The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1900-08-08
Tne Paramount Isaue.

TIC sE-ttEttu1OtAnO AbbuCs
The main issue of this campaign
is SO plain that he who runs may
read. No one needs to err except
he who wants to err.
There are always groups of I'M
easy spirits lowering along the bor-
der lines of politics, longing to get
over on the other side, Sometimes
it is because their best friends are
there. Sometimes it is because
they fancy their best interests lie
there. In many cases it is mat
ter of pure sentiment with them,
They like to be on the winning
side. 1t is SO much more pleasant
to shout with the victors than to
be with tine vanquished. Innearly
all these GASES principle has very
littleto do with the matter. In
fact political principle is very near
| ly an unknown quantity with them.
So far as any fixed, well,grounded
political belief is concerned they
might asswell be on one side of the
political line us The other They
are as ohsff, driven whichever way
the wind happens to be blowing.
No reference is here made to the
class who change their political be-
liefs or principle. Thenumbers of
this class are comparatively rare,
but to deny their existence would
be folly. A man may have been a
lifelong believer in the doctrine of
bimetallism which is as old as the
Republic, which was held to be
orthodox by all great parties in
this country until the present time.
1t has been steadily adhered t. by
the Democratic party from the be-
ginning of it's life, at the beginning
of the Republic. Tt was endorsed
by the Federalists. 1t was one of
the cardinal beliefs of the Wings.
1t wasin every Republican national
platform until 1900 Now the
Republican party has deserted that
great principle and gone over to
monometallism Now, man may
cast this doctrine aside and be hon
est and no one has right to ques-
ton his motives, any more than
they have the right to question any
other action of his which is solely
his own business.
/ There is always scrambing
every four years on both sides of
the line'whioh divides the two great
political parties, but in this year
1900 there is greater state of un-
rest than ever. But with all this
and it's attendant smoke and fog
and dust, the great issue before the
country to-day cannot be obscured.
The shortest memory ought to be
able to span three years. Whom
the Mckinley administration came
in we were at peace with the world
We had standing army of 25, OOC
men. Our national expenses were
normal. How is it to-day? We
have an army of 10000 mon en-
gagged in war of conquest in the
Philippines, 5000 miles from our
own shores. That w..r is being
waged in direct conflict with the
great principles upon which our
Republic is founded There is lit
tie prospect of the ending of that
war. The best military judges say
that this great army will be needed
there for an indefinite time. Those
brave soldiers are becoming enerv-
ated by disease and the strain of a
climate to which they are unao-
customed. Civilized nations do
not keep their soldiers in such I'M
healthful climates long, Every
two or three years they should be
brought home and other men sent
to fill their places. Thus the force
is doubled Thus the expense is
piled up.
How is it in China2 We are
we'll mixed up in the hurly burly
there. Are we at war with China?
Nobody seems to know. We are
sending troops and war-ships
there. We are getting we'll mixed
up with the great powers of the
world in the Chinese imbroglio.
All this, and other features that
might be cited, has bearing upon
the great issue now before the
American people. 1t is imperial
ism or anti-imperialism. Tt is the
nnestion whether we shall throw