The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-11-17
PERTINENT POLITICAL pRATTLE
fBv .A n. Edmonston.l

l1ackWoFtIl, Oh fleumoHt, chairman o
the Executive Committee, for the mas
terful manner in which the recen
campaign was directed, and, finall,
brought To a victorious finish. Will,
the battle that James A. Reed waget
against the un-American organiza
ton, the Ku Klpx Khan, cost him so,
600 votes in Jackson, Buchanan ant
three or four other counties of north
west Missouri where this law evad
| ing aggregation is strong, it is prob
ably best that it was thus for reasons
| which are plainly indicated by thu
outcome of the election.
The fight which the "disloya
league of demagogues and marplots'
under the much misleading pseudonyn
of Loyal League of Democrats" di.
rected against the reelected United
States Senator did not for a moment
injure his chance Of success, but it die
come close to defeating the newly
telected State Superintendent OF
Schools, Charles A. Lee, of Butler
Bates county, through thousands OF
Democrats staying at home election
day rather than voting against anyone
on the "0nly Reliable Party" ticket.
Could Have Been Worse
The election returns indicate that
fully 100000 Democratic electors,
both sexes, did not vote, compared to
only 10000 "gops" who also failed
to exercise this glorious privilege OF
the American people. In other words,
the lead of Judge Robert P. Walker,
reelected to the Missouri Supreme
Court for another ten-year-term, who
led the Democratic ticket, would have
been close to 10000 instead of 50,-
900 where it now seems to stand, had
all Democrats and Republicans in
Missouri voted election day. The
lead of Senator Reed would have been
the same as it is now for the very
reason that these "stay-at- homeh
electors only did stay at home elec-
ton day because they did not care to
vote "the other way"
Had full vote been cast by both
parties the lead of Superintendent of
Schools elect Lee would have been 3d.
900 instead of a scant 1000, as it
stands at the moment this pertinent
political prattle" was ground out.
The war of determination directed
against Senator Reed by certain cleo
tors who posed as Democrats while
the places and free service at the
Democratic political pie counter"
were at their disposal, also cost Mis-
souri, Democracy fully twenty men,
bers of the lower branch of the next
General Assembly; at least one State
Senator; probably two members of
Congress, including Mrs. st. Clair
Moss, of Columbia; at least three Cir
cult Judges, including Judge Jack
Slate, of Cole county; and many minor
places. 1t is concensus of opinion now
that there is more Democracy in the
Democrats who went 10 the polls and
substituted the name of "Breckin-
ridge Long" for United States Sena-
tor, deleting that of Senator Reed, or
IN those who checked both Reed and
Brewster, thereby voting for neither,
than in the few hundred who deleted
the cognomen of the regular Demo-
cratic nominee, and voted for Brews-
ter, the personal candidate of Homer
Mann, the millionaire "suds" manu-
facturer of Kansas City by putting
a cross opposite his surname on the
"'gop" array of badly defeated polit-
ical talent.
Democratic Majority, State Assembly
With a Democratic majority in both
the House and the Senate of the next
General Assembly, which meets in
early january, one of the first steps
will be to check Republican extrava-
gance through abolishing all state
commissions created two years ago to
supply fully twenty useless and there
fore unnecessary "jobs", classed as
political plums", paying from $4,000
to $4,000 year to the "chosen few"
for duties formerly discharged by
four men at salary not exceeding
$500 each. 1t can easily be done
by including the appropriations for
the next two years in the new meas
ures and allowing no appropriation
for the existing commissions.
The present program Of the incom-
ing Democratic General Assembly is
to abolish the State Tax Commission
through substituting a single Tax
Commissioner and cutting that ap-
preparation down to the bone and
carefully weaving it into the new
measure, with no appropriation for
the existing unnecessary body.
Women on New Commissions
The Commission in charge of the
penal institutions is to be reduced
from five OF three with the appropria-
ton carefully woven into the new
measure, and no appropriation allow
ed the existing commission.
Other existing commissions are to
have their membership clipped in
similar fashion, and such bodies, as
near as possible, will be taken out of
politics through having each consist
of one Republican and one Democrat
and these two officials designation
third member, probably woman, to
give that sex full recognition, and to
end questionable tactics. The indie
pendence displayed by women in vot-
ing in the recent election indicates
that they will eb as independent and
in their decisions il men,
bers of acommittion. Each such
measure will be drafted to include
woman member.
The overwhelming defeat of the Re-
publican consolidation measures, and
of the senatorial, the congressional,
and the judicial extremely partisan
gerrymanders. is regarded every