The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-11-13
POLITICAL REVOLUTION.

POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
Usual of-year explanations will not
suffice to throw light on the large Dem.
ocratic gains made in Tuesdays election.
Important basic causes were active in
the principal States, indicating gen.
orally unsettled condition of public
opinion, and the.1esult can be consider.
ed surprising only to the extent that
the Democratic gains, large and signiti-
cant as they are, were not quite SO
large as the party leaders expected.
Apolitical revolution has been in grad
ual formation for more than three years,
butit did not assume definite charac-
ter or take on positive attitude until a
few weeks before the election, when the
possibility of the Republican party
holding even small majority in Con.
Of the Presid dent's Cabinet were con-
strained to become spellbinGers. Pres
ident Roosevelt not only went to the
stump himself, but abandoned his
party's platform so far as to recommend
the creation of an advisory commission
to deal with the tariff problem.
Tuesdays election was the first battle
Of the political revolution that is de.
veloping. The Democratic gains in
various States. and in Congress, cannot
bs attributed to circumstances which
frequently attend off-year elections.
That they are demonstrative Of dissatis-
&aatfon over unpopular tend enciass on
the part Of Republican statesmen is verv
clear to all who have watched closely
gradu ual development of public opinion
up to its ultimate crystallization into q
definite idea.
Had the voters realized sooner and
with certainty the causes of existing
unsatisfactory commercial and industrial
conditions, it is very probable that Con-
gress would now be Democratic. AS re-
suits are, however, Democratic represen.
ta.ivss in the Senate and House will
havesthe numerical strength to put the
trust disciples in Congress on the de-
fensive and to generate force for the
next election.
More than this, they will be enabled
to present practical demonstrations of
the inequity of Republican laws, and
thus establish staple platform along
lines corresponding to those on which
the political revolution is founded.
Prospects of Democratic ascendencv in
national affairs are made very bright by
Tuesdays victories.
The unbiased observer. can see two
specially important reasons for Dem.
ocratic gains. These reasons are at the
bottom of the political revolution that
is now growing, and they will constitute
the issues, in both the cities and the
rural districts, in the next national cam
paign. Not only laborers and farmers,
but small merchants and manufacturers
as well, are displeased with Republican
favoritism to trusts and combines, and
they perceive an undoubted connection
between institutions OF monopoly and
the high protective tariff. The issue on
which the Democratic gains were made
we're the trusts and the tariff, separately
and collectively.
Viewed from the popular Western
standpoint the fundamental issue is
distinct. Trusts and combines are look.
ed upon, even in Republican States, as
ubiquitous institutions, not only on
account of their monopolistic and arbi-
trary traits, but on account of their
power and disposition to oppose public
interests. The high protective tariff is
the object Of general hatred because it
is willing agent of monopoly.
The political revelation is born Of a
crisis that centers about the home.
The trusts are monopolizing both the
markets and the Government. The
people feel that unless they regain
power and suppress the trusts, this viii
cease to be popular Government. On
this principle were the Democratic gains
made, and on this principle viii the
Democratic representatives in C6ngres IS
win favor for their party.-st Louis
Republic.