The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-04
ECHOES OF THE DEBATE
REPUBLICANS SEIZE UPON
 CoCKRAN'S FREE TRADEIsM.
Seem to Overlook Fact That in the Forum. of the Nation They Were Whipped to a
 Standstill.
Advertiser Bureau, Colorado Building,


 Washington, May 2.
 The Republicans are going to try to make all possible capital out of Bourke Cockran's academic hyperbolism about demolishing custom houses. It seems not to occur to the faithful advocates of high protection that they had op- portunity abundant and generously &C., corded by the alleged free-trade ora tor to put any questions to him dur ing the course of his speech and that when they did venture to interrogate him with any proposition relevant or impertinent he drove them before him in defeat and confusion as utter and ignominious as ever shamed the rep resentatives of a great party.
 He whipped them in the greatest are na or political debate which the ooun- try affords, and yet they are simulat- Ing great joy that he delivered a free trade speech. It Is a little singular that with so fine a chance to put the | so-called free trade champion to rout no protectionist of all the standpat party of protectionists could be found who made the least shadow of attempt to answer BouFke Cockran's speech of Saturday. April 2s.
 Even Dalsell, put forward as the best informed and most adroft cham pion of protection. confessedly and shamelessly gave up any attempt to answer Cochran and devoted almost his entire speech to discredit the char acter instead of meeting the argu- nents of the man who assailed the pro- tective tariff system as a system of plunder and breeder of corruption.
 DalzeN declared In his only reference to Cockran's propositions that were impersonal that he did not care to en- ter into an academic discussion of the tariff question. He could only point to results as supplied by visions of the industries of the country. The Penn sylvania representative of a steel-trust constituency did not dare to tackle Cochran on the tariff. He took refuge In scurfility. Bourke Cochran, in the Judgment of all who heard the debate, was the victor unscathed from begin- hing to the end, free, trade or no free trade.
 The truth Is the Republicans were in bad way for effective expounders of. the gospel of protection or for expo- sition of any Republican doctrine. They had already been extremely shy, as 1t was. of meeting the Democrats in the open under the unterrified leadership of John Sharp Williams When Cock ran turned loose his torrent they were never worse prepared for resistance.
 They first tried Col Pete Hepburn. erstwhIle designated as the Long Tom" of the majority. The Iowa lead CT made capital speech for his side, delivering. himself so impressively about the abounding prosperity of the country that it was easy to see that the Republicans were fain to be un- wontedly chesty and cocky. But Hep burns sonorous and resounding per lods that seemed to dignify everything standpat were In a little while by sheer weight of contrast with what followed, shorn of all conspicuous dis tinctIon.
 Hepburn Cochran crushed with the rest The assault of the brilliant Tam many Democrat carried everything be- Tore It. The effort to rally with Lit- tIeheld was met and overwhelmingly countered by John Sharp Williams. That ended the pitched battle between the two parties and saw as complete a victory for the Democrats as any party ever won.
 The Mssissippian, recalling instances in which the Maine member had dif- fered from the majority and from the administration, used the tactics of the latter when he had sought to make the Democrats ridiculous by asking them yes or no, whether they endorsed Bourke Coolran's Tree trade speech" The Republicans when called upon fin the same fashion to say whether they endorsed the various tergiversations Mir. Littleheld. lapsed helpless and dumb In their seats. The enthusiasm. the weight of argument, the force of dauntless aggression were all against the Republicans.
 The laugh was on them as they nev- CT before had to suffer in derision. What is more while 1t was an en- counter not soon to be forgotten by | those present the Democratic triumph | of that debate Is carried in the Con- gressional Record. Tn the same Record | number and on opposite pages is the conclusion of DalzelIs speech. and the beginning of WillIamss. On the left | page one may read where Dalzell used for his peroration his petty and spite full fling at Bourke Coeicran's nativity. which was an Insult to every foreign born citizen of the United States. On the right page is the eloauent tribute