The Washington herald., 1920-02-27
Age-old Political Ethics
Reuealed in Newbery Trial

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"The Newberry trial has given
a different way It has always, at
least for several generations. had a
black eye politically, but we have
succeeded In hiding the discolora-
tion from public view. Now the veil
has been torn away. We see our
selves as we are. mistaken. mis-
guided. The common people of
Michigan have been pawned in the
hands of a few.
"The thinking observer should not
lay to the defendants in the New
berry trial all the blame. for the
wrongs which have been perpetrat-
ed. They are the outcome of drift
In the wrong direction. People
have been accustomed to. want pay
for party service. The absence of q
lofty patriotism has placed politics
and state welfare on the same plane.
From the humblest factory worker.
farm hand or clerk, to the mightiest
Juggler OF political destiny-all must
have their pay. In line with a uni
versal Increase in compensation and
of an increasing desire OF the rich
to hold office, that pay has gone up
until II Is altogether out of proper.
tion to the services rendered.
Voters Rebel.
There are defendants in the New
berry trial who could swear before
their maker that they are not know
ingly guilty OF having committed a
crime either against our laws or ac-
cepted order. They have done their
little blt-for pay-since before
they were eligible to vote. There
are also defendants who know-and
care less-that they are politically
corrupt. The brazenness with which
they faced the trial was shocking to
every sense of political decency.
Their callousness is disappearing.
however. Tho people OF Michigan.
the hundreds of thousands who are
law abiding, responsible units in
our social and economic relation. re-
belled against that sort of thing.
There Is no disposition in Michi-
gan to try the Newberry defend
ants out of court. Public interest
is not asserting itself 1t is here,
however, with a deep potential sig
nificance. Every voter in Michigan
wants Justice done to all who are
In any way connected with our un-
fortunate political mistakes. Every
Michigan citizen knows that JUS
tice, under our Constitution, is the
first step to any sort of house
cleaning. We want no martyrs to
reform. We want no ones hide
who is himself entitled to 1t.
Spirit OF Law Broken.
The Newberry trial will resolve
- To-. \
Interpretation OF the law. The blind
know that the spirit of the law has
been broken. 1t remains for a
Michigan jury. made up entirely of
common people, under the guild
ance Of a jurist whose fairness is
az manifest as his Americanism is
unQuestioned, to decide the meas
ure of guilt or innocence involved
in the procedure of placing Tru-
man II. Newberry in the Senate.
I'm the meantime. Michigan and
it's people will reserve judgment.
We are going through a chastise-
ment which was the inevitable re-
suit of our ignorance. Out of It will
come some better way of electing
our representatives to the United
States Senate. We are conscious or
the stigma, but we are more con-
scious. within ourselves. that we
have drifted away from fundament-
ais In our political functioning. The
fault may be in ourselves. in the
primary law, or in intrusting too
much to those who have our political
destinies in hand. Whatever the
fault may be, or wherever II lies, it
will be remedied. 1t will be reme-
died, not by those who have led us
astray, but by those who guide the
blow. the factory machine. by the
men and women who go to the polls.
Michigan Is all right. So arerits
people" -
G. w. AXELsoN.