The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1922-03-30
WANTED: PUBLIC SERVERS
NOT VOTE.SEEKERS
Bv WILBUR E. SUTTON

Probably as great need as the nation
possesses at this time is legislators who
leaislate not for reelection but for the
public eood-men who would rather be
right than gain the approval of the noisy
but unstable minorities; men who are not
afraid of "blocs" nor associations of indi-
viduals with selfish ends to serve and who
only are afraid not to do the things their
consciences and their common sense say
should be done.
1t has come to be that almost any or
ganiZed crowd can get the close attention
and the final support of men in public Of
flee if it can stir up enough clamor, while
the unorganized public is made to suffer
for the benefit of the few. 1t requires
courage to stand out against the below
ing of few while the majority remain
silent. 1t is a matter of common know
ledge that especially in the last few years
one piece of class legislation after another
has been enacted because some special in
terest was to be served.
| Men of small minds play politics to
gain votes, but if they would read history
they would know that the best politics is
| that of sincerity and that the public Off
Ger who is honest with himself first, in
the long run gains the respect of every
body, including those who may oppose
him from time to time for selfish reasons.
| A leader leads-he does not follow the
mob. A weather cock blows with tn
wind A trimmer who trims his sail to
suit the breeze never knows where he is
J going, but finally he lands in the port of
oblivion where he belongs. But in the
meantime he has done incalculable harm
because of his shilly-shallyinR.
The public finally wobbles right, but it
sometimes isn't even given the chance to
wobble at all, nor to go straightforward.
| 1t is detected from its course by class
partisanship and its best endeavors finally
stopped because of lack of courageous
leadership.
Defeat of a man often means the pro
motion of cause. We see our manhood
90 unselfishly into battle for the sake of
principle, knowing that death may be
their portion. A fraction of that courage
is needed by men in public life who possess
the spirit of the old Americanism which
would rather suffer defeat at the polls
| than see the public veal trampled upon
by those who have only their own selfish
gains in mind.
| The war developed men of high courage
| for the conflict of arms. We now are en-
! gagged in a great war upon selfish forces
that followed the war, and to fight them
we need men-real men with red blood In
their veins and stout courage in their
souls
1t took courage for President Harding
to call the nations of the earth together
and demand that they make some decided
and practical move toward insurlng the
peace of of the world. 1t took courage for
Charles E. Hughes boldly to tell the diplo-
mats of the great powers on the first day
of the limitations conference what he be-
! lieved they should do to bring this thing
about when both he and the President
knew of the existence of secret treaties
among the powers represented by their
guests and knew that old world diplomacy
would be overthrow by the program sug-
gested.
President Harding and Secretary Hughes
! had the "nerve" TO do these things What
we need is Congress of Hardings and
Hugheses and legislatures of the same
| type and stripe and executives everywhere
of such big-bore calibre.
| And we'd better be getting them, too,
| in hurry. or some day the long-suiterlng
pubic will form a union or "bloc" or a
cooperative society, headed by man OF
power and organizing ability in whom the
people have faith, and when that day
| comes the scared rabbits who then may
be posing ss leaders will have to scurry to
| the underbrush.