The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-11


ated for these improvements. They were
made as such improvements should be made
in well-ordered city-out OF current reve-
nues.
A CREDITABLE RECORD.
This record is written, and is a creditable
one. deserving praise, not censure. The
financial credit of the city of indianapolis
was never better than it is to-day. 1t is
fair to say that the Democratic party has
never administered our financial affairs in
so businesslike and commendable a manner.
If they ever have done so. the fact thus far
has successfully eluded public observation.
1t is now manifest that either Mr.. Book
walter or Mr.. Hoffman will be the next
mayor of indianapolis. L have no word for
the Democratic candidate except that OF
personal respect. He Is a gentleman Of
amable personal qualities. What assur-
ance have We. however. that he will be
more rigid than a Republican mayor in the
enforcement of the law? What warrant
have We that he will administer the laws
otherwise than along Democratic lines as
other Democratic mayors have done? His
boards and official associates will. in the
main. come from the ranks OF the party
whose standard he bears, and we are
fully justified in the belief that he will give
TO the city the usual Democratic admins
tration. nothing more and nothing less.
am not unmindful of the fact that
there is some cleavage in the Republican
ranks. There is likewise some division
among the forces of the opposition. We
should among ourselves exercise a tolerant
spirit Ii is one of the privileges of those
who enjoy the blessings of Republican in
iudgmens IN ,h Terciss an % ANN
platform and our candidates and invite the
fullest comparison of them with the cand-
dates and professed policies of the oppo-
sition We want no victory unless We are
entitled to it,. Upon an impartial COMPARE
son we feel that we shall win through our
own strength and merit.
FAR-REACHING RESULTS.
While We engaged in a municipal con-
test, the results will reach beyond the linn
its of our splendid city. We cannot close
our eyes to the fact, and we would not If
we could, that important political questions
of far-reaching moment lie Immediately be-
lore US In the arena OF national affairs. We
have already witnessed enough to convince
us that the Democratic party, which has
been In earnest search of issues for many
years. Will make supreme effort to over
throw the tariff law which was enacted by
n Republican Congress and signed by one
of our greatest Presidents. William McKin-
ley. No better Endorsement than his could
be given TO great economic measure.
Under that law, which received his sane
ton, industrial activity increased. and We
have grown never before i'm national
strength. The people have been engaged i'm
their manifold vocations more actively than
ever before in all our history. Do we wish
| to see that great law torn up, root and
| branch, and scattered to the four winds by
it's enemies? Does the great mass of wage
earners wish to see the protective policy,
| of which William Mckinley was the chief
apostle, overthrown and destroyed? Do
| the commercial interests. whose welfare is
| vital to the wage-earners. wish to see
| radical change in the policy of the country?
| II so. then reinvest with power the Demo-
| cratic party.
While our Democratic friends are attempt
| ing to overthrow the protective system Jo-
! seph Chamberlain. one of the greatest
| among British statesmen, has retired from
the Cabinet of his government and is de-
| voting his energies to effectng a change in
| the British foreign trade policy. In a great
| speech delivered at Glasgow last Tuesday
he sounds note of warming to his coun-
| trymen. He tells them frankly that he sees
| signs OF decay, cracks and crevices," show
| ing that the foundations of the British en-
pire are not broad and deep enough THE
| protected Countries said he, which you
| have been told, and l myself one time be-
! lieved, were going rapidly to wreck and
ruin, have progressed infinitely better in
proportion than ourselves, and instead of.
| as Golden believed. our remaining the work.
| shop for the world, We are sending less and
| less of our manufactures abroad, while the
] protected countries are sending more and
| more of their manufactures here" While
! the great British statesman, reluctantly no
| doubt, pays this forceful tribute to the pro-
| tective policy advocated by the Republican
| party. our Democratic friends insist that
| We shall reverse our national policy and
take up the policy Of Great Britain, which
| one OF her wisest and most far-seeing states
men believes is imperiling her supremacy.
! Democratic triumph in national affairs
means an abandonment of our duty in the
| us by the law and by the command of the
voice of Christian civilization the world
about We have set our hand to great
| task. We did ii knowingly and deliberate
/ ly, and we cannot with national decency
| leave il unperformed. The Republican
party has been working wholesome revo-
| luton In the Philippines; not a revolution
| in the ways of war, but in the advancement
| of peace. 1t has been giving to the people
in those distant islands the benefits of re-
publican institutions in rapidly and con-
| tinually increasing degree. Where there
was rebellion and disorder and business
| paralysis there have come the full recog-
| milton of our sovereignty, peace and pros
| perfty. The American people have never
| yet turned their backs upon the manifest
| requirements of their moral duty; and they
| will not do so now.
IsTHMIAN CANAL
For many years we have eagerly looked
| forward to the construction of an isthman
canal. The undertaking is colossal and
the difficulties which beset it are confess
eddy great. The Republican party has
| taken up the subject with a resolution and
with a determination to take it out of the
arena of debate and place it among the
| great accomplished facts in American his
| tory. The contamination of the enterprise
seems now near at hand yet the way OF
| progress is not free from some obstacles
| The Republic of Colombia Is slow in grant
| ing to the United States the requisite prop
| erty and franchises. She may force to
adopt less desirable route, the one for
which our Democratic friends stand spon-
sor. yet 1 believe that President Roosevelt
will be able to secure from the Colombian
government the necessary concessions, and
| that under the power vested in him by Con-
| gress he will push forward rapidly this
| undertaking so vital to the interests Of
| American commerce and of the world.
| These great problems and many others
| which might be mentioned, would be vitality
| affected If disaster should overtake Repub-
| lican ascendancy. We must think of them
| as we witness the ebb and flow of political
| currents. Their consideration is always
timely wherever citizens gather to con-
| template their future welfare.
| But our friends say this is municipal
campaign, and the tariff and other national
| questions are not I'm issue. In a narrow and
! technical sense they are correct, but In a
| triumph weakens the Republican party and
adds strength 10 the opposition, and what
ever accomplishes this result jeopardiZeS
the policies for which the Republican party
| stands, and for which it will stand in the
| great contest which lies but a few months
| away How great the peril flowing from
present defeat would be no one can say.
1t is sufficient to know that some measure
! of danger turks In opposition triumph.
TIMELY CAUTION.
1t is not wisdom to be too profligate OF
for the mighty contest so near at hand. The
loss of the city to some may be a matter of
slight consequence, yet it may be far
reaching in its effect. We should ponder
well before we give il over to the opposi-
ton, an opposition which is at war with all
of the splendid traditions and policies of