The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-24

Ia the Buckeye state.

ON the surface of the situation II ap-
pears that the Republicans have the
better chance of carrying Ohio i'm The
State election % take place next month.
The surface Indications. however. rest
mainly upon the fact that To begin with
the state is normally Republican boy
from thirty TO forty thousand majority
If we were to base our Judgment upon
the character of the speeches being
made We would reach a totally differ
eEt conclusion. for those of the Demo-
Gratis are undoubtedly broader ia seati-
mCnl and more stafesmarIke in tone
than the Geliy-rau,es OF their RvpubIi-
can opponents.
There i~ much force in the suggestion
that tHe Republicans, $50 far as possible,
are firing from behind the -ouD of Pres
ideuL Mckinley. The same thing has
been observed i'm Iowa. The purp 81 is TO
play upon tie purely sentimental feel
iags Of the people and divert their
minds from living political issues by APP
Taals Co their auCCtiouate regard for
the latest Of our Presidential martyrs.
Tie argument" amounts to just this:
president Mckinley was a EeEubI-
can, he was a Goad man; you loved
him. and therefore you should vote for
the Republican candidates. 10 matter
who or what they are. or what the pres
ent policy Of the Republican party may
be" The speIIbinders of the party
might just about as well appeal to the
voters in the name Of LincOln-Whi,h,
by the way. many OF them are still
doing.
It is very true that Mr.. Mckinley
was a lifelong Republican; but it IS
equally true that his later acts and
Utterances showed clearly that his
views upon the economic Industrial,
and commercial questions now pressing
for solution were changing rapidly. and
that he was at the time of his death a
long way in advance of his party on
the road which leads TO tariff reform.
Unless the living leaders Of the party
are prepared 10 show that they axe FOL
lowing in his footsteps there is no pro
priety in their dragging mis- name into
the campaign. On the contrary, there is
very grave improperly, because, what
ever Democrats may think concerning
certain features Of Mr. McI[inley's pol
icy. they cannot at this juncture point
their objections without saying things
which may be construed as attacks
upc1 a President who has but lately
died under circumstance that aroused
the tender sympathies of the whole pe0-
PIE regardless of party preferences.
Nevertheless. the Democratic speak
ers are scoring some good points, while
the contentious of the Republicans. con
sidered upon their merits. are essen
TALLY weak. For example Mr. Hanna :
stock argument is said 90 be, let well
enough alone" The answer is that
things are not well enough" There
is ample roam for reform, as we easily
may gather from President Mckinley
speech ar Buffalo. Besides. Mr.. Hanna
himself Is not willing TO act upon his
own motto. Even now ne is hard at
work on d scheme for the changing Of
our commercial policy by subsidizing
the shipping interests 10 the amount Of
many millions Of dollars annually. The
banking interests are urging changes
IN the national banking laws that
would have a most important bearing
upon monetary conditions. There is no
reason to doubt that MI Hanna is quite
ready TO yield TO the wishes Of the
banks in regard 10 these matters In
fact. the Republican leaders generally
are more than willing 10 make any
changes which happen TO strike their
fancy or their interests. but the mo-
ment a political opponent suggests that
there is anything wrong their campaign
argument is that we should let well
enough alone" II this is the best plea
that can be made on behalf of the
Grand Old Party" the Democrats
ought To carry the Buckeye State with
ease. But they viii nOt. Of course.
OHIO is Republican.