Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1916 — THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN FOR WILSON. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN FOR WILSON.

The surprising ..Wring is that Mr. Hughes desires to become the President of a country that has gotten into such a miserable condition. The signs are- that Candidate Hughes will be so busy assailing President Wilson’s policies that he won’t have time to tell just what he will do if elected. Requests that he state what he would have done under the circumstances are possibly regarded by Mr. Hughes with the suspicion which many jurists entertain for the hypothetical question. In one term President Wilson has cleaned up all political issues of a quarter of a century and has made this campaign a choice between a party of honest achievement and a party of carping criticism, between a leader and a follower. There never was a great man who was not criticised. But is it the man of achievement, or the critic, that survives?—Starke County Democrat. Illinois, long famous for highpriced farm lands and bad roads, is beginning to wake up to the fact that if one has a good thing he must provide a way to get to it. Stockland township, over in Iroquois county, has just let the contract for a seven-mile stretch of brick-paved road at a cost of $7,500 per mile. Such an improvement is expensive, hut its permanency will i n the long run prove economical and an incalculable benefit to those who get to use it. The greatest era of roadbuilding in the country’s history has Jus* begun and the near future will witness a marvelous change in the constru-' n —* highways. Every auto driver j y naturally become a

good roads enthusiast and as their already great number increases the demand for perfect roads will grow.

The action of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Republican in coming out for the re-election of President Wilson is significant, but not surprising. The Republican is a thoughtful, patriotic journal, and though its political affiliations agree with its name, it is no slave to party. It has defended President Wilson against unjust attacks; it has given unstinted praise to his handling of the submarine question; it has appreciated the sound Americanism and nattve instinct for democracy which have dictated his course toward Mexico. At a time like the present, so logical a paper could hardly do otherwise than support the eanrii date whose record it approves against a man who has dodged even a statement of his position on some of the most important questions before the country. But the importance of the event is none the less because it was foreseen. The Springfield Republican is spokesman for a large and most influential class of Eastern voters; thoughtful, studious nmn whose conservatism does not blind them to the fact that the world moves, and whose inherited fondness for the G! O. P. never degenerates into unthinking partisanship. They and their chosen paper think along the same lines, have the same"general estimate of values, and arrive at substantially the same conclusions. The action of the Republican indicates that a goodly number of this group of voters have decided tc cast their ballots for Wilson. Another considerable section will be persuaded to do the same before the campaign closes, for the Republican probably wields a stronger political influence in proportion to its circulation than any other paper in America. Mr. Wilson is to he congatulattd on his new supporter—and the Republican on its candidate. They are worthy of each other.—Chicago Journal.