Politics Their I Only Support Professional Politicians' Only Visible Means of Livelihood. By ERNEST McQAFFEY Between Elections This Type Is I Everything from Ghoul to Aeronaut. THERE had grown up 111 our city an army of men who followed I>olitlcs strictly as a means of earning a livelihood. They either expected to make a living by holding office of some kind or another, or they figured on making both ends meet by attaching them selves to the train of some "boss," who would dole out crumbs to them in aoine way, direct or indirect. Some times they figured on getting business of some kind through their connection ■with politics. But at any rate, there they were, with "no visible means of support" excepting politics. They might be in the directory as taxi dermists. astronomers, chemists, rat catchers, lawyers, aeronauts, plumbers' helpers, grave-diggers, clerks, or what you like, but as a matter of fact they depended on politics for a living. Sometimes they were in one busi ness, sometimes another, but you could find them always at the ward meetings, always at the primaries, al ways at the conventions, caucuses (when they could get in) at the city tail, at ward headquarters, at down town headquarters, in the saloons ■where politicians might occasionally be found, at the funerals, dances, pic nics, and all social gatherings, and. Indeed, wherever acquaintance might be made or self-interest fostered. They were very busy individuals, and sim ply whirlwinds of energy around about election time. If they had held a paying "job" for some time, and a change of adminis tration had brought with it the disa greeable necessity of "resigning," they were usually "waiting" until the next municipal election. As these occurred -every two years, in my time, the wait was over before the enforced "hand to-mouth" existence entirely broke their spirits. Meantime, they skated about, working every avenue to keep Alive and hold their own in "the or ganization." Give them credit, you with the three square meals a day, for their superb nerve. If you tackled one of these "captains of hope" he ■was as cheerful as a bumble bee on a thistle top. Everything was lovely, things never looked better, "the organ ization" was in elegant shape, "we" ■were to win next time, etc. How he would lay down the assurance of victory with various tremendously sug gestive chunks of wisdom, culled from his ever-effervescent "bonnet." How sanguine he was of glory and of fices in the future. Well, even if it was straight "bunk" there was a gleam of possibility in it. Ami his airy, insouciant, diffident "by the way, Bill, let me have a dol lar till to-morrow" when the glittering "dope" had been exhausted —well, if you had it why not let him have it? The sands of every lucky office hold er's career are strewn with the wrecks of dollars that were cast away to such siren invitations. The evolution of such a politician might be from the bench of a bright young mechanic, ambitious to shine ir, the difficult calcium glare of publici ty. He might get elected as a dele gate to a city convention and get the "political bug" lodged under his hat. He might read up on the election laws and get so he could raise "a point of order" at a ward meeting. He might electioneer for some alderman, and, after the victory, get a bran new tec dollar bill, which seemed like money off a Christmas tree. He might get •elected secretary or president of the ward club. He might get to be a sort ■of political jackal to the "boss" who controlled his district. There were a great many ways in which he might distinguish himself in this way, but -usually at the expense of his trade. Or he might be some young lawyer with a gift for"the gab," who had attracted the attention of the leaders as havinH the nucleus of a "speaker" in him. If he was making money in his profession, so much the better. In that event was "milked" for contribu tions to the party and sent broadcast at night to split the tobacco-enveloped empyrean of the halls where the voters gathered to hear about the •"burning issues." These "voters,"l may remark In passing, were confined to the garbage-wagon drivers, the sewer-pipe extension men, the city employes and others who had a real interest in politics, and who could stand all sorts of oratory if they could only smoke. Such a victim as I have described was often held close to work and dis bursement by promises, half-promises ■or suggestions of some prominent gift In the party nominations. Sometimes as the years rolled on and he never realized his ambitions, even in the shape of a nomination, ho drew out a sadder and a wiser man and let the political will-o'-the-wisps alone. But strange things happened In pol itics sometimes. One young lawyer, whose legal qualifications were meager to attenuation, had been nominated and elected to a certain of fice, and at the end of his term craved stlil higher honors official. So he got a lawyer of his acquaintance, a vener able attorney of marked ability, to circulate a petition urging his nomi nation for a still higher position. The old lawyer circulated among the mem bers of the bar of his acquaintance, and it was considered such a good joke that he got many prominent and influential names of lawyers who never gave a thought to the possible nomination of the young fellow. The petition aided the aspirant substan tially; he got the nomination, and. what's more, he was elected. He re tired from office with fees of his of fice aggregating about a quarter of a million dollars. And instances like these kept the young lawyers on the qui vive for a possible like happening in their cases. Hut the reverse of the medal was in the incident of a very bright young lawyer of my acquaintance, who got a nomination, lost the election, took to whisky as a cure, established a "touching route," where he collected dollars, half-dollars and quarters for awhile, and then died shortly after, a victim to the "political bug" and the "whisky bug" combined, than which no more fatal and totally destructive combination was ever invented. The most successful of the local politicians were those who had lived in one ward all their lives, who had made politics their life-game, and who could "deliver the delegates." In conventions, as the delegates made the nominations, the more delegates a man absolutely controlled the more of a power he was. The young and am bitious political worker always started out to control the delegates in his pre eint. Then he reached out after other precincts, and when the time came that he could control his ward he had arrived at the proud position of a "ward boss." This, however, required years of the most unremitting atten tion to detail, an immense amount of wire-pulling and strategy and a rigid distribution on as even terms as pos sible of all "patronage" which might come his way. The delegates were usually very much the same individ uals from year to year. They might be shifted from one convention ticket to another, but the names of the "faithful" would be pretty sure to turn up annually, unless in case of death, and in that event someone would be selected who could be "con trolled" like a tin soldier. Politics as a profession develops shrewdness, nerve, capacity to "stand the gaff," oratory, conversational powers, personal magnetism, and, in fact, ail the accomplishments of a first-class confidence man. Although, of course, all confidence men are not politicians. Needless to say, no sug gestion is here made to "statesmen." These gentlemen do not mix with vul gar municipal politics, but get elected to senatorial and other offices and never get their names mixed up in any scandal save one befitting their hon orable positions. Politics loosens the action of the pecuniary nerve, for no successful politician can be a "tight wad." He may think he can be eco nomical, but he can't be. He may fig ure on what it is going to cost as to main outlay, but "perquisites" will eat him up quicker than nitric acid will cook an angleworm. The hardened professional politicians know this only too well, and the result implants in To Hear About the "Burning issues." their bosoms a pardonable curiosity in the question of "what there is In it for them" if any political proposition is unfolded to their longing gaze. Politics as a profession has evolved the "boss." He is not always the coarse creature of the cartoonist's fancy, nor the devouring lion of the muck-rake romancer. Often he dresses elegantly, and quite often he is gentle-spoken and of few words at that. He just controls the "delegates," that's all. After all the fire and fury of reform has spent its force, his candidate is nominated and generally elected, and he gets a few "contracts" which enable him to keep the wolf tribe so far from his premises that he couldn't hear one howl if it used a megaphone. He is the man on whom the petty politicians keep their eyes glued and their ears tilted. Kach one sees in his dreams his own career growing to the Aladdin like height of the "big boss." And that subtle schemer nurses their aspirations, and as someone must necessarily take the place of the mighty when the mighty are fallen, of course there la a chance for all com , petitors. _— CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10, i<JOB. Mow as the mere mechanism of th« game requtres a very great familiarity with methods as well as men, It fol lows that the politician Is a close stu dent of the various cogs and wheels, the shafts and pulleys of political ma chlnery. He finds, if a novice, that he cannot "butt in"and run things "right off the reel," because he does not know how. He finds that the nom ination of candidates, the whole rou tine of political life, is governed by fixed rules and statutory laws, and that he must of necessity familiarize himself with these things else remain a mere tyro in the art. This means that he will have to study books, read up the laws, keep posted in the changes which are con tinually occurring in the laws relating to elections and nominations, and in various ways "get next" to the legal aspects of politics. Then he will have to learn his ward; know its various precincts and their boundaries; know the location of the polling places, and who the people are in whose shops or stores the polling places have been placed, their politics, and everything about them. He must serve as clerk and judge of election, and learn the duties of a challenger. He must know VW Each One Sees in His Dreamt Hi« Own Career Growing. the poll list of his precinct as well as his a, b, c, and keep "tab" on deaths, removals, new residents, etc. Politics affords a shining example of the wisdom of the rule about open ing hostilities yourself. Never wait for the other fellow to assail your abil ity. Always start out by "soaking" him. And by this is not meant by any means to "throw mud" or indulge in abuse. Far from it. Do it in a gentle manly way. Get him on the defensive and keep him there if possible. One of the surest ways to do this is to prepare a lot of questions, no matter how irrelevant to the questions at is sue, if there happens to be any "is sue," and keep hammering away at him with these questions. Never answer any question yourself. Print your platform on your cards, if you are a candidate, but don't answer any questions about It. The platform speaks for itself, don't it? A profes sional politician ought to be able to convince the most captious questioner that "his platform" faces every way to the four corners of the earth and was meant for the blessing of all men. When he starts on his career he must expect togo slowly, as a rule, emerg ing from one unimportant position to another until he has either become a power himself, or has been useful enough to some "Boss" to be placed on a ticket. Once fairly launched in a political office, and he becomes a target for the press and public criti cism, and his native ability is sub jected to the corrosive test of having power placed in his hands. A good politician must always be on the alert to "catch the Instant at its forward top" and direct the cur rent of any popular movement into the proper channel. If there is a reform movement in the air he must not only champion it, but he must be in the lead of the crusaders. The public are the sheep, the politician is the bell wether. I remember a typical Instance of this kind. A certain paving scheme was be ing broached, and in the district where it was proposed to introduce it, there were a great many Swedish- American citizens who opposed the improvement. Nearly all of them un derstood the English language as well their own tongue. A grand mass was called for and held amid tumultuous enthusiasm. A well known Swedish-American was select ed as chairman, and a Swede sec retary duly installed. Two speeches were made in Swedish, and then a popular Irish politician made a ring ing address amid great applause. He was followed by a German lawyer who was even more flery, If anything, than his predecessor in denouncing the outrage contemplated. The law yer was also a politician. A call for names was started and a club formed. There were 367 Swed ish-American members of the club and the Irishman and the German, 3C9 mem bers in all. And at the next meeting, postponed two weeks to elect officers, the Irishman was elected president and the German secretary and treas urer. ERNKST M'GAFFEY. (Copyright, 1908, by Joseph B. Bowles.) The first duty of a woman is her duty to her parents, and afterward to her husband and her husband's par ent*. RISE OF II REPORTER WADE H. ELLIS, ATTORNEY GEN ERAL OF OHIO. Man Who Wrote Most of Republican Platform May Be Made Head of Government Law Department If Taft Is Elected. Washington.—Faring forth from his old Kentucky home a youth of the name of Wado H. Ellis appeared on the Cincinnati horizon in the early eighties. He soon engaged himself iu chasing the elusive local Item for a newspaper there. In the little jour nalistic world of that Ohio city they still tell what a hard time young Ellis had. He frequently found him self in the awful presence of the local editor, trying to explain how the item had eluded him. Time passed and a few months ago Ellis, still comparatively a young man, began to loom on the horizon of Wash ington. If he had indifferent success in hunting news, he had done better In hunting the octopus. President Roosevelt wanted to know about him. Ellis came to Washington for a con sultation at the White House about federal trust busting, and soon there after President Roosevelt and Presi dential Candidate Taft were in need of an apostle of terse and pleasing sentences. Such a one could be util ized in national platform building. They sent for Ellis. They came, joined in the consultations, and hiked away to the sad sea waves of Virginia Reach. There he composed the more important portion of the platform. During a lull in the stressful days of the Chicago convention he confided to a friend that he wrote his best after a plunge into old ocean. And now after his name has been much featured for a few weeks In the political headlines, the erstwhile Cincinnati reporter from Covington, Ky., is discussed as the attorney gen eral for the next administration. It Wade H. Ellis. is even whispered that he may come into his own In advance of numerous Ohio faithfuls and may not have to wait for the new president to re view the inaugural parade on Pennsyl vania avenue. That is probably un true. No one in Washington is ready to believe that Attorney General Ronaparte will relinquish an office of which he is very much enamored. But Ellis may be, some say will be, Bonaparte's successor. In 1902, when he was near the end of six years' service as assistant cor poration counsel of the Queen city, some one was wanted to draft the municipal code which the Buckeye legislature was to enact. Ellis, with his reputation for balancing words splendidly, was chosen. He did the work admirably. There were many personal liberty advocates in Cincin nati whom the Republicans did not want to offend, but the convictions of other populous classes of the commu nity had to be considered. Ellis, hold ing the office that President Hayes had once held In Cincinnati, dressed the code up in the most attractive verbiage. He was widely applauded by the Republicans. The present attorney general of Ohio is slow, but he has been con stantly developing and has mastered whatever situation he found himself in. The "cub reporters" in Cincin nati laughed when he began to talk about studying law. "Hub, Lawyer Ellis," they exclaimed, lightly, "you'll make a great lawyer!" But he went ahead, and in 1889, when 23 years old, obtained his diploma from the legal department of Washington and Lee university. The following year he went up to Columbus and took the examinations that admitted him to practice before the Ohio bar. He left Cincinnati for a time, but returned and interested himself In politics, At first he was very inde pendent. He did not like George Cox, the Cincinnati boss, who, according to the orthodox Republican idea in that town, can do no wrong. The while he dabbled in politics, however, Ellis got back into newspaper work. Clients were not coming to him in such numbers, bearing fat retainers, that he was unwilling to accept the editorship of the Cincinnati Tribune. He filled the editorial chair for two years—till 1897 —when he was elect ed corporation counsel. Then he be gan to embark on a promising career. He was so successful in drafting the Cincinnati municipal code that the Republicans made him attorney g«n eral of the state in 1904 and he is still holding that Job. . S The Place to Bay Cheap S ; J. F. PARSONS' 5 CIIfiES RHEUMATISM LUMBAGO, SCIATICA NEURALGIA and KIDNEY TROUBLE "l-DIOPS" taken internally, rids the biuod of tbe poisonous matter and aoids which are tbe dl'ect oauses ot these diseases. Applied externally It affords almost In stant relief from pain, wbile a permanent oure la being effected by purifying tbe blood, dissolving tbe poisonous sub sunoe and removing it from tbe system. DR. 8. D. BLAND , Of Browton, Ga., writes: "I bad baw • •offerer fore ntimber of jrun with Lumbago and Rheumatism In ray arms and legs, and tried all the rtmedlei that I oould gather from medical works, and alio consulted wltb a number of tbe beet phy slolans. but found nothing tbat gave tbe relief obtained from "&-DROPS." 1 aball prescribe It In my praotloe lor rbeumatUm and kindred diseases.'' FREE If you are suffering with Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Kidney Trouble or any kin dred disease, write to us for a trial bottle ot "•-DROPS." »nd test It yourself. "•-DROPS" ean be used any length of time nltbout acquiring a "drug habit." as It Is entirely free of opium, cocaine, aloobol, laudanum. And other similar Ingredients. Lu« Sl«« Battle, "5-DHOPS" (>OO Daaaa) •1.00. rwßelekjDnnliU. BWAISON RHIOMATIO OURE OOSPAIV, Dept. 80. MO Lake Street, Ohloao*.^ __ __ Gives you the reading matter in M MJ%S fflvfffv ■ which you have the greatest in ■ ■ i terest —the homo news. Its every issue will prove a welcome visitor to every member of the family- tt should head your list of newspaper and periodical subscriptions. G.SCHMIDT'S,^ ""•"IT FOR FRESH BREAD, M PODlllar "FANCY CAKES, T ,CE CREAM, l_ « " CONFECTIONERY Qaily Delivery. Allordcrsgivcnpromptand skillful attention. r~ ——— Enlarging Your Business If you are in annually, and then carefully business and you note the effect it has in in« JmL want to make creasing your volume of busi- WeST lim more money you ness; whether a 10, 20 or 30 JL; B will read every P cent increase. If you word we have to watch this gain from year to wwwflS say. Are you y° u become intensely in* s|s spending your terested in your advertising, BJ VH money for ad- & fi d how you can make it en * t VI vertising in hap- large your business. Is m hazard fashion If you try this method we as if intended believe you will not want to for charity, or do you adver- let a single issue of this paper tise for direct results? goto press without something Did you ever stop to think from your store, how your advertising can be We will be pleased to have made a source of profit to you call on us, and we will you, and how its value can be take pleasure in explaining i measured in dollars and our annual contract for so cents. If you have not, you many inches, and how it can be are throwing money away. ÜBed in whatever amount that Advertising is a modern «eems necessary to you. business necessity, but must If you can sell goods over be conducted on business the counter we can also show principles. If you are not you why this paper will best satisfied with your advertising serve your interests when you you should set aside a certain want to reach the people of amount of money to be spent this community. JOB PRINTING scrams can do that class just a little cheaper than the other fellow. Wedding invitations, letter heads, bill Hfeads, sale bills, statements, dodgers, cards, etc., all receive the same careful treatment —just a little better than seems necessary. Prompt delivery always. If you are "a business man, did you ever think of the field of opportunity that advertis ing opens to you? There is almost no limit to the possi bilities of your business if you study how to turn trade into your store. If you are not get ting your share of the business of your community there's a reason. People go where they are attracted where they know what they can get and how much it is sold for. If you make direct statements in your advertising see to it that you are able to fulfill every promise you make. You will add to your business reputa tion and hold your customers. It will not cost as much to run your ad in this paper as you think. It is the persistent ad vertiser who gets there. Have something in the paper every issue, no matter how small. We will be pleased to quote you our advertising rates, par ticularly on the year's busi ness. II Ml ■— . MAKE YOUR APPEAL • to the public through thei Jk columns of this paper., jwli *• With every issue it carries its message into the homes 1 and lives of the people. Your competitor has hi* store news in this issue. Why don't you have yours? Don't blame the people for flocking to his store. They know what he has. 3
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers