Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1907 — Political Comment [ARTICLE]

Political Comment

_ To Harry "Vp Canal Wort. ’ ’ Many members of Congress who expect to be on tjie committees which will be called upoii to make appropriations for the Panama Canal are making arrangements to visit the isthmus before the session begins. They will do this for the purpose of seeing what work has been done, what is doing, and what is needed to be done. The President, it is understood, is to give more'space to canal matters in his coming message than he has done heretofore, and Congress will need to inform itself on the subject at first hand, in order to act intelligently. The President made a trip to the canal zone last fall, and the result was quickly seen in some changes which he made in the 1 working .forces at the isthmus, and in legislation which he urged in a special message. One of the objects of the coming visit of congressmen to the isthmus is to devise means to hurry the work forward. As the army is in charge of the construction now, report says that far more progress is being made than was done during the civilian regime. And there is far less talking by the men who are doing the work, and there*is no [losing before the camera. During the administration of the civilians the country quickly got familiar with the pictures of Wallace, Stevens, Shouts ahd the others, but nobody outside of Hie canal zoue knows what the present head of the constructive forces looks like, and very few know his name. lie atteuds strictly to business, and the newspapers get no chance to mention him.

Still, it may be possible for the president and Congress to devise means to hurry up the work of canal building, by strengthening the hands of the army officers who are in charge of affairs. If this can be done the country wants it to be done. The fac,t that the fleet for the Pacific will have to sail 15,W0 miles to reach a point which could be reached in 5,000 if the canal were completed is an eloquent reminder that that sljort-cut ought to be pushed with all possible' speed. The Covfttfy is spending a good de?> eflnoncy in canal Imildme: ’htrt' it is willing to spend more if the additional outlay will bring completion a year or two earlier. The Panama issue" is one of the most interesting questions which will come before Congress this winter. —St. Louis Globe-Democrat. llopinK for a Word. Chicago Democrats are hoping, through the medium of the national committee, to smoke out William Jennings Bryan. Chicago is bidding for the convention, but it fears that with Bryan in complete control, be will switch the big gathering to some other city for the reason that Chicago is not bubbling over with enthusiasm for the Peerless One. 1 Ever since Bryan undertook to teach Roger Sullivan his duty as a Democrat, there has been a growing revolt in Illinois against the Nebraskan. Sullivan, it will be recalled, as, a inemlier of the national committee," but Bryan claims there is a taint to the title, and hence personally advised him to retire. This impertinence brought a tart re» ply, from the effects of which Mr. Bryan has not yet recovered. But the Democrats of Chicago don't intend this little political duel shall deprive them of the honor they seek. They have invoked the aid of Folk's friends to help them out. and as the program is designed to place Bryan on record, mutual advantage will be derived. The Missouri governor has a little bee buzzing in bis bonnet. He knows he won't cut much of a figure if Bryan trie* to be the wliole show, while should the latter eliminate himself. the Folk l>oom might assume dimensions. Several inembers of the national committee are friendly to Folk, and if these can be lim'd up for "Chicago. it is thought Bryan will be coml>elled to announce his position.

The most remarkable evidence of .veakness of the Democratic party is this confession that before anything can be accomplished Bryan must be consulted. Even as courageous a man is Watterson admits that Bryan, the man who has done more than any other Democrat to disrupt the Democratic IKirty, can and probably will, dominate the next national convention. Yet how ’quickly life could be galvanized into that party were Bryan to announce his retirement! —Toledo Blade. _________ ■* Wouldn’t It Be Better. The constitution of the 1 United States wisely provides that ail measures for the raising of revenue shall originate In the House of Representatives. Tills is because the House of Bepresentatives is supposed to be d» er to the iteople tiuin any other body. Almost without exception our experience has shown that when matters like fids are left to the State pepartment the United States gets thehrorst pf it. Wouldn’t it be better to adhere strictly to the spirit as well as to the letter of the constitution and Jet Congress (miss on all these matters?—Cedar RapIds Republican.

Mr. Bry«a and the Republican Party. - - That- Mr. Bryan will st?ek the Da.so* cratic nomination In 1908. and expect! to receive ft, is announced by a re-ng nized Bryan spokesman in New A’ oris city. • ‘ There is nothing surprising about this, r It, is a logical consequence of poli t ica 1 developments In the hist three ~ years. . The national Democracy, as far as it has an organized existence, stands foi nothing but Bryanism. Mr. Bryan is its only presidential possibHty-of na tional dimensions. Unless there Is a revolution within the party, either Mr. Bryan or some man selected by him will be the Democratic candidate. What will be his chances of'el fiction *> To all clear-eyed and cool-headed ob servers they now seem better than in 1900, and almost as good as they were in September, 1896. Ths reason is not that the Democratic party has grown stronger, but that the Republican party has grown weak er. So many conspicuous Republican leaders have gone so far with Mr. Bryan that his candidacy seems a log ical consequence of their campaign. To make the point clear, let us re call bow Mr. Hearst, in bis campaign for the New York Governorship, justi fled himself and his doctrines by print ing in parallel columns with his own views the inflammatory utterances of several national Republicans. How, then, shall the Republican party de feat Mr. Bryan? How save the conn try from the disaster of his election? Plainly it can do so only by. adopting a platform of Republican and American principles, by selecting leaders whose lives and characters . show both the ideals through which this nation has grown great and prosperous above all others, and by thus bringing the American people to a new birth of hope and faith in their country, its, institutions, and themselves, The outlook is not dark or discouraging. It is necessary only for the Republican party to do its duty and attend to its busintfW.* *lt lias a/year in which to accomplish a task more difficult but of the same kind as that with which it grappled successfully in 1896. If the task is begun now with determination, and is' carried on in faith, notliing wavering, .we some day shall all look back upon 1908 as we now do Upon 1896, and confess that nothing but our own.follies put us in fear.— Chicago Inter Ocean.

Prosperity to Stay. Secretary Wilson of the Department of Agriculture has returned to Washington from the West with good reports of the ripening crops. The Western farmers have plenty of money and are soon to have a great deal more, since they are getting ready to send to market enormous quantities of grain and other products. Good prices for them are amply assured. So the process by which an abundance of money is put into circulation is about to begin all over again under favorable conditions. The scarcity of money for investment and speculation in Wall street and other financial centers presumably will increase during the next few weeks, since the moving of the crops will cause the West and South to withdraw their surplus funds to be used in transactions throughout the regions of actual production. The easing process, so often provided by the national treasury. of preventing a breaking strain by the deposit of government funds in banks in New York and other financial centers will come into play once more. But while the big financiers are looking glum and stocks are sagging on the exchanges the producers of the nation will be largely increasing their stores of money. That Is prosperity. For., the producers’ money soon flows back to the financial centers from the local banks where it has been deposited or from the cities where it has been expended for supplies. So long as it is not squandered in foolish speculation or lost in the heart-breaking process of toiling through unprofitable years, which either supply but scanty fruits of the soil or provide no remunerative prices for them, the country is truly prosperous. The curbing of the railroads. which are now required to carry the products of the farms to market at a reasonable charge, Is an Inqwrtant element In the present period of prosperity.—Chicago News. Tariff Reduction by Treaty. The goods Imported from Germany are virtually under the new agreement allowed to enter at the value certified by the German Chambers of Commerce. Thus the duty on German goods Is less than that exacted uj»on the products of other countries, w hlch are subject to an ad valorem rate of duty, because the lower the value at which imports are appraised the less the duty, ’tlntll we allow France, England and other countries the same favor it can harjlly l»e called a square deal. The Manufacturers' Association and the stand-pat-ters object to this agreement with Germany liecnuse it thus reduces the rate of dut.v In this round-about way.—Salem (Ill.) Democrat