Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/341

 many of them sought the "honour." They paid out great sums trying to get it. The politicians told me that these bankers, editors and business men were "played for suckers" year after year; and any Oregonian will tell you with a laugh the names of the victims of this long-drawn-out comedy.

U'Ren understood this. In 1897 Senator Mitchel was to be reelected; U'Ren had no doubt of that, and he called on him to trade "Pop" votes for his help on the initiative and referendum. Politician as he was, Mitchell talked favourably in August, not at all in November, and just before the session, "went back on" the measure entirely. He told U'Ren why.

"I've got three "Pop" votes that nobody can get away," he said.

"Are you sure?" asked U'Ren, who could hardly believe that the Populists, so new and so enthusiastic, would surrender so soon to "the conditions that make men bad." *

Mitchell was sure; he advised U'Ren not to introduce the bill. "My people won't stand for it," the Senator said.

Mitchell had made one other shift of position. A Silver Republican all through the Oregon campaign (which ended in the June election), he came out after it for McKinley and gold.