The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-04-26
SOME POLITICS.

For the average man the present political situa
ton has little in it OF apparent interest. In Iowa
the questions raised in the republican party are
only those personal to those who interested in
politics Per Sc and in the constant struggle for
political Preferment 1t is acknowledged on all
sides that Iowa is one of the best governed of
states. Both from the point of economical man
agement and from the point of effectiveness of
government it is model for other states. There
| is large surplus in its treasury and there is
public debt The burden of state taxation is not
heavy upon any one There have been no scandals
In office that have effected the welfare of the
people Thus in so far as the affairs of the state
are concerned there are no issues save those which
will of course be raised during the coming cam
paign simply basis for opposition and not
that the people seriously interested.
In national affairs the democratic party is rest
ing after its last defeat. 1t is waiting for some
thing to occur upon which it can base an ISSUE
what the issue will be no old line democrat can
tell. He knows that he will vote the democratic
ticket and that he will probably be able to offer
some excuse for SO doing, but what particular
excuse it will be he does not know, and for the
most part he does not care. One thing he does
know and that is that he will oppose whatever the
lepuoilCdn party may 40 or may FAVOR.
If what the republican party does prove to be
tor the best of the people democracy will drop its
opposition to that particular thing oppose some
thing else. The last campaign wiped the currency
from the democratic slate for some time to come.
There is hardly member of that party who will
to-day advise that the silver issue be again present
ed to the people Those and those news
papers who proclaimed with so much vigor that
the country could not be prosperous under gold
standard have been obliged to tacty admit that
they were wrong and also admit the probability
that had their policy been chosen by the people the
country would have come to grief The Philippine
question, SO far the Philippines are concerned
has been settled by no less democratic authority
than Aguinaldo himself. Aguinaldo says that now
that he has been brought to understand the real
purposes of America and has seen the effects Of its
government he seen no reason for continuance
OF the opposition. There is good excuse for Agui-
naldo that he did not see these things before. He
was leader OF his people, there hope for
great power and position for him under native
government and practically none under the Ameri-
cans. His knowledge of Caucasians came almost
solely through the Spaniards, he knew nothing of
America or Americans and naturally he saw in this
country nothing. but another Spain
Although there was excuse for Agu1naldo there
was no excuse for his supporters in the United
States. They had opportunity to know the real
intent of the American people towards the Philipp-
nos; they knew that in the heart of the Nation there
was no intent to do them wrong. They had oppor-
tunlty to know something of the blessings of our
form of government and they must have known
that American occupation of the Philippines meant,
not robbery and despoilation but an advance along
all the lines of good government and higher civil
cation. The most singing rebuke that could have
been delivered to the democratic campaigners of
last fall was given to them by Aguinaldo when he
tsaid that he realized what American
control meant, he felt that it was for the best of
his countrymen