Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1901-07-13
CAN POINT WITH PRIDE.
Triumph of Republican Policies
Justifics the Feeling That Pre-
walls In the Party

very lew people IN TINS city, or, IN
deed, in the country, if called upon at
the present time to note the impor
tant events of the past year, would
recall the National Liberty congress
held in this city in August, 1900, as
matter of any consequence. 1t is
more probable that many intelligent
men would find it necessary to slim
ulate their memories with some close
thinking to recall the faintest recol-
lection of such an event
Viewed from to-day and the results,
that incongruous assemblage called
liberty congress appears one of the
most ridiculous events of the cam
paign-the platform partly occupied
by limited number of respectables
making speeches to two or three han
dred of Mayor Taggart's henchmen,
few of whom could comprehend the
utterances of the speakers. The sol
emn farce ended in an earnest appeal,
adopted by local democratic bench
men, to rise above party and save the
land and the islands of the sea from
Imperialism and McKinleyism. In
Wow VI tliC INSulb, INV ocouI u NAV
liberty congress now appears. Even
the excellent gentlemen who partici-
pated in it and hailed Aguinaldo as
the George Washington of the Phil
ippines, would be obliged to the writ
ers of history if they should pass
over the liberty congress as an incon-
sequential affair. Their demand, like
Mr.. Bryan's, was that the president
offer the Filipinos in arms independ-
ence on the same terms that it was
promised by congress to Cuba. The
republicans took the ground that the
insurgents must recognize the au-
thority of the United States and that
local self-government should be eX-
tended to the Filipinos as soon as
they showed a fitness for it. By
plurality of S71,513 the voters of the
United States accepted the plan of
the president in preference to that
republican policy civilization is
spreading in the Philippines and hum
dreds of school teachers have gone
to the islands to carry on the work
begun by the army and the Taft COM
mission.
Again, five years ago this month,
men by the hundreds were going
about the country shrieking Is to /.
By thousands they labeled themselves
with the inscription 16 to 1. On the
street corners they threatened the
safety of men who were SO impolitic
as to dissent from the unlimited coin
age of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1.
Professions carried banners and
transparencies marked 16 to /. The
est of democracy was noisy procla-
nation of 16 to 1. -Four years ago
Mr.. Taggart was suspected of disbe-
lief in the party shibboleth. and to
placate that element was compelled
to issue a letter declaring his indy
ing devotion to 16 to /. The repub-
hcans, because OF courageous ma
jority, declared for the gold stand
ard. The fight was fight to the
death, but the good sense of the ma
jority prevailed and the silver heresy
was rejected. In Indiana there are
not a hundred intelligent men in their
right mind who would wear IS to
L lcIt Is IloU ii uelIOcIdIlC
orator in Indiana who has reputa-
ton for ordinary intelligence who
would not like to revise his wild ex-
pressions of devotion to 16 to 1.
Attention is called to these recent
political events to remind great
number of people that in every great
crisis in the nations affairs the re-
publican party has fought on the
right side and saved the people from
disaster and the government from
ruin. 1t seems necessary to do this
because so many people forget, from
time to time, and assail the party in
seasons of security which have come,
like the present prosperity, by the
triumph of republican policies. 1t is
the one party which can point with
pride to its past.-Indianapolis Jour