Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1904 — REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. [ARTICLE]

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.

Fifty years ago the . Republican party came Into existence, dedicated among other purposes to the great task of arresting the extension of human nlaVery. In 1800 It elected Its flrst President. During twentyfour of the forty-four years which have elapsed since the election of Lincoln the Republican party has held complete control of the government. For eighteen more of the forty-four years It has held partial control through the possession of one or two branches of the government, while tha Democratic party during the same period has had complete control for only two years. This long tenure of power by the Republican party is not due to chance. It Is a demonstration that the Republican party has commanded the confidence of the American people for nearly two generations to a degree never equaled In our history, and has displayed a high capacity for rule and government which has been made even wore conspicuous by the incapacity and uniformity of purpose shown by Its opponents. The Republican party entered upon Its present period of complete supremacy In 1897. We have every right to congratulate ourselves upon tho work since then accomplished, for It has odded luster even to the traditions of the party which carried the government through the storms of civil war. We then found the country after four years of Democratic rule In evil plight, oppressed with misfortune and doubtful of the future. Public credit had been lowered, the revenues were declining, the debt wa»* growing, the administration’s attitude toward Spain was feeble and mortifying, the standard of values was threatened and uncertain, labor was unemployed, business was sunk In the depression which had succeeded the panic of 1903, hope was a faint and confidence was gone. *■ Consistent Protective Tariff.

We met these unhappy conditions vigorously, effectively and at once. We replaced a Democratic tariff law, based on free-trade principles and garnished with sectional protection, by a consistent protective tariff, and Industry, freed from oppression and stimulated by the encouragement of wise laws, has expanded to a degree never before known, has conquered new markets and has created a volume of exports which has surpassed Imagination. Under the Dlngley tariff labor has been fully employed. Wages have risen and all Industries have revived and prospered. We firmly established the gold standard, which was then menaced with destruction. Confidence returned to business, and with confidence an unexampled prosperity. For deficient revenues supplemented by Improvident issues of bonds we gave the country an Income which produced a large surplus and which enabled us only four years after the Spanish war had closed to remove one hundred millions of annual war taxes, reduce the public debt and lower the Interest charges of the government. The public credit, which had been so lowered that In time of peace a Democratic administration made large loans at extravagant rates of Interest In order to pay current expenditures, rose under Republican administration to ltta highest point and enabled us to borrow at 2 per cent even In time of war. We refused to palter longer with the miseries of Cuba. We fought a quick and victorious war with Spain. We set Cuba free, governed the Island for three years and then gave It to the Cuban people with order restored, with ample revenues, with education and public health established, free from debt and connected with the United States by wise provisions for our mutual Interests. We have organlze(j the government of Porto Rico and Its people now enjoy peace, freedom, order and prosperity. In the Philippines we have suppressed In surrection, established order and given to life and property a security never known there before. We have organized civil government, made It effective and strong In ad ministration and have conferred upon the people of those Islands the largest civil liberty they hare ever enjoyed. By our possession of the Philippines we were enabled to take prompt and effective action In the relief of the legations at Peking and a decisive part In preventing the partition and In the preserving of the Integrity of China. The possession of a route for an Isthmian canal, so long the dream of American statesmanship, is now an accomplished fact. The great work of connecting the Pacific uud Atlantic oceans by a canal is at last begun, and It Is due to the Republican party. We have passed laws which will bring the arid lands of the United States with in the area of civilization. We have reorganized the army and put It In the highest state of efficiency. We have passed laws for the Improvement and support of the militia. We have pushed forward the building of the navy, the defense and the protection of our honor and our Interests. Our administration of the great departments of the government has been honest and efficient, and wherever wrongdolng’has been discovered the Republican administration has not hesitated to probe the evil and bring offenders to Justice without regard to party or political ties. Have Fought Trusts. Laws enacted by the Republican party which the Democratic party failed to enforce, and which were Intended for the protection of the public against the unjust discrimination or the Illegal encroachment of vast aggregations of capital have been fearlessly enforced by a Republican President, and new laws Insuring reasonable publicity as to the operation of great corporations and providing additional remedies for the prevention of discrimination In freight rates huve been passed by a Republican Congress In this record of achievement during the past eight years may he read the pledges which the Republican party has fulfilled. We propose to contlnuo these policies, and we declare oar constant adherence to the following principles: Protection which guards and develops our Industries Is a cardinal policy of the Republican party. The measure of protection should always at least equal the difference In the cost of production at home and abroad. We Insist upon the maintenance of the principles of protection, and therefore the rates of duty should be readjusted only when conditions have so changed that the public Interest demands their alteration, but this work ernnot safely be committed to any other hands than those of the Republican party. To Intrust It to the Democratic party Is to Invite disaster. Whether, as In 1892, the Democratic party declared tho protective tariff unconetltntlonal, or whether It demands tariff reform or tariff revision. Its real object Is always the destruction of the protective system. However specious the name, the purpose Is ever the same. A Democratic tariff has always been followed by business adversity; a Republican tariff by business prosperity. To a Republican Congress and a Republican President this great question esn be safely lntrueted. When the only free trade country among the great nations agitates a return to protection the chief protective country snonld not falter In maintaining It. We have extended widely our foreign market*, and we believe In the adoption of all practicable methods for their further

extension. Including commercial reciprocity where reciprocal arrangements can lx* effected consistent with the principles of protection and wlthont Injury to American agriculture, American labor or any American Industry. We believe It to be the duty of the Republican party to uphold the gold standard and the Integrity and valne of onr national currency. The maintenance of the gold standard, established by the Republican party, cannot safely 1 ' be committed to the Democratic party, which resisted Its adoption and has never given any proof since that time of belief In it or fidelity to it. While every other Industry has prospered under the fostering aid of Republican legislation, American shipping engaged In foreign trade in competition with the low coat of construction, low wage* and heavy subsidies of foriegn governments has not for many years received from the government of the United State# adequate encouragement of any kind. We therefore favor legislation which will encourage and build np the American merchant niarlne, and we cordially approve the legislation of the last Congress which created the merchant marine commission to Investigate and report upon the subject. A navy powerful enough to defend the United States against any attack, to ophold the Monroe doctrine and watch over our commerce Is essential to the safety and the welfare of the American people. To maintain such a navy la the fixed policy of the Republican party. Approve President’s Attitude. We cordially approve the attitude of President Roosevelt and Congress In regard to the exclusion of Chinese labor, and promise a contlnnance of the Republican policy in that direction. Ths civil service law was placed on the statute books by the Republican party, which has always sustained It, and we renew our former declarations that It shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced. We are always mindful of the country's debt to the soldiers and sailors of the United States, and we believe In ifiaklng ample provision for them and in tho liberal administration of the pension laws. We favor the peaceful settlement of International differences by arbitration. We commend the vigorous efforts mads by tho administration to protect American citizens in foreign lands and pledge ourselves to Insist upon the Just and equal protection of all our citizens abroad. It Is ths unquestioned duty of the government to procure for all our citizens, without distinction, the rights of travel and sojourn In friendly countries, and we declare ourselves In favor of all proper efforts tending to that end. Onr great Interests and our growing commerce in the Orient render the condition of China of high Importance to the United States. We cordially commend the policy pursued In that direction by the administration of President McKinley and President Roosevelt. We fnvor such congressional action as shall determine whether by special discriminations the elective franchise In any State has been unconstitutionally limited, and, If such Is the case, we demand that representation In Congress and In the electoral college shall be proportionately reduced ns directed by the Constitution of the United States. Combinations of capital and of labor are the results of the economic movement of the age, but neither must be permitted to infringe upon the rights and Interests of the people. Such combinations when lawfully formed for lawful purposes are alike entitled to the protection of the laws, but both are subject to the laws and neither can lie permitted to break them. Tribute to McKinley. The great statesman and patriotic American, William McKinley, who was re-elect-ed by the Republican party to the presidency four years ago. was assassinated Just at the threshold of nls second term. The entire nation mourned his untimely death and did that Justice to his great qualities of mind and character which history will confirm and repeat. The American people were fortunate In his successor, to whom they turned with s trust and confidence which have been fully Justified. President Roosevelt brought to the great responsibilities thus sadly forced upon lilm a clear head, a brave heart, an curnest patriotism, and high Ideals of public duty and public service. True to ths principles of the Republican party and to the policies which that party had declared, he has also shown himself, ready for every emergency and has met new and rltal questions with ability and with soccess. The confidence of the people In bis Justice, Inspired by his public career, enabled him to render personally an inestimable service to the country by bringing about a settlement of the coal strike, which threatened such disastrous results at the opening of winter in 1902. Our foreign policy under his administration has not only been able, vlgurous and dignified, but In the highest degree successful. The complicated questions which arose In Venezuela were settled In such a way by President Roosevelt that the Monroe doctrine was signally vindicated and the cause of peace and arbitration greatly advanced. His prompt and vigorous action In Panama, which we commend In the highest terms, not only secured to us the canal route, but avoided foreign complications which might have been of a very serious character. He has continued the policy of President McKinley In the Orient, and our position In China, signalized by our recent commercial treaty with that empire, has never been so high He secured the tribunal by which ths vexed and perilous question of the Alaskan boundary was finally settled. Whenever crimes against humanity have been perpetrated which have shocked our people, his protest has been made, and our good offices have been tendered, but always with due regard to International obligations. Under his guidance we find ourselves at peace with all the world, and never wers we more respected or our wishes mors regarded by foreign nations Pre-eminently successful In regard to our foreign relations, he has been equally fortunate In dealing with domestic questions. The country has known that the publle credit and the national currency were absolutely safe In the hands of his administration. In the enforcement of the laws be has shown not only courage, but tb* wisdom which understands that to permit laws to be violated or disregarded opens the door to anarchy, while the lost enforcement of the law Is the soundest conservatism. He has held firmly to the fundamental American doctrine that all men must obey tbs law. that these must be no distinction between rich and poor, between strong, and weak, but that Justice and equal 7 protection under the law must be secured to every citizen without regard to race, creed or condition. Ills administration has been throughout vigorous and honorable, high-minded and patriotic. We commend It without reservation to the considerate Judgment of tb* American people.