The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-25
REPUBLICAN DEFENSE.
A Campaign of Excuses, With Facts
beginning to Suffer.

Campaign of Excuses, With Facts
beginning to Suffer.
To the Editor Of the Globe:
Some features of the campaign have
already developed and are symptomatic.
The Republicans on all points, except
one, the monetary, are acting on the
defensive; on that, by way of compensa-
ton, they laud themselves and are ap>
parently anxious to make 1t the center
of attack Possibly the Democrats will
accommodate them
Their Porto Rican policy threw them
into an attitude of defense against the
sentiment, not of Democrats only, but
of the great mass of their own party. It
shocked the moral sense of the country,
and the hurt remains.
Strenuous efforts were made to force
Teddy Roosevelt to take the nomina-
ton for the vice presidency. He had
carried New York;=ei1is trip to and from
Texas gave indications of popularity IN
the country; he is an attractive PERSONAL
tty, and would bring strength to the
ticket. But this solicitude to get his
consent was itself an admission of weak
ness In the candidacy of the head of the
ticket. When before did party mana
gers regard the second place as one CT
such Importance?
The Cuban policy results in the Neeley
exposures, involving a loss and steal
that from the first figures, some $50, 600,
has jumped to 100000 1t came through
the only branch of the administration
OF that unfortunate isle that was in the
hands of civilians. Senator Platt, in his
apology, says that great care" was
taken in selecting the postal officials.
The case, then, demonstrates the inca
pacity of the administration to take even
ordinary care. Had the entire admins
tration of the Islands affairs been in
charge of civilians, selected with equal
ly great carei'' what a cesspool of cor
ruption would not the island now be.
The Republican majority of the judi
c1ary committee of-the house tackle the
trust problem and can only offer a bill
supplementing the Sherman act of 1890,
and constitutional amendment giving
congress that has only demonstrated
Its incapacity to deal with the situation,
exclusive power of legislation over all
corporations. = The Democratic minority
offer free trade; pronounce the majority 8
remedies as pure buncOmbe, designed to
tide over the campaign.
The Pioneer Press. scenting danger
here, rushes to the defense. ''It was a
republican congress which enacted the
Sherman antitrust law. 1t fell to the
Cleveland administration to inforce that
law. 1t never raised a finger to inforce
It. only When Mckinley came In was
it set In motion, with the result that the
trusts changed form, becoming corpora
tions, and beyond the reach of congress
1t has remained for your distressed con-
temporary to discover that thief can
escape justice by changing his name.
But its zeal carries 1t beyond the facts
1t did not fall to the Cleveland admins
tration to inforce the Sherman act.
That took effect July H. 1890, the second
year of President Harrison's term He
directed Attorney General Miller to
bring action under the law against the
sugar trust, then the head and front
of trust offending. The court held the
act inapplicable 10 the conditions under
which that trust operated The act was
"a dead letter during the Cleveland ad-
ministration" because the court had
made 1t SO.
1t would seem to be political strategy
for Democrats to. direct attack at the
points where Republicans thus confess
weakness and refuse assault where they
invite 1t. p J. Smallev.
st. Paul, May "a