St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-09
ROOSEVELT ON THE ISSUES.

which admits the QlScuSSlou VI po-
litical questions to its pages, and pre-
sents papers on the issues on Which
the two parties will stand next year;
one by Theodore Roosevelt for the
Republican side, and one by ex-Gov.
William r. Russell on behalf of the
Democrats. It's selection of MIR.
Roosevelt is, on the whole, a wise
one. He is prominent now because
of his enforcement of the New York
excise laws. He is, presumably, not
the lieutenant of any candidate of
his party for the presidency. While
nominally an independent kind of
man, he showed that pliancy of con-
science in 1884 that stamps him am
orthodox Republican. He is, besides,
an intelligent man. So one runs over
the pages of what Mr.. Roosevelt has
written with the expectation that, at
last, he can find out what issues the
Republican party will present to the
voters next year. There is such an
indefiniteness of opinion among the
leaders, they all seem to be waiting
SO reticently to see in what direction
the cat will jump, that the expecta-
tion is reasonable one that there
will come from this representative
of the party some definite statement.
A surprise awaits the reader in the
prominence the writer gives to what
he thinks will be the Democratic is
sues. and to a criticism of the record
the party has made during its brief
control. In this, the larger portion of
his paper, he permits himself to be
sarcastic at the expense Of his can
dor. He premises that the Demo-
cratic party will have to ask reten-
ton in power upon the ground that,
if so retained, it will undo most OF
what has been done during the years
it has had governmental control
Where Mr.. Roosevelt gets the in
spiration for this idea, outside of
his own elastic imagination, is not
obvious 1t may be smart, but 1t is
not truthful. While he admits that
"the majority of the Democrats are
sincere believers in low tariff, look
ing towards free trade"-the most
perspicuous statement in the article
he is Of the opinion that the party
will ask retention because it will not
redeem in legislation the promise it
may make in its platform. This is
saddling on the voters who wrought
the revolution of 1892 the sins of the
small cabal of Democratic protec-
tionists Who, in the language of Pres
ident Cleveland in the Catchings let
ter, "blasted the councils of the brave
in their hour of might" with their
deadly blight of treason" With
singular ignorance Mr. Roosevelt
speaks of the senate bill as "the
queer measure which finally received
the sanction of Mr.. Cleveland's sig
nature"
After duly expatiating on the pol
icy of the party and the acts of the
administration, and duly condemning
it all. Mr.. Roosevelt finally arrives at
a consideration of the Republican
issues. The reader, if Democrat,
hopes that his wading through the
preceding pages of TRADE will be COM
pensated now by something definite
as to the attitude the Republican
party will take on the two dominant
questions, the tariff and the curren-
CIV. He feels encouraged by the as
surance that this attitude lis abso-
lutely clear" 1t is against free Sill
yer and in favor of sound finance.
This is important if true. With the
greenbacks virtual fiat money; with
the silver certificates and "Sher-
mans precipitating panic, the rec
ord of his party hardly justifies this
cocksure assertion of it's soundness in
finance, while the alliances with the
silverites wherever officeholding is
the lure cast doubt on the sincerity
of it's hostility to silver. Mr.. Roose-
velt evidently shares this doubt, in
spite of his confident statement, for
he admits that the anti-free silver
men in the convention, having the
substance, will not refuse to give the
Rocky Mountain Republicans half
of the shadow" In other words, the
convention will execute a straddle.
The "possiblys" and "probablys"
which qualify his remarks show that
Mr.. Roosevelt is not sure what side
of the silver issue his party will take.
The prominence he gives to the ac-
ton of Mr.. Reed, in the Fifty-f1rst
congress, who, Shy the sheer weight
of personal influence" prevented the
passage by the house of free coin
age bill, is an artless confession of
the stiffness of his party on that
question.
But what strikes one the hardest
blow of surprise is his silence regard
ing the position of his party
on the tariff After admitting that
it "is one of the great questions be-
fore the country" it is strange
omission not to give guess, at least,
as to what stand it will take. Mr..
Roosevelt evidently feels the pres
sure of the difficulties of his party.
Will it invite repetition of '92 by
demanding a restoration of the body,
if not the garb, of McKinleyism?
VIII it simply denounce the Demo-
cratic act and offer nothing itself?
Will it ask that the tariff be again /
revised "by it's friends?" The silver
question will be moribund next year,
and the tariff will resume it's proper