Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 298, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1915 — THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF AND JAMES E. WATSON [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF AND JAMES E. WATSON

It is conceded by all that the main and vital issue between the Republican party and the Democratic partv in the political campaign of 1916 will be the Tariff. By it the party must stand or fall. This being the situation it is essential the party leadership shall be made up of men who have the ability

to maintain the party’s position before the voters. It is conceded that James E. Watson more nearly typifies the Protective Tariff idea, which will be the settled policy of the Republican party, than any other living man. This is an admitted fact, not only in Indiana, but in every other state of the American union. Watson Embodies Protective Tariff. The matter of the nomination of a Republican candidate for United States Senator from Indiana, therefore, is more than a question involving only the State of Indiana. It is nation-wide in its importance, because if the Republicans of Indiana do not accept the man who is recognized the country over as the one best equipped to lead the fight in the national congress for a Protective Tariff, the rejection of him would be taken, by implication, as a repudiation by

Indiana Republicans of the Protective Tariff issue before it has boon properly placed before the nation. This is something which should give the Republicans of Indiana pause. If the Republicans of Indiana not approve Mr. Watson as a senatorial candidate, it would not be Mr. Watson only who is rebuffed. It would be the great principle of political economy which Mr. Watson most directly represents that would be put aside. These are plain words. But they are true. If James E. Watson is discarded as the leader of the mighty contest to have a Tariff based on the policy of Protection, then.who is there to take his place? Here rests a responsibility upon the voters of Indiana that may not be brushed away. / Men Must Typify Principles.

It is not simply the election of men to office which should be our flrst thought but election of men to office who represent the things the Republican party stands for, men who can espouse and defend these fundamental principles in the forum. Democratic politicians and democrats who hold or who are seeking office, are not pleased with James E. Watson. But men in the Democratic party now who are eager to vote to restore the Protective Tariff do have confidence in him and they are giving him daily assurances of this confidence. Likewise, men now Republicans who for a brief period were attached to the Progressive party are assuring him by thousands that they are desirous of following his leadership. Watson’s Experience in Congress.

What these men want is some oae in the national Senate who knows and who can do. Watson knows how. For ten years he was a member of the National House of Representatives. He was one of the recognized leaders of that great legislative body. No greater proof of his ability and influence as a National Legislator need be mentioned than the fact that he was a Member of the powerful Ways, and Means Committee, the Committee on 'Naval Affairs, and the fact that he was chosen by his Republican colleagues for four successive terms as Whip of the House.

Mr. Watson is prepared now. With him in the Senate, Indiana would at once take the lead in national legislation. His ability, experience and efficiency form an asset for service in the United States Senate that the Republican party of Indiana can not afford to dispense with. —Adv.

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES SENATE

JAMES E. WATSON