Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-04-24
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force.
The truth Is that when he is making
American speeches as contradistin-
guished from Republican campaign
speeches the president is at his best.
That old adage, Speak softly and car
~ big stick; you will go far" is adj
mirable.
Great Men With Small Ideas.
1t is strange that great men-at any
rate, men holding great positions-will
continue to say things which would
disgrace the most obscure crossroads
politician in the land. For instance,
Hon. Leslie M. Shaw, ex-governor of
Iowa and present secretary of the
treasury, is fond of insulting the intel
ligence Of the country by claiming that
the panic of 1893 was produced by the
Wilson-Gorman tariff bill, passed in
1894. OF course nobody believes such
balderdash, not even Secretary Shaw
himself
Recently the Washington Post, indie
pendent high tariff organist, took Mr..
Secretary of War Root through a
course of sprouts in the following Wig.
orous fashion:
| / am not going to argue the question Of
protection and free trade. The second adj
ministration of Cleveland is not SO COM
| pletely forgotten yet that that question
| needs to be argued in this country now
| Secretary Root at Boston.
| 1t Is easy to see many strong points in
the address from which that extract Is
taken. but 1t is impossible to discover
| just what Is meant by that allusion to
| the second Cleveland administration in
connection with the question of protec-
ton or free trade. 1t has long been the
habit of a number of Republican organs
and politicians to attempt to impose on
their readers the impression that the
tariff of 1894. passed by Democratic
congress and permitted to become law
by a Democratic president. who maledict-
ed 1t, was free trade or tariff for reve.
nue. only scheme. If 1t were possible to
put the brilliant secretary of war In a
class with those narrow gauge organs
and small bore politicians. one could un-
derstand what he means by that allusion.
In the utter absence of that possibility
however, the mystery remains. We give
1t up.
If Senator Aldrich were consulted in re-
lation to that tariff, he would testify
that he presented and secured the adop-
ton of one of the longest and most i'm
Il
measure and that 1t afforded to the lead
Ing industry of New England all the pro-
lection which New England asked for. II
10 an tndisputable fact that the bill. as q
whole. was highly protective; that there
was much less of free trade in 1t than
there was in the Mckinley tariff which II
| succeeded.
Will that walloping cure Elihu? Not
30 long as he can find an audience that
does not hiss him.
The Trusts and the Law.
What will the trusts do now, poor
things7 The supreme court of Missouri
dealt the meat trust a solar plexus
blow, and now comes the federal court
Of appeals and strikes the great rail-
road merger squarely between the
eyes, all of which looks like business,
and yet the trusts have been assuming
that they were omnipotent. A few
more such blows, and some Of them
will be seeking cover. These events
prove what the writer Of this has con.
tended all the time, that there is law
enough already on the statute books
to put every trust in the land out of
business and what has been needed
J for 10, these many moons was q pros
ecuting officer who would prosecute
j OF course the merger folks are going to
appeal to the supreme court Of the
, United States, q performance which
most probably will simply postpone the
! day of their destiny, for that high tri
, bunal of last resort almost always de
, cides in harmony with an overwhelm
, ing public sentiment, and public senti
! ment is undoubtedly unfavorable tt
! the trusts. It's long lane that has nc
turn, and the turn appears to have
come in the trust business. One politi
cal effect of these decisions may be
!; that Colonel Roosevelt will conclude
that Governor Van SAINT of Minnesota
Is the vice presidential candidate he is
looking for.
Will Weaver Turn Reformer?
A dreadful rumor is being whispered
from reluctant ear to reluctant ear in
Philadelphia to the effect that the new
mayor, Weaver, is meditating an at
tack for cleansing purposes on the Au'
gean stables of the City of Brotherly
Love. The rumor, more startling thar
an earthquake, has caused the worst
ring on top of ground to lose much
/. sleep and has caused the goosefesh t.
: rise upon such Republican Statesmen
: as Senator Boise Penrose. By all in
telligent persons Philadelphia is rated
as the most corrupt city under the sun
Such thing as fair and honest cleo
ton is not dreamed of. Even under
Boss Tweed New York city politics
was sweet and pure when compared
with Philadelphia city politics for the
last fifteen or twenty years. That ring
nominated and elected Weaver fol
mayor, as it had nominated and elected
him circuit attorney. The ring took
him out of the latter Office in the mid
die Of his term and promoted him t
his present higher Office. If he shout
turn reformer now and clean out til
ring, it would be the most thorough
} surprised and Disguised ring in a
Kingdom. Guess the ring never rea
King Lear on ingratltude, but in cas-
Weaver really turns reformer the rim
will find that Lear did fairly goo
Job In expressing himself on that sui
ject. Would Weaver be justified i
turning on the ring which created hill
and which nominated and elected hill
with the expectation that he would
the head of the ring? Certainly 1t is
case Of the means justifying the end.