Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-05-18
With Our State
Contemporaries


Representative Patrick II. Kelley,
who aspires to the seat now occupied
by Senator Townsend in the upper
house of congress prefaces a ten-week
stamping tour of the state by an
nouncing that the issue in the COM
ing senatorial fight is to be "New
beriyism," which, as he defines it, is
"the issue whether candidate for
public Office shall be permitted to turn
MS campaign over to committee and
tacitly or openly permit the COM
mittee to raise and spend all the
money it needs to buy the office for
him."
Now man cannot buy an office
unless those who have the power to
confer it are willing to sell. Con-
sequently what Mr.. Kelley chooses to
call "Newberryism" falls flat; it can
not be an issue unless the voters are
venal. But Mr.. Kelley says it is an
issue. Not only that, he declares it
the most important issue in the
Michigan senatorial fight. In fact,
it is the only thing he consents to
recognize as an issue.
SO Mr.. Kelley at the very COM
mencement of his appeal to the people
Of Michigan for support at the polls
grossly insults them by saying pub
licly that he does not trust them, that
he thinks they are dishonest crooks
who can be purchased by his oppo-
| hot
ne doubts their integrity he is going
to make it his especial business to
raise such a rumpus that they will
not dare to be crooked.
Possibly this is a good way for a
senatorial candidate to gain the favor
of the electorate Of the state of
| Michigan, but we do not think so. We
can not really bring ourselves to be-
lieve that the people will be able ar
IDENTIFY TO desire as representative in
the senate of the United States a
man whose words indicate that he
thinks so poorly of them that he
may be said to hold them in con-
tempt. Nor for that matter, neither
can we comprehend how Mr.. Kelley
is able to desire to act as senator for
people he apparently neither
trusts nor respects.
Still, comprehensive or not, the
fact remains that Patrick Kelley is
exceedingly anxious to obtain a seat
i'm the senate, so anxious indeed that
he deliberately deserts his present
duties in Washington while large
matters Of great Importance nation
ally and internationally are stirring
and comes to Michigan to further his
private political ambition. Mr..
Kelley tries to excuse himself by
saying that the lower house is mere
ly marking time," waiting for the
senate to act on certain measures.
But the weight Of this sort Of an
excuse becomes apparent if we con-
slider what would happen in case all
Of the members of the house were to
make a similar plea and go home for
ten weeks.
This brings up another point. Mr..
Kelley criticises the conduct of Sena-
tor Townsend's campaign because
the committee which has it in charge
while the senator is busy at capital
has, up to this time, spent some
thing over three thousand dollars, col
lected from private sources, in per-
fectly legitimate and legal ways,
making a public accounting of all
the items. The representative finds
something nefarious in this. He
says he is doing no such thing. He
has no campaign committee. He is
permitting no money to be collected
from the people and spent in his be-
half. He and his private secretary
and a relative are the whole of his
organization.
Just So And how are the ex-
penses Of Mr.. Kelley's tour and of
the tour of Mr.. Kelley's private sec
rotary going to be met? Congress
being in session Mr. Kelley and his
secretary being under federal salary
and theoretically on the job
in Washington, the United States of
America is going to foot the bills.
The people of the nation are being
called upon for involuntary contribu-
JlOns 10 MI. hellcy CahlPai6h W
the tune Of several thousand dollars.
What sort of campaign ethics justi-
flies this? In what way is it holier
than so-called "Newberryism"? If it
is argued that the thing is common
| practice, so the conduct of the
Townsend campaign in accord with
common practice. Nor in any event,
is that an excuse for Mr.. Kelley who
comes to us posing new apostle OF
Purity and Reform.-Detroit Free
Press.