobo are not
complimentary, but they are not new.
The former senator has been guilty of
rehashing "old stuff. - OF course,
memoirs would necessarily be favored
with the past. The experience Of Mr.
Stephenson as a follower and as pro-
moter of Mr.. LaFollette has probably
not been any more bitter than that of
scores Of other men in Wisconsin who
have dabbled in politics Of course it
may have cost Stephenson more, but
Stephenson had more to pay.
The writer of the "Memoirs has
been known as a trader. He has made
vast sums of money trading and he was
well aware of the old legal adage tElet
the buyer beware. " 1T is admitted
that Mr. Stephenson wanted political
honors. 1T was also admitted that Mr..
LaFollette sat in the eligible central
position to grant these honors. Mr..
Stephenson says he paid and paid
literally, IF this were the first time
that any one had paid literally to be a
United States senator it might arouse
wider national interest. Doubtless
the deals of Mr.. Stephenson and Mr..
LaFollette were open to the light of
day to their immediate political
friends. Possibly every one of them
was wholly in keeping with the laws
and the statutes. Mr.. Stephenson got
his senatorship and got reelection,
but it can be said that Mr.. LaFollette
had nothing to do with advancing the
reelection. just now it looks as if
the Marinette sage was welching lit
tie on his bargain.
The treatment of Mr.. Stephenson
by Mr.. LaFollette was no different
from that accorded to many other men.
Many threw their political fortunes in
the pot with LaFollette and left them
there. They did not even have money
enough left to publish "Memoirs =
and tell the people how it all happen
ed If Mr.. LaFollette climbed to po-
litcal preferment through the dollars
of Mr.. Stephenson it can be said that
Mr., Stephenson climbed into the sem
ate with the aid of Mr.. LaFollette,
even if the latter did not keep him
there. The Memoirs are not explicit
enough to show that the bargain in
Guided more than one term.
This airing of the political methods
~ rn MI -
out by Stephenson before. The story
has been told and re-told and it has
not gathered interest. If the men who,
like Stephenson, pinned their faith to
Mr.. LaFolle5te and lost and lost all
could be called on to tell their story
it would make lot more interesting
reading. A study of history fails to
show any Damon and Pythias in poll
tics. Political ingratitude has come to
be expected rather than unexpected.
The average politician finds it easy
to forget the horse on which he rode
to power and opulence. The excep-
ton in the case of Mr.. Stephenson
is the fact that he gave only part of
n
should have been cast aside when he
was no longer needed is nothing new
to the men who have closely followed
the development Of the political in
fuence of the present senior senator
of Wisconsin. The Memoirs may Of
fer some hard questions for Mr.. La
Toilette to answer, bu the is undoubt-
edly sufficiently resourceful to find an
answer which will be entirely satisfac-
tory to those who still look up to him
as Moses" to lead them out of
the wilderness of political trickery
and economic misrule.
The first assessment for the new lights
in the business district was order