Saturday, May. 12, 1923
Imperial Washington
With Scornful Eye and Harpy Tongue, Senator Pettigrew Views With Alarm*
Richard Franklin Pettigrew, of Sioux Falls, was elected to the United States Senate in 1889. He remained there until 1902 when Mark Hanna "raised a vast sum of money to corrupt the voters of South Dakota."
Now he has published his memoirs.* Expressed in simplest terms and in Mr. Pettigrew's own phrase, the volume aims to suggest that "politicians serve the business interests first and the public afterwards." (Mr. Pettigrew is ostensibly Socialist--though he started Republican and in 1896 became Populist-Democrat.)
For those who like to take their vitriol straight the following excerpts are printed: Of the Federal Constitution. "The Convention of 1787 that framed the Constitution of the United States was dominated by lawyers, moneylenders and land owners. The Constitution thus framed did not create a government of the people; its whole purpose was to promote and protect the rights of property more than the rights of man."
Of Bryan. ... he "has showed himself for what he is--an American politician, vacillating, uncertain, overlooking the fundamental things, ignorant of the forces that are shaping American public life, incapable of thinking in terms of reality, but making phrases as a substitute for thought."
Of lawyers-in-government. "The lawyers enact the laws, interpret the laws and enforce the laws. The Government is a lawyer-government, and we are a lawyer-ridden country."
Of Grover Cleveland. "His naturally perverse disposition was supplemented by personal habits that made it next to impossible for any one to work with him."
Of McKinley. "The incident gave me an insight into McKinley's character and may possibly have had something to do, in addition to other things, with my walking out of the St. Louis Convention in 1896, after McKinley's nomination."
Of Roosevelt. "Theodore Roosevelt ... sent the following telegram: 'Good Lord, I hope we can beat Pettigrew for the Senate. That particular swine seems to me, on the whole, the most obnoxious of the entire drove.'"
Of Wilson. "Wilson went to Paris as the representative of the New York banks."
Comparing Taft with Wilson. "Taft is amiable imbecility. Wilson is wilful and malicious imbecility, and I prefer Taft."
Of Mark Hanna. "Mr. Hanna was furious at what I had said about him and he determined that he would have revenge! My term in the Senate would expire in 1901, and Mark Hanna made up his mind to prevent my reelection. Mr. Hanna raised a vast sum of money to corrupt the voters of South Dakota. ... I was very badly beaten in the election."
Of Senator Edmunds. "I quote from page 192 of Charles Francis Adams' autobiography: "... He was distinctly dishonest--a senatorial bribe-taker.' ... I have tried to decide who this Senator was and I am of the opinion it was Edmunds of Vermont."
Of Chauncey Depew. "... convinced me that Chauncey Depew was a phrasemaker of but little intellect, to balance considerable avoirdupois."
Of Joe Cannon. "So much for the weak Mr. Bryan. Now for the corrupt Joe Cannon."
Of Harding. " Harding never read the Declaration of Independence and never heard of Thomas Jefferson."
Four of Mr. Pettigrew's contemporaries--President Harrison, Senator La Follette, Eugene Debs and Arthur Brisbane (Hearst editor)-- receive favorable mention.
Of Arthur Brisbane. "Brisbane, in my opinion, has more general knowledge of the past and present and of books than any other man in America, and he seems to have the material ready for use."
*IMPERIAL WASHINGTON--Richard F. Pettigrew-- Charles H. Kerr, Chicago.