Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1904 — POLITICAL COMMENT. [ARTICLE]

POLITICAL COMMENT.

A Record of Achievement The most inspiring part of a Republican platform Is the preamble, for it is there that the party’s glorious accomplishments are recounted. The liter tory of -the Republican party is substantially a history of the country’s growth and progress for half a century. It was under Republican rule and through Republican policies that the great achievements which have placed the United States in the front rank of nations of the earth were performed. The magnificent result, therefore, Is the enduring testimonial to the wisdom and patriotism of the party which first took the reins of power under the administration of Abraham Lincoln, and, with two brief intermissions, has held them ever since. The platform adopted at Chicago very naturally points with pride. It holds up to view a record of things done which invites and commands confidence in the pledges of things yet to do. It well says that “this long tenure of power by the Republican part}’ 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.” A continuance of the policies which have been so valuable to the country and so inseparable from its

prosperity in former years is promised; .protection to home industry is to be maintained, the sound money system upheld, our trade Interests abroad strengthened and expanded. The prominence given to the tariff plank and the emphasis with wbfeb it is Worded are a challenge to the Democratic party to again make protection the paramount Issue—a challenge which, in the paucity and poverty of Democracy’s resources, may be accepted. If in the approaching campaign and election the country weighs the merits of the respective parties upon the scales of their past accomplishments and failures, there will be another overwhelming Republican victory recorded next November. —Kansas City Journal.

“ Stand Pat.” The origin of the expression, 1 pat," Is thus related by the Jacksoi vllle Tlmes-Unlon, the leading Democratic newspaper of Florida: “When Hanna, the stout-hearted, was approached by a number of reformers, who all agreed that the tariff must be reformed, he waited till each had spoken, and then called for his stenographer: ‘Now, gentlemen,’ said he, ‘give us the items.’ Thereupon there was discord dire, for no two among them could agree on the schedule. The Senator listened until the futility of their arguments was fully apparent, and again spoke: ‘We can’t revise without cutting out somebody, and nobody consents to be cut I tpU you what I will do —let’s stand pat.’ ” Whether or not the Incident is accurately described in detail does not matter much. The fact remains that the Btout-hearted Hanna, the blg-bralned, the level-headed Hanna, did the Republican party a great service when he applied to the question of tariff tinkering that now celebrated plAise. Brought face to face with the practical proposition, “Give us the items,” the reformers weakened. They could not give the items. No man living can give them. Hie late Thomas B. Reed wittily remarked that tariff making and tariff revising ore very easy things—"ln the mind.” Not »o, however, when It comes to framing and adopting tariff schedules on the floor of Congress. Then and there it la that you must “give na the items.” Giving the items In a tariff bill is no mere child’s play. The reformer* could not give the items to Senator Hanna; they could only iuaa and fret and And fault. That was why tfaa big man said to "Let’s stand

pat” It was good advice then. It is good advice now. —— l —- Why They Were Necessary. There is one thing regarding these bond issues that Mr. Cleveland does not explain, and that is why they were made necessary. He does, indeed, say “popular distrust was a perplexing and dangerous element in the situation,” but what had caused this popular distrust? A critical examination of all the events that preceded Mr. Cleveland’s administration makes it quite clear that the great event that caused “popular distrust” was the election of Mr. Cleveland himself. He went into office with the avowed purposo of breaking down the protection policy of the country. All business men knew this meant dealing a deadly blow at a large proportion of the manufacturing industries of the country. Business men distrusted one another, and bankers distrusted them all. New enterpri9es were at once stopped, old ones curtailed, and everybody ran for shelter. All this destroyed the confidence of everyone in everyone else; and, lastly, it destroyed the confidence of the public in the United States treasury itself. These are the facts that led to the condition Mr. Cleveland described, and made his frequent bond issues nec-

essary. In short, the chief cause of the calamity was the presence In the White House of Mr. Cleveland as the champion of a dangerous economic policy.—Gunton’s Magazine.

Roosevelt and Fairbanks. The national convention’s choice of Roosevelt and Fairbanks is but the formal record of tho choice already made by the rank and file of Hie Republican party. Theodore Roosevelt —the faithful heir of William McKinley—stands for national self-respect, peace and prosperity. He is of himself the type of achieving American manhood. His nomination has been all but sure ever since the Republicans of Illinois declared him their choice for IDO4. He Is nominated not only for what he has done as President, but also for what •e Is as an American Man. Charles Warren Fairbanks was decisively Indicated for the Vice Presidential nomination by his character and record and by the logic of the political situation. He has well deserved the honor, both as a vital Republican force in a pivotal State and because of the confidence that he Ingres In men of business affairs throughout the nation. He strengthens the President where the President needs strength. With such candidates the Republican party has nothing to explain or excuse In behalf of Its chosen leaders. The personalities of both are well known throughout the nation. They do not have to he Interpreted by others or be taken upon the assurances of anyone. They speak for themselves, and In no uncertain tone. With such leaders, standing for policies Republican and national In every respect, the Republican party deserves success. It has earned it—Chicago Inter Ocean.

Learn Nothing, Forget Nothing, The West Virginia Democrats have ngaln raised the issue of “a tariff for revenue only.” It was a West Virginia man, Congressman Wilson, who gave Ills name to the tariff-for-revenue hill enacted during the Cleveland administration, which prostrated the industries of the country, reduced the working people to poverty and restored the Republican party to* power. The West Virginia Democrats are Bourbons who learn nothing and forget nothing.— Wllkesbarre Record. Egyptian cotton k need only for high-priced goods. .