Atwood Hammond High School - Post Yearbook (Atwood, IL)

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W. E. Lorimer. Augustus South, ’ll. When the time came for the election of another United States Senator for the State of Ilinois, the names that stood highest on the list were Hopkins and Foss, Hopkins being the choice of the Republicans at the Primary. Mr. Lorimer, although not an avowed candidate, received only a few votes. The deadlock which followed was soon broken, however, by the election of Mr. Lorimer. Scarcely had the tedium of the long election disappeared when rumors liegan to enin ground to the effect that Mr. Lorimer gained his seat in the Senate by ouestionable. not to say corrupt methods. In a short time an aroused public opinion was demanding a thorough investigation. Now what did this thorough canvassing of the case which followed reveal and what is the significance for us? In the first place the evidence showed beyond the shadow of a doubt that bribery was freelv used at this time by his friends in his behalf, and that he was in Springfield at the time such corruption took place and freely associated with those by whose cor-runt influence he was. elected. As the hearing of the case progressed, two questions became paramount: First, admitting that bribery was used and this was generally conceded. did Mr. Lorimer know of and sanction this briberv? Second, granting that he had no knowledge of such cornmtion, is the existence of bribery not enough of itself to invalidate the whole election? Now. in answering the first of these great onestions. it w»s not nroven that Mr. Lorimer was directly connected with or knew of the Hrikerv. nevertheless his nreseuee in Snringfield during the whole cam-v ai«m looks verv snsoicious. Also it would seem that he must have been exceedingly dull not to have known about it. That a man of Mr. Lori-mer’s political experience and astuteness could have been in So: ingfield at the time this wholesale corruption took place and could have worked day and night with the very men who were doing the bribing and knew nothing about it surpasses belief. We are forced to the conclusion that either he had a guilty knowledge of this corruption or else that he has not sufficient intelligence to be a United States Senator, and in either case he ought to resign. However, we shall drop this phase of the question and concern ourselves with what is after all the ledly vital question in the Lorimer case, viz.: Is not any degree of corruption in an election whether with or without the ! uowlcdge of the candidate in itself enough to invalidate the whole election ? Ladies and gentlemen, I contend that it is. We have reached a point in our national growth when we must assume a high moral standard in our public conduct if we are to maintain our honor and our institutions intact. This, the dawn of the twentieth century, is no time for a great people to onibble over the amount of corruption necessary to vitiate an election. Corruption in whatever degree is corruption, and any nation which blinks at or condones it is inviting its own ultimate destruction. Shall we permit to be introduced into the veins of our vigorous young republic any amount, however small, of that fatal poison? ('an we afford to send men to our law-making bodies who have been elected bv corruption? That, my friends, is the real i sue in this case. It is not a question of Mr. Lorimer’s personality, nor is it a question of sentiment, as Mr. Bai-

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The Preliminary Contest. Fern Mastkrson, ‘11. The preliminary oratorical contest between Beinent, Hammond and Atwood was held April 21, in the First Christian Church in Atwood. The program began about eight o’clock with a song by the Atwood High School, after which Rev. Thom vs gave the invocation. The essays we e i x . and tlire • contestants. Miss Audrey Whistler of Bement, Miss Fima South of Hammond and Miss Winifred Wilson of Atwood entere 1 for this event. The essays were all very good, and showed that considerable time and thought had been spent on them. There were only two entries for the declamation, namely: Mr. Paul Flower of Bement and Miss Rita Storev of Atwood. The rendition ol their selections displaced individual talent and the interest of the audience was held throughout. Next came the oration, but since neither Bement nor Hammond were represented in this. Mr. Augustus South of Atwood had no competitor. TTis oration was interesting, and he delivered it in a forcible manner. The contestants for the piano solo were Mdss Nelda Lamb of Bement and ML -Me’en Dam of Atwood. Helen’s pre sen tat ion of “be Re”eil D’amour,” a seventh grade selection showed sympathetic interpretation and received benrtv applause. As soon as the contest was over the .judges, who were from Champaign. Illinois, repaired to an ante-room to make their decisions. While they were discussing the merits of the contestants, the Hammond and Atwood High Schools and also the alumni of the Atwood High School, entertained the audience with various school songs and veils. After about forty minutes of impatient waiting by the audience the judges reappeared and their decisions were announced by Mr. Samuels. Miss Audrey Whistler of Bement won first place in the essay with a grade of 8!) 2-3, while Miss Winifred Wilson of Atwood was a close second, having obtained 89 1-3 points. Miss Rita Storey of Atwood was victor in the declamation, having a grade of 95. while Mr. Paul Flower of Bement had 9+ 2-3 points. Mr. Augustus South of Atwood won the oration without competition. Miss TTe'en Davis of Atwood easilv won the piano solo over her opponent, Miss Nelda Lamb of Bement. Tbe former obtained 96. while tbe latter bad a grade of 91 2-3. Atwood was well pleased with the victorv of her contestants, and all departed from tbe preliminary contest with a feeling of pride and expectation of greater victories at the final meet on May 19tli.

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ley and Mr. Lorimer would have us believe. If Mr. Lorimer worked his way up from a bootblack to I niter! States Senator; if, as a young man, by many acts of kindness, he made a host of friends, we are glad. '-Ve are proud that there are many things about his career that serve to prove the possibilities of American citizenship, hut we should not allow these things to obscure the fact that cor ruption was used in his cation, as Mr. Beveridsre, in answer to the somewhat foolish argument that Mr. Lori mer possessed no had habits, that his private character was unblemished, said: “The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la. have nothing to do with tin case.” While we take no stock in the wholesa’e denunciation and muckraking language which have been hurled at the United States Sen ate, nevertheless we believe that the Senate has overlooked the vital question in this case and has assumed a position fraught with fatal consequence for the republic. The lessons of history are plain. They sneak with thundering elo-ouence of the fate of that nation which permits corruption to miter into its life. Because the sons of Samuel took bribes, ancient ■ Israel was hurried into monarchy. The Praetorian guards of Rome, seduced by gold, raised a usurper to the ini penal throne and at once the glory of the greatest empire the world had seen began to wane. We have reached a high stage of national development. Success and prosperity in a full measure have been our lot. Shall we, flushed with the splendor of a brilliant success, fail to read the lessons of time? Shall we cease to strive onward and upward? Shall we allow the subtle and insidious forces of iniquity to find their way into the life blood of the nation. The place of the United States is at the forefront of the nations as a moral and spiritual power. We are a liberty loving people but there can be no permanent liberty without honesty and righteous ness. “You may build your eapitol of granite,” said Wendell Phillips, “and pile it as high as the Hockv mountains; if it is founded in or mixed up with corruption, the pulse of a girl will in time beat it down.” Democracy is on trial in America, and if it is to come forth victorious and free from the blighting effects of corruption we must do our part. Let us quicken our consciences and bestir ourselves from the moral apathy into which we have fallen. We are just now flushed with an unparalleled commercial and industrial success. We have carried the flag to sunny Hawaii, the Philippines and the bleak shores of the north, and for that very reason, if for no other, it behooves us to keep in mind those stirring lines of Kipling: “Hod of our fathers known of old — Lord of our far-flung battle line, Beneatli whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine— Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet Lest we forget! Lest we forget!”