Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-08-06
THE OHIO PLATFORM.

Since the PRONUNCIATION of the
platform adopted by the Ohio
democrats much has been said
and written Of its superior excel
lence, its wise and courageous ut
terances.
A close inspection fails to dis !
cover these Qualities in a positive
degree 1t is wise in what it
docs not say rather than in what
it does say; it is courageous in
that it requires courage Of a sort
to ignore much of its own past
history and to assail accomplish
ed purposes and generally accept
ed principles.
Passing over its uttc-a1ces On
local subjects, it demands "that
the reserved rights of the state
and the people be upheld" and
condemns "centralization." This
is merely automatic action. The
habit of this speech became SO
firmly fixed in the old slave-hold-
ing days that the party cannet
avoid it now. Of course there is
not one word indicating where
and by whom those sacred Gre
served rights are assailed.
1t demands "a strict construc-
ton of the constitution. This,
too, is from force of habit and
must sound quite humorously to
those democrats who recall that
the time in our history is not
far past when a strict construction
of the constitution from demo-
cratic stand point would have left
US without a constitution.
But it hastens to renew "faith
in tariff REFORM" 1t does not in
form us directly whether it is Mr..
Cleveland's or Prof. Wilson'S
scheme of tariff reform in which
it renews faith. When the party
had the opportunity its work de-
stroyed all honest faith in tariff
reform through the agency Of the
democratic party. In the demo-
cratic view tariff reform is iceno-
elastic. Protection is assumed to
be a republican idol and this is
sufficient reason for destroying it.
This is the meaning and whole
scope of democratic tariff reform.
"The production of the country
so far exceeds it power of con'
sumption that our foreign markets
are a prime condition of its con.
tinued prosperity is condition
set forth as a reason why protec-
ton should be destroyed.
If supplying our foreign mar.
kets is prime condition of ou1
continued prosperity and protec
ton enables us to sell in thess
markets it would be most unwise
to destroy protection. The demo
cratic and free trade press make
no end of demanding the with
drawal of protection because ou.
manufacturers are selling in for
eign markets, with probable los:
to themselves, cheaper than a
home in order that they may gair
control of these markets. The plat
form declares these necessary to ou.
continued prosperity then de
mands the destruction of the on1J
agency that enables us to sell il
foreign markets. This is a fine
exhibition of pure democratic
consistency.
The declaration that trusts arr
the outgrowth of protection il
simply party clap-trap. The
Standard Oil Co. is the most pow
erful trust in the country. It ha:
influenced legislation as greatly
as any other. For many years i
was almost wholly in the hands
of Ohio democratic politicians
1t receives no protection from
from tariff laws. 1t has demon
strated the truth Of three things
these are that trusts exist under
free trade conditions; that they
are quite as much democratic a:
republican in politics, and that
they cheaper production and Sc
give the consumer cheaper pro
ducts. The most comprehensive
and ilnperious today is the labor
trust. This is an importation
from free trade England, but be
cause of its voting power it re-
ceives unqualified democratic en-
dorsement. Some of Our A1neri'
can workrnen remember a demo
cratic president who achieved the
expressive cognomen of ''ter
cent Jimmy" and nearly all are
shy of pure demagogy.
The plank on territorial ex
pansion would have more weigh
if it were the utterance of a party
which had not plunged the coun