Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-12-13
FINE z
moo9 Sayings of the President In-
tended TO BamboozIe the
Pe0ple,

In closing his speech before b
Philadelphia Union league President
Mckinley made use of some very
striking phrases tending to reassure
the American people of his benevo-
lent intentions towards liberty. Here
are his concluding words:
THE republican party has placed upon 1t
tremendous responsibilities. No party
could ask for a higher expression of conf
dence. 1t is a great thing to have this con-
ndence; it will be a greater thing to deserve
and hold It. To this party are committed
new and grave problems. They are too ex-
allied for pa~rtisanship. The task of settle
ment is for the whole American people
Who viii say they are unequal TO it?
Liberty has not lost but gained, In
strength The structure of the fathers
STANDS secure upon the foundations OF
which thy raised it. and is to-day. as 1t has
been in the years past and as 1t will be in
the years to come. the government of the
people. by the people, and for the people
BE not disturbed: there is no danger
from empire; there is no fear for the re-
public"
Fine sentiments, truly. from the
man who has for the past three years
acted on the theory that the days of
government by the people had gone
by and that the day of government by
destiny had arrived. Never before
Mchinley's day have the Declaration
of Independence and the constitution
been openly jeered at and denounced,
the one as merely a string of glitter
ing g~eneralities, and the other as
something which we have ~outgrown
and left SO far behind hat 1t is not
worth while to discuss it. The policy
of imperialism-the advocacy or de-
Tense of which necessitates the weak
ening of the respect Of the American
people for these two inspiring docu-
ments that have been the admiration
of the civilized world since they were
first proclaimed to the public-is go
ing perilously lei shaking the foun-
Gations of the republic. And when
we weaken the foundation the struc-
lure is endangered, in spite of Mr..
McKinley's assurances that there is
no danger.
"The task of settlement is for the
whole American people," says Presi-
dent Mckinley. who will say that
they are unequal to it?" Well, Presi-
dent Mckinley, for one. If he believed
in the capacity of the American people
to decide American problems. why did
he deny the public information about
the Philippines and insist that this
problem was to be solved by destiny?
He is the one who refused to tell the
American people why the policy of
criminal aggression" towards Cuba
became the policy of ''piety and patriot
ism" towards the Philippines. He is
the one who remained dumb as to the
! reasons why our plain duty" towards
Porto Rico vas suddenly changed. He
is the one who clapped a censorship on
news from the Philippines, who sup
pressed reports from officials and who
! CARRIED extracts from other reports in
his letter of acceptance, refusing to
make public the omitted portions. Be-
lief in the capacity of the American
people to settle American problems is
the basis of a self-governing republic.
But how can people kept in the dark
: about facts be expected to settle a
thing right? Let Mr.. Mckinley give
! the people the facts and the problems
will be settled, and settled right. With
full information the American people
may always be depended upon to decide
in the right way whatever questions
affect the welfare, prosperity or per-
petuity of this country. Let Mr.. Nc
kinlsy throw off the blanket which he
has thrown over his government and
cease the attempt to mystify the public
as to destiny. and the people will pre-
serve their liberties. and will jealously
guard this republic from the dangers of
imperialism.-Utica Observer.