Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 87, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1906 — POLITICAL COMMENT [ARTICLE]

POLITICAL COMMENT

In .1906 and I !>os. The political battle of 1908 will begin in September. Now, therefore, is the time for Republicans to take their bearings. • The country, thanks to Republican policies, is exuberantly prosperous. in this or any other cotffF try, has the average well-being of the people been so great as it is in the American republic 10-tlay. Whatever the Incidental evils of this prosperity, no sane American wishes to see it stopped. However any man may resent the prosperity of some neighbor, he desires prosperity for himself. Every patriotic citizen wishes to get rid of the evils, but also to keep the pros- - perity. . Vice President Fairbanks, Speaker Cannon, Secretaries Root, Shaw and Tal't, and Senator Foraker, the Republicans who will lead the fight next fall, are all men who think on much the same line.

Their line of thought is that we should first preserve national prosperity—without ignoring its incidental evils—but first preserve prosperity. The main thought of Mr. Bryan and Mr. Hearst—it is hard to recall any other Democrats of national dimensions—is that we should give first attention to the evils and let prosperity take care ■of Itself.

Fairbanks or Cannon or Root or Shaw or Taft or Foraker—some one of this group—will almost certainly be the Republican standard bearer In 1908. These men and men like them will have to bear the burden of 1908—will have to stand against the Bryan-Hearst proposition that it is more importantto kill ther rats than to save the barnwill have to stand for-the Republican proposition that it is of first importance to save the barn and then to kill the rats.

Hence it Is- necessary- that Republicans should now prepare to give these men whom they have made their leaders a platform on which they can stand fast and from which they can fight effectively—should assure them and all wine Americans that the Republican party is not now and never will be ashamed of the prosperity which Republican policies have brought to the whole American people.—Chicago Inter Ocean.

Why Bryan Lnoka Larger. Democrats from nil the nation will welcome William J. Bryan on his return from his trip around the world. It Is doubtful if any faction, even that which was most hostile to Mr. Bryan ten years ago, will be couspieupus by ts absence. Mr. Bryan has undoubtedly grown in the eyes of his party, and in the eyes of all who on any ground are discontented with Republican policies and the exu' erant prosperity that they have brought to the whole nation. While it cannot be said that Mr. Bryan’s fundamental ideas have become less futile, travel and contact with many men of many minds have widened his mental horizon. lie has gained sagacity if not wisdom. He has become capable of an apparent moderation in statement which is plausible if not real.

Mr. Bryan has seemed to grow also by the mere operation of time nnd discouragement ttpou other Democratic leaders. The task of getting the Deino--tratio party upon any line that a hopeful and prosperous American citizen could follow has become so impossible that it has been given up in despair nnd disgust. Mr. Bryan is about the only Democratic leader with any considerable number of devoted followers left in the country. He Is the only Democrat of mitioual dimensions. Over and above all, however, Mr. Bryan seems to have grown because of the sinking away of so many Republican leaders who ore frlgliteped by the ration's material progress and who are ashamed of the nation's prosperity. Now, that has ever been Mr. Bryan’s attitude. He was ushamed of the valor of our war with Spain because It extended our rule over some people who did not like It. He Is ashamed of our prosperity because of the Incidental evils of It. And he has found many Republicans to pay him the compliment of Imitating him nnd building him up until now he looms large upon the political horizon—a far more formidable man. lender, and candidate than he was In 180(5. —Chicago Inter Ocean.

Not (or Bryan. Ex-I'ongreaaman William D. Bynum, who waa one of the leaders of the gold Democratic movement in 1806, does not believe for one moment that conaervatlvc Democrats have changed froht and will support Bryan. Mi. Bynum Is Intimately acquainted with all the leading gold Democrats In the country. He la quoted In a recent Washington dispatch as follows: “The Democratic party," said he, "Is still afflicted with rabies and as that disease .always becomes aggravated In hot weather, It Is not difficult for one to understand the wave of Bryan sentiment which Is now Sweeping over the country. I agree with the eminent Bryanltes that William J. will be the next Democratic candidate for President. The bosses have already lined up their organisations for him and bis nomination Is certain. “It is currently reported that the conservative Democrats of New York are

now In fqyor of Bryan, regarding him a safer man than Hearst,” was suggested. “That talk is the worst of rot,” said Mr! Bynum. ‘The fact Is, the conservative Democrats think no more of Bryan now than they did In 1896, If he were a candidate for the presidency to-day he would lose the State of New York by 300,000 plurality. Henry Watterson has gone over to Bryan for sufficient personal reasons. He was a heavy loser financially by his course in 1896. David R. Francis is a candidate for President himself and he no doubt thinks that the surest. way of being struck by presidential lightning is to make himself solid with the Bryan element,This accounts for his recent announcement for Bryan. “If Bryan Is nominated what will be the course of the gold Democrats?” Mr. Jlynuni was asked. “I think the great milk of them will give quiet support to tl»e Republican candidate,” was the reply, ' ■

May Not Be Ailvantitsfona. An Increase in foreign trade may or may not be advantageous to a nation or a commonwealth. It depends upon conditions and circumstances. It is not necessarily advantageous and it may be positively disadvantageous. For example, Connecticut produces cutlery and New Jersey produces pottery. Connecticut supplies New Jersey with cutlery and New Jersey supplies Connecticut with pottery. We will suppose that the annual exchange Is of $1,000,000 worth of cutlery for $1,000,000 worth of pottery; total exchange, $2,000,000. Suppose, further, that under a condition of free trade or reciprocity Connecticut, instead of exchanging products with New Jersey, exchanges her cutlery for French pottery. In such case France gains what New Jersey lias lost. The exports will show a gain of $1,000,000, but this gain Is at the expense of New Jersey’s labor and production. The imports also show a gain of $1,000,000; total Increase of foreign trade, $2,000,000. What has the nation gained? Nothing.

It has lost by the transaction $1,000,000, precisely the sum lost by New Jersey labor and production, less the difference In the lower cost of the pottery imi>orted from France. It may be that this difference amounts to 20 per cent. In that case the nation has saved S2OO,(XX) and lost $1,000,000. Net loss, SBOO,OOO a year. So’the $2,000,000 “gain” in foreign trade turns out to be fictitious. As a matter of fact there has been a loss and no gain.

Not u. One-Man Party. Man worship in a party never pays. Twenty years ago the Republican party was made a Blaine party and ns a Blaine party could never win. Not that Blaine was not a good man, for he was, but one man is not big enough to be made an Idol of. In this State there are people attempting to build up a one-man party. The young men are especially appealed to, and their enthusiasm is aroused by appealing to a name and to a personality. But In such hero worship Is Involved the ruin of the party. When the “one man” ceases to he the nominee his Idolaters scatter and oftentimes vote with the other party. We do not need a one man party. We need a one country party, a one flag party, a sound money party, a home market party. These principles lead to glory and to progress. Men are ephemeral. Death enters their ranks. Principles are eternal. Principles not men triumphed in the great campaign of ISIXS. It was not a McKiuley victory ;It was a Republican victory. McKinley was but an Instrument. He pawed away and we have a new leader, lie Is only strong as he represents Republicanism. When he ceases to represent Republicanism his strength will have passed away. Therefore, for the good of the country, we ask young men In their enthusiasm not to bo carried away by any one man, but to consider the principles the party stands fttr.—Des Moines Capital.

Prophets Are Astray. A few Republican and many Democratic correspondents nt Washington nre telling their papers that the Republican party will suffer in the West In the congressional election of 1000 on account of Its attitude on the tariff and on meat inspection. They say there Is a powerful sentiment In lowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and other W’estern Htntes in favor of a revision of the tariff, and .as the Republican party of the nation is opposed to tariff changes of any sort at this time, they reason that the party will lose votes throughout all the region. Meat inspection, they declare, Is dealing a heavy blow to the cattle and hog raisers, and as the Republican Congress and the Republican administration are pushing, a measure for meat Inspection. the Republicans are sure to be hit bard lu all the Western States In the contest of 1000.

These prophets are astray. The tariff revision sentiment which they Imagine they see In the West la confined to a very few spots, and Is not very pronounced even In those spots.—St Louis 0 lobe- Democrat