Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1903 — POLITICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

POLITICS OF THE DAY

“Torn the Rascal* Out.” What little of the postoffice scandals that has been allowed to come to tight and the charges made of official shortcomings In other departments, makes It evident that the entire official machinery of the nation is clogged with dishonesty. Every department end bureau that has been even partially Investigated, teems with loot and dishonesty that parallels, If it does not exceed, the era of robbery that culminated in the election of TUden. The Star Itoute frauds; the Mulligan letters; the Credit Mobilier, and the Paclflc Mail subsidy were crimes for which the people held the Republican purty responsible. The voters are now confronted with the postal scandals, the Cuban looting, the Agricultural Department rottenness. the I .and Department frauds, the Porto Rican smuggling cases, and the War Department ami Philippine infamies, besides charges against the other departments that have not jjst been Investigated and which will doubtless swell the unsavory record. The old cry that aroused the country, “Turn the rascals out,” will again be the slogan of the coming presidential campaign. The extortion of the .trusts and the robbery of the people by the protection granted to the combines, uader the tariff, bad ns It Is, does not compare with the delinquencies of the officials who have been placed in power preserve the lights ami pockets of ,'sie people. Without an honest adiniuftlttation the government becomes but

pillage and piracy; back of all economic issues must be ordinary honesty in public servants. To pass laws to reform the tariff or control the trusts will be worthless unless the rascals, who seem to infest every department, arc turned out nud honest public servants Installed to administer* the reforms. The first and greatest reform )s to “turn the rascals out,” especially those who are the highest in command and who, either by collusion or incompetent management, have allowed the looting without an effort to stay It. Even now they are trying to hamper the investigations and, by refusing to give the facts to the public, are trying to divert the people's minds into other channels. The interest of those in charge of the fortunes of the Repub’ionn party is to cover up delinquencies for the good of the party and to scrutinize as little as possible the wrong doings of their subordinates. It is therefore the leaders that must be turned out and the punishment of the lesser culprits will duly follow. It is impossible for an administration to reform itself. Every politician, great and small, even the honest ones, dislike to .see disclosures made that reflect on the party and oufy Just enough is allowed to come to light to appear that purification is intended. The evidence has been furnished that months before the postotfice scandals were revealed. President Roosevelt was Informed that gross frauds were being perpetrated, yet no investigation was ordered until the newspapers took up the “get rich quick” frauds and these led to the other exposures. For over two years it was known and published that members of the postotfice crowd were bleeding the publications for permission to mail at the one-cent a pohnd rate, but neither President Roosevelt nor his Postmaster General ordered any investigation of the charge*, though appealed to for that purpose. A new deal is therefore necenaary and the rascals must be turned out before reform Is possible.

That Open Poor. The growl of the Russian bear has bluffed Mr. Hay into believing that the brute may bite if too many liberties are taken with him. Mr. Hay, as the diplomatic advisor of President R>oseyelt, has persuaded that impulsive gentleman that he must be more considerate of the feelings of the Russlars or the work of years and the expenditure of thousands of lives and millions of treasure in the Philippines wili be worthless. The people of the United "iates weue induced to believe that the retention of the Philippines as a coiony wofikl give the United States a key to the door of China and that after opening k untold wealth would be theirs. But

somehow In the shuffling of the card* the little Joker has always fallen Into the hand dealt to Russia and that gave her the command of the game. It is therefore not surprising to be officially informed that the key to the open door has been mislaid and that further diplomatic arrangements about free ports In Manchuria has been postponed to a more convenient season. In the language of diplomacy, tha Incident has been closed, for the present, but, in plain English, the door liaa been slammed in our faces and Russia has the key on the Inside. Is our “matchless diplomacy” at fault or has President Roosevelt been too rash and hasty in his efforts to condilate a certain element In our politics who could aid him In his ambition to succeed himself? Whichever horn of the dilemma the administration asks us to take, it shows that those who, by fate, are managing.our affairs are Hot equal to the occasion. It requires a greater man than Roosevelt or John Hay to conic out even in the game of diplomacy with the Russlau bear.

Compromising with Trusts. The efforts of the administration to control the trusts seems to have subsided with the suit against the railroad merger and the beef combine. Perhaps President Roosevelt amt hi* Attorney General have become discouraged by the small results obtained, or have l>eeome converts to the Hanna plan of “letting well enough alone.” It is quite probable that the bad trusts,

which includes nearly all of them, have found a way to propitiate the trustbusting proclivities of the administration, as the protectionists found a way to emasculate the lowa idea and render it harmless. Reform has never been a strong card with the Republicans. At times they have pretended their great desire to uproot political evils, but these virtuous moments have always preceded elections and have ever subsided and ebbed when the crisis laid passed and they could point to the indorsement that had been given by the voters of their conduct of affa'rs. The Republican leaders have perpetually been hankering for the flesh pots that the trusts and corporations hold out as the bait to obtain Immunity for their extortion. The donations of the trusts and corporations to Republican campaign funds have been reciprocated by tariff protection that enabled the trusts to amply recuperate their depleted bauk- accounts from exorbitant profits from the people.

Judging the future by the past, history Is repeating Itself and the present immunity that the trusts are enjoying Is an arrangement mutually satisfactory to them and to the Republican leaders. Attorney General Knox Is said not to favor any more legal proceedings against the trusts and as lie was a trust attorney before he became a member of Jlie cabinet, bis reported lack of sympathy with any further doubtless a correct solution of his reason for not acting. The President and his Attorney General are In a quandary about further action against the trusts. UNCLE SAM SEES THINGS.

The World’s Oldest Librerj. The oldest library In the world Is that of Nippur, from which cuneiform tablets antedating Abrahatn hare been taken. S