Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-06-25
ROBERT MARION LAFOLLETTE

In the death last week of Senator LaFolette closely
following that of xGovernor Phillip, Wisconsin lost two
distinguished who brought fame and credit to
the state and to themselves The death of Senator La
Toilette is national loss well and is freely admitted
by the most prominent men and papers in the United
States although many of them bitterly opposed him in
life 1t especially true of the large newspapers and
rarely did he have the support of of them for him.
self his policies Nearly all of them unite in pay
ing high tribute to him man whose character
above reproach and statesman, admired for his sin
cery of purpose and devotion to his ideals and convic
tons regardless of whether they received public appro
val He is recognized one OF the in national life
who are rapidly disappearing from the worlds stage
whose places will not soon be filled ever Both he and
the ex-governor native born Wisconsin and
fought their way unaded from humble beginnings the
high estates they occupied when taken by death strk
ing difference in the careers Of the two is shown in
erty heavily encountered while the will of Mr. Phillip
made public this week shows his estate to be worth
than So 100000
Senator La Toilette had been the idol of thousands
Wisconsin and women for years. holding their faith
and esteem to degree that probably more crafty
ing to him than great wealth would have BEEN Of the
thousands of people who ourneyed to Madison for his
funeral, immense number of them from the
rounding counties who had driven miles that morning for
last look at the whose leadership they had follow
ed unquestioningly for than twenty years.
whatever the ISSUE and with faith in the correctness
of his views that other in Wisconsin will
receive from them, or their descendants
His unexpected death and that of his old political
Emanuel L. Phillip, leaves the Republican party
in Wisconsin very much demoraized in regarto the cleo
ton of his The Conservatives have Senator
Lenroo to look to for guidance and leadership and he is
practically all they have. Whether he train up
between and the time special election will be called
who will prove winning candidate remains to be
Governor Blaine representing the Progressives, may
avail himself of the opportunity to for the office
it is said that it had been his intention next year
against Lenroot himself He has by far the best running
political machine of any the state but he has
qured enemies who wish to build up machines of their
and they can be counted Illustrate his
al ambitions if possible at this time figuring Len
roots ability to beat him next year The taxation
bills sanctioned by him has not tended to increase his
popularity with taxpayers who pretty much disgust
ed anyway with the petty squabbeS that have marked
the administration and legislature for the past four
The last thing to confirm the suspicion that the state
house crowd and legislators largely bunch of peanut
politicians instead of statesmen, the proposal eman
ting from Madison before the arrival of the funeral train
to have either the dead senator's widow his
for election to fill out his unexpired term. We do not
believe that done much with the high motive of
doing honor to LaFOlettes and perpetuating his
memory, it to head off if possible any of
the to the place At the best,
inappropriate time to intrude politics upon family grief
and the LaFoleteS different from other families
being weighted down with grief at the first break in
the family circle. They mood at present
much about who succeeds the husband and father and
it is doubtful if any of them would relish the prospect
a political campaign in which most of the kind words
being said about him would be forgotten and all of
the old bitterness again revived If eth
of them should decide to much of the old LaFo-
ette spirit would be absent thousands of voters will
feel that death has terminated any debt of allegiance
they felt that they owed and hereafter will their
judgment to who the best candidates. instead
of they had done many times accept them because
they IaFolettes mark of approval The old say
ing that "The devils pay and pitch hot" forcibly
describes the Wisconsin political situation today because
of the unlocked for deaths of Wisconsin in the past
weeks.