The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-28
The FAT IN THE FIRE
TRUST SPEECHES ANNOY REPUBII-
CAN MANAGERS.
HOPED TO FRY THE TRUSTS.
w0EFULLY SORE BECAUSE RoosE-
WELT ROASTS THEM.

CONSERVATION Exists in Republican
Campaign Headqunrters-Atta
on Trusts Were to Have Been by
Local Spe1Iblnders and for Local
Consumption OnIy-COurse of Pres
idert Disnrrnnges Plan to Levy ON
Trusts for Sinews of War--Free
silver and Organism Bugaboos No
Longer Serve Purpose.
Washington, Aug. 27.-President
Roosevelt, by his speeches on the trust
question, has totally disarranged the
plans of the managers of the Republi-
can congressional campaign.
Chairman Babcock and his assist
ants were as anxious to avoid taking
any decided stand on that question as
they would be to avoid taking hold of
the hot end of a poker. They were
willing to let individual Republican
spellbinders attack the trusts in parts
of the country where the feeling against
these aggregations of capital is es-
pecially strong. but these attacks were
to be for local consumption only, and
there was toNbe nothing done that
would commit the party as a whole to
any policy on this issue.
1t was carefully avoided in the Re
publican campaign text book, which
devoted pages to trying to make it ap-
pear that everything that had been
done against the trusts had been done
by Republicans, but had not a single
line about any policy of the party on
the subject at the present time.
Trusts to Furnish Money.
The reason for this was not far to
seek. Chairman Babcock wanted
money for the campaign. In former
campaigns the Republicans had fried
the fat out of the manufacturers on
the tariff question or had scared 1t
out of them by holding up Organism
and the silver issue. In this campaign
neither of these schemes could be
worked. A Republican campaign with
out money is an impossibiliry and af-
ter looking the field over this year
Chairman Rabcock decided that the
trusts should be made to furnish the
sinews Of war.
1t was for the purpose of being in
touch with the money kings that the
headquarters of his committee were
moved from Washington to New York
and from these headquarters the
chairman is flooding the county with
confidential circulars addressed to men
Of great corporate interests quoting
from a statement made by Secretary
Edwards. of the Democratic Congress
sional Campaign Committee, to the
effect that the Kansas City platform
with its Endorsement of the Chicago
platform is, and will remain to be,
the platform of the Democratic party
until it is changed by the next Demo
cratic national convention.
Old Scare Didn't Work.
This, Mr. Babcock says in his cir
cular. means that the Democratic
party. still stands for free coinage of
silver at the ratio of sixteen to one
and for all of the other features of
the Chicago and Kansas City plat
forms which make them unsatisfac-
tory to the business men of the coun-
try. How much money he has sue
ceeded in getting by means of these
circulars is not known, but many of
the men to whom they were address,
ed have either torn them up and
thrown them into their waste bask-
cts or have put them in their pockets
to show to friends as curiosities.
Now, just on the heels of this large
ly unsuccessful attempt to brighten
money out of business men by shak-
ing the ghost of Organism at them
comes the President with his speech
es, which will interfere with the plans
for squeezing the trusts. Mr.. Babcock
and his assistants will have to tell
the trust magnates not to pay any at
tention to the President; that he rep
resents only himself in his speeches,
and that they must rely on their Re
publican friends in Congress to see to
it that no legislation is enacted that
will be to their disadvantage.