Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 October 1904 — POLITICAL COMMENT [ARTICLE]

POLITICAL COMMENT

Parker’s Better of Acceptance. The lion. Alton B.Parker's letter accepting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency is even more remarkable than his speech to the noiificatim committee at Esopus last month. As regards the Democratic past, he enters a pica of guilty, with some extenuating Concerting the Democratic future, especially dur ng the four years from next Mai li -1. he again lays emphasis upon the fact that the United States Senate is certain to remain Republican, and then the Democrats would be unable to do much national harm in case of a Democratic victory next November In a nutshell, .Judge Parker declares that the gold standard must remain Inviolate; that the tariff must not be tinkered with if by such tinkering (business conditions are to be disturbed; that in his belief the existing laws for the regulation of trusts are adequate; that the Panama canal must be built, and quickly, along the route selected; that civil service re-

form in the governmental service is here to stay. In what wise does the position of Judge Parker differ from that of the Republican party upon these questions? As regards the Philippines, he would give them a promise of independence as soon as the natives ‘are leasonably prepared for it” How gloriously indefinite this sounds, when coming from a man to Whom the Democratic hosts have looked for constructive leadership! And how gloriously impracticable such a promise seems at the present time! The Hon. Alton B. Parker’s letter is no bugle call. It is no summons to aggressive action. It does not betray hope. It does not inspire confidence. Its prevailing tone is one of resignation. In a word, if seems to have been written largely to keep the record dear. A candidale who puts forth such a document certainly can have no • strong expectation of victory.—Chicago Inter Ocean. The “Party of the Dawn.” There will be, nt the polls in Nocember, something more than a million of young men, who have reached their majority since the fall of IDQO, and who will therefore cast their first national vote in November, at the presidential election. Thia election is the beginning of their political life. How will they vote? Will they cast in their lot with the party of progress, the party that does things; or will they turn their faces from the sunrise to cast their lot with the party which acts as a drag on national progress, which camps among the ruins of the past, which this year has, with no more than a tacit acknowledgment, pitched Its tents on the heights where the Republican party drew its battle line for the gold standard and honest money, eight long years ago, under the leadership of the revered McKinley? The strength of the Republican party has always lain in the fact that it Is the party of national progress, of development along the natural lines of growth. ' This has, year by year, attracted to it the progressive young voters—that element smong the young men whloh embraces the educated and enlightened part It has been so ever since the Republican party’s birth, in 1854. One of the young men then was John Hay, who

has be tn Secretary of State since 1898 j —the year of the Spanish war. Born I in 1838, he did not reach voting age until 185"—the year before that in which Abraham Lincoln was first elected President. He is a son of, the West, for lie was born in Salem, Ind. When he started out in his early manhood, as a lawyer, in Illinois, he was one of the throng of young men who gathered about Abraham Lincoln in his memorable struggle with Stephen A. Douglas for the Senatorship from that State, lie became one of the two private secretaries of Mr. Lincoln during the latter's- entire presidency, and liis subsequent career Is an inspiration to alt young men of ambition and of high ideals. Mr. Hay, who is now regarded by all civilized nations as the leading diplomatist of the world, is anxious that the young men of the nation shall start with their feet in the path of American progress and national glory. In an address to young Americans, he says: ‘T want to say a word to the- young men whose political life is beginning.

“Any one entering business would be glad of the chance to become oue of an established firm with years of success behind it. “Everything great done by this country in the last fifty years has been done under the auspices of the Republican party. Is not this a priceless asset? “Lincoln and Grant, Hayes and Garfield, Harrison and McKinley—names secure in the heaven of fame—they are al! gone, leaving small estates In worldly goods, but what vast possessions In principles, memories, sacred associations! It is a start in life to share that wealth. ITn our form of government there must be two parties. “But what young man would not rather belong to the party that does things, instead of one that opposes them; to the party that looks up, rather than down; to the party of the dawn, rather than of the sunset? “For fifty years the Republican party has believed in the country and labored for it in hope and joy; “Has reverenced the flag and followed it; “Has carried~it under strange skies and planted it on far-receding zons; “Has seen the nation grow greater every year and more respected; “Has seen the country extend Its intercourse and its influence to regions unknown to our fathers; “Yet it has never abated one jot or tittle of the ancient law imposed on us by God-fearing ancestors. The Constitution of our fathers has been the light to our feet. Our path is, and will remain, that of ordered progress, of liberty under the law. “But wo are not daunted by progress. Wo nre not afraid of the light! “The fabric oyr fathers bulldcd will stand all shocks of fate or fortune. “While there will always be a proud pleasure in looking back on the history they made, the coming generation iias the right to anticipate work not less important “We who are passing off the stage bld you, as the children of Israel encamping by the sea were bidden, to go forward. We whose hands can no longer hold the flaming torch pass it on tn you that its clear light may show the truth to the ages that are to come.” Young men of the nation, first r<ktn in national affairs, ponder carefully

wbat John Hay nn« said to yon. EH began his life as the mass of other American boys began theirs. He had no inheritance to make his future secure. But he took his stand for what he held to be the right, and all other things came to him. Go thou and do likewise. —Toledo Blade. Truly a Fine Reason. Many in the East will vote for Parker merely because, in case he is eleeted. he can do no mischief. The confession that runs through it all is that the safety of the country lies In the Republican Senate. The position, so far as such persons might act in that matter is, that though the Democrats would like to rip things up and carry the same destruction to the country that they did before, they won't be able to do it, because the Republican Senators stand in the way. will prevent that mischief, and will protect the country against Democratic disaster. And that is a fine reason for voting the Democratic ticket, isn’t It? Because, no matter how vicious are the Democratic tendencies, nor how bent the Democratic leaders .are on carrying out their evil policies, so disastrous to the interests of the people, they won’t be able to do any damage, because the interests of the people, In the form of Republican Senate, will save the damage threatened, and protect the people. An evil bld for votes, it is, sure enough.—Salt Lake Tribune.

Two Factions. There are two factions in the Democratic party on the tariff question. Mr. Bailey, belongs to the faction which Would hasten the day for the overthrow, of protection altogether. It can find no warrant In the constitution for the levying of a dollar of taxes except for revenue purposes. Mr. Gorman belongs to the faction—• smaller In number than Its rival which believes in protection as being both constitutional and wise. It would continue the policy quite as long and in much the same way as the Republicans. The two factions clashed with Mr. Cleveland in the White House, and they would clash with Judge Parker there.—Washington Star. How It Might End. The New Orleans Picayune says: “President Roosevelt’s term of service is about to end in a season of general depression, if not es disaster, in all the great business centers of the country.” The Picayune evidently believes that Parker will be elected. Only in that event is there any likelihood that its calamity prediction will be realized. If the country should come to believe in such a possibility there might be a repetition of the experience of 1892, when a prosperous period was brought to a olose by the election of Cleveland.—San Francisco Chronicle. The Parker Platform. While the Judge admits that the Republican Senate would stand in tht way of tariff tinkering, he promises that the Democrats, If they have a chance, will do the best they can along that line. —Troy Times. Aphorisms of Roosevelt. Lt is almost as irritating to be patronized as to be wronged. This is not and never shall be a government either of a plutocracy or of a mob. The criticism of those who live softly, remote from the strife, is of little value.

The loyalty that counts is the loyalty which shows Itself in deeds rather than in words. Back of the laws, back of the administration, back of the system of government, lies the man. In every instance how the after events of history have falsified the predictions of the men of little faith! When tasks are all-important, the most important factor in doing them right is the choice of the agents. It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best laws, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws. Down at bottom we are the same people all through. That is not merely a unity of section, it is a unity of class. Stability of economic policy must always be the prime economic need of this country. Thia stability should not be fossillzation. The National Government should demahd the highest quality of service from Its employes; and in turn it should be a good employer. There is no worse enemy of the wageworker than the man who condones mob violence in any shape, or who preaches class hatred. No nation as great as ours can expect to escape the penalty of greatness, for greatness does not come without trouble and labor. The woman who has borne, and who has reared as they should be reared, a family of children, has in tbe most emphatic manner deserved well of the republic. Every man must be guaranteed his liberty and bls right to do as he likes with his property or his labor, so long as he does not infringe on the rights of others. There Is no room in our healthy American life for the mere idler, for the man or the woman whose object it is throughout life to shirk the duties which life ought to bring. In the history of mankind, many republic* have risen, have flourished for a law or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of governing themselve*.