The Washington times., 1921-11-02

\ &# historical pre-
cs-s cedent. The
NMsSHSsst1ssyx,g91eJ "a leading case I'm
all history. that
OF John wilkes.
was one in which there was not much
10 say for the individual whom the
King OF England and the House OF
Commons were unable TO keep perma-
nently out OF his seat.
The faults of Mr.. Blanton are exces-
sive. He is such a rabid hater or labor
unions that he foams at the mouth
when ever they are concerned lie
loses all perspective. He thinks he Is
Sir Galahad. a chivalrous knight called
upon TO protest the most sacred OF
causes.
Frightful Time Waster.
And he is a frightful waster OF the
time OF his colleagues. Al the last
Session, the time he consumed in In
sisting on roll calls amounted to four
solid working days. Again he I'M
agined he was brave ana noble nsro
standing on principle.
Nobody believes that when Blanton
put indecent remarks into the Con-
gressional Record he was inserting
them because they were indecent. He
inserted them simply because they
happened to be spoken by member OF
a labor union and Blanton could not
miss a trick in his holy cause OF
prosecuting the unions.
The excision Of these remarks from
the record and the formal and unan-
imous censure of the House, which
was the punishment finally visited
on the offender. was the proper pun
ishment. 1t maintained the principles
of debate, IT sufficiently punished the
offender, and 1t did not interfere with
the God given right of the people OF
Texas to send any kind OF crank
they like to represent them in the
national legislature.
The speeches in favor of expulsion
contained a good deal that was bonn
bastic and hypocritical. They sounded
as IL the speakers believed that every
home in the country was about 10
totter on its foundations; as II every
Young lady in the country was per
sistent reader of the Congressional
Record.
There are weekly newspapers In
England that circulate entirely on
printing scandalous matter brought
ont in court. Some of these papers
have as much as 900 900 circulation.
Before such real evils as that. Mr..
Blanton's ability TO get the Record
turned into a popular scandaious
daily is slight.
Mr.. Luce, Of Massachusetts,. said,
speaking Of John Wilkes:
I'm 1863, for attacking the Gov
ernment in that famous number As
of the North Briton, he had been
sent to the Tower. Soon after his
release he printed little book con-
tanning a parody on Pope's essay
on man, a paraphrase of the Veni
creator and other poems.
Failed to Crush wilkes.
"The Government learned of these
weapon with which It meant to crush
Wilkes In 1859 they were advanced
as one of three reasons why he
should be expelled from the House
of Commons. In the essay on woman
he had written, or at any rate
printed, what according to contem-
; porary judgment was the most in
decent and blasphemous poem ever
written"
Nevertheless the workingmen of
London refused to be distracted by
these side issues. and in the end
they beat down the King and the
! House and established their right to
send to Parliament any kind OF
blackguaro they might happen to
| fancy.
Senator Newberry is sitting and
voting in the Senate OF the United
| States. Unhappily the kind OF mind
that can blossom into turgid poetry
in defense of morality. when foolish
indisCretion by a Texas crank is con-
cerned, is not at all worried by the
smugness with which the Senate
allows the laws against the use OF
money in elections to be circum-
vented.
The cases OF the Socialist Alder
men in New York City, OF the So
cialist Assemblymen at Albany. show
that the right OF the people to choose
their representatives, supposed TO
have been settled in the Wilkes case
hundred and fifty years ago, is In
serious danger Of being circumvented
| today.
The men in the House NJ Repre-.
sentatives who saved Blanton from
expulsion did It, not because they
had any respect for him. but hc'
cause they did have respect for rep
resentative institutions.