The Washington herald., 1918-10-07

SNt hbhN oboAh
in the western part OF
the nation.
The truth Is, the women never
contemplated a fight against Demo-
cratic senatorial candidates in the
West. They had no occasion to do
so, for the Western senatorial can
didates were for suffrage right
along. and to punish them for vot-
ing for 1t would obviously have
been an act of injustice on the part
of the women.
But had this not been the case the
Senate would not have been changed
in leadership by this suffrage mat
ter. For there are so many other
issues, most of them considered
more important than suffrage, that
people of the West and the, rest of
the country. for that matter. would
not think OF making suffrage the
test.
Dave was only chagrined because
of the failure of his prediction as
to the passage of suffrage to be
borne out by events, and so he took
this occasion to scold the members
of the dominant party at the Capt.
tol' and at the same time try to
scare the everlasting daylights"
out of them for not making his
story come true.
Any political observer of events
this year could not stretch his imag-
ination far enough to see the de-
feat of a Democratic Senate merely
because that Senate refused to pass
suffrage. In fact, If the unbeliev-
able defeat of the Senate should be
brought about-whlch is virtually
impossible-it would be for reasons
vastly different than that.
And Dave will say so, upon ma
ture reflection. we are sure.
Republican newspapers are MAX
ing much ado over Bill Jamison's $
solicitation of funds for running the
present years campaign.
The Republicans act as IL they
never solicited a postmaster to hear
them speak of the matter. The
truth is the system had its incep-
tion in Republican politics, though
find no political adjournment" was
ever provided or even thought of by
the leaders of that party.
We hear that while the Demo-
Gratis have a pretty good campaign
fund the Republicans are not poor.
by any means. Frequently Congress
sional candidates are coming here
making appeals for financial aid in
their districts and frequently they
are reported to have gone home
sumably, ''shekels in their gar
ments."
In the old Bay State they say the
Senatorial fight is very much worth
while. The Democratic candidate,
former Governor Walsh. is a mixer
of real proportions. and the fact
that he once was elected to the
Gubernatorial chair makes his
friends believe he can be elected
again in a Statewide contest
Senator Weeks has enemies
among the business interests who
wish to punish him for derelictions
of comparatively late occurrence.
And to complicate matters Victor
Lawson, a relative of Mccall. whom
Weeks kept out of the Republican
race, is making the race as an in
dependent and threatens to take
away from Weeks.
II this can be done 1t may weaken
Weeks enough so that Walsh will win
If gain of a Senator should be
made in the old Bay State in this
manner it surely would be a blow to
the interests Of Henry Cabot Lodge.
And 1t would end here and now the
ambitions of Senator Weeks himself
to become the Republican party's
Presidential nominee two years from
now.
1t is reported at the Capitol that
Theodore Roosevelt will. while in
Montana this fall. make an assault on
the record Of Senator Walsh. The
colonel will make a speech full OF
pepper. it is said, and will do all he
can to bring about the downfall of
the Montana Senator
The colonel might take some OF his
time to exploin why Jeanette Rankin
after defeat in the Republican pri-
maries, refused to accept the verdict
of the voters and insisted upon run
ming as a separate candidate. He
might also comment briefly upon her
record in the House and at least make
the explanation that while she has
had House membership she has been
catalogued on the side of the party
to which he belongs.
If the colonel will do all these
things he will impress the people of
Montona with his fairness and will
possibly bring about a result in the
election which will more nearly eX-
press the sentiments of the folks
than as If he tried to distort things.
In other words. Teddy better look a
little out or he may find that his tour
in Montana will have helped Senator
Walsh.
Passage OF a corrupt practices act
by the House. following its passage
some time ago by the Senate. re-
calls TO our minds that no such act
can be effective until administrators
OF honesty and intelligence are put
on the job of keeping our pools
clean.
Not so many years ago the people
of a well-known Western city found
their elections as black as black could
be. The underworld and the bosses
of one party were in control of
things and something like 10000
votes of a false nature were cast
at each election.
The people. led by a courageous
took matters in their
hands, got an adequate act passed
by the legislature and then at the
suggestion of the editor of the news
paper in question obtained the gov
ernor's selection of a splendid man
for the position of election commits
sioner. Now the elections of that
city and county are clean. The peo-
pie go to the polls and express them
selves and go away again knowing
that the votes will be counted as
they were cast and that results ac-
tually portray the majority sentiment
of the people.
AnY city in the land can have